Steven Biggs - Olive Expert 2026-03-03 Steven Biggs - Olive Expert 2026-03-03

Guide: Olive Trees in Pots

Grow an olive tree in a pot if you live in a cold climate. They look great, and if you do it right, you can harvest your own olives. This article tells you what to do to help your potted olive tree thrive and give you olives.

By Steven Biggs

Growing Olive Trees in Containers

It was over two decades ago that I came home from a garden centre with a small potted olive tree. I was entranced by the shimmering light in olive groves in Italy—so when I saw that little potted tree here in Toronto, I grabbed it.

Olive trees are beautiful when the wind goes through them. The feathery leaves take on a silvery glow as they billow in a breeze.

My potted olive tree grew bigger and bigger. I shaped it into a nicely proportioned tree. When it sent up a sucker, I lopped off the sucker to make a second olive tree.

They were a beautiful touch of the Mediterranean in my cold-climate garden.

But they never gave me a single olive.

Not until I learned a couple of the simple but important things about potted olive trees that I share with you in this article.

A Bit About the Olive

The olive (Olea europaea) is a long-lived plant that you can shape into a bush or a tree. In climates where it is winter-hardy, it can become a small tree.

Gardeners in cold climates can grow olives in pots, where they do very well. They make fine potted patio plants because they are tough as nails.

Young branches with small, leathery, silvery-grey leaves move in the breeze, so if you're next to an olive tree on a breezy day there is a beautiful shimmering light.

Potted Olive Tree Summer Care

If it's an option, put your potted olive tree outside for the summer. It will do best with lots of sunlight. Full sun. The quality of light indoors, even near a bright window, is not as good as outdoors.

If you want to add silvery-grey tones to the garden, artichoke and cardoon have silvery-grey leaves too.

Winter Potted Olive Tree Care

Even if you live somewhere too cold for olive trees to survive the winter, you can enjoy the exotic touch of an olive tree in your garden. This book gives you what you need to know to grow an olive tree in a pot. (And get olives!) Buy at Amazon.ca and Amazon.com.

There are a number of ways to keep potted olive trees over the winter. Over the years, mine have spent the winter in a number of settings:

Minimally heated sunroom
Insulated garage (kept just above freezing)
A cool greenhouse
My dining room

(When they were in the dining room, we put lights and decorations on them for Christmas!)

Olive trees prefer lots of sunlight. This olive tree is growing beside my deck.

If you have somewhere cool and bright, such as a sunroom, that's my recommendation. A temperature range of 5-10°C (41-50°F) is best.

Olives can do tolerably well indoors, in centrally heated homes...but the warm, dry conditions indoors are less than ideal for your olive tree.

Those warm, dry conditions in the house are:

Not conducive to flowering
Great for insect pests such as scale

But if the house is your only option, you can make it work. Choose a location with a bright window, or put the olive tree under grow lights.

The trench method is another way to keep a potted olive tree over the winter in a cold climate. Dig a trench, lay the olive tree in the trench, and then mulch heavily. The depth of the trench and amount of mulch you need will depend on where you are.

You can also lay over fig trees for winter. Find out how.

While in-ground trees are said to withstand -10°C (14°F), don't expose your potted olive tree to more than a light freeze. (See notes on hardiness, below.) That's because the root temperature of in-ground trees is moderated by the soil (the soil temperature doesn't swing back and forth like the air temperature). However, the roots of potted plants are subject to air temperature fluctuations.

Get Your Fig Trees Through Winter

And eat fresh homegrown figs!

More on Figs!

How to get Fruit

This tree is budded up and ready to flower. Without a cool spell, the flowering cycle of the tree can be disrupted. Then it won't produce olives.

As I mentioned, while olive trees can survive in a centrally heated home, growing indoors at room temperature can be problematic.

Pests aside, the main reason is that with warm conditions over the winter, your olive tree might not gear up to flower. That's because they need “winter chill” to induce flowering. This just means that the plant makes flower buds in response to cool temperatures.

Without a cool spell, the flowering cycle of the tree can be disrupted. (Some people refer to this period of cold temperature as “chill hours.”)

My original two trees—clones from the same plant—looked great but didn't produce fruit for years when I kept them over the winter in warm conditions. When I tweaked my overwintering technique to give them cool temperatures over the winter in a sunroom that almost hit the freezing mark on cold nights, they bloomed. They were covered in blooms!

So, if you overwinter olive trees at room temperature, you might not get flowers.

And no flowers means no olive fruit.

Pollination

Olive flowers. When your olive tree blooms, expect lots of pollen. It's everywhere.

Olive trees are not reliably self-fertile. That means that some olive varieties require pollen from another plant, of a different variety, for successful pollination.

Even if you have an olive variety that is self-fertile, crops can be larger if there is cross-pollination with another variety.

When your olive tree blooms, expect lots of pollen. It's everywhere.

That yellow dusting of pollen is normal because olives are wind-pollinated. If you want to help the process of pollination, you can use a feather duster or a vacuum set on reverse to blow. (I let nature take its course, and don't help with the pollination.)

Harvest

Harvest time depends on the growing season, the variety, and stage of ripeness.

Olives can be picked at different stages of ripeness:

Green - Wait until the juice inside goes from clear to milky.
As they start to develop colour.
When fully coloured - The longer you leave the olives, the more colour they will develop—and the final colour depends on the variety.

Care for Olive Trees in Pots

Soil

Use a well draining soil.

For small plants that I move up to a bigger pot each year, I just use an off-the-shelf potting mix.

For my full-size olive trees, which I repot every 3 to 4 years, I use a loam-based potting soil such as a John Innes mix. The soil portion of this sort of potting mix is stable in the long term. I like the combination of moisture retention and weight that the soil provides. (Weight is important so that the trees do not tip over in the wind.)

Water

Just because olive trees tolerate dry conditions doesn't mean that you can skip watering!

Keep potted plants well watered, but not constantly wet. If that sounds like a contradiction to you, it just means let the soil get dryish—on the dry side of moist—before you water again.

Don't let the bottom of the pot stand in water; for example, keeping it in a low spot where water collects after rain, or keep a saucer under the pot. Olive trees don't like to have “wet feet.”

Feeding

Feed your potted olive tree with an all-purpose fertilizer that has micronutrients in spring and summer. Stop fertilizing over the fall and winter.

Potted Olive Tree Autumn Care

There's no rush to bring the plants indoors in the fall. I leave mine out even as we get light frosts.

As you get them ready to bring indoors, check for pests. Scale is the most common olive tree pests indoors.

Keep Your Lemon Tree Through the Winter

And enjoy fresh homegrown lemons!

More on Lemons!

Pruning Potted Olive Trees

Shape a Young Olive Tree

Scale is the most common pest of potted olive trees indoors.

(Formative Pruning for a Young Olive Tree)

A young tree might need support until its stem thickens. Tie it loosely to a stake. As the trunk thickens, you can remove the stake.

Plants that are grown from cuttings (like most commercially available plants) are “physiologically” mature and can fruit while quite small. Twelve-inch trees might start to flower and fruit (teenage olive plants thinking they're adults!)

Resist the temptation to let the fruit develop. While the plants are this small, you want to encourage stem growth. Fruit will slow down stem growth. Remove fruit from small trees and focus on building a permanent framework of branches.

If you're developing your young olive plant into a tree, at a certain height you will want “scaffold” branches – like arms coming out horizontally from your main trunk. Aim for 3-5 scaffold branches. If you want your olive tree to be about as tall as a person, allowing these to form at about 3' from the ground is a good starting point.

The size of potted plants is determined by the gardener. I prune the plants to six feet in height so they are easily carried through a doorway. Once the tree has reached the maximum size you can deal with, think of it like a big bonsai – and keep it at that size.

Grow Lemons Where You Think You Can't

Young plants can be set back by heavy pruning, so, unless necessary, keep pruning of young plants to a minimum.

Maintenance Pruning for Established Plants

The first thing to keep in mind as you prune your olive tree is that fruit forms on growth from the previous season. So, if you give the tree a haircut all around and prune off new wood, you won't get much fruit.
The second thing about olive pruning is that the plants have a growth habit which, after you develop an eye for it, actually makes them simple to prune. Branches bend under their own weight, sagging more and more as time goes on.

As the branch gets longer and the end sags, there are new branches growing upwards from it, closer to the centre of the tree. Prune off the sagging end of the branch, leaving these replacement branches. The new growth on these replacement branches gives olives.

Prune off the sagging end of the branch in the fall. This leaves the branches above as replacement branches.

Here are things to keep in mind as you prune your olive tree:

Prune to the size and shape you want.
Remove crossing branches.
Remove branches growing inwards, towards the centre of the bush or tree.
Remove suckers that grow from the base of the plant.
Remove vigorous shoots growing upwards as these are not usually very fruitful.

Rejuvenation Pruning

Growing Figs in Cold Climates: 150 of Your Questions Answered

Olive trees have an amazing ability to make new shoots from old parts of the plant. This means that if you have a tree or bush that is very overgrown, you can prune heavily, right back to major branches, and still have replacement branches grow.

When you do a major pruning like this, the response of the plant will be to send up lots and lots of new shoots.

Here's the trick: Don't leave all those new shoots until you prune the following year. Letting them all grow will cause the plant to waste lots of energy. Leave only the ones that you want—and snip off the rest.

One other thing if you're renovating an older tree: Avoid tearing the bark as you cut and remove bigger branches. You don't want to leave a little bit of bark attached, and then, as you pull away the pruned branch, tear a strip of bark from your tree.

When to Prune

I do the main pruning in the fall, before moving them into winter storage. My winter storage space is small, so I need to keep trees on the small size.

Potting and Repotting

Repot olive trees in the late winter or spring, just before new growth begins.

Your choice of final pot size depends on how large you want your olive trees to grow. My own olive trees are in pots that are 36 cm (14”) wide — and that's big enough for the two-metre-high trees (6' high). Because you're moving the trees around spring and fall, select a size that isn't too heavy for you.

When you're getting started with a small olive plant, like the little one I originally brought home from the garden centre, move it to a slightly bigger pot each spring.

Larger trees do not need to be repotted every year. In years that you don't repot them, top up the potting soil with some fresh potting soil and compost.

I've seen fantastic specimens in half-barrel sized pots…but that's too big for my setup.

Olive Varieties

My original two olive trees are an unnamed variety with olives that are large, plump, and green when I pick them here in Toronto in October.

There are many olive varieties. They differ in the size, shape, flavour, texture, colour, and oil content. The winter chill requirements also vary.

Different varieties also have different levels of cold tolerance. While cold tolerance is important for in-ground olive cultivation in borderline zones, it's not an issue for potted olives that are moved to a protected space over the winter.

My original two olive trees are an unnamed variety with olives that are large, plump, and green when I pick them here in Toronto in October. My third olive is a self-fertile variety called ‘Frantoio.' It has smaller olives that are just starting to colour up as I pick before putting away my olives for winter.

Olive Tree Hardiness

Hardiness is never an exact science. It varies by variety and is affected by the timing of the cold, the duration, and if there are large temperature swings.

