Posts Tagged ‘Gardening’
Monday, May 18th, 2009
Josh and I have just spent a lovely and productive Victoria Day weekend planting our newly expanded vegetable garden. We’ve converted two of our flower beds to accommodate our 25 strawberry plants and 7 tomato plants, amongst other newcomers. I’m very excited for our edible garden this year. We actually started our seeds early enough this year and our tomato plants are over a foot tall already! We also have a variety of herbs this year and our watermelon seedling is still alive!
Here’s a list of what’s in our garden this year:
- tomatoes: black cherry, blanche beaute, new: yellow cherry, beefsteak and ruffled red
- herbs: sweet basil, thyme, chives, cilantro and parsley
- potatoes
- garlic: five different varieties (one did not survive the fridge)
- sweet red pepper
- wax beans
- sugar snap peas
- carrots: scarlet nantes and Chanteny
- veestar strawberries
- blueberries: northland and northcountry
- raspberries
not planted yet: golden midget watermelon
Our local CSA share starts up again in 3 weeks. Soon, we’ll be back to eating all local, all the time.
Tags: blueberry, edible garden, Gardening, golden midget watermelon, heirloom tomatoes, herb garden, potatoes, veestar strawberry
Posted in Gardening, Local Eating in Toronto | 1 Comment »
Friday, April 24th, 2009
Our sprouts are taking off like crazy! Our tomato plants are huge now, especially our beefsteak tomatoes. Altogether we have ten tomato plants, two basil, a bunch of thyme and two peppers. My parents just brought us some seed potatoes and we have Veestar strawberries on order. I’m feeling like it’s going to be a good harvest this year. Last year we didn’t start our seeds soon enough and they were late blooming.
Speaking of late seedings, we probably need to get our watermelon seeds started this week. Tanny’s probably going to get more basil started as well.
Tags: Gardening, urban gardening
Posted in Gardening, The Growing Challenge | No Comments »
Thursday, April 23rd, 2009

Our garlic, like Rip Van Winkle, is in suspended animation. Or so I hope. In fact, it’s just in paper bags in our fridge. Dormant; not dead.
What’s next? Good question! When we bought our garlic starts at Seedy Saturday, we were told to keep them in the fridge until final frost has passed, introduce them slowly to the outside and then plant them. Seems simple, but I think I need more details. Anyone have any experience with growing garlic from a start?
Tags: Gardening, garlic
Posted in Gardening, Local Eating in Toronto, The Growing Challenge | No Comments »
Sunday, February 15th, 2009
Even though we’re still in the middle of winter, last week’s (almost) spring-like weather is a gentle reminder that spring is coming. It’s time to head to your local Seedy Saturday/Sunday to swap and buy seeds, attend workshops and get inspired to grow your own food. I am obsessed with the heirloom tomato varieties and can’t wait to buy more unusual tomato seeds. After eating only Ontario garlic this past year (it tastes so much better, a milder taste, not pungent at all), I’m inspired to try growing my own.
The Seedy Saturday in Toronto is on February 28 this year, at a new location – the Wychwood Barn. The theme this year is potatoes.
Here’s a list of Seedy events in the next month in Canada.
Ontario
Date
|
City
|
Location
|
Saturday Feb 21
|
Port Burwell, ON
|
Trinity Church
|
|
Hamilton, ON
|
Royal Botanical Gardens
|
Saturday Feb 28
|
Mississauga, ON
|
Unitarian Congregation, S Service Rd
|
|
Sault Ste Marie, ON
|
Sault College-Native Centre-G Wing
|
|
Toronto, ON
|
Artscape Wychwood Barns
|
Saturday March 7
|
London, ON
|
Siloam United Church
|
|
Ottawa, ON
|
Ron Kolbus Lakeside Centre
|
|
Peterborough, ON
|
St. James United Church, Romaine St
|
Sunday March 8
|
Pembroke, ON
|
Fellowes High School, 420 Bell Street
|
Saturday March 14
|
Kingston, ON
|
Kingston’s Central Branch Library
|
BC
Date
|
City
|
Location
|
Saturday Feb 21
|
Victoria, BC
|
Victoria Conference Centre
|
|
Prince George, BC
|
Exploration Place
|
Saturday Feb 28
|
Vancouver, BC
|
VanDusen Botanical Gardens
|
Sunday March 1
|
Nanaimo, BC
|
Bowen Park Auditorium
|
Saturday March 7
|
Courtenay, BC
|
Filberg Centre
|
|
Fernie, BC
|
Fernie Community Centre
|
|
Enderby, BC
|
A.L.Fortune Secondary School
|
|
Robert’s Creek, BC
|
Robert’s Creek Hall
|
|
Richmond, BC
|
Terra Nova Barn, 2631 Westminster Hwy
|
Saturday March 14
|
Kelowna, BC
|
Rutland Centennial Hall
|
|
Cobble Hill, BC
|
Cobble Hill Hall
|
|
Powell River, BC
|
Community Living Place, Artaban St
|
Manitoba
Date
|
City
|
Location
|
Saturday Feb 21
|
Garson, MB
|
|
Quebec
Date
|
City
|
Location
|
Sunday Feb 22
|
St. Appollinaire , QC
|
83 rue Boucher
|
Saturday Feb 28
|
St. Vallier de Bellechase, QC
|
école La Ruche de Lanaudière
|
Sunday March 8
|
Lanaudière, QC
|
Centre communautaire Le Rodriguais à Saint-Alphonse-Rodriguez
|
Nova Scotia/New Brunswick
Date
|
City
|
Location
|
Saturday Feb 28
|
Truro, NS
|
Holiday Inn on Prince St.
|
Saturday March 7
|
Cocagne, NB
|
Ecole Blanche Bourgeouis
|
Saskatchewan
Date
|
City
|
Location
|
Saturday March 14
|
Saskatoon, SK
|
Princess Alexandra School
|
Tags: British Columbia, Canada, Gardening, heirloom seeds, manitoba, new brunswick, nova scotia, Ontario, saskatchewan, seed exchange, Seedy Saturday 2009, Seedy Sunday 2009
Posted in Events, Gardening, Local Eating in Toronto | No Comments »
Monday, July 28th, 2008

