The best gardens contain surprises. I think we all love a glimpse of something partially hidden or something tiny and close to the ground – something that demands a deep bend for a closer look. Neat rows of orderly vegetables appeal to me, but I can never manage this. My […]
This past week, for the first time in my life, I ate brussel sprouts. It’s all because of a trip to Tobermory. We left in the rain and arrived, after a few hours of driving, to a moody island in what some would call Northern Ontario (officially, it’s still Southern […]
Laced with tiny holes and not, perhaps, the most beautiful cabbage you’ve ever laid eyes on, but here it is. I am so delighted! In past years I’ve had some success with carrots, zucchinis and cherry tomatoes, but could I really coax a seed to germinate, and then baby it […]
Tiny flowers on Irish moss, ruby radishes ready to eat and a gift of homemade chicken soup all make life lovely, even when stomach flu has us sluggish, shivering and sleep-deprived. A heat wave hit our city two days ago and my radishes bolted. I read on-line that once they […]
You may recall that enthusiasm for attracting and aiding pollinators, an at-risk population, led me to dig up and plant most of my backyard with daisies, black-eyed susans, salvia and other bee-attracting plants. The result, in my opinion, was beautiful. I’m drawn to explosions of colour – barely-controlled country gardens. […]
A bird built her nest on top of our front light, obviously oblivious to the fact that light generates warmth, and heat against the delicate properties of an egg white can be disastrous if that egg white is the amniotic fluid essential to new life. We won’t be turning on […]
Early spring in our yard is messy. We live in a snow belt, and most of our property lies buried in more than a couple of feet of snow all winter. When milder weather melts the snow, we find vole tracks snaking across the grass, mole mounds that resemble huge […]
As a child I found squash odious. Consequently, as an adult I never cooked it. Then, I discovered the joy of a simple, homemade butternut squash soup: fry an apple and onions in a generous amount of curry before adding broth and squash and you have the makings of a […]
Four years ago I became interested in bees and pollinator plants. A number of books about Colony collapse disorder caught my eye and, the way I saw it, with more bees in my backyard I could help save a species essential to our food supply and have more tomatoes and […]
Could it really be true that one month from today my chamomile will look like this? A few years ago, on a whim, I bought a packet of seed. I love any flower that remotely resembles the daisy and I like chamomile tea, so… it was worth a shot. To […]