We thank you Lord for Grainews readers, For unseen friends and all good deeders, Joy of the garden to the canola field, Gardeners and farmers… grant an abundant yield. DECADES AGO … I listened to “The Good Deed Club” for children each Saturday on CBC radio sponsored by the T. Eaton Co. The program always […] Read more
Moon dates, mulching and manure
All about earthworms
Grainews readers often guide me in the direction of subject material to write about. For starters, let me inch my way in the direction of earthworms, night crawlers or dew worms as they’re sometimes called. Earthworms can be eight inches long when fully grown and often display a purplish-coloured ring. They are natural aerators and […] Read more
Moon dates, mulching and manure
We thank you Lord for Grainews readers, For unseen friends and all good deeders, Joy of the garden to the canola field, Gardeners and farmers… grant an abundant yield. DECADES AGO … I listened to “The Good Deed Club” for children each Saturday on CBC radio sponsored by the T. Eaton Co. The program always […] Read more
For the love of tomatoes
What’s the world’s earliest tomato? It’s Latah! Name a good storage tomato? Try Mystery Keeper! Greg Wingate of Mapple Farm in Weldon, New Brunswick has both. Latah is a distinctive tomato that has one great edge. It grows and produces ripe fruit in short-season areas where other so-called early tomatoes failed. Mystery Keeper is an […] Read more
Pears for the Prairies
Today, I’m writing about pear trees for the very first time, but first please read the following carefully. Here’s one more reminder. The tomato varieties I wrote about in my January 23, 2012 column are NOT free. They are for sale by Upper Canada Seeds in Toronto. Please do not write to them asking for […] Read more
Cucumbers, roses, seed sources…
A hybrid cucumber that’s cool as a breeze; a new rose from the Canadian Artists group, a source where gardeners can buy heirloom and open-pollinated tomato seeds and seed potatoes… plus a shrub fit for a queen. Do you mind if I cram a lot of information in this Grainews issue. How be it if […] Read more
Shoo Fly Plant
For starters, a music lesson without any audible music. Maybe kids are still learning this traditional children’s song in grade school and many adults already know it. Ah yes — there’s a plant connection too. ’Tis said houseflies, white flies and mosquitoes won’t stay in the same room, but only the gardener who grows Shoo […] Read more
Just in time for Valentine’s Day — the bleeding heart
Spring is inching ever so closer and Valentine’s Day may have come and gone by the time you settle down to a cup of tranquil tea while reading this issue of Grainews. More on tranquil tea in just a bit. If your heart is burning with desire to get into the garden sooner rather than […] Read more
Ted’s Tonic and a whole lot more
Thanks for joining me! Today, I begin by answering a question from an email. Other Grainews readers have also asked. Q: What is in Ted’s Tonic Recipe? Also, why you should grow cucumbers. Meander with me on the Singing Gardener page will you? Sometimes my pathway of words is just like a twisting river following […] Read more
Ted Talks Beans And Watercress
Later on, things to know about a wonderful healing plant known as true watercress. But first, it s my turn to spill the beans, sort of! I m not going to tell in detail something out of school when I was in Grade 3. Suffice to say there was a kid who took my beanbag […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
