Not unlike a well-organized closet or a well-designed kitchen, a well-planned food plot is an inviting respite from your daily grind. Before you get caught up in a frenzy of spring planting, step back, take stock and spend a weekend charting a course for the growing season and laying the groundwork for a successful garden Read Don’t Just Plant, Plan! by Brian Barth at Modern Farmer.
Coun. Carilyne Hebert successfully got city council to begin laying the groundwork for an edible landscape strategy for Cornwall during its meeting on March 26. Getting the city to start planting and harvesting edible plants in its various public gardens, flower beds and green spaces has been Hebert’s pet issue on council for the past couple of months. The councillor appears to be angling to make the creation of an edible planting strategy for Cornwall the legacy of her time…
Glean creative ideas for real-world seed-starting setups, from soil blockers to mini-greenhouses, so you can grow your own vegetable seedlings at home this spring. Read Seed Starting: Easy Setups for Home Gardeners edited by Shelley Stonebrook at Mother Earth News.
Looking for seeds? Find vegetable and fruit seeds sold by Canadian seed companies. This is a list of vegetable and fruit seeds that were sold in recent years by Canadian seed companies. Click on a section in the list below to see the varieties available, and the companies that sold them. Visit these companies, buy their seeds, and enjoy a beautiful, diverse garden next summer: The Canadian Seed Catalogue Index And a searchable database of ecological vegetable and grain seed…
These are among the pieces that appealed the most to Transition Cornwall+ readers in 2017. Maybe you missed a few, or worth another read as we head into a new year? #10: The Monster Footprint of Digital Technology The power consumption of our high-tech machines and devices is hugely underestimated. #9: Truly Sustainable Economic Development For those of us thinking about ways to foster local, sustainable, green businesses, here are some wise words. #8: What Kind of Housing Do Aging Boomers Need?…the…
A very simple idea put me on the path toward growing a year-round indoor salad garden: I wanted fresh salad greens throughout winter. This desire occurred to me one fall afternoon as I was putting my garden to bed and planting my garlic for the following year. With a pantry, cold cellar, and freezer full of the season’s harvest, the one thing that was missing in my larder was fresh salad greens, there is simply no way to store them….
Cool autumn weather favors a long list of leafy greens and root crops, from spinach and kale to radishes and rutabagas. Planting fall crops may be the last thing on your mind during the dog days of summer, but growing a garden to maturity before cold weather sets in means getting started in mid- to late-summer, just as the first warm-weather crops start to peter out. It’s easiest to start fall crops in flats rather than sow the seeds directly…
So you’re ready to take the plunge and start composting. You’ve made the space, and put aside time to figure it out: this is the year. Two deep breaths. Now, how do you do it? Don’t worry! We’ve got you covered. Here’s What You Need 1. Carbon-rich “brown” materials, such as fall leaves, straw, dead flowers from your garden, and shredded newspaper. 2. Nitrogen-rich “green” materials, such as grass clippings, plant-based kitchen waste (vegetable peelings and fruit rinds, but no meat scraps), or…
Learn about safe levels of lead in soil, testing soil for lead, lead remediation, and how to take a few simple precautions to take when gardening in urban soil. Green, growing plants and vibrant flowers drastically improve upon broken concrete, crumbling brick, rusted chain-link, and shattered glass. However, there are different challenges to gardening in the city, and one of the biggest issues for urban gardeners is lead in soils. Although adults can be affected by lead, children, especially those…
A winter container garden wasn’t what I had in mind; I didn’t really expect the plants to survive, because the single, east-facing window there receives only three to four hours of sunlight (when there is any) during the short days of fall and winter. My crops are all grown in containers. I start them in late summer, let them reach maturity outdoors, then bring them inside when frost threatens. Cabbage, kale, Swiss chard, and Brussels sprouts are among the plants…