Aphids Suck

Declare war on the aphid nation in this battle-ready tee, now available in pink or black. We’re taking pre-orders for a limited time which allows us to make the design available in a new colour (for those of you, like me, who like their shirts black) and a much wider variety of sizes from Women’s

Okay, NOW It’s Fall

Break out the apple cider and make some treats, Fall is officially here. And while the weather is happily still very late-summer-like the signs of autumn are everywhere, especially in the harvest. One of the farmers had pie pumpkins at the market this week. I’m realizing now that I should have bought one. An unidentified

Growing a Nepenthes Terrarium

Look what my spouse brought home for me yesterday as a gift for being sick. If this is what I get for being sick what do I get for being a fully-functioning, productive member of society? Actually being sick was a nice excuse to lay in bed watching Wonder Woman reruns and re-reading back issues

Summer is NOT Over, Yet. Agreed?

They say that the Autumnal Equinox falls on September 23rd this year — according to my calculations that’s five full days away yet everywhere I go people are talking about Fall like it’s here already. It’s like as soon as Labour Day is past we head straight into Autumn without looking ahead or looking back.

City Farming — New York Mag Article

In a recent New York Magazine feature entitled “My Empire of Dirt“, writer Manny Howard takes on the arduous task of growing a farm, complete with flora and fauna in his Brooklyn backyard to explore just what is involved in trying to feed himself locally for one month. The results are a humorous and slightly

Rooftop Garden (July 2007)

Panoramic of the Roof Garden July 21, 2007. The following was found in my archives and is dated for July 14. The rooftop garden is coming along beautifully this year. I do believe it is my best year yet. I was shocked to discover that on final count I am growing 14 tomato plants and

At the Community Garden

Lately, I have been receiving emails asking me to talk more about the community garden. I will admit that I am so horribly behind in writing about progress there that it’s been difficult to know where to begin. So this morning I browsed through a few folders of photos and decided to begin with the

Living in Toronto – Growing Heirloom Vegetables

I had a TV crew here for about 2 hours one scorching hot and humid afternoon in August shooting a segment on heirloom vegetables for a show called “Living in Toronto.” There are other “Living ins” across Canada however the first is set to air tomorrow afternoon. Details: CBC “Living in Toronto”, 1pm – 1:30pm.

Making Low-Sugar Pepper Jelly

With both the gardens and the Farmer’s Market in abundance these days, it’s become canning central around here. I’m on a personal mission to find a use for just about everything. Last weekend was the whole 50 pounds of tomatoes insanity which resulted in approximately 28 various-sized jars of Roasted Tomato Sauce and Blackened Salsa

Love to Hate: Cosmos

Let’s all agree right now to stop pretending to hate cosmos (Cosmos bipinnatus) and (Cosmos sulphureus). Let’s agree to stop telling ourselves we are too good for it. Or that it’s too easy. Let’s agree to admit right here, right now that we think it’s a pretty flower. Let’s stop telling ourselves it doesn’t have

City Razes Garden

I walked outside the other day, into the street garden with scissors in hand to clip some flowers intended for the host of a party I was attending. As I bent over to snip a few Black-eyed Susan stems I discovered that the flowers were completely gone. All that remained were the ragged ends of

This is What 50 Pounds of Tomatoes Looks Like

Because I woke up this morning and said to myself, “Self, you do not have enough tomatoes. Must. Get. More. Between the bowls in the fridge, the bowls on the counter, the bowl that was just roasted, the bowl that was oven-dried, and the tomatoes still in the garden what you really need right now