Grazing deer can be a major nuisance for gardeners in Coastal BC, on the Gulf Islands, and in the interior portions of the province. Vegetable gardens, full of tender greens and food, should be protected with sturdy fences, tall enough so that deer cannot leap over.
Continue ReadingFor the best success with seeds, we need to understand them and how they work. Seeds come in as many different packages as the plants that produce them. They may be enormous and clunky or tiny like specks of dust....
Continue ReadingYou’ve selected your seeds, you’ve invested in unfamiliar seed starting equipment, you’ve planted the seeds — and now the damn things are coming up! What to do?!
Continue ReadingThere’s nothing quite as perfect as a ripe tomato – that distinctive fresh, green smell of a sun-warmed fruit that bursts in the mouth. It speaks of the summer’s heat like nothing else in the garden — but it does require starting tomatoes indoors.
Continue ReadingPlant Hardiness Zones offer general guidance to the kinds of plants that will survive winter in a given area. The warmer the climate, the higher the number of the zone.
Continue ReadingThe ingredients in our Beetle Bank Blend Wildflowers combine to attract beneficial insects and provide them with habitat in which to shelter and reproduce. This forms a natural environment that can be planted around or within agricultural fields to form a natural pest control system.
Continue ReadingThyme is a woody perennial shrub that has been used as a culinary and medicinal herb for thousands of years. Many species of thyme exist, and nearly all are native to the region around the Mediterranean. In ancient Egypt, thyme was used in embalming, and the ancient Greeks used it as a fumigant.
Continue ReadingThe holidays are over but the weather outside is still pretty frightful. Here on the coast it is altogether wet — the ground is sodden and squishy. Elsewhere, snow is falling, and the ground is freezing hard. Only the most spirited...
Continue ReadingEdible flowers can be used to add a splash of colour to all kinds of foods, from salads to desserts to fancy cocktails. A single borage petal, carefully placed, can really enhance a slice of cake or an amuse bouche....
Continue ReadingSquirrel Tail Grass begins the season as a fairly unremarkable grassy plant, but once the warm weather and long days of summer arrive, it sends up remarkable, silky, silvery grey panicles on 60cm (24") stems. These bend with the wind and retain their ornamental value until frost.
Continue ReadingMonkshood is a very traditional perennial for the cottage garden. The plant is so well known for its toxicity that it plays a role in ancient Greek mythology, and folklore from Europe to India. So please don't eat it.
Continue ReadingDifferent bees and pollinators benefit from specific types of flowers. Whether a flower is deep or shallow, red or yellow, generous with nectar or stingy... These all impact the attractiveness to different pollinators. We have collected some of the Best...
Continue ReadingUnderstanding the relationships between specific types of flowers and specific pollinators helps to explain why biodiversity is so important. The greater variety of flowers (including vegetables and herbs) in the garden, the wider range of pollinators can be supported.
Continue ReadingFenugreek is an annual herb that is native to the Mediterranean region. Seeds found in ruins in modern day Iraq were carbon dated to 4000 BCE. It grows best in fertile soil in full sun. Learn more about how to...
Continue ReadingIt’s a beautiful summer day. Since sowing your tomato seeds in Spring, you’ve been nurturing your container garden, preparing for harvest. There is nothing like a juicy, summer-ripened tomato fresh from the garden. Finally, it’s time. You will taste the...
Continue ReadingPrior to the potato’s arrival from the New World, turnip was the root-crop of choice for cool, wet soils, so many northern European cultures have significant relationships with this vegetable. It says a lot about turnips.
Continue ReadingThese two culinary herbs are very closely related, with flavours that are almost indistinguishable. They represent two of about 20 species of Oregano, all members of the mint family, Lamiaceae. They offer a good opportunity to learn more about marjoram and oregano.
Continue ReadingAll butterflies (including moths), as well as a wide range of bees, flies, beetles, and even hummingbirds, will feed on the nectar-heavy flowers of all milkweed varieties. The Monarch, however, seeks milkweed out on which to lay her eggs. Monarch caterpillars require milkweed to feed on prior to pupating, and they tend not to thrive when presented with alternative food sources. Planting milkweed is thought to be the number one step North American gardeners can do to help the endangered Monarch.
Continue ReadingWhat the heck is xeriscaping? Simply put, xeriscaping is a system of landscaping with water conservation as the priority. In areas that receive little rainfall in the summer, some thoughtful xeriscaping will allow flowering plants to thrive, adding visual appeal...
Continue ReadingMost of the vegetables we eat on a regular basis are cultivated adaptations from some older source. A good example is broccoli, which is the very same species of plant as cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, kale, and kohlrabi. All of...
Continue ReadingAsparagus crowns are live goods that have been freshly harvested from the soil. Like seed potatoes and hops rhizomes, they have only recently been dug from the soil, and are in a state of dormancy. This dormancy is broken in response to temperature, day length, and available moisture.
Continue ReadingEggplant seeds are relatively slow to germinate, and will probably take 10 days or longer. Soil heated from beneath is likely to speed germination and help young plants develop. Aim for around 27°C (just over 80°F). Sow indoors as long as 12 weeks before the last frost to give them a really good head start.
Continue ReadingMany varieties of maize are grown for dried, fully mature seed, which is eaten as a grain, but sweet corn is picked before the seeds mature fully, before its sugars convert back into starch. This is why fresh corn must be eaten fairly quickly after harvest, before it degrades and becomes starchy.
Continue ReadingThe precursor to the modern Brussels sprout were likely grown in ancient Rome, and today’s vegetable was perfected and popularized as early as the 13th century, in Belgium, which explains their common name. By the mid-16th century, they were being cultivated in the Netherlands and other parts of Europe.
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