The fruit can't withstand temperatures as cold as the tree.

Different sources give different minimum temperatures. The key point to keep in mind with a potted olive tree is that potted trees can't take as much cold as in-ground plants.

Forget the exact numbers and just play it safe.

I use -2°C (28°F) as a safe minimum temperature for my potted olive trees. (I'm sure some gardeners have had potted olive trees survive temperatures colder than this — but there's no need to take a chance if you're going to all the trouble of growing a plant in a pot.)

If your olive tree is exposed to temperatures that are too cold, you will see damage to leaf and branch tips and newer leaves that are around the outside of the tree canopy.

Are you in a borderline hardiness zone and wondering whether there's a way to grow olive trees in the ground? Read this article about growing olives outdoors in Canada.

If you're interested in the things that affect hardiness, here's a post on fig tree hardiness.

FAQ Grow an Olive Tree

The easiest way for a home gardener to propagate olive trees is to look for a sucker coming up from the base of the plant. I removed this sucker, along with roots, using a pair of secateurs.

Why does my olive only have fruit every second year?

This is called “alternate bearing” and is common with many fruiting plants. Apples are a good example. The tree uses lots of energy to develop a big crop, so no energy is used to make flower buds for the following year. This is solved by pruning and fruit thinning. If you prune your potted olive every year, you can minimize alternate bearing.

When should I bring my olive tree indoors?

It's not an exact science. I leave my olive trees outdoors for a couple of weeks of temperatures near freezing before moving them to a protected space. This helps to satisfy winter chill requirements.

Can you grow an olive tree from a pit?

Yes. My neighbour Joe had a seed-grown olive tree that he liked to show me. If you enjoy the challenge of growing from seed, try it. But know that, like apples, olive seeds won't give you a plant like the parent plant. If you want an olive with known properties, start with a cutting or a graft from a known variety.

Why can't you eat olives off the tree?

You can do it once, but I guarantee that you won't try it a second time.

Fresh olives contain alkaloid compounds that make them jarringly bitter. You'll contort your face and say something rude. And then know better next time.

How do you brine an olive?

I just slit olives lengthwise with a knife as I prepare them for brining.

There is more than one way to do this. The goal is to remove the bitterness.

Here's what I do, thanks to the guidance from friends from olive-growing regions:

I just slit olives lengthwise with a knife as I prepare them for brining.

First, break the skin so that the brine can better penetrate the olive. Some people crush the olive with a mallet or the end of a knife handle, and some people prick them with a fork. I just slit them lengthwise with a knife.
Then I put the olives in a jar or bowl of water to soak for 10 days, changing the water twice a day.
After that the olives go into a brine of 100 grams of salt per litre of water.
Leave the olives in the brine for at least 2 weeks, probably longer. Taste one, and if it's too bitter for your liking, brine the olives longer.
When I think they're ready, I put pour off the brine and then marinate them with red wine vinegar, lemon zest and juice, a bit of olive oil, crushed garlic, rosemary, and ground pepper.

Put the olives in a jar or bowl of water to soak for 10 days, changing the water twice a day.

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More on Olives

Find out about olive growers in Canada.

Olive Growers in Canada

More Mediterranean Crops for Cold Climates

Figs in Cold Climates

Lemons in Cold Climates

Artichoke in Cold Climates

Cardoon in Cold Climates

Push the Limits!

If you get a kick out of growing things where they don’t normally survive, find out about how to harvest figs and lemons in cold climates.

Articles and Interview About Figs and Lemons

Here are articles to help you grow figs and lemons in cold climates:

Courses on Figs and Lemons in Cold Climates

Here are self-paced masterclasses to help you grow figs and lemons:

Books on Mediterranean Crops

Grow Lemons Where You Think You Can't

Growing Figs in Cold Climates: 150 of Your Questions Answered

Steven Biggs 2026-03-03 Steven Biggs 2026-03-03

Find Exotic Edible Plants for Your Garden

Find out where to buy a lemon tree.

By Steven Biggs

Looking for Exotic Edibles for Your Home Garden?

I get a lot of messages from people who are eager to grow a new exotic edible crop…but are not sure where to find it. I hope this list of plants suppliers helps you find what you’re looking for.

This list focuses on nurseries, garden centres, and other plant suppliers in Canada and the northern USA.

It’s a work in progress. If you know a supplier that should be on this list, e-mail me to let me know.

Get started with some shopping tips, below.

Canada Exotic Edibles

USA Exotic Edible

Tips When Shopping for Exotic Edible Plants

Here are tips to keep in mind as you get ready to shop for plants.

Delivery vs. Pick-Up

Large potted plants are expensive to ship! Delivery costs depend on the distance and the size of the plant.

If pick-up is an option, you might save money.

Mail-order sellers usually only ship spring through fall, when the temperature is warm enough for planting.

Seasonal Exotic Plant Availability

Some of these plant sellers are nurseries that propagate their own plants and have plants year-round.

Others are garden centres that carry less common plants seasonally.

For example, here in Southern Ontario, I often start to see California-grown potted citrus trees in garden centres in the spring. Then, selection usually declines through the season, and once they’re sold out, that’s it until the following year.

Cross-Border Shipments

Some nurseries and garden centres don’t ship plants out of country. That’s because sending plants across the border involves a lot of paperwork.

If you find an out-of-country vendor who does ship to your area, ask about any additional cost for inspections and paperwork. And check about the delay that inspections can cause for your order.

Canada Exotic Edibles

USA Exotic Edibles

Canada Exotic Edibles

Grow Lemons Where You Think You Can't

Looking for Canadian nurseries that sell exotic plants? Here’s a list of Canadian retailers of exotic plants. Remember: Not all nurseries grow their own plants, so if you want plants produced in Canada, ask the retailer.

Angelo’s Garden Centre

Vaughan, Ontario

This is a garden centre near me, in the Toronto area, that seasonally carries citrus trees, olive trees, and fig trees. (I got my first olive tree here!) Hear owner Carlo Amendolia tell the story of their 19-foot-high fig tree.

Brugmansia Quebec

St-Valérien de Milton, Québec

They have a good selection of citrus trees, figs, and, as the name suggests, Brugmansia—a.k.a. angel’s trumpet.

Exotic Fruit Nursery

Lunenburg, Nova Scotia

Citrus trees, hardy fruit trees, exotic fruit, and nut trees are their specialty.

Fiesta Gardens

Toronto, Ontario

We’re big fans of Fiesta Gardens, here in Toronto. This independent garden centre brings in some really cool plant material every year—and there are usually lemon trees and other citrus too.

Flora Exotica

Montreal, Quebec

They carry exotic plants and seeds and lots of unusual fruit.

Fruit Trees and More

North Saanich, British Columbia

This nursery and demonstration orchard specializes in plants for Mediterranean climates. Owner Bob Duncan was the inspiration for my book Grow Lemons Where You Think You Can’t. He grows citrus tree espaliers in his demonstration orchard, and has a big Meyer lemon espalier on his house.

Nutcracker Nursery

Maskinongé, Quebec

They carry a nice selection of citrus trees and figs. As the name suggests, they specialize in nuts and also other fruit (I’ve ordered plums and damsons here and was pleased with the quality of the plants.)

Phoenix Perennials

Richmond, British Columbia

Growing Figs in Cold Climates: 150 of Your Questions Answered

This is an excellent mail-order nursery with unusual plants. (This is where I tracked down a grafted tomato-potato plant for my daughter!) They have a good selection of citrus trees.

Richters Herbs

Goodwood, Ontario

They carry both seeds and plants. Their greenhouses are open to the public, and it’s a fun place to browse. We came home with 19 types of mint after one visit. Lots of figs too.

Sage Garden Greenhouses

Winnipeg, Manitoba

Co-owner Dave Hanson has joined me to teach about exotic edibles and Mediterranean plants. He is a wealth of knowledge.

Tropic of Canada

Rodney, Ontario

Here you will find citrus, figs, and a fun mix of exotics.

Valleyview Gardens

Markham, Ontario

This Toronto-area garden centre has tropical plants year-round. When I was having trouble finding a yuzu citrus tree, this is where I found one.

USA Exotic Edibles

Edible Landscaping

Afton, Virginia

They stock citrus, fruit trees, fruit bushes, berries, and exotics.

Four Winds Growers

Winters, California

Four Winds specializes in semi-dwarf citrus trees.

Green Life

Phoenix, Arizona

Exotic trees and shrubs, the great many of them edible.

Logee’s

Danielson, Connecticut

As well as citrus, they have figs and other exotic fruit—and a ton of ornamentals. Their ponderosa lemon is over 100 years old!

McKenzie Farm

Scranton, South Carolina

Owner Stan McKenzie is passionate about cold-hardy citrus. Hear Stan tell us all about cold-hardy citrus on The Food Garden Life Show.

One Green World

Portland, Oregon

Here you will find a delicious mix of citrus trees, olives, figs, and lots of sub-tropical fruit.

Sam Hubert from One Green World joined us on the Food Garden Life show with top cold-hardy citrus picks. Find out Sam’s favourite cold-hardy citrus.

Well-Sweep Herb Farm

Port Murray, New Jersey

Lots of herbs, and a good selection of citrus.

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Steven Biggs 2026-02-26 Steven Biggs 2026-02-26

Beat the Fall Frost: Early Ripening Tomatoes for Northern Gardeners

Short-Season Tomatoes

If you garden somewhere with late spring frosts, early fall frosts, or cool summers, you know the struggle: never enough ripe tomatoes before the first fall frost threatens to end tomato season.

The solution? Early-ripening tomato varieties suited to short growing seasons and coolish summers.

Instead of waiting 85–95 days for large beefsteak tomatoes that rarely ripen in time, northern gardeners can harvest ripe tomatoes in as little as 50–65 days — sometimes even earlier with protection.

Here’s the gist of this article:

What “early ripening” and days to maturity (DTM) mean
Top tomato varieties for cold climates (including tomato varieties with a Canadian pedigree)
Tips to boost your harvest in a short season

In my own Toronto garden (Canadian Plant Hardiness Zone 6a) I have a long enough season and the summer heat needed to ripen large, juicy beefsteak tomatoes. But I grow early ripening tomatoes too, as a way to get the earliest possible tomato harvest. One other benefit of early maturing tomatoes is that in years when late blight rears its head I’ve already enjoyed lots or ripe tomatoes!

What Makes a Tomato “Early Ripening”?

I grow lots of beefsteak and other “late” tomato varieties. But I always grow a few early tomato varieties so that I have ripe tomatoes earlier.

There are a few things to think about when it comes to tomatoes for a short growing season:

Days to maturity
Timing: Early to late
Fruit size
Cool-temperature tolerance

Understanding Days to Maturity

Days to maturity (DTM) is a relative measure that gives you a clue to how long a tomato will take to ripen. Don’t think of DTM as an exact number of days before you have a ripe tomato in your hand: It’s always approximate, because many things (your climate, the weather, growing conditions) affect ripening speed. But DTM is a great tool when comparing one tomato variety with another.

