Behold, the first of the non-cherry, indeterminate tomatoes that has reached maturity for 2009. And it’s a beauty. Incidentally, I’ve managed to grow several ruffled tomato varieties this year purely by happenstance. Well, that and the fact that I have a very obvious preference for that shape. I’m yet to try it out, but I …
Every year I go a little nuts growing large crops of onions such as ‘Egyptian Walking’ over at my community garden plot. Onions grow easily in the ground, but they tend to take up a lot of space in containers. In the past I have grown smaller, bunching onions in pots as a way to …
My latest Globe and Mail Microfarming article came out on Saturday. I’ve included the text below. My editor sent a photographer out this time so there are some pictures in the printed version not taken by me, and one of me planting arugula online. I didn’t lay chickenwire over the flat as protection after planting, …
A friend gave me a pack of these “I Double Heart Jesus” hair bobbles years back and I’ve been trying to find an excuse to keep them ever since. I lived the bulk of my life with long hair until I cut it all off around age 30. Chances are good that I’m well over …
Click the image to see full-size. I’m long overdue to present a mini roof garden tour this year, let alone a garden tour of any kind. As always I’m behind, which inevitably leads to thoughts that things aren’t just right yet. Or the light is wrong. Then of course there is the classic, “But wait …
One of our weekend projects was turning this vintage doll buggy into a mint planter. The plants inside are, from left: ‘Orange’ mint and ‘Ginger’ mint. I bought the buggy last fall. It cost 5 bucks at a street sale. At the time, I didn’t know what I was going to do with it, I …
Strawberry pots have a bad reputation in the gardening world. They have poor water distribution and tend to dry out quickly. Sometimes they’re ugly. Or the pockets are too small. Or the pockets don’t have a lip, making holding soil in at planting time nearly impossible. The good ones are expensive to buy, if you …
Last winter while digging through seed catalogues for new plants to buy I came across a hot pepper variety that I could not resist trying. Actually, I came upon several irresistible hot pepper varieties. As someone who doesn’t actually eat hot peppers I sure do grow a lot of them. As an edible plant they’re …
Local filmmaker Stacey Dodge visited my rooftop garden in the spring to shoot a short for the Toronto Urban Film Festival. Fast forward several months and her film (edited by Beau Dickson) was selected and will be showing this Sunday, September 8 on monitors in the Toronto Subway System. The short will be in rotation …
….‘Beaver Lodge Slicer’. Although I can’t be absolutely certain since I discovered some ripe ‘Green Grape’ tomatoes hidden beneath their foliage later that evening. We ate those straight-away before I could be bothered to get out a camera. The ‘Beaver Lodge Slicers’ were delicious on a fried egg sandwich with basil. I don’t have anything …
A lot of exciting things have been happening in the gardens these days. With summer fully underway I have been harvesting all sorts of goodies. There are new discoveries everyday. Yet none have garnered quite the reaction as when I stuck my right arm into the soil, moved it around a bit and pulled out …
Click the image to see full-size. This is a panoramic of the roof garden taken just this week. There are a lot more plants out there then I was able to get into a composite. Unfortunately with the gazebo top on I could not shoot the photos from above, perched high up on a ladder …