Waste Not: Use Up Tough Garlic Scape Ends
Three uses for the tough, inedible ends of garlic scape stalks that you can use in the home or garden.
Latest Posts
Gardening Mad
[Just a heads up that I write a bit about death in this one and if that is too morose for you right now then I’d suggest skipping this one.] The other day I looked down on the 6 or 7 trays of transplants that are scattered around the holding area near the back door …
Recipe: Chocolate Cherry Almond Smoothie
I’ve been closely watching the local fruit trees this spring and it looks like it is going to be another, ahem, fruitful year of foraging. We picked serviceberries and cherries in record numbers beginning in late June/early July last year and I expect to glean as much if not more this summer. I’ve got about …
D.I.Y Tomato Protection
According to the charts, we are now past the point of frost danger here in Toronto. Many of my neighbours have already planted out their entire tomato crop. I have not. I can recall at least a few past years in which a fluke weather system came through when it was least expected, completely decimating …
The Lost Language of Plants
This week I started reading, The Lost Language of Plants by Stephen Harrod Buhner. My approach to this book has been non-linear, picking and choosing the parts that catch my eye. I often read in this way — even novels, which are generally meant to be read from front to back. Eventually, I do often …
Tumbling Composter Update
Three years ago the sustainable living company Eartheasy sent me the Jora JK125 Tumbling Composter to try out in my garden. This weekend we emptied and moved the contraption from a shady corner against the house to a newly cleared spot beside a composting bin that we built from an old futon frame. I posted …
Gardening Without a Garden
The Guardian in the UK have recently started up a new topical gardening podcast series with hosts Alys Fowler and Jane Perrone called, “Sow, Grow, Repeat.” Last week I was a guest on their second episode on the topic of Gardening Without a Garden. Until recently, I did not have a “proper” space in which …
Recently in My Garden
As mentioned in my last post, we’ve hit that time of the spring when the garden is coming alive faster than I can keep up with. There’s lots to do, and my enthusiasm after a long winter matches my to-do list. I’ve already suffered from a bad case of “can’t stop gardening even though I …
The Garden Comes ALIVE! A Spring Garden Tour
Since last weekend we’ve been enjoying a sudden burst of spring here in Toronto. On Saturday Davin and I did a big walk about the city wearing winter jackets and sometimes even gloves, and on Sunday we were out cleaning up the garden in t-shirts! The warmth has held, which means that growth in the …
2 Compact Tomatoes with WOW Factor
I don’t typically write about tomato varieties that I am growing for the first time, especially when they are tiny seedlings in the first few weeks of growth. However, these two are visually unique and I thought it would be fun to share them with you now. Both are compact plants (a dwarf and a …
What to do About Seedlings that Won’t Shed Their Coat
This is a problem that occurs with a few seedlings every year even when the soil or the air inside the humidity dome is moist. It seems to occur most frequently with hot peppers and occasionally with older tomato seed, which leads me to believe that it is related to a loss of vigor. [See …
Green Things Watch
Spring is technically on the books, but here in the northeast there is a difference between what’s marked on the calendar and the state of things outside. These very early days of spring remind me of a spiral effect in that once the first signs of growth appear, the weather will keep circling back to …