The winter was especially long — deeply cold days with lots of wind and interjections of ice and snow. It’s only once we think the bad weather has passed that we begin again, stacking wood, planting, trimming, and cleaning the layers of dust that have accumulated in...
Gardening
Tomatoes as Catalysts for Change
Think you know tomatoes? Maybe. But what’s the tasty fruit saying about community and food security in Lanark County, Ontario, and way up in Iceland? Down the highway southwest of Canada’s capital, the Neighbourhood Tomato Community Gardens project is all about...
Hot Dogs and Cool Cats!
Thank you to all of our readers that submitted darling photos for our Spring 2018 Pet Photo Contest. You certainly captured our four-legged friends where they shouldn't be--eating the...
Guilt-free drinking
Winemakers are finding themselves smack dab in the middle of curious times. Wine drinkers are becoming more proactive in their choices and brand dedication. Sure, we’re all prone to fun labels with dancing hippos and frisky zebras, but when all is said and done (and...
Who Let The #$%@ Dogs Out?
Tips on how to make a pet-friendly and pet-proof garden.
A Mid-Winter Dream: Garden Planning under Three Feet of Snow
This is the time of year the owner of South Pond Farms starts planning the events and menus she’ll be offering when summer finally comes. When I moved to this farm Southern Ontario over ten years ago, I never imagined I would turn so much of the land over to growing...
The Food Lover’s Garden Growing
An excerpt from "The Food Lover’s Garden: Growing, Cooking and Eating Well" by Jenni Blackmore. GREENS “Greens” is a catch-all description of a huge and wonderfully diverse range of plants that really do deserve a whole chapter (if not a whole book) to themselves, but...
Lavender: a little patch of heaven
What’s the Best Hardy Lavender to Grow from Seeds? Best of the Harrowsmith Garden Trials.
Small Farms
We need to move away from mass production, and there’s zero doubt in my mind we are heading that way. Small farms are the future.
Chewing up the Scenery
Popular Plants Can Poison Your Pets: Baneberry, Deadly nightshade, Lambkill… As their folk names suggest, many seemingly innocent plants are a real hazard if eaten. It’s normal for cats and dogs to chew on long grass and other greenery. To ensure that poisonous plants aren’t on the menu, all gardeners with pets (not to mention young children or visiting grandkids) should poison-proof their gardens.
The future of farming
What does every kid learn in school? That to grow anything, you need seed, soil, water and sun. But what if you removed soil from the equation? Wouldn’t the possibilities be almost endless? And now that’s becoming a reality. A form of agriculture that combines...
The Victoria Garden
You have to pity Victoria Bick and her staff. It's an unseasonably scorching day in late May. The midday sun is a harsh mistress. But, there they are, working in the restored kitchen garden of Dundurn Castle. They move about in long skirts, long sleeves, bonnets and...
5 Ways the Face of Modern Farming is Changing
The bucolic image of a farmer waking up at the crack of dawn and carrying a pail to the barn to milk the cows as the sun peeps over the horizon has become a thing of the past. These days, he’ll most likely be checking his smartphone while sipping his first coffee of...
Celebrating the art of plowing
Picture brightly coloured decor, smiling faces, a welcoming ambience under sunny skies, and spectators in a decidedly relaxed mood. That is what greeted visitors to the 2015 edition of the International Plowing Match (IMB) in Finch, Ontario, a festival celebrating the...
Seed guide
YOUR GUIDE TO SEED HOUSES & SPECIALTY NURSERIES ACROSS CANADA 130+ entries Our most comprehensive survey…ever! A’BUNADH SEEDS P.O. Box 127 Cherhill, AB T0E 0J0 780-785-2622 smileyo@xplornet.com Located northwest of Edmonton, this small, kitchen-table seed house...