Favourite Seed Starting Tools

Favourite Seed Starting Tools

There are loads of ways to start seeds indoors in the late winter and early spring. You can use really basic tools like egg cartons on a windowsill, and this will achieve a perfectly reasonable end for most types of seeds....
Read More

Filter Posts

All Filters

There are loads of ways to start seeds indoors in the late winter and early spring. You can use really basic tools like egg cartons...

Continue Reading

There are loads of ways to start seeds indoors in the late winter and early spring. You can use really basic tools like egg cartons on a windowsill, and this will achieve a perfectly reasonable end for most types of...

Continue Reading

All gardeners can appreciate a gift that is thoughtful and useful. From newbies to gardening veterans, we have a gift that any gardener will love....

Continue Reading

All gardeners can appreciate a gift that is thoughtful and useful. From newbies to gardening veterans, we have a gift that any gardener will love. Check out our favourite holiday gifts for gardeners, and consider adding a few to your...

Continue Reading

Carrots can be grown quite densely compared to a lot of other crops. They’re not only good for fresh eating, but they store particularly well...

Continue Reading

Carrots can be grown quite densely compared to a lot of other crops. They’re not only good for fresh eating, but they store particularly well for use in the fall and winter — and beyond in some cases. With a...

Continue Reading

Horseradish belongs in the perennial food garden. Once the plants are established, they can be harvested at any time of the year, and the flavour...

Continue Reading

Horseradish belongs in the perennial food garden. Once the plants are established, they can be harvested at any time of the year, and the flavour is particularly good in winter, when cold temperatures bring out a sweetness in the roots....

Continue Reading

These instructions will help you plan your garden, making a cloche greenhouse configuration, choose your covering material and pipe frame. Then they will help you...

Continue Reading

These instructions will help you plan your garden, making a cloche greenhouse configuration, choose your covering material and pipe frame. Then they will help you set up your greenhouse and make the very best use of it for great gardening...

Continue Reading

If you ever find yourself tempted to purchase kale from a supermarket, you really ought to try growing it. By its nature, kale is one...

Continue Reading

If you ever find yourself tempted to purchase kale from a supermarket, you really ought to try growing it. By its nature, kale is one of the easiest, hardiest, and most productive of all crops. It doesn’t need warm soil...

Continue Reading

Back on Day 2 of our Twenty-one Days of Green, we talked about planting chives. We chose chives because they have to be among the...

Continue Reading

Back on Day 2 of our Twenty-one Days of Green, we talked about planting chives. We chose chives because they have to be among the very simplest of all herbs to grow from seed. They are extremely useful in the...

Continue Reading

For the 21 days leading up to Earth Day, we are asking you to Commit to Grow with us. We appreciate that some of you...

Continue Reading

For the 21 days leading up to Earth Day, we are asking you to Commit to Grow with us. We appreciate that some of you might not even have outdoor gardening space, so today we’re going to talk about Sprouts!...

Continue Reading

Parsnip (Pastinaca sativa) As a member of the family Apiaciae, the parsnip counts among its close cousins the carrot, parsley, dill, fennel, cilantro, and celery....

Continue Reading

Parsnip (Pastinaca sativa) As a member of the family Apiaciae, the parsnip counts among its close cousins the carrot, parsley, dill, fennel, cilantro, and celery. All of these bear tall umbels of flowers, but like the carrot, parsnip is biennial,...

Continue Reading

Cress (sometimes called garden cress, garden pepper cress, pepperwort, or pepper grass) is a leafy annual herb from the Brassica family. It is harvested when immature, around one to two weeks after germination, but will grow to a height of around 60cm (24”) if left undisturbed, and then form racemes of white flowers followed by small seedpods.

Continue Reading

Cress (sometimes called garden cress, garden pepper cress, pepperwort, or pepper grass) is a leafy annual herb from the Brassica family. It is harvested when immature, around one to two weeks after germination, but will grow to a height of around 60cm (24”) if left undisturbed, and then form racemes of white flowers followed by small seedpods.

Continue Reading

Catnip (Nepeta cataria) This perennial member of the mint family is native from eastern Europe eastward to China. It is a bushy, branching herb that...

Continue Reading

Catnip (Nepeta cataria) This perennial member of the mint family is native from eastern Europe eastward to China. It is a bushy, branching herb that grows to 50–100cm (20–39″) tall. Like many mints, its stems are square in cross section,...

Continue Reading

About Cauliflower (Brassica oleracea Botrytis group) Modern cauliflower has been grown since the 15th century, and it was grown almost exclusively in Italy until the...

