Garden and Food books by Gayla Trail

Your Questions Answered: Black Bottomed Tomatoes

Question: I am having a problem with some tomato plants in my back yard. The plants are growing good and strong and small green tomatoes are begging to grow. I looked at the bottom of one tomato and it is turning black. Can you please tell me what is causing this. There are several tomatoes …

Taste T.O. Interview

“What that kind of attitude and approach is saying over and over again is that gardening is not for you; you don’t belong here.” I met up with Teresa Cheng a few weeks ago for lunch at my favourite long-time local eatery, Cafe Bernate for an in-person interview to talk about urban gardening, growing food, …

Wild Front Garden

Check out this wild front garden I came upon yesterday afternoon. On just a glance I can identify a couple of poppy varieties, calendula, bachelors buttons (aka cornflower), cosmos, and a host of attractive weeds. I just can’t see myself dedicating the space to a wild garden of flowers, preferring to fill up that sunny …

Unique Container Idea: Planter Cart

I came upon this shopping cart planter the other day while riding my bike along College Street here in Toronto. The planter sits outside a restaurant located at the corner of College and Clinton, perched up high atop a metal outdoor patio fence. There is a tiny anal-retentive person living inside my brain that REALLY, …

Gift It: Homegrown Herbal Bouquet

I was invited to an apartment warming at my brother’s newish place the other night and since I had already treated him to a whole new garden, hereby known as “The Gift That Covers Me Off for Gift Giving Until 2010,” I decided I wanted to bring something but that that something should be simple …