I’m beginning to see the end*. Gaps are appearing where summer annuals have been yanked. Seed heads are quickly replacing flowers and colour in the garden comes more from the green leaves that are shifting towards yellows, reds, and browns. The world is in transition. I’ve been thinking about this lately. The way I focus …
“He who plants a garden, plants happiness.” – Chinese Proverb Inspired by this quote are a few recent scenes from my small patch of earthly joy.
I probably should have waited to post this until it was doing something more exciting than simply being alive in a pot, but the fact that it is alive at all is one reason why I find this euphorbia so thrilling in the first place. Euphorbia platyclada is a living succulent plant that looks dead, …
‘Black and Blue’ salvia is really more blue and purple than black, but you know how these things go in the garden world. Dark purple is often considered black and identifying colour is mostly down to a bit of wishful thinking. This salvia is also reported to attract hummingbirds, hence the common name, hummingbird sage, …
When we adopted our wonderful dog Molly just over a year and a half ago, the most common question asked was, “How will you keep her from destroying the garden?” Molly is a terrier mix, and everything we were told indicated that she might be a bit of a menace in the garden. It was …
Everything Roasted. I know I have mentioned at least a few times that this is one of my cooking mottos. I am yet to discover a vegetable or fruit that doesn’t taste good roasted in the oven, their juices caramelized, concentrated, and full of flavour. Roasting is also easy work. Lazily chop up ingredients. Toss …
I’ve been a succulent enthusiast since the start. They are easy to care for, can be crammed into small spaces, and they come in a wide range of alien-like forms. What’s not to love? While I have always grown a great many of them, moving out of my old apartment and into a very dry …
And just like that we’ve gone from summer to fall. I could see the changes coming: the bean plants turning yellow and then brown; then, of course, that first colourful fallen leaf on the sidewalk. Despite these subtle signs, this year fall came suddenly, almost painfully. For that reason I thought it would be good …
Clockwise from Top Right: ‘Noire de Coseboeuf,’ ‘Constoluto Fiorentino,’ ‘Zapotec Pink Pleated,’ ‘Yellow Ruffled,’ ‘Tim’s Black Ruffles.’ This is the time of year when I typically roll out a few photographs that brag of my annual tomato harvest. I have started taking photos, but I have to say that the strange weather this season has …
Running along the theme of diversity in the garden, I’ve taken note of and photographed a few oddities this year and thought I’d share them. This first is one of the peach varieties of tomato — I don’t know which one it is specifically as the plant was a gift from a friend and was …
First things first: I don’t have tomato hornworms (Manduca quinquemaculata) in my own garden. What you see above is a photo that I took a few weekends ago of a Tobacco Hornworm (Manduca sexta) fatting itself up on my tomatoes. The caterpillars of these two distinct species of moth look very much alike and are …
I’m currently preoccupied with preserving the harvest [aside note to say that Preserving is now a category on this site rather than a tag]. This list includes herbs and while there are several ways that I go about ensuring that the herbs I grow are put to good use and available year-round, drying is by …