Food Worth Growing: Mountain Mint

Back in 2010, when I was travelling to promote the release of my second book, Grow Great Grub, I made a stop at a small bookstore in Montreal. Before the event, I went plant shopping with the store manager, who wanted to get a little herb garden planted in front of the shop. In the

Ditch Lotus

Here in Canada, I’ve made a special five hour trip by train just to see lotus in bloom at the Montreal Botanical Garden, where they have a fantastic collection. In Thailand, lotus flowers and plants are so commonplace, you very nearly become unaffected by them. They even grow in ditches off the side of the

I Need a Shot of Spring Today

Do you become absolutely insufferable through the last dregs of winter? Do you cry, bitch, and moan that spring will never come and you will not make it out alive, not this time? Well then you and I are in the same boat my friend, and this post is for you. Last April I spoke

Lotus in Bloom

I made my first visit to the Montreal Botanical Gardens about nine years ago. It was early August and the lotus flowers in both the Japanese Garden and the Chinese Garden were in bloom. Two close friends had died the year before, just days after my birthday. We went to Montreal to get as far

Ceropegia Flower

I bought this strange, vining succulent, Ceropegia linearis ssp woodii, back in August at the Montreal Botanical Gardens. I’ll have to take some pictures of the leaves as well — they are interesting in their own right. The plant has suffered a bit of legginess over the past few months as I’ve grown accustomed to

First Sighting in the Wild & Ten Years!

It’s a big week over here as my new book, “Grow Great Grub: Organic Food from Small Spaces” (I’m already an expert at saying the title super fast) hits bookstores TODAY! Except that we spotted it at a Chapters/Indigo here in Toronto last night. If you pre-ordered a copy, it should be arriving any day

10th Annual Montreal Seed Fair

I hear that snowstorms have hit many of you, and that a bunch of snow is set to dump all over my region sometime late this week. What better time to get excited about seedstarting? This weekend marks Montreal’s 10th Annual Seed Fair (aka Seedy Saturday & Sunday). It’s a two day affair featuring free

More Seeds and Such That Will Need to Be Stuck into Some Soil, Somewhere

Last week I traveled to Montreal to speak at the Montreal Seed Fair and sign copies of the “Grow Great Grub” book in support of the collective food gardening group, Action Communiterre. Toronto’s Annual Seed Fair is coming up this Sunday and is expected to be packed to the gills. I find it difficult to

Echeveria ‘Doris Taylor’

This morning I set out to find a bright and cheery photograph that might bring some colour to our day. But this soft and fuzzy echeveria called out to me. I took this picture a few weeks back on my trip to speak at the Montreal Seed Fair. I first noticed the plant in the

Orchids at the Montreal Botanical Gardens

Last month, I spoke and signed books at the Annual Montreal Seed Fair held at the Montreal Botanical Gardens. When things got a bit harried at the event, I took the opportunity to relax with walks through the greenhouses. Inhale deeply. Exhale deeply. I’ve said it at least a dozen times, but of the greenhouses