(By the way, for crops that we plant directly in the garden, DTM refers to the number of days from seeding until harvest; while for crops we transplant into the garden (e.g. tomatoes), DTM refers to the number of days from transplanting into the garden until you harvest your first ripe tomato.)

Timing: Early Maturing Tomato Varieties

As you investigate early maturing tomato varieties, you might notice that some sources give a days-to-maturity rating, while other sources simply categorize tomatoes as ultra early, early, mid-season, and late. So you might wonder how to compare varieties if ripening speed is explained differently.

Use this guide:

Ultra-early: 45–55 days
Early: 55–65 days
Mid-season: 70–80 days
Late: 80+ days

Fruit Size and Plant Type

Smaller-fruited tomato varieties often ripen more quickly than large beefsteak types.

Smaller-fruited varieties and determinate varieties (bushier plants that set fruit in a short window of time) very often ripen more quickly. When I teach gardening classes, gardeners in cool coastal climates often tell me they focus on cherry tomatoes and small-fruited tomato varieties.

Cold Temperature Tolerance

When you see a tomato variety described as cold tolerant, it doesn’t mean it will thrive in cold conditions—because tomatoes are a heat-loving crop. It just means that the cold-tolerant tomato varieties can set fruit at temperatures slightly lower than other tomato varieties. It’s not a huge temperature difference, often just a few degrees, but it can be enough to give you tomatoes sooner. And that matters where the growing season is short.

5 Great Early Ripening Tomato Varieties for Cold Climates

These early ripening tomato varieties are proven performers for short growing seasons. They’re also widely available, so they’re a good starting point if you’re new to growing early maturing tomatoes.

1. Glacier

Gives small, red slicing tomatoes. Early and cold-tolerant. 55 days.

2. Stupice

Early, great flavour, and cold-tolerant. Small, red slicing tomatoes. 55–60 days. Great taste. This is my favourite early ripening tomato.

3. Sub Arctic Plenty

I’ve grown this super-early tomato variety for years. Reliably the first tomato in my garden. 45–50 days. Can’t argue with that!

4. Evan’s Extra Early

Good flavour. This mid-sized tomato is from Dr. Ieuan Evans of Alberta, a cold-climate gardener who also released the Evan’s Cherry. 57 days.

5. Early Girl

This is a hybrid tomato that’s been around since the 1970s and is widely available. It’s still around because it’s early, has a good taste, and keeps well. ~57 days.

Early Ripening Tomato Varieties with a Canadian Pedigree

Because of the short growing season in many parts of the country, and the cool, coastal summers in other areas, there are many early maturing tomato varieties from Canada. Sometimes the variety name gives it away—though not always. If this interests you, here’s a list of Canadian early ripening tomato varieties.

Atom
Beaverlodge Slicer
Cabot
Centennial Rocket
Early Alberta
Early Lethbridge
Early Hi-Crimson
Evan’s Extra Early
Glacier
Itabec
Kimberley
Manitoba
Maskabec
Porter’s Early Brookpact
Rocket
Russian Saskatchewan
Scotia
Siberia
Siberian
Sophie’s Choice
Sub-Arctic Cherry
Sub-Arctic Maxi
Sub Arctic Plenty
Summerdawn
Superbec
Usabec
Wentzell

This list is a work in progress. If you like a variety that should be on this list, email me.

Canada Gardener’s Journal

Final Thoughts: Short Season Tomatoes

*Pin this post about early ripening tomatoes!*

Choosing an early maturing tomato variety is a simple way to harvest more tomatoes in areas with a short growing season or cool summers. It’s also a way gardeners in warmer areas can enjoy an earlier tomato harvest.

FAQ: Short Season Tomatoes

What is the earliest ripening tomato variety?

One of the earliest is Sub Arctic Plenty, clocking in at under 50 days.

Can tomatoes grow in Zone 3?

Yes. Choose early varieties and use season extension techniques in the spring and fall.

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Course: Tomato Overload Masterclass

Want to up your game growing tomatoes?

This self-paced course helps you choose great varieties, grow great seedlings, give plants the care they need, and enjoy an abundant harvest.

Steven Biggs 2026-02-26 Steven Biggs 2026-02-26

How to Grow Tomato Seeds Indoors

A complete guide to growing tomato seeds indoors. Tips, supplies—and what to avoid.

By Steven Biggs

Learning How to Plant Tomato Seeds

picture of small tomato plants growing in a flat — How to grow tomato plants from seed.

When I was 10 years old my grandfather helped me sow tomato seeds. My first yellow-fruited tomatoes.

I had the perfect teacher. Dido was a life-long gardener and retired market gardener.

He was visiting us from Calgary that spring. We didn’t have much in the way of seed-starting supplies at our place. So he just grabbed an unused wash basin. We put a couple of inches of potting soil in it, sprinkled seeds on top. And then a thin layer of soil.

I gave lots of yellow tomatoes to the neighbours that summer!

His no-fuss approach to gardening coloured mine. There are lots of great supplies, gadget, and tricks…if you want. But you can also make gardening—and growing tomato seeds—really simple. And in a home-garden setting, I think simple is good.

In this article I share ideas about how to grow tomato seeds in a way that suits your situation.

Choose a Tomato Variety

close up of young tomato plants growing under lights — Find out how to grow tomato plants in a way that suits your situation.

Before planting, select a variety that gives you what you want.

Here are things I think about as I choose varieties:

Colour
Size
Taste
How long it takes to mature
Plant stature (determinate tomatoes, indeterminate tomatoes, dwarf tomatoes…there are even micro-dwarf tomatoes)
Disease Resistance
How I use the tomatoes (sauce, sandwiches, packed lunches)
Storage properties (there are storage—a.k.a. “keeper” tomatoes!)

Find out about “keeper” tomatoes.

Get tomato-choosing tips in this article by my tomato-crazy daughter, Emma.

Got problems with squirrels? Cherry tomatoes might be better than big beefsteak tomatoes because there are more tomatoes to go around. Here’s a guide with 50 ways to foil squirrels.

When to Start Tomato Seeds Indoors

Young tomato plants growing in a mandarin orange crate — Start tomato plants indoors to get a head start on the growing season. These tomato plants are growing in a wooden mandarin orange crate.

We grow tomato seeds indoors to get a head start on the growing season. That head start gives us an earlier harvest.

When it comes to timing, the date of the last spring frost is our guidepost. You’ll often see this date called the “last frost date” or “average last frost date.”

Find out the average last frost date for your area, and then count backwards 6 to 8 weeks.

For example:

The average last frost date around here is mid May. So working backwards 8 weeks, I know that I should be starting tomato seeds indoors around mid March.

This is not an exact science.

So don’t sweat the exact date.

Aim for approximately 6-8 weeks. But don’t start too early, because you could end up with leggy seedlings.

Create Your Own Unique Edible Landscape

That fits for your yard, and your style!

More on Edible Landscaping

Supplies for Growing Tomato Seeds Indoors

The supplies you need when growing tomatoes from seed depends on your approach to gardening. As I mentioned above, you can keep it pretty simple.

seedlings grow well in cellpacks from garden centres — Cell packs are a good option if you’re growing a lot of seedlings.

Here are basic supplies:

Potting soil
Pots or containers (ideas below)
Labels
Seeds

Optional goodies:

Heat mat
Fan
Dome or cover

Containers for Starting Tomato Seeds

You can buy purpose-made containers for starting seeds. Or you might already have things you can reuse for seed-starting. (Horticulture creates a lot of plastic waste…and a bit of creativity with seed-starting containers is a great way to generate less waste.)

Here are ideas for seed-starting containers for tomatoes:

Plug trays are an option if you want to start lots of seeds.

Cell packs. These are the plastic containers with multiple holes, often used for bedding plants – a good option if you’re growing a lot of seedlings.
Plug trays. Plastic trays with a number of smaller holes, more commonly used in commercial greenhouses.
Pots.
Crates. I’ve used wooden mandarin orange crates.
Newspaper pots. Remember that paper pots wick moisture and dry quickly, so adjust your watering accordingly.
Egg cartons. Like egg shells, below, too small for growing tomato plants to the final transplanting size, but if it’s all you have, they’re OK for getting seeds started before transplanting into a bigger pot.
Egg shells? Don’t bother. There are lots of cutesy pictures online of seeds growing in egg shells. My suggestion is don’t bother, they’re impractical.

Start your tomato plants in a newspaper pot! — Newspaper pots are easy to make. They can be planted directly into the garden as the roots grow right through the newspaper.

If you’re using biodegradable, natural-fibre pots (peat pots are common, and I’ve even seen pots made from cow manure) a word of caution: Bury the entire pot when planting in the garden, or the whole thing is a wick, wicking water away from plant roots.

Soil for Starting Tomato Seeds

Top Tip: Don’t use garden soil.

That’s for two reasons: First, many garden soils have a structure that packs down, preventing little roots from growing. The other thing is that garden soil can harbour diseases that kill young tomato seedlings.

Use potting soil.

You might see potting soils specifically for seed-starting. These are made with ingredients that are more finely ground, so that there are no chunks of material blocking the way of little germinating seeds.

You don’t need the finely ground potting soils.

A general-purpose potting soil is fine. (A finely ground seed-starting mix is important for commercial growers who need uniform, optimal seed germination; but in a home garden we usually have more seeds than we need, so having the odd coarse chunk in the soil is no big deal).

If the soil is dry, moisten it before using it.

Light for Your Tomato Seedlings

tomato plants under grow lights — Grow lights for growing tomato seedlings. I use fluorescent lights. Note that the trays are propped up to be as close as possible to the lights.

Good light is important for growing compact plants. When there’s not enough light you end up with leggy plants that topple over.

There are lots of lighting options. The simplest and least expensive is to grow seedlings in a bright window (south facing is best.)

If you don’t have a bright window, you can start seeds under lights. There are many types of lights available.

Here’s the thing to know: Your tomato seedlings don’t need the same light as an indoor hydroponic vegetable crop.

You’re not trying to create perfect conditions to grow a plant right through to harvest. The lights just need to be good enough to give you healthy, fairly compact tomato transplants.

So save yourself some money and don’t go overboard on lighting.

My lighting for growing tomato seedlings is fluorescent shop lights. You don’t need full spectrum lights, nor do you need the strongest lights. Remember: You’re growing a young plant to transplant outdoors – where it will spend the rest of its life in sunlight.

Some grow light are adjustable, allowing you to move the lights close to the seedlings. Mine aren’t, so instead, I prop up trays of plants closer to the lights by putting something underneath them.

Use a timer so that you don’t have to remember to turn the grow lights on and off every day. I leave mine on for 16 hours a day.

Landscape with Fruit

That’s easy to grow in a home garden!

More on Fruit

Planting Tomato Seeds

Fill your container with soil, leaving a bit of space at the top.

If you’re planting an individual seed, place it on top of the soil
If you’re planting a number of seeds in one container, space them out on top of the soil

Then place a thin layer of soil over the top. You don’t need to put much soil over the seed: Cover with a depth of soil similar to the seed width…up to about one-quarter inch. (Too deep and they might not grow.)

