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Nothing wrong with these apples, but Ted asks the question: Did you experience a problem with apple fly maggots leaving tunnels and brownish mush inside any of your apples this year? Left unchecked this rampant pest can inflict severe damage. Today’s column provides food for thought and control suggestions.
Columns, FarmLife

Info on apple maggots and how to deter them

Singing Gardener: Plus, Ted shares more reader requests

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Thank you good people for your phone calls, emails, letters. I get them all. A great big hello to Herman Swab from up there at Andrew, Alberta. Herman asks on the phone: “When are you going to write that book?” Yours truly Ted replies: There are a lot of books and magazines about gardening out there, each […] Read more
Larix laricina, commonly known as the tamarack, hackmatack, eastern larch, black larch, red larch and North American larch is a species of larch native to Canada, from eastern Yukon and Inuvik, Northwest Territories then east to Newfoundland. This small to medium-size boreal coniferous and deciduous tree matures to 10 metres or taller. Its bark is tight and flaky pink. Beneath the flaking bark it can appear reddish. The light blue-green leaves are short and needle-like, turning bright yellow before they fall in autumn. Larix laricina needles are produced spirally on long shoots and in dense clusters.
FarmLife

A reader looks for a solution to garden soil problem

Singing Gardener: Plus, info and benefits of lecithin

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Have you ever heard of lecithin? I’ve been taking it on and off for a long time and am sharing some info of what I’ve discovered about lecithin. We’re all aware of bannock, but have you ever made it? More later. Now the curtain rises on my make-believe stage. With mike in hand and a […] Read more
Ed Brecknell holds a foursome of freshly picked wild morel mushrooms harvested on his property. Their distinct taste is difficult to describe, but proclaimed by many as unsurpassed. They may be prepared either battered or pan-fried, and as a key ingredient in a cream sauce poured over peas and carrots, broccoli or pasta.
FarmLife

Info on edible wild mushrooms

One word of caution — never eat any mushrooms that have not been properly identified

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Had an informative and enjoyable visit with Bagot, Manitoba-area resident Ed Brecknell in mid-May of this year where I learned about distinctive and edible morel mushroom (Morchella elata) and edible oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus). Both are wild fungi without chlorophyll and grow randomly on his farm property. There are also oyster mushroom lookalikes and poisonous […] Read more
If you want bees, butterflies, other pollinating insects and hummingbirds, consider the following perennial from the bee balm group. It’s easy to visually fall in love with delightful red bergamot (Monarda didyma). Both leaves and flowers make a pleasant and soothing tisane. A highly esteemed essential oil is also extracted from bergamot.
FarmLife

The many benefits of tea

Singing Gardener: Plus, Ted shares excerpts from a phone visit

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Is it the age we’re living in, or are we all getting older? How time flies. As a kid I recall seeing a message on a huge sign along the Trans-Canada Highway (I call it the Tea Can for short). The sign said: Time flies and then eternity. Speaking of tea, ’tis said ordinary black […] Read more
Shown are stalks of German Wine rhubarb ready for harvest. Ted says it’s time to make a low-cost refreshing beverage and provides easy-to-follow steps for “No-Fuss Rhubarb Slush.”
FarmLife, Fruit/Vegetables

Planting and raising raspberries

Singing Gardener: Plus, sauerkraut from crock to jars and making refreshing rhubarb slush


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Planting raspberries — and memories of Prairie songs. Also, yours truly had a chance to talk with gardener Margaret Gluska from Cranberry Portage, Manitoba. She’s seeking seeds for Pilgrim tomato and apparently they’re as hard to get as pulling hens’ teeth. As I get older, thoughts sometimes return to childhood days. A number of Prairie […] Read more
Améthyste artichoke produces purple, uniform, heavy, tight heads with multiple secondary buds on an upright spineless plant that can take up 
to 100 days to reach maturity.
FarmLife, Fruit/Vegetables

Some info on growing artichokes

Singing Gardener: Plus, Ted shares more feedback from readers

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As always, lots to write about in Grainews Singing Gardener page. Am sharing more feedback from readers, so thanks to folks who take time to write. Got some thoughts on the best days to go fishing once the rod and reel season opens in your area. Here where I am we’ve got the Portage Diversion spillway that […] Read more
Canadian Shield rose bush is the first introduction in the 49th parallel series developed by the Canadian Nursery and Landscape Association in conjunction with the Vineland, Ontario Research Station. It produces large and awesome deep-red roses with up to 50 or more petals each, throughout summer and into fall.
FarmLife

A rose to celebrate Canada’s birthday

Singing Gardener: Plus, some good sources for tomato seeds

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Some who haven’t heard me sing have asked: Do you really write and sing your own songs? My answer is — Absolutely! My latest one commemorates Canada’s 150th birthday. I call it: “That’s Who We Are.” This page includes an Alberta reader’s experience with water dowsing; a subject I covered several times in past Grainews […] Read more
Start your own hybrid Guelph Millennium asparagus from seed. Plants have good cold tolerance 
and produce high yields of very uniform 100 per cent male spears.
FarmLife

Start asparagus plants from seeds

Singing Gardener: Plus, what is Paruresis and some tips if you have it

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Late March and early April are the times of year I begin scratching around the soil to see what’s popping up besides dandelions and daffodils. Depending on weather, I may soon plant, or will have already planted a short row or two of radish seeds in a sunny sheltered microclimate spot. I share a short excerpt from […] Read more
Captivator is a nearly thornless gooseberry. Fruit becomes dark red and sweet as berries ripen.
Farm Life, FarmLife

Inspiration from a centenarian — grow gooseberries

Plus, info on blight and Ted shares reader’s opinion on earthworms

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Now what’s Ted up to on this occasion you ask? Here’s a clue. Remember that handwritten letter from Alberta I mentioned last column? Read on and learn what the next mini-story is about. Also, more on late blight-resistant tomatoes. I’m including gooseberries for the very first time and my inspiration is a centenarian. Time for […] Read more
Adora is an attractive buttery all-purpose, low-carb potato with smooth, thin skin.
FarmLife

Meet Adora potato — read the info and see the photos

Singing Gardener: Plus, try Ted’s mashed potato pie crust pastry recipe

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Anyone who has diabetes will be familiar with two words that follow. A home medical dictionary describes “hyperglycemia” as excess blood sugar and “hypoglycemia” as a condition in which the level of blood sugar is abnormally low or reduced. A doctor’s book of home remedies calls diabetes “the disease of civilization,” and explains how diabetes […] Read more

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