It’s been too long since I’ve written an update of our garden. We were lucky to have lots of rain while we were away, the garden was just thriving when we got back. Everything got huge! Our peas, basil and tomatoes have grown so tall. The carrots are looking more promising. The parsnips are officially dead – well, I don’t think they sprouted. We planted two corns for fun, and they’re about a foot and a half tall, I don’t think we’ll get any corn, though. We were very happy to find the raspberries just about ready for picking.
We’ve been picking the sweet peas and raspberries daily, I don’t think any of them made their way back to the kitchen. I’ve never had fresh sweet peas before – it’s fun to pick them and eat the peas right out of the pod. I had plans to make some raspberry tarts, but we haven’t been able to save them from Ella yet.
Here are some pictures from our garden.

The tomatoes plants are looking wild. They are starting to flower. I can’t wait for fresh tomatoes.

We’ve harvested some basil for pesto already.

The peas look so overgrown.

Our two stalks of corn.

The carrot patch.

Raspberries
Tags: carrots, Gardening, heirloom tomatoes, peas, sweet basil, sweet corn, The Growing Challenge
Posted in Gardening, Local Eating in Toronto, The Growing Challenge | No Comments »
Monday, May 19th, 2008
This weekend Tanny and I had some time to work on the website and the garden. Tanny added some more soil to her tomato seedlings and pinched off the weaker ones. I worked some compost into the garden and got it primed for planting. Unfortunately the temperature is just barely into the double digits so we’re going to wait until next weekend to plant.
Also – the seasonal food list now has lists for BC and PEI.
Tags: Canada, garden, Gardening, seedlings, Toronto, victoria day
Posted in Gardening, Green Living, Local Eating in Toronto, The Growing Challenge, Website | No Comments »
Saturday, May 17th, 2008



With the exception of the watermelon, my seedlings are doing quite well. Most have at least one set of “true” leaves. The McMullen tomatoes are over 3 inches tall! I’m supposed to pinch back the weaker seedling in each pot, but I can’t bring myself to do it just yet. One more week.
This weekend (Victoria Day Weekend) marks the beginning of the growing season for us in the Toronto area. I didn’t start my seedling early enough to transplant this weekend, but I will be sowing some carrots, parsnips and peas directly in the garden.
Tags: edible garden, Gardening, golden midget watermelon, Local Eating in Toronto, McMullen Tomato, Ontario, seedling, sweet basil, The Growing Challenge
Posted in Gardening, Local Eating in Toronto, The Growing Challenge | No Comments »
Friday, May 16th, 2008


My golden midget watermelon seedlings are not doing so well. The leaves are looking yellowish, and on one of the seedlings, the first set leaves have started to turn brown and dry. Has anyone else experienced this? Is this normal?
Tags: Gardening, golden midget watermelon, The Growing Challenge, yellow leaves
Posted in Gardening, Local Eating in Toronto, The Growing Challenge | No Comments »
Sunday, April 27th, 2008
We’ve had a full week of warm, sunny days here in Toronto. Our daffodils are blooming, the lily-of-the-valley have come up from the ground, the forsythias and other flowering trees are, well, flowering. We finally got the hedges in our backyard trimmed last week. We spent today raking the last of the leaves from last fall, and pulling out many, many dandelions. Our garden is almost ready for planting. Josh raked the leaves and the next step is to turn the soil and work in the compost we got for free at the Earth Day celebration at Downsview Park. Just a few more weeks…
Tags: Earth Day, Gardening
Posted in Gardening, Local Eating in Toronto, The Growing Challenge | No Comments »
Wednesday, April 16th, 2008
I finally got around to planting my seeds over the weekend. After checking the packages, it turns out that I only have to start the seedling for tomatoes, basils and watermelon indoors. The rest I should wait until after the last frost and plant them in the garden directly. I planted the seeds in a mini greenhouse that fits on a window sill. Since Sunday, I’ve been eagerly checking everyday for sprouts and today, I noticed mold on the watermelon soil! It’s only day 3 and already I’m having problems. According to various gardening websites, the mold is probably from overwatering. So I removed the moldy parts and opened the greenhouse. Hopefully, the mold won’t come back.
Tags: Gardening, mold, seeds, The Growing Challenge
Posted in Gardening, Local Eating in Toronto, The Growing Challenge | No Comments »