Then tamp very gently and water. What we’re trying to do by covering with soil and tamping is to make sure the seed is in contact with soil, which helps with uniform germination.

Wait a minute. Have you seen the recommendation to make a small hole, put a seed in the hole, and then cover with soil? There’s a gizmo called a dibbler that’s used to make holes. And some gardeners make holes, and even use a toothpick for precise seed placement. That’s fine too. There are many ways to plant tomatoes. My opinion is that this sort of precision is needed in a commercial operation…but I don’t need it for at the home-garden level.

Tomato Seeding Density

Not sure how many seeds to put in each container? Depending on how many tomato plants you’re growing and how much space you have, you can seed more or less densely:

how many seeds per pot? Here are three tomato plants in one pot — Grow 2-3 seeds per pot, and then thin out extras as the tomato plants begin to grow.

Low Density

If you have lots of space and aren’t growing a lot, give each seed its own pot or section within a cell pack. One seed per pot takes up far more space initially. But if you want to keep things very simple, this is a good way to do it because it can cut out the step of transplanting later on.

Remember that a bigger pot dries out more slowly; water them accordingly so they aren’t waterlogged.

Tip: It’s rare to have every single seed germinate. To avoid having empty pots where seeds haven’t germinated, place 2-3 seeds per pot, and then thin out extras as the plants begin to grow.

High Density

If you want to start more seeds in less space, plant more than one seed in a container, and then separate and transplant them as they get bigger.

Labelling

labelled tomato seedlings in a plug tray. — A tray of labelled tomato seedlings.

If you’re growing more than one variety, label them as you plant them. There are years I was sure I’d remember what was what…and I forgot.

You can use purpose-made plastic labels; or, if you want to use less plastic, wooden popsickle sticks or wooden tongue depressors work well (but don’t last all summer.)

If you’re using pots or cell packs, you can also just write the tomato variety name on masking tape, and then stick it on the container.

Hygiene

Damping off disease can wipe out a whole crop of seedlings quickly. It’s a fungal disease that moves around your growing area along with runoff from watering plants. It gets there in contaminated soil and on previously used equipment and pots.

The easiest way to avoid damping off is to use disease-free soil and clean supplies. If you make your own potting soil using compost, consider sterilizing it. Many commercial potting soils are made with peat and inert ingredients—and these tend to be disease free.

New pots and cell packs are likely disease free, but if you’re reusing pots and cell packs, sterilize them. First, scrub off any soil that’s caked on. Then dunk them in a solution of 10 parts water with 1 part bleach, and then let them air dry. (Note: This is a strong smelling solution, so I do this outdoors or in my garage.)

How Many Seeds to Grow

Planting extra tomato seeds is cheap insurance against plants lost to accidents.

I always grow extra plants.

Then I share leftovers with friends.

Conditions for Germinating Tomato Seed

Temperature

Don't have a heat mat? no problem. These seeds are next to a heat duct! — No heat mat? No problem. Find a warm spot to germinate tomato seeds. Pictured here: Germinating a flat of tomato seeds beside a heat duct near the basement ceiling — a warm location. (The wine is unrelated…I didn’t have a lot of space in that house!)

Room temperature is fine for germinating tomato seeds, but you can speed up seed germination if the temperature is warmer.

Here are ways to give your seeds warmer conditions:

Place them on a heated floor
Set them on top of a hot-water radiator
The fluorescent fixtures in my light tray give off heat, so if I put seed containers on the rack above
Some appliances give off heat – check to see if the top of your fridge is warm
Or get a heat mat (a water-resistant heating pad for plants)

Once a half to three quarters of the seeds are up, I remove the container from the heat.

Humidity

As a seed germinates, it needs moist surroundings until it grows roots and can take up water on its own. If it dries out at this vulnerable stage, it’s game over.

But the air in centrally heated homes over the winter is often quite dry.

You can keep the humidity higher right around the seeds by covering them.

I use the clear plastic domes designed to go over top of plant trays.
Or, cover a tray with a sheet of glass or plastic; or cover an individual pot with a plastic bag.
Another option is to use plastic cling wrap

Remove once the seeds emerge.

Light

Don’t worry about light for tomato seed germination. Some types of seed need light to germinate; not tomatoes.

growing tomatoes from seed in a plug tray. After seed germination, the cover is removed — The seedlings on the left are uncovered, to get air circulation. The seeds on the right are covered with a plastic cover to keep the humidity high during germination.

So in summary, as you’re getting your tomato seeds to germinate, think warm and humid. (In a previous house, I’d germinate my seeds atop a shelf in the basement, near the heat duct at ceiling level, where it was nice and warm.)

Conditions for Growing Tomato Seedlings

Once your tomato seedlings are up and growing, the best conditions are different from what we want when germinating seeds.

Light and Temperature

As seedlings begin to grow, we want bright light and cooler temperatures. That’s because with warmer temperatures, growth is lanky. With cooler temperatures (combined with bright light) the plants will be more compact and sturdy.

See if there’s a cooler spot near a sunny window. In my case, my grow lights are in the basement, in a room that is cooler than the rest of the house. It’s perfect for growing tomato seedlings.

Humidity and Air Circulation

High humidity while seed germinate is good.

But as the plants grow, we want lower humidity and some air circulation, which reduces the chance of fugal diseases. The moving air also gives stronger stems. (Some people use a fan to improve air circulation.)

So in summary, once the tomato plants are growing, you want cooler, brighter conditions than for germination.

Caring for Tomato Seedlings

Water

It’s easy to kill seedlings by overwatering them.

Keep the soil moist, but not sopping wet. Moist, but not waterlogged.

If in doubt about the amount of moisture in the soil, use your finger. (Whatever you do, don’t waste your money on a gadget that tells you soil moisture!)

Wondering about bottom watering? A lot of people “bottom water” seedlings. This just means sitting a container in water so that water wicks upwards. The reason is that a strong jet of water from a watering can can move around seeds and soil. So feel free to do the bottom watering if you like, although I find that watering gently, by putting my finger over the tip of the watering can to slow the flow of water, is enough to prevent making a potting soil sinkhole.

(If you forget to water and your seedlings flop over, there might still be hope. I remember the seedlings I grew with Dido: we came home one day and they were flopped right over…looked like they were doing yoga. He shrugged and watered them—and they sprang back up within an hour.)

Feeding Tomato Seedlings

Check your potting soil mix to see if it contains fertilizer. Some do. And if it contains fertilizer, you might not need to feed.

Otherwise, once your plants have a few leaves, you can begin to feed them. I use a water-soluble fertilizer.

Don’t overfeed. It can damage delicate seedling roots. (I feed at half of the rate recommended on the label.)

a pot of tomato seedlings with the true leaves starting to grow. These are ready to transplant. — Transplant tomato seedlings after they get “true leaves,” the second set of leaves that comes after the “seed leaves.” These plants are beginning to grow true leaves.

Note: Don’t worry about feeding before the seedlings have a couple of sets of leaves. They’re still drawing from stored energy in the seed.

Thinning and Repotting

If you planted a few seeds together in a container, once they get big enough to handle, you can separate them and give them more space.

Transplant tomato seedlings after they get “true leaves.” The first leaves that appear are “seed leaves” so it’s the third and fourth leaves that are the true leaves. You’ll quickly see the difference.

I use a popsicle stick or pencil to tease apart soil and gently lift up a seedling and its roots. (There are purpose-made gadgets for this…not necessary.)

When picking up seedlings, hold them by the leaves. That’s because it’s very easy to crush the stem. (If you crush a leaf, it can grow a new leaf…if you crush the stem, it’s game over.)

Transplanting Tomato Plants in the Garden

Tomato plants in a cold frame, hardening off — Moving tomato seedlings outdoors to a cold frame in the spring so that they are hardened off for planting into the garden. If the light is bright, we cover the top of the cold frame with something to shade the plants below.

When it’s time to move your tomato seedlings to the garden, there’s one last thing to remember: Your seedlings have grown in the house, in moderate conditions. Once they’re outdoors, the light is brighter, the temperature swings, and there’s wind.

So we “harden off” seedlings, which simply means we get them used to outdoor conditions.

We do this by putting the plants outdoors, in the shade, for a few hours each day. Give them a longer stint in the sun each day, and keep doing this for at least a week.

Got lanky tomato plants? If you have lanky plants, with more stem than you want, you can bury a lot of that stem. That’s because tomato plants will send out new roots where you bury the stem. So just dig a deep hole, or make a trench and lay the plant on its side.

FAQ - How to Grow Tomato Seeds

Can I plant tomato seeds directly in the garden?

Yes, but your harvest will be weeks behind plants started indoors. (Tomato plants sometimes come up on their own in the garden where tomatoes fell to the ground the previous year…but the harvest is late.)

Should I soak my tomato seeds?

No, it’s not necessary.

Can I save my own seed?

Absolutely. It can be as simple as smearing some seeds on a paper towel, or you can clean them more through a fermentation process. In our household, I do the former, while my daughter does the latter.

Note: If you save seeds from hybrid tomato varieties, the seeds you end up with will be different from the parent plant. If you plan to save seeds, look for “open pollinated” varieties.

Is it too late if I start my tomato seeds only 4 weeks before the last frost?

No, but your harvest won’t be as early.

Can I start my tomato plants 10 weeks before the last frost?

Yes, but when they’re started indoors early, there’s more chance of ending up with lanky plants, unless you have very good growing conditions. If I had a greenhouse, I’d consider starting a few plants earlier—for an earlier harvest.

Where can I find the average last frost date for my area?

The easiest way is to do an online search. Some seed companies list dates, as do some master gardener groups and extension agencies.

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More About Growing Tomatoes

How to Support Tomato Plants

Early Ripening Tomatoes

Ripen Green Tomatoes Indoors

Find out how to stake and support tomato plants.

Hear Tips from Tomato Experts

Tomato Variety Roundup with Emma

Dwarf and Unusual Tomatoes with Linda Crago

Course: Tomato Overload Masterclass

Want to up your game growing tomatoes?

This self-paced course helps you choose great varieties, grow great seedlings, give plants the care they need, and enjoy an abundant harvest.

Steven Biggs 2026-02-05 Steven Biggs 2026-02-05

Old-Fashioned Peanut Butter Cookies Everyone Loves

Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe

Peanut butter cookies are a trip down memory lane for me. They remind me sitting with Nana at the red Formica table in her kitchen, sipping home-made lemonade. I never asked Nana for the recipe. So it’s a good thing my Auntie Annie gave me the recipe. I still have her recipe card; it’s in her handwriting.

Every summer when we went away, Nana presented my parents with tins full of cookies and butter tarts. Peanut butter cookies, oatmeal cookies, carrot cookies, and more. They were large, light-blue square cookie tins from the UK with pictures of historic buildings. The tin with the peanut butter cookies was usually empty first.

This recipe is easy to make, and gives soft, chewy peanut butter cookies. No fancy ingredients or gadgets needed.

