A noun. A verb. A blog.
As gardeners during two world wars knew, even during a major crisis you can do your bit to make things better. Victory gardens were designed to boost food productivity during the wars, one little garden plot after another. The benefits spread far beyond individual garden gates. And gardens need pollinators. Their work, done mostly by insects, is behind one […]
This year was unusual for our family, full of exciting, challenging, time-consuming, positive-but-discombobulating changes. Frankly, it kept us from blogging as often as we’d like. But one change was easy: deciding to rename the garden tool that, three years ago, my sister, Sarah, and I adopted from its creator, Margaret Bennet-Alder. No longer is it the Toronto Gardener’s Journal. For […]
Any beginning gardener would happy to find either – or both – these books under the giving tree. But you don’t have to be a beginner to appreciate them. In the spirit of “the more you know, the more you know you don’t know,” this experienced gardener filled many gaps in her knowledge in reading them. For […]
Sarah and I are thrilled to bits to be able to present the digital/ebook version of the Toronto Gardener’s Journal source book. Don’t worry that we’re becoming overly commercial on Toronto Gardens, but this has been such an all-consuming project for us that we really must talk about it. The Source Ebook is us “being the […]
Last year, Sarah and I were proud to take over publishing the Toronto Gardener’s Journal, the brainchild and annual masterwork of Margaret Bennet-Alder since 1993. It all happened late in the year and, with the rush to publication, the only personal stamps we were able to add were a new cover and a few interior tweaks. We had great […]
It doesn’t always happen, but when my review copy of Veggie Garden Remix arrived – the latest garden book by Niki Jabbour – I sat right down and read it. Cover to cover! Jabbour began with a garden best-seller in her Year-Round Vegetable Gardener, which is in something like its eighth or ninth printing now. Her newest is on its way […]
Yes, we publish our own gardener’s journal, but we think there’s room for all of us. Read on and find out how you can win a copy of the new one from B.C. garden writer Donna Balzer and her daughter Chelsie Anderson, The Three-Year Gardener’s Gratitude Journal. Balzer’s journal announces its attitude right from the cover, with fun […]
We are excited to announce that the long-time publisher of the Toronto Gardener’s Journal & Source Book, Margaret Bennet-Alder, has handed the publishing reins to us. This extremely useful journal has always been a favourite with us, and it’s been on the Toronto garden scene for over 25 years. 2018 will mark birthday number 26. Not only […]
We fell in love with she sheds before we knew she sheds were she sheds! That’s the term for the distaff version of a man cave, but in outdoor shed. In 2012, for instance, we showed you Beacher Michelle Blais’ hand-built creation. In 2015, we peeked into an artsy bunkhouse in Port Hope. And, last August, I mused about […]
It may sound hyperbolic, but it’s true. This book has changed my interior landscape. For the better. Since getting my review copy of Tara Heibel and Tassy de Give’s book Rooted in Design last spring, houseplants have been popping up at home all over the place. And, if you read this blog, you know how bad […]
Whether you’re a bona fide homegrown vegetable gardener or, like me, simply grow veggies on a small scale, right now you’re probably taking stock of what worked this year and what didn’t. You probably roughly know your yields. Perhaps, like Margaret at Homegrown, you’re fairly rigorous about it. But have you calculated your return on investment (ROI) […]
Miriam Goldberger and Paul Jenkins (with the lovely Penny) at Wildflower Farm As if three 13-hour days of the Toronto Garden Bloggers Fling weren’t excitement enough, and an optional fourth day in Niagara didn’t do us in, on the fifth day Sarah organized an outing to native seed producer Wildflower Farm. We confess that while […]