dee Hobsbawn-Smith recounts an early-September rush to get frost-sensitive Prairie produce out of the garden, into the kitchen and processed for storage.
Tag Archives gardening
Great recipes rely on timely fall resource management
First We Eat: Your garden’s yield may need storage all at once if autumn arrives on short notice
Harvest, part 1: Garnishing summer greens
First We Eat: In the dog days of summer, salads with protein can help dial down the heat needed for food prep
We’ve been in deep summer heat for weeks now after a rainy spring, and every plant in my yard — including the quack grass and chickweed — is consumed with the green fuse of growth. The result is a cornucopia of everything. The scarlet runner beans and snow peas twining around their bamboo stakes tower […] Read more
Seedy Saturdays
First We Eat: A freshly pulled carrot from the garden will remind you why this vegetable is such a mainstay
Back in March, I joined a crowd of people purposefully moving from booth to table to booth at St. Mary’s Wellness and Education Centre in Saskatoon. The occasion was the annual Seedy Saturday, an opportunity amidst the snow and ice for gardeners to buy seeds and think about spring. Seedy Saturdays occur across Canada under […] Read more
Garden seeds lead to problem weeds
The names in the garden catalogues may sound pretty, but the plants are far from that in pastures or fields
Glacier FarmMedia — Manitoba rancher Herman Bouw was casually perusing a gardening seed catalogue when a particular ornamental grass item caught his eye. The plant was listed as “squirrel tail grass,” but Bouw thought it looked awfully similar to a species with a more cursed name on the Prairies. A comparison of scientific names confirmed […] Read more
Prairie farm gardens
Growing vegetable and fruit crops in Canada: Part 1 of a series
Garden crops from beans to apples have been a passion of mine from my childhood in Wales. On our small 17-acre Welsh farm in southwest Wales, we grew or raised most of the vegetable food that we ate from potatoes to apples as well as milk, eggs, pork and chickens. The mild climate allowed us […] Read more
How to grow beautiful bird of paradise flowers
Singing Gardener: Plus some thoughts on grape juice and its plentiful health benefits
How are you doing, everybody? We owe it to ourselves to feel good and have as many of these good days as possible, even though we know some days can be anything but good. When someone says to me, “Have a good day,” I often respond with, “Those are the only kind of days I […] Read more
The best times to go fishing
Singing Gardener: Plus a few things you may not know about potatoes and melons
My grandma on my mother’s side loved to go berry picking. She was a berry picker through and through, seeking out wild saskatoon and chokecherry bushes. Together, we often picked raspberries from canes at her home garden patch too. If there was anything she taught me I was qualified to do, it was picking raspberries. […] Read more
Need a reason to grow zinnias?
They’re beautiful additions to any garden and can also help vegetables grow
My father used to say the best apples on the tree are the furthest away on the limb. You have to reach for them, so reach for the stars. My dad filled me with memories and stories that will stay with me for as long as I live. He gave me what I wanted most […] Read more
Protect your fruit trees from fire blight
Singing Gardener: Plus some tips for disinfecting garden tools
Hi folks! It’s Ted here. I’m back again and so glad my gardening companions are tracking right along with me on the Grainews Singing Gardener page. Thanks for coming by this way. Gardening is an art, a craft and an opportunity to be the student of a lifelong teacher. She shouts out to us, “Learn from me. […] Read more
Tips for growing spectacular geraniums
Singing Gardener: Plus a shout out to Jim, the Pie Guy
What a pleasant surprise I had recently. Jim Hyrich, known as Jim, the Pie Guy, came by one day while I was away for a short time. In my absence he left some of his homemade flapper pie, along with an attached note: “Ted. These are a couple slices of my flapper pie. I am […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