Why You’ll Love These Easy Peanut Butter Cookies

Soft and chewy texture
Simple ingredients
No chilling required
Perfect for holidays or everyday baking

Soft, chewy homemade peanut butter cookies

Ingredients

1 cup peanut butter
¾ cup shortening
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder

Directions: How to Make Peanut Butter Cookies

Mix peanut butter, shorting, sugars, vanilla and eggs
Then add in flour and baking soda
Mix well
Roll into tablespoon sized balls
Place on non-stick cookie sheet (or line cookie sheet with parchment paper)
Flatten with a fork
Bake at 350°F for about 10 minutes

I have the best success when I roll balls of cookie dough in my hands. If you try to keep your hands clean and roll between two spoons, the ball is too loose, and falls apart when you flatten it with a fork.

Tips for Perfect Peanut Butter Cookies

Don’t over-bake (unless you prefer dry, crumbly cookies to soft, chewy ones)
Use room-temperature ingredients
Mix well

Variations & Add-Ins

Nana sometimes dotted the top of her peanut butter cookies with chocolate chips.

After you flatten with a fork, you have lines going in one direction; for a change, you can also press down with a fork in another direction, to give crossing fork marks.

Storage & Freezing Instructions

These cookies freeze well. Nana froze them in the metal tins I talk about above. Her freezer—what she always called the “deep freeze”—was full of cookie tins, ready to spoil grandkids.

FAQs - Homemade Peanut Butter Cookies

Why are my peanut butter cookies dry? How do I get soft peanut butter cookies?

If cooked too long, they can be dry. Remember, even if they still seem soft after 10 minutes in the oven, they firm up as they cool.

Should I use crunchy or smooth peanut butter in my peanut butter cookies?

You can use either, it really depends on the texture you prefer. Personally, I prefer crunchy peanut butter.

Cookies?

Wondering why there’s a cookie recipe on a site devoted to homegrown food and garden-to-table fare? Because when I teach in-person classes, I like to bring homemade cookies. If you’re interested in updates on upcoming classes, use the form below.

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More Ideas

Here are more cooking and baking resources for you.

Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

Smartie Cookies

More Cooking Ideas

Steven Biggs 2026-01-27 Steven Biggs 2026-01-27

Classic Smartie Cookies: Soft, Sweet, and Totally Canadian

Delicious Smartie Cookie Recipe

I baked these cookies for one of the in-person gardening classes I teach. If you enjoy a good old-fashioned chewy Smartie cookie that’s loaded with Smarties, give this recipe a try.

I got this recipe from Mom’s recipe box. It’s typed on onion-skin paper. In Mom’s handwriting, in the corner, is a note dated 1974, saying the recipe came from her friend Sherrill. Funny thing happened: The day I baked these, Sherrill called me to check in. Normally, we email back and forth once or twice a year. Go figure.

The recipe below is Sherrill’s, save for the addition of lemon zest. Mom used lemon zest to brighten up everything from baking to savoury dishes, something I picked up from her.

Canuck Cookie Trivia

Here’s some cookie Canadiana:

Smarties in Canada differ from those in the US (see below).
On the bottom of the onion-skinned original from Sherrill, she notes that Smarties often go on sale for “$1.49 Days” at Woodwards and Eaton’s—two iconic former Canadian retailers. I shopped at both stores, but the $1.49 Days were before my time.

Why Canadian Smarties Work (and American Smarties Don’t)

Canadian Smarties and American Smarties are completely different candies, despite sharing the same name.

Canadian Smarties

Chocolate-based
Similar to M&M’s
Coated in a thin candy shell
Hold their shape when baked, making them suited for cookies
Commonly used in Canadian baking and desserts

U.S. Smarties

Sugar candy
No chocolate

*Soft Canadian Smartie cookies with chocolate Smarties baked into the dough*

Soft Chewy Smarties Cookies Recipe

Ingredients

Don’t cheap out on the Smarties. There’s nothing more disappointing than biting into a cookie but finding no Smarties inside…like a chocolate chip cookie with a single chip atop it but nothing inside. You feel cheated.

1 cup shortening
1 cup brown sugar
½ cup white sugar
2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
2 ¼ cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 ½ cup Smarties
1 tbsp lemon zest

Directions

Cream together the shortening, sugars, vanilla, and eggs.
Stir in flour and most of the smarties, reserving enough Smarties to garnish each cookie with a Smartie on top.
Roll dough into small balls using a couple of tablespoons.
Place on an ungreased cookie sheet.
Garnish each dough ball with a Smartie pressed gently into the top.
Bake at 375°F for 10 minutes.
Don’t overbake…don’t want the smarties to melt!
Once they’ve cooled, set one aside for yourself before the kids gobble them all up.

FAQ - Chocolate Smarties Cookies

Can I make Smarties cookies in the U.S.?

If you get Canadian Smarties, sure you can.

Are Canadian Smarties the same as M&M’s?

No, they’re different brands; the taste and appearance are different. Smarties are flatter.

Cookies?

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More Ideas

Here are more cooking ideas, and more information on growing your own lemon tree—so you can have homegrown lemon zest.

More Cooking Ideas

Grow Your Own Lemon Zest

Cranberry-Oatmeal Cookies

Peanut Butter Cookies

Steven Biggs 2026-01-21 Steven Biggs 2026-01-21

Seed Company List: Where to Buy Vegetable Seed

Steven Biggs 2026-01-20 Steven Biggs 2026-01-20

Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

Cookie Recipe

These cranberry oatmeal cookies are soft, chewy, and packed with colourful, tart cranberries.

The note on Mom’s hand-written recipe card says, “Jan. 17/95, Very good.” And that’s how I remember these cookies. Very good.

I hadn’t eaten one of these for a couple of decades. Then, when before teaching one of my in-person food-gardening classes, I thought, “let’s have cookies while we talk about gardening.” So I turned to Mom’s recipe box.

Why You’ll Love these Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

The tartness of the cranberries balances the sweetness.
The pieces of cranberry add colour.
These soft oatmeal cookies melt in your mouth.

Makes 3-4 dozen, depending how generous you are as you spoon the batter onto the cookie sheet.

I hope you enjoy them!

close-up picture of cranberry oatmeal cookies on a cooling rack — Soft and chewy cranberry oatmeal cookies on a cooling rack.

Ingredients

1 cup vegetable shortening
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk (Mom used buttermilk, I use kefir)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 cups quick oats
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped cranberries

I find frozen cranberries easy to chop, so don’t worry if you don’t have fresh cranberries. You could probably use dried cranberries too, though they’re often sweetened, and I find this recipe sweet enough.

Directions

Cream shortening and sugar
Beat in eggs
Stir in buttermilk
Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg, and then stir into sugar-shortening mixture
Stir in oats
Stir in cranberries
Spoon tablespoons of batter onto cookie sheets (well greased, or with parchment paper)
Bake at 400°F for about 10 minutes (or until colour around edges begins to change).

Don’t cook too long; an oatmeal cookie ought to be soft to bite into.

Enjoy!

Cookies?

Find This Helpful?

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It’s because we’re reader supported.

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More Ideas

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More Cooking Ideas

Peanut Butter Cookes

Smartie Cookies

Steven Biggs 2025-12-04 Steven Biggs 2025-12-04

Kohlrabi Made Easy: Grow This Weird Little Veggie in Cold Climates

How to grow kohlrabi.

By Steven Biggs

Growing Kohlrabi in Home Gardens

THREE CHEERS for one of the most photogenic veggies out there.

To my kids, kohlrabi looked like flying saucers. When I look at kohlrabi from the right angle I see a person having a bad hair day.

Whatever your imagination paints it as, it’s both attractive and unusual, making it a nice fit for an ornamental edible garden.

It’s also easy to grow, quick to mature, and versatile in the kitchen.

If you haven’t tasted it before, I’d describe the flavour as a cross between a mild apple and mild turnip. Let’s call it turnip light!

In this post I’ll talk about how to grow kohlrabi and how to fit it into your garden.

It Starts as a Rosette

Kohlrabi is a member of the cabbage clan. It has an edible stem that fattens up right above the soil level. Before the stem plumps up, though, the plant is a rosette of leaves. As the stem thickens, the symmetry of that rosette remains, with leaves projecting out from the bulb-like stem.

Top Tip for Kohlrabi Success

Here’s the key to your kohlrabi success: Fast, uninterrupted growth.

To get that type of growth, grow it in well-fed soil, with cool temperatures and consistent moisture.

Site

How to grow kohlrabi — Kohlrabi is an easy-to-grow vegetable that is versatile in the kitchen.

Like its cabbage cousins, kohlrabi grows best in soil with lots of organic matter
A spot with full sun is best (although I’ve had decent results growing kohlrabi in partial shade)

Grow Kohlrabi from Seed

Kohlrabi is easy to grow from seed, indoors or outdoors. I don’t usually bother starting them indoors in the spring, but it’s an option if you want the earliest possible harvest. If you start them indoors, there’s no need for a heat mat.

Sow seeds approximately 5 mm (1/4”) deep
Outdoors: Start sowing about 1 month before the last spring frost
Indoors: Start kohlrabi transplants about 1 month before you plant to move them to the garden

Here are a couple of ways to get a longer kohlrabi harvest:

Start additional seeds every 2-3 weeks
Grow more than one variety, choosing varieties that take different amounts of time to mature

A young kohlrabi plant, before the stem has started to fatten up.

Note: While kohlrabi plants are tolerant of cold weather, a hard freeze can cause young plants to bolt – to jump right to the flowering stage. That would mean no thick edible stem. So there’s a limit to how early you can plant them out.

Kohlrabi as a Summer Succession Crop

When kohlrabi is a succession crop, I like to pre-start seedlings indoors (or outdoors, in another part of the garden). That way, I have transplants ready to go once the desired space opens up.

While I rarely start spring kohlrabi indoors in the spring, I find it’s the best way for me to grow kohlrabi for summer succession because:

It allows me to have a tighter succession...with larger plants ready as soon as the space is open
The hot, dry summer weather that I get here is not ideal for outdoor seeding

Note: Depending on growing conditions in your area – and how much attention you give your garden over the summer – kohlrabi might or might not be a suitable summer succession crop. Dry conditions can cause erratic growth and give a woody texture with a strong, bitter flavour.

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And get an early harvest of crops that usually take too long!

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Spacing

With direct-seeded kohlrabi, I usually plant them more densely than recommended. Then I thin out the row as the stems begin to fatten, enjoying an early harvest of young kohlrabi.

Kohlrabi leaves are edible, so if I thin out any plants before the stems enlarge, I can still add the leaves to a salad!

Planting more densely is also cheap insurance against losses and poor germination.

For large kohlrabi, select a variety known for size — If you’re aiming to grow larger kohlrabi, increase the spacing a bit – and look for a variety know for size.

Sow the seeds approximately 5 cm (2“) apart
Thin to 10 – 15 cm (4-6”) apart
Space rows 30cm (12”) apart

If you’re aiming to grow larger kohlrabi, increase the spacing a bit – and look for a variety know for size.

