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Amy: Ontario, Canada

Bio: Amy Urquhart is a freelance editor, and gardener based in Bowmanville, Ontario. She has worked in the publishing industry for 6 years. When she's not handling seedlings or digging a new bed, she's reading, trying a new recipe, blogging, or renovating the home she shares with her husband, Graham and their cat, Farley.

Email: amy@assertagirl.com

URL: http://www.playinginthedirt.ca/

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Rooting Begonias

This morning on my blog I wrote about how we're getting crowded out of our dining room by the sheer number of plants in there, so it seems only natural that the next thing I did this morning while drinking my coffee, and in my housecoat,

$2 Gardening Porn

I want to talk about one of my favourite gardening books. It's called "New Kitchen Garden" by Adam Caplin. I bought it as a bargain book for $9.99 but in all honesty it might would have been worth the original price. (Holy moley, Chapter's

Kitchen Birds

One of our cat's favourite things these days is to hover around the sliding glass door in our kitchen and chatter at the birds that feed outside that door. Although I didn't see any birds this morning, I could hear them outside the house somewhere, and Farley

Grow-op Set-up

There have been some whispers in the Forums about starting seeds already. Some of the members of You Grow Girl live in areas where it's already the season for growing. Here in Southern Ontario, though, we're still experiencing snow and wind chill warnings. I've

Winter Growth

The weather has been remarkably warm this winter, so far here in Ontario. Today I was out in the back yard for a few minutes. I just wanted to get some fresh air and it was sunny out and the yard is still fairly green.

Community Input on Pesticide Use

The municipality where I live is posing a question to us, the residents: How can we develop "a program to preserve human health and environmental quality, at the same time respecting the residents of the Municipality of Clarington"? I love that the word "respect" appears in this question/statement. There

Grinding Herbs

Today I got around to grinding up my dried herbs. Why? Because I found a great deal on a coffee bean grinder at Loblaws...$9.99! It worked really well. Each weekend lately I've been harvesting from the garden whatever edibles I can. I managed to bring

Canadian Organic Growers

My husband and I recently joined a local organic community garden, and were pleased to find when we paid our seasonal rate for the plot, that we had also acquired membership in Canagian Organic Growers--the national information network for organic gardeners, farmers and consumers. The local group meets

Foraging in the City

This article in today's Toronto Star is interesting. It's about people harvesting from neglected or owner-less trees in the city. It made me think about an apple tree that is sitting off the side of the exit ramp I take every day on my way home from

Entering the Fall Fair

Last year we visited the Uxbridge Fall Fair and I especially enjoyed looking at all the fruits and vegetables that were entered into the fair. I'm thinking of entering this year. These are the categories I'm considering: Pepper - hot, 3 on a plate...Scotch Bonnets Pepper

My Minty Centrepieces

I got married last month and I sure as sugar wasn't going to incorporate the usual, boring, over-the-top, expensive floral centrepieces I saw in most wedding magazines into our reception! Instead, I thought I'd buy scented geraniums. However, when I got to Richter's to buy them

Gardening for Climate Change

"As weird weather and record-high temperatures continue to afflict much of the northern hemisphere, the natural flora around us — and what we can grow in our gardens — is slowly changing." Read the rest here, at the Toronto Star.

Deep Impact

Remember that movie Deep Impact, where there was that huge underground bunker they called "the Ark" for saving people and animals and plants and stuff, in order to survive the impending impact of the comets slamming into the earth? Well, this article reminded me of it: READ MORE...

Herb Fair 2006

For the third year in a row, I attended the Harbourfront Herb Fair this weekend with some of the You Grow Girls. I think this was the best one yet. There were a few new vendors, some new samples to try (mmm, green tea), and as

They Were Right

"Invasive" does, in fact mean, well, "invasive". I'm always curious when I buy a new plant labelled as invasive, just how invasive can it be, really? That one little starter plant can't really get to be that big in one season, can it? Besides the usual mints,

Richter’s 2006

The mere mention of the word "Richter's" to my step-mom, Heather, this afternoon meant we were going on a short road trip! It took about a half hour for us to get there, but man was it worth it. Imagine all the plants Richter's brings to Canada Blooms

“Monster Rabbit” targets vegetable patch

Having recently caught up with my "friend" the backyard bunny, I found this article to be particularly timely...

Birds and Blooms

I disovered a cool magazine when I was visiting my grandmother a couple of weekends ago. It's called Birds and Blooms (Beauty in Your Own Backyard). It's an American publication dedicated to showcasing...well, you guessed it: birds and plants (and butterflies too).

A Kitchen Garden Blog Well Worth Checking Out

I found out about this wonderful weblog recently when I Googled "kitchen garden", hungry for images of neat rows of leafy beet tops, close-ups of fragrant basil and walls of greenery. The weblog is called In My Kitchen Garden and it's a spin-off of another site, READ MORE...
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