Portland 2007

I’ll be in Portland, Oregon next week to speak at the Yard, Garden, and Patio Show on the topic of growing an edible garden in just about any environment. Of course I also want to check out some local gardens, thrift stores, and make that trip to Powell’s (both of them). I hit three thrift

Seed Catalogues MIA

I had intended to write a post about seed catalogue arrivals and all of the exciting new things I want to try this year but so far only two catalogues have arrived (one of which I didn’t even order!) with rest of the usual suspects seemingly missing-in-action. I tend to shop online and don’t like

A Five Minute Break

A consortium of French environmental groups called L’Alliance pour la Planète / The Alliance for the Planet are calling for as many people as possible to turn out their lights and shut off all electrical appliances for 5 minutes today. This action is meant to acknowledge the UN report on global climate change set to

If You Can, Plant a Garden

I really hate to get all gooey and girly and squeee here because it’s very embarassing and unbecoming but holy cow how much do I love Michael Pollan. I believe you have to be a subscriber to read it, but take a look at this article in the New York Times. “Cook. And if you

Veggie Garden Ribbon

It’s a tad pricey at $13.00 for 2 yards but this fancy-pants woven ribbon from the Cooper Hewitt shop would make fantastic trim on your garden apron. Or maybe use just snip a little piece for a bookmark in your gardening journal. And well… it’s not just ribbon, it’s ART! via Julie Jackson

Growing Independent Media

This is not at all related to gardening but as this site is about to hit its seventh anniversary early next month (I no longer have a record of the exact day but Feb 2000 was the launch), today’s cover story in local Toronto weekly Eye Magazine really hit a nerve, touching me in all

The 6th Street and Ave B Community Garden, NYC

I recently returned from a short trip to New York City. This was a purely personal trip so despite the cold I did what I love best, wandering the streets with my camera. My favourite part of the city is The Lower East Side, The East Village, and Alphabet City areas. This upper part of

The Great Nightshade Confusion

I recently discovered that what I have been identifying as ‘Deadly Nightshade’ since childhood is actually ‘Bittersweet Nightshade’ or ‘Woody Nightshade’ (Solanum dulcamara). I can see where the mistake could be made in terms of similarities in their foliage but both the flowers and berries are completely different. Deadly Nightshade’s Latin name is Atropa belladonna.

Dandelion Watch

A few posts back I mentioned phenology and how the study of dandelion bloom times can be used as a soil temperature indicator. However, at the time I could not find anything online relating to the actual study and recording of these observations on a larger scale. Well, look what I found! Dandelion Watch, an

Andean Potato Farmers Fight Terminator Potatoes

A friend pointed me to this interesting article about a group of indigenous farmers in South America who are taking the multinational corporation Syngenta to task against terminator potato technology that they fear will cause extensive harm to “their region’s biodiversity, culture and food sovereignty.” “Peru and its Andean neighbours are the potato’s centre of

Hamilton

On Sunday I travelled to Hamilton, Ontario to attend a number of events. The first was a book signing at a fantastic independant art supply store called “Mixed Media.” I was really impressed with the store which offered so much more than art supplies including zines, crafty works by local artists, and a wide breadth