Challenges

I find the early crop is not bothered much by pests. But later sowings and summer-succession transplants are growing when there are more pest pressures in the garden. That means young seedlings can be vulnerable to flea beetles, cabbage worm, and cabbage looper. An easy solution is to cover young plants with a floating row cover.

Where possible, rotate crops to minimize pest and disease pressures. That means it’s best not to plant kohlrabi where you’ve had you’ve had related crops (broccoli, cauliflower, collards, kale, turnip, rutabaga, cabbage, bok choy, Brussels sprouts, and mustards) in last 4 years.

Harvest and Storage

Kohlrabi usually take a couple of months to mature. Pick when they’re anywhere between the size of a golf ball and a tennis balls. Remember: smaller will be more tender.

Kohlrabi is frost hardy, so there is no rush to harvest it in the fall.

In the Kitchen

You can eat kohlrabi raw or cooked. Either way, peel it first, because the skin can be tough. I prefer to use a paring knife (sometimes a potato peeler gets stuck on the spots where the leaf joined the stem.)

Here are some ways I’ve enjoyed serving kohlrabi:

Sliced, on a veggie platter
Grated, in slaws and salads
Poached (in white wine with butter is nice!)
Cut into ribbons, and added to a stir fry
Cubed and added to curries

Remember: The young leaves and leaf stalks are edible too!

Not Sure Where to Start?

A simple way to use raw kohlrabi is to grate it and then make a slaw. Here’s how:

Mix together some grated kohlrabi with a grated apple
I peel the apple first, so the white flesh of the apple and kohlrabi blend together
Use a slow-to-brown apple variety if you have one (at the moment, Pink Lady is my favourite)
Add salt, a dash of red wine vinegar, and olive oil.

That’s it!

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Steven Biggs 2025-11-03 Steven Biggs 2025-11-03

How to Keep Squirrels Away from the Garden

Deter Squirrels and Repel Squirrels

article thumnail for ideas to keep squirrels out of your food garden. — Ideas to keep squirrels out of your food garden.

Squirrels can cause a lot of damage in a home food garden. They get into fruit crops, nut crops, the vegetable garden, and potted plants.

In a home-garden setting, they can be more of a problem than they are for commercial growers. That's because small, enclosed home gardens often have fewer natural predators. And because some people like watching squirrels, and actually feed them on purpose.

But there are ways to keep squirrels away, and to deter them from pilfering your crops. Keep reading if squirrels make your blood boil: This article has 50 ideas to safeguard your garden. (If you're a squirrel lover who purposely feeds them, this article is not for you.)

Key Takeaways

Keep squirrels away from your food crops using a combination of strategies:

Make your yard less inviting to them.
Make it difficult for them to get to your crops and garden beds.
Natural predators can help, and so can pets such as cats and dogs.
Plan your harvest so that you beat them to it.
Choose crops and varieties that are less likely to be bothered by squirrels.
Use repellents to make your garden less attractive.

Understand Squirrel Behavior

We'll get to a number of specific strategies you can use to prevent squirrels spoiling your harvest, but first, let's understand why they're attracted to your garden.

What Do Squirrels Eat?

a cucumber with the end chewed off by a squirrel — There are lots of food sources for squirrels in a home garden. They feed on nuts, seeds, fruit, and insects.

Squirrels are not fussy eaters. They're omnivores. That means they feed on a variety of things including nuts, seeds, fruits, and insects. Oh, let's not forget the tulip bulbs or Halloween pumpkins! I've even caught one digging up my carrots in the fall.

For a squirrel, your garden is a buffet. And its diet changes seasonally depending on what's around.

What Attracts Squirrels to Your Garden?

If you put out food for the birds, that's a big-time squirrel attractant. Even if you feel smug about the squirrel baffles that keep them from your bird feeders, bird are as tidy as toddlers: They spill seed onto the ground. So the squirrels just feast at ground level.

If you're growing food, unfortunately, that's attractive to squirrels too. Fruit, seeds, bulbs...

They need water too, so ponds and bird baths make your garden more attractive.

What Else do Squirrels Do? Other Types of Squirrel Damage

flower pot with much of the soil dug out by a squirrel — It’s common for squirrels to dig around potted plants (and often dig them right out!)

Squirrels dig up newly worked garden beds and newly transplanted plants. That digging can be a downer if you've just planted seeds or transplanted seedlings. The digging often becomes less frenzied through summer, as they occupy themselves with other sorts of damage.

If you find the end nipped of tree branches, that's probably squirrels too.

One day I noticed a squirrel skulking around with branches in its mouth. Turned out it had chewed most of the fruiting branches from one of my espaliered apple trees so it could make a nest nearby.

Squirrels and Balconies

Balcony and rooftop gardeners might deal with squirrels too. Friends with a balcony garden on the 22nd floor asked me how to deter squirrels. To my surprise—and theirs—they kept finding nuts in their balcony planters, and their plants strewn on the floor. They described watching the squirrel descend the flat face of the building, head first. No fear.

Will the Squirrels go Away?

Squirrel populations go up and down, depending on the availability of food, on disease pressures, and how many predators are around.

And some years new squirrels come along that are smarter than the others...and figure out how to hack your squirrel-proofing. Don't worry, their life span is much shorter than yours.

So if you're in the midst of a really frustrating year, don't give up! They will go away.

Remember

In a home garden, we don't have the time or resources to grow a perfectly managed crop like a commercial grower. You might lose some of it to squirrels. But using some of the ideas below to deter squirrels or repel squirrels, you can still harvest lots for yourself. So don't sweat imperfection. Just start the gardening year knowing they will steal some stuff, but that you still have (some) control.

50 Squirrel-Busting Ideas for Your Garden

Keep Crops Out of Reach to Deter Squirrels

A newly dug and planted bed protected by wire mesh. — One way to deter squirrels is to exclude them, to prevent them from getting to your crops. They can’t dig up this newly planted bed protected by chicken wire.

Keep squirrels away from your crops using simple tactics to exclude them.

Be Cagey. When our rooftop melon crops were relentlessly destroyed, I put a big wire cage over top of the planter. This is not practical for large gardens. Nor is it pretty. But in some situations it's a practical solution. (Simple to put together with hardware cloth or chicken wire, zip ties, and bamboo poles.)
Cloak the Rows. A floating row cover (a.k.a. horticultural fleece) is a fabric that goes over top of the crop. It's usually used to hold in heat—but it's also an excellent squirrel deterrent. You can put the cover right over top of low-growing garden plants such as leafy greens, or use small hoops under the fabric for taller crops.
Protect Seeds in Pots. Squirrels often dig newly planted seeds from pots and containers. You come home only to find soil everywhere. Put a chicken-wire cover over the top of the pot or planter. Then remove it once the crops are growing. If the squirrel pressures are bad, leave it all season and let the seedlings grow right up through the holes in the wire.
Save Potted Plants. You can also use wire when potting up individual plants. Use wire cutters to make a hole in the wire for your plant to grow through. I saw an entire container garden grown in a squirrel infested neighbourhood using chicken-wire pot covers.
Trays Over Rows. Nothing is more discouraging that planting a row of seeds in the garden only to have a squirrel come and unplant them. Put upside-down web trays over newly planted seeds. Better yet, pin them down with a rock or brick so that if there's wind, they won't blow away. Great temporary way to discourage squirrels!
Flower Pots Repurposed. Same idea as the trays, above, except suited to a smaller area.
Wire Over Garden Rows. For the incorrigible diggers, you can temporarily lay chicken wire or hardware cloth over a newly seeded patch of garden.
Repurpose Cold Frames. The cold frame gives you something onto which to fasten chicken wire. Now you have a protected space for low-growing crops such as strawberries...and squirrels love strawberries.
Make a Tree Unclimbable. If squirrels are scaling a fruit tree, you might be able to sheathe part of the tree trunks in slippery metal, so they can't get to the tasty fruit above. Just keep in mind that squirrels do jump--and might be able to jump from an adjacent tree or fence...so this tactic doesn't work in all situations. The sheathing must be high enough above the ground and the tree far enough away that they can't just jump into it.
Skewer Teepee. Haven't tried this one, but a student told me how she protects newly planted tomato plants from being dug up by inserting pointy skewers (the sort used for kebabs), pointy side up, in a teepee formation around a plant or around the edge of a pot. Makes it unpleasant for the furry fiend to try to reach over it. I've also heard of people installing a row of upturned plastic forks to accomplish the same thing.
Transplants Instead of Seeds. Seed-grown sunflowers in the garden don't always work for us. Seeds get eaten before they can grow. That's when sunflower insurance comes in handy: We also start a few sunflower seeds indoors, and then transplant the seedlings into the garden a bit later.
It'll Come Out in the Wash. We've resorted to upturned laundry baskets as defensive measures for pumpkins. Ain't pretty. But it works.
Sheer Determination. A reader who is a custom drapery maker reports covering entire pots of tomatoes with sheer fabric, with a few supports to hold up the fabric. She notes that it's a bit of work to lift the fabric for harvest, but worth the effort. Sheer fabric, she says, is usually 118" wide, and sold by the yard. So a 3-yard piece of fabric is enough for a big pot of squirrel-foiling folly. Fun way to bring down the curtain on tomato theft! (Thank you Diane!)
Bottled Up. Thanks to a reader for this squirrel proofing hack for cucumbers. Take a 2-litre pop bottle, remove the label, and punch a few drainage/ventilation holes. (Soldering iron works well!) Once a cuke has formed, insert it into the bottle. If the plant is trellised, tie the bottle to the trellis. For really long English cukes (or luffa gourds or snake gourds), cut off the bottom of the bottle to allow it to grow longer. Or, force-fit your gourds into the shape of the 2L bottle! (Thank you Jurgen!)
Drink to Their Health. The bottle idea above makes me think of the pear liqueur my neighbour Dave talks about, with a large pear inside a bottle from which there's no way of retrieving it. Same idea as above: The fruit is inserted into the bottle while very small. Bet they can't chew through a glass bottle!

upturned web trays over a newly planted section of a vegetable garden prevent squirrels from digging. — Plastic web trays that are used for transporting plants are a simple way to protect newly planted areas of the garden from digging squirrels.

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Out of Sight, Out of Mind

A planter with burlap covering the soil so that it's out of sight. — Putting the soil out of sight can really help reduce digging in newly planted containers. Pictured here is burlap.

Hide the Soil. When it's out of sight, it's out of their wee minds. Sometimes just putting the soil in your planters out of sight prevents digging. They don't see the soil, they don't dig. When I fill up planters with transplants, I first cover the soil with burlap, tucked in at the sides. I use a razor to cut an X for each plant, and then plant into it. A great thing about burlap is that it's a natural fibre that breaks down over the summer, and the scraps left at the end of summer can go onto the compost pile.
Mulch It. Same idea as the burlap above, but use a plastic mulch film over the soil, either in the garden or in your planters. I don't care for the appearance of the black biodegradable plastic mulches, but they do help cut back on digging. They also hold in soil moisture.
Bag it! I put organza bags over prized fruit such as my pawpaw and my Cox's Orange Pippin apples. There's been an occasional year where a wily squirrel figures out it can chew through the bag, but most years it works nicely. (The white bags are very conspicuous, but green ones blend into the landscape a bit better.)

the surface of a container covered with a black plastic mulch. — Biodegradable plastic mulch is another way to cover the soil in containers, so that squirrels are not tempted to dig up newly planted crops.