Continue Reading

About Cauliflower (Brassica oleracea Botrytis group) Modern cauliflower has been grown since the 15th century, and it was grown almost exclusively in Italy until the 16th century when it gradually migrated to France and then to American gardens 100 years...

Continue Reading

Celery (Apium graveolens var. dulce) & Celeriac (A. graveolens var. rapaceum) The Latin names for the different types of celery are revealing. In both cases,...

Continue Reading

Celery (Apium graveolens var. dulce) & Celeriac (A. graveolens var. rapaceum) The Latin names for the different types of celery are revealing. In both cases, graveolens means “strong smelling” or “heavily scented.” Dulce implies sweetness, while rapaceum means “turnip-like.” Few...

Continue Reading

Chives (Allium schoenoprasum) Chives have been in cultivation since at least the Middle Ages in Europe, and there are references to their use in ancient...

Continue Reading

Chives (Allium schoenoprasum) Chives have been in cultivation since at least the Middle Ages in Europe, and there are references to their use in ancient Rome, but primarily as a medicinal herb. They were used to treat sunburn and sore...

Continue Reading

About Arugula Arugula is a low-growing member of the Brassica family that forms rosettes that resemble a cross between lettuce and dandelions. Its leaves have...

Continue Reading

About Arugula Arugula is a low-growing member of the Brassica family that forms rosettes that resemble a cross between lettuce and dandelions. Its leaves have deep, round indentations reminiscent of oak leaves. These, as well as the flowers and seed...

Continue Reading

Garlic is an incredibly economical crop. Planted in the fall, it grows very slowly over winter, and is ready to harvest in late spring to...

Continue Reading

Garlic is an incredibly economical crop. Planted in the fall, it grows very slowly over winter, and is ready to harvest in late spring to early summer the following year. If it is dried and cured properly, it will stay...

Continue Reading

The first two weeks of May is the ideal time window for starting squash seeds (including zucchini and pumpkin) indoors. By starting the seeds indoors,...

Continue Reading

The first two weeks of May is the ideal time window for starting squash seeds (including zucchini and pumpkin) indoors. By starting the seeds indoors, there is less risk of the seedlings being damaged during their most vulnerable early weeks....

Continue Reading

It may seem counter-intuitive for a gardener to actually plant what must be the world’s commonest weed. But dandelions have lots of culinary potential, they...

Continue Reading

It may seem counter-intuitive for a gardener to actually plant what must be the world’s commonest weed. But dandelions have lots of culinary potential, they feed pollinators, and they cultivate the soil with their long taproots. Latin Tarataxacum officinale Family:...

Continue Reading

With careful planning, seeds can be sown from winter to autumn in order to keep the garden productive pretty much all year round. Here are...

Continue Reading

With careful planning, seeds can be sown from winter to autumn in order to keep the garden productive pretty much all year round. Here are some tips for seed sowing for the longest harvest window. Determined growers sometimes think of...

Continue Reading

Most fertilizers (and many soil amendments) show this formula somewhere prominently on the package: N-P-K. This shows the ratio of the three most important plant...

Continue Reading

Most fertilizers (and many soil amendments) show this formula somewhere prominently on the package: N-P-K. This shows the ratio of the three most important plant nutrients, Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium. Potassium gets a ‘K’ because of its name on the...

Continue Reading

Here is all the information you need on how to grow hops. Hops make a dramatic addition to ornamental gardens. Highly decorative, fast growing, trouble...

Continue Reading

Here is all the information you need on how to grow hops. Hops make a dramatic addition to ornamental gardens. Highly decorative, fast growing, trouble free, and cold hardy, hops give a flare and interest to gardens that few other...

Continue Reading

Bulbs are easy to plant and easy to grow. Flower Bulbs are broken down into two very general groups – Fall planting bulbs benefit from...

Continue Reading

Bulbs are easy to plant and easy to grow. Flower Bulbs are broken down into two very general groups – Fall planting bulbs benefit from sitting in cold soil. Spring planting bulbs do not require cold soil to trigger flowering....

Continue Reading

Baby leaf lettuces are bred for their appeal at an immature stage. As baby greens they have traits that are particularly attractive for salad mixes....

Continue Reading

Baby leaf lettuces are bred for their appeal at an immature stage. As baby greens they have traits that are particularly attractive for salad mixes. The leaves are succulent and tasty, with good texture, and they come in a variety...

Continue Reading

Our seed potatoes are grown on this farm in the Pemberton Valley. What’s so special about seed potatoes from West Coast Seeds? Well, for a...

Continue Reading

Our seed potatoes are grown on this farm in the Pemberton Valley. What’s so special about seed potatoes from West Coast Seeds? Well, for a start, they are certified organic. That means that the farm where they are grown is...

Continue Reading