I am an urban gardener through and through. My current garden is small, bowling alley-style yard in Toronto. Prior to this I maintained four very urban spaces: The rooftop of my building where I have been growing a wide assortment of edibles in containers for over a decade, a Guerrilla Garden on a very busy urban street corner (also about 10 years in the making), a community garden plot, and a local yardshare (new for 2010).
My first response is a loud string of expletives followed by a very long and drawn, “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!” ‘Black Cherry’ tomato with chunk extraction. Oh the humanity. A mysterious mammalian creature has been visiting the rooftop deck and taking nibbles out of random produce. We think it may be an opposum this time since one has …
In an effort to grow new-to-me determinant tomato varieties, I completely forgot to grow tomatillos this year. By the time I realized my mistake it was too late to start tomatillos from seed and none of my favorite local transplant suppliers were growing them. I’m told that tomatillos aren’t a popular crop. For shame. Well …
Because I am afflicted with the disease commonly known as “Can’t-Walk-Past-Plants, Most-Especially-Plants-on-Sale”-itis and because an entire kitchen garden that was non-existent a few days ago doesn’t seem to be enough today; I done went and bought me some pathetic-looking transplants. But wait, they were only fifty cents! Except the tuberous begonia — that was two …
It’s time for me to face the cold, hard truth; my plot at The Parkdale Community Beer Garden is officially crap for growing veggies. With every new year I have found that while my soil continues to improve, the light on my tiny plot has been slowly declining. A couple of overhead trees have been …
Gardening is all about experimentation and adaptability. You can try and lock down a “method” but nature has its own ideas. Every gardening season is different for one reason or another. Often times it’s large and subtle differences in the weather. Some years it’s a freak plague of aphids from the sky, a raccoon that …
– From: Gardening & Deck Design (Summer 06) “My concept of what’s possible as far as gardening goes is pretty open ended,” says Gayla Trail, who grows edibles and ornamentals on a roof deck, in a strip of city-owned property at the side of her apartment building and at a community garden. Trail credits her …
Growing succulents in the window box on the fire escape portion of my rooftop garden has become a tradition — most likely because they are just about the only plants that can survive the intense sun, heat, and drought. The deck is fully exposed to all sorts of harsh conditions but the fire escape area …
– From: Canadian House & Home (May 2006 – Green Issue) “Ripe with tips and anecdotes geared towards the urban gardener, the book is an offshoot of her flourishing website yougrowgirl.com, where a growing community of gardeners share inspiration and advice.”
Phase 1 of “Project Deck Garden 2006” was enacted yesterday afternoon. It was inspired by a sunny day and a headache that wouldn’t quit, which not surprisingly, was abated after a few hours in the fresh air. I won’t bore you with the details as Phase 1 involves large helpings of gardening’s lesser joys; clean-up, …
We’ve been experiencing unseasonably warm temperatures here in Toronto which have pushed me to get out and do some early-season garden work. I can’t recall being this eager to get gardening but I suspect that I am always this excited, it’s just the lapse of time between fall and spring that has me convinced my …
The more I garden the more clearly I understand that gardening is a continuous learning process. The last few years have been excellent reminders of that. Last year’s weather was unseasonably grey, cool, and wet and I had to adjust and strategize to work within those limitations (and positives). This year has been incredibly hot, …
This has been the hottest, driest summer I can remember in a while. It has been raining around the perimeter of the city on a fairly regular basis, however it has been dry as a bone in my area since June 13! The weather has threatened rain several times; the sky has turned grey, the …