Accept Help

You can't be there all day to chase squirrels away from your crops. But maybe there are other creatures that can help prevent squirrel damage.

(And I should also note here that I encounter wildly varying mindsets when it comes to what I share below. For some gardeners, squirrels are garden pests—and just like weeds, they don't want them in the garden. Other gardeners appreciate them as a form of amusement, and think of them as part of nature that they don't want disturbed. I'm with the former, or I wouldn't be writing this post.)

fox — Pets and natural predators can be one of your squirrel-proofing strategies.

Get a Dog. One reader told me he doesn't have squirrel problems; he has a 120-pound German shepherd. (Thank you, Steve!) It’s worth noting that not all dogs have the knack. The squirrels torment a nearby pooch...they run back and forth along the fence, as the dog runs back and forth along the ground barking at them.
Get a Cat. My fig mentor Adriano told me squirrels weren't a problem for him because he had a cat. (I got a cat once...turned out to be a lover, not a hunter. It spent the day accosting passersby on the sidewalk, purring, did nothing to prevent squirrels having a party in my garden.)
Watch Like a Hawk. Red-tailed hawks dine on squirrel in the big tree behind my house. We heard two red squirrels telling off a hawk one day. It quickly picked off one, and then returned for the other. Two-for-one special. The red tails hang out in my yard because I didn't clear-cut all of the big trees.
Don't Forget Foxes. The summer foxes moved in a couple of doors down from us, there was almost no squirrel thievery. The sassy squirrels were quickly dispatched. Those that remained didn't seem eager to come out of the trees. The foxes made a den under a neighbour's shed. I'm glad he didn't try to scare them away.
This Didn't Work. When my kids were small I gave them sling shots and a bag of dried chick peas, thinking is was a perfect way to chase squirrels. We ended up with a hummus-like chickpea sludge on the garage roof. It didn't keep squirrels away...merely had them darting out of range.

The Right Timing Helps

large beefsteak tomato, part of it chewed off by a squirrel — We should have picked this tomato a couple of days earlier, and then we would have had the whole thing…but we left it until it was pretty ripe, and a squirrel ate part of it.

Like many things in life, timing and patience can help you harvest more.

Go Back Later. When your newly sown seeds are repeatedly desecrated by squirrels in the spring, you'll want to pull out your hair. Exasperating. Or you find your potted plants unpotted! But sometimes if you wait a week or two, there's enough else going on in the garden that the critters find something else to do. Problem resolved.
Harvest Earlier. If you leave a big, juicy tomato on the vine until it's perfectly ripe, it might temp them. Pick it a couple of days earlier, though, and it's all yours. No nibbled-off sections. Tomatoes, like many other fruit, continue to ripen once you pick them, so you don't lose anything with this tactic. It works for apples, and melons too.

Crop Choice

Cut your losses through crop choice.

Bite This! Grow chili peppers and other hot peppers, which squirrels find distasteful. Contrast these to nice, plump bell peppers which they'll surely nosh on.
Small Wonder. Grow berries and small fruit such as currants and saskatoons. Even if they snack on a few, there's loads left for you. Contrast that to a dwarf apple tree, where they might take a bite out of each of the dozen apples on there.
Forget Big Apples. And if you must grow apples, try a culinary crab apple. ('Dolgo' makes a lovely apple sauce and a divine ice cream.) With crabapples, you get lots of smaller apples instead of a few big ones, so there will be some for you even if the squirrels steal a few.
Bye-Bye Beefsteak. When you have a tomato plant with a half dozen lovely big beefsteak tomatoes, and lots of squirrels about, you're setting yourself up for a blood pressure spike. Because they'll want to taste each of them. But if you plant a cherry tomato variety with hundreds of smaller fruit, there's lots for you too.
Go Green. I haven't seen research to back this up, but I feel like my green-when-ripe tomato varieties and my green figs fly under squirrel radar.
Knight in Shining Armour. We love litchi tomatoes, a spiny tomato relative that's really quite delicious. The plants, though, are quite ferocious. Horrid to work with. And the fruit are clad in a squirrel-proof spiny armour.

the ripe fruit of litchi tomato — Litchi tomato is covered by spines. The covering finally opens as the fruit ripens. They’re a great crop where there are heavy squirrel pressures.

Repel Squirrels

Over the years, I've heard of all sorts of sprays and scents that people swear by. None have been as effective for me as cayenne pepper, see below. There are many scent deterrents. Some scattered in the garden, some sprayed on. The main thing to remember is that they usually need frequent reapplication.

Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot. A hot pepper decoction sprayed on your prized fruit can make it less appealing to squirrels. But it's a lot of work, because you first must make the decoction, and then reapply after rain.
Make it Nicer to go Next Door. In the same way you put burglar alarm stickers on your windows so burglars will go next door, grow something that squirrels don't like—so they go next door. I interplant flower bulbs such as tulips (which squirrels love to steal) with daffodils and fritillaria, which squirrels hate. Imagine that, you can plant bulbs to discourage squirrels!

Hot pepper decoction seem like a bother? here’s another take on using hot peppers: Amy Tan, author of the book The Backyard Bird Chronicles, sets out hot-pepper suet for the birds. Birds aren’t bothered by the hot peppers…squirrels won’t try it more than once!

If you like the idea of interplanting, here’s more (thanks Gail!): Plant bulbs like a layer cake, with tulips (which squirrels like) on the bottom, and then a layer of soil followed by narcissus and daffodil (which the squirrels don’t like). Of course, this does nothing to halt the bud-nipping as they’re about to flower…

Make Your Yard Less Attractive

Don't make your yard a gathering place, where they'll happen upon your strawberries or tomatoes when they come for a daily dose of bird seed.

This sort of spike mat is often used to deter pigeons, but can also make it difficult for squirrels to launch themselves towards somewhere you don’t want them, such as a bird feeder.

Baffle Them. As a gardener who enjoys bird watching, I don't propose you get rid of your bird feeder. But do get baffles or a squirrel-proof bird feeder. There's still bird-seed spillage, but at least you're not serving up a smorgasbord.
Flip Them the Bird. A neighbour finds that hanging the bird feeders on a clothes line isn't enough. They soon figure out how to get to them. But put noodle over the clothesline, and as the pool noodle begins to rotate under the creature's weight, the thief flips off! (Thank you, Mary!)
No More Acrobatics. A neighbour has squirrel baffles on her bird-feeder poles. But the squirrels quickly figured out that they could launch themselves from her deck railing—and about half the time, reach the feeder. Quite amusing to watch, actually. Spiky mats (often used to keep pigeons off of window ledges) on the deck railing cut short the runway for the launch.
Feed Birds Seasonally. Have the squirrels been in the habit of hanging around under your bird feeder all winter? Break the habit. Don't put out feed through the growing season.
Good Housekeeping. I'm not a believer in garden perfectionism, but I do tidy up when my neighbour's black walnut tree unloads bushels of black walnuts into my yard. No point making my yard a destination for bushy-tailed beasts. If your yard is littered with other favourite treats such as acorns, pine cones, fallen nuts, and fallen fruit, tidy up.

For Your Sanity

It's OK to Yell. Mom had a bird feeder outside her kitchen window. The squirrels appreciated it. And every so often she'd fill a pot of water, open the door, yell, and fling the water at them. They'd soon be back, but she felt better. I'll sometimes open the door and say rude words if there's one sitting on my deck railing with a fig.
It’s OK if your kids yell too. Anna writes, “My (not-at-all-scalable, and only-effective-during-waking-hours) solution is my six year old. She chases them out of the garden—usually shouting. Obviously not an effective solution if she's sleeping or at school. She's pretty effective at getting rid of hungry pigeons too.“
Slide Show. It can be fun to smear Vaseline on a bird feeder pole simply to watch squirrels climb it and slip and slide back down the pole.

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Things I Haven't Yet Tried

plastic bird netting around a flower pot — Plastic bird netting to keep squirrels away from a flower pot.

Squirrels Have you Tearing our Your Hair? Try this! A reader writes that she uses hair from her hairbrush around tulips to deter red squirrels from nipping off tulip flowers. She's planning to do the tomatoes next...but it takes lots of hair, so collect it all year to be ready for summer! (Thanks Sandra!)
Decoys. Plastic owls or snakes. Though I've seen these used as deterrents by giant pumpkin growers, I recall the squirrels climbing the pole with a plastic owl in my parents' garden...so I'm not sure.
Hot Sauce. Some people swear by hot sauce. I'd just go for a cayenne pepper decoction. Cayenne powder costs less. And why make your garden smell like a plate of chicken wings from the pub?
Plastic Netting. I've known tormented gardeners to put a shower cap of plastic bird netting over planters. Prefer netting that’s barely visible? Black netting is another option. (Thanks Kathleen!) If you're growing something that they really want to get to, a physical barrier such as wire mesh will give better protection.
Motion Activated Sprinklers. A friend found that a motion activated sprinkler solved the problem of raccoons eating all his figs. So you might want to try it with squirrels...though I suspect you'll find you have a high water bill, and an overwatered garden.
More Scents. Some people swear by peppermint oil, coffee grounds, garlic, or even chive plants as squirrel repellents. I don't have an opinion as I haven't experimented with these. The main thing to remember with scent-based repellents is that you must reapply frequently. Recently I’ve heard people talking about using the dry, pelleted hen manure that we can buy here, though I haven’t experimented with it.
Quench the Temptation. Suzanne writes that she's heard squirrels take a bite of tomatoes because they're thirsty. So she's put a bird bath near the veg patch. Not scientifically proven, but she's finding it works. (Thanks Suzanne!)
Straight Shooter. In urban areas, squirrels might be considered wildlife and afforded protection. Not so in many rural areas. I've had rural readers write to say that with a good dog and a .22, they don't lose their crops. (Thanks Esther!)

Do you have experience with any of these? Or other squirrel repellents to report? I'd love it if you email me to tell me.

I Wish I Could Find a Study…

What’s the Scoop on Poop? A number of garden centre employees have recommended pelleted chicken manure to me as a squirrel deterrent. And there are lots of blog posts touting it. But I have yet to find research that digs into chicken manure as a squirrel repellent. If the chicken manure does work, it could be because of a couple of things: The odour is a deterrent; or the odour masks smells that cause squirrels to dig.

Don't Waste Your Time

pinnable image for squirrel post — Pin this post!

Don't Blow Your Top. I was out for a stroll one night when I saw my neighbour Joe chasing a squirrel. The squirrel had the last of the dozen apricots from his dwarf apricot tree. He didn't get the apricot back. Squirrels will outrun you.
On the Dot. My neighbour Bob thought he'd save his fruit crops by trapping squirrels and relocating them. He'd drive 3 km, across a very busy, 6-lane road, to a natural area where he'd release squirrels. When he became suspicious that he was still seeing the same squirrel, he marked an orange dot with spray paint on its back. Yup, same squirrel.
Pee. I once lived in a rental house with an attic overflowing with squirrels. They were always pouring out of the holes they'd chewed in the soffit. I could hear them up there. Sounded like a square dance. The landlord swore by the predator urine (I think coyote) that he paid big bucks for, bathing the roof of the house with the stinky granules. The pest-control technician who he finally dispatched laughed when I mentioned the urine. "Doesn't work," he said.

When All Else Fails

Gardening should be a pleasure. Use a combination of the ideas so that you can harvest more. And know that, as a home gardener, you’ll probably have more losses to pests than a commercial grower. But you can still harvest lots for yourself.

Suck it, squirrel!

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Steven Biggs 2025-10-28 Steven Biggs 2025-10-28

What to do with Pumpkins after Halloween (and a Pumpkin Recipe!)

By Steven Biggs

Cook Your Halloween Pumpkins

The smell of freshly carved pumpkin is a memory trigger for me. Along with the smell, the gooey, stringy feeling when I reach inside a pumpkin to pull out the seeds makes me feel like a kid again.

I still enjoy thinking up fun faces to carve. One year I carved a blue hubbard squash into an elephant. The pointy stem end was the trunk! (Carving it was challenging. Hubbard squash store well because of the hard, thick rind.)

After Halloween, I cook our jack-o-lanterns. First, I cut them up into manageable chunks. Then I roast the chunks, uncovered, on a cookie sheet.

Once the flesh is cooked and soft, I scrape it from the skin and puree it with an immersion blender. I use some of the pureed pumpkin right away; and freeze some for later. My kids love pumpkin muffins, so I often make a batch of muffins as I’m processing our jack-o-lanterns. (Recipe below.)

Besides muffins, I use home-cooked pumpkin puree for any recipe that calls for tinned pumpkin: pies, pudding, soup, loaves. Pumpkins sold for jack-o-lanterns are not usually as sweet as pie pumpkins, and they’re often a bit more watery. So I adjust recipes accordingly.

Recipe: Pumpkin Muffins

Nana Biggs’ pumpkin muffin recipe. (I usually cut the sugar in half and add raisins and nuts.) — Nana Biggs’ pumpkin muffin recipe. I halve the sugar, and add raisins and nuts.

One of Nana Biggs’ favourite recipes was pumpkin muffins. As a kid, I’d cut up my jack-o-lantern the day after Halloween, and then pack it up to take to Nana. She kept me well fed with muffins!

(My Uncle Bill didn’t like me giving Nana so much pumpkin, because he didn’t like the muffins. I never let him forget that. One year, after I’d moved away from home, I baked him a cake-sized muffin and sent it to him by courier!)

Pumpkin Muffin Recipe

Ingredients

2 eggs
1 cup white sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup pumpkin
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt

Directions

Cream together eggs, sugar, and oil
Add pumpkin
Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt
Bake at 350°F for approximately 30 minutes, until done

Note: I halve the sugar and use less oil if the pumpkin is more watery than tinned pumpkin

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

I roast the pumpkin seeds too.

After I rinse them (to remove slime and stringy bits), I toss them with a bit of vegetable oil, salt, and garlic powder. Then I roast them on a cookie sheet until they start to make a popping sound.

In my daughter Emma’s book, Gardening with Emma, she tells kids how pumpkins in the garden start to sag, and then become spots on the soil by spring. — In my daughter Emma’s book, *Gardening with Emma*, she tells kids how pumpkins in the garden start to sag, and then become spots on the soil by spring.

(If you’ve ever wondered about hulless pumpkin seeds, the ones you see at the store are not individually shelled. They are from a pumpkin variety that produces hulless seeds.)

Can you Compost Pumpkins?

Any pumpkins that I don’t cook end up feeding the soil. I sit them on the garden, outside our back window. Then, we watch them slowly collapse into the soil. My daughter Emma shares this idea in her book Gardening with Emma.

You can also put your jack-o-lanterns in the compost pile.

Watch them from the window.

Everyone ages differently.

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Gardening with Emma (author-signed)

Written for kids by a kid, this guide helps kids see the fun side of gardening, whether it’s growing giant vegetables, making a bug vacuum, or making a sound-themed garden.

Emma shares lots of inspiring ideas for young gardeners about how to grow healthy food, raise cool plants, and have fun outdoors.

Copies from the Food Garden Life shop are signed by Emma!

Steven Biggs - Lemon Expert 2025-10-09 Steven Biggs - Lemon Expert 2025-10-09

Buy a Lemon Tree

Find out where to buy a lemon tree.

By Steven Biggs

Looking for Lemon Trees? Find Out Where to Buy Citrus Trees

header image for buy a lemon tree, showing meyer lemon and ponderosa lemon — Find out where to shop for lemon trees and get tips for choosing and delivery.

CAPTION: Find out where to shop for lemon trees and get tips for choosing and delivery.

I get a lot of messages from people wondering where to buy a lemon tree. So I hope this list of nurseries selling lemon trees and other citrus trees helps you find what you're looking for.

This list focuses on nurseries, garden centres, and specialist nurseries in Canada and the northern USA.

It's a work in progress. If there's a nursery or garden centre that sells lemon trees near you, please to let me know.

Before you browse through the list, get started with Tips When Shopping for a Lemon Tree, below.

Canada Lemon Trees and Other Citrus Trees

USA Lemon Trees and Other Citrus Trees

Tips When Shopping for a Lemon Tree

Here are tips to keep in mind as you get ready to shop for a potted lemon tree or other citrus.

Delivery vs. Pick-Up

Larger potted plants can be expensive to ship! Delivery costs depend on the distance and the size of the plants.

If picking up your plants is an option, you can usually save quite a bit of money over delivery.

Mail-order sellers usually only ship spring through fall, when the temperature outdoors is warm enough.

Seasonal Availability

Not sure what to do with your lemon tree over the winter season? Or if it needs bright light indoors, when to prune the branches, or what sort of environment you should give it? Find out how to give your lemon tree great care in this self-paced online class.

Some of the sellers listed here are nurseries that propagate their own citrus and have plants year-round.

Others are garden centres that carry lemon trees and other citrus trees seasonally.

Here in Southern Ontario, I often start to see California-grown potted citrus in garden centres in the spring. A Meyer lemon tree is one of the most common. Selection usually declines through the season, and once they're sold out, that's it until the following year.

Cross-Border Shipments

Some nurseries and garden centres don't ship citrus trees out of country. That's because sending plants across the border involves inspections and paperwork.

If you find an out-of-country vendor who does ship to your area, ask about any additional cost for inspections and paperwork. Ask, too, about the delay that inspections could cause for your shipment of citrus trees.

Canada Lemon Trees and Other Citrus Trees

USA Lemon Trees and Other Citrus Trees

Canada Lemon Trees and Other Citrus Trees

Grow Lemons Where You Think You Can't

Looking for a lemon tree in Canada? Here’s a list of Canadian retailers of lemon trees and other citrus plants. Are you hunting for Canadian-grown plants? Remember: Not all nurseries grow their own plants. So if you want plants produced in Canada, ask the retailer where the plants come from.

Anna’s Garden

Kingsville, Ontario

This garden centre ships Canada-wide, and carries a good selection of citrus.

Angelo’s Garden Centre

Vaughan, Ontario

Brugmansia Quebec

St-Valérien de Milton, Québec

A good selection of citrus plants, figs, and, as the name suggests, Brugmansia—a.k.a. angel's trumpet.

Bunchberry Nursery

Upper Clements, Nova Scotia

Along with fruit trees and bushes, nuts, and figs, specializing in alpines, heaths and heathers, dwarf conifers, rhododendrons, grasses and perennials.

Exotic Fruit Nursery

Lunenburg, Nova Scotia

Citrus trees, hardy fruit trees, exotic fruit, and nut trees.

Fiesta Gardens

Toronto, Ontario

We're big fans of Fiesta Gardens, here in Toronto. This independent garden centre brings in some really cool plant material every year—and there are usually lemon trees and other citrus too.

Fruit Trees and More

Enjoy the fragrant flowers of your own Meyer lemon tree! You don't need a greenhouse. Find out about winter protection, light, soil, how to prune, and when to water in this self-paced online class.

North Saanich, British Columbia

This nursery and demonstration orchard specializes in plants for Mediterranean climates. Owner Bob Duncan was the inspiration for my book Grow Lemons Where You Think You Can't. He grows citrus tree espaliers in his demonstration orchard, and has Meyer lemons espaliered on his house.

Nutcracker Nursery

Maskinongé, Quebec

Nice selection of citrus plants and figs. As the name suggests, they specialize in nuts. Also other fruit (I've ordered plums and damsons here and was pleased with the quality of the plants.)

Phoenix Perennials

Richmond, British Columbia

Grow Lemons Where You Think You Can't

An excellent mail-order nursery with unusual plants. (This is where I tracked down a grafted tomato-potato plant for my daughter!) They have a good selection of citrus trees.

Sage Garden Greenhouses

Winnipeg, Manitoba

Co-owner Dave Hanson has joined me to teach about exotic edibles and Mediterranean plants. He is a wealth of knowledge.

Tropic of Canada

Rodney, Ontario

Citrus, figs, and a fun mix of exotics.

Valleyview Gardens

Markham, Ontario

Lemon tree Toronto? This Toronto-area garden centre has tropical plants year-round. When I couldn't find a yuzu citrus tree, this is where I found one.

USA Lemon Trees and Other Citrus Trees

Pin this post about where to buy lemon trees.

Edible Landscaping

Afton, Virginia

Citrus, fruit trees, fruit bushes, berries, and exotics.

Four Winds Growers

Winters, California

Specializes in semi-dwarf citrus trees.

Logee’s

Danielson, Connecticut

As well as citrus, they have figs and other exotic fruit—and a ton of ornamental plants. Their ponderosa lemon tree is over 100 years old!

McKenzie Farm

Scranton, South Carolina

Owner Stan McKenzie is passionate about cold-hardy citrus. Hear Stan tell us all about growing cold-hardy citrus on The Food Garden Life Show.

One Green World

Portland, Oregon

A delicious mix of citrus trees, olives, figs, and lots of sub-tropical fruit.

Sam Hubert from One Green World joined us on the Food Garden Life show with top cold-hardy citrus picks. Find out Sam's favourite cold-hardy citrus.

Well-Sweep Herb Farm

Port Murray, New Jersey

Lots of herbs, and a good selection of citrus.

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Find Out How to Grow Lemon Trees

Drop by the lemon home page for free articles about growing a lemon tree in a pot.

Find out if you need a bright window, best conditions indoors, what soil to use, the best type of pot, how often to water, warmth, and humidity. Then you can enjoy your own fragrant lemon flowers and homegrown lemons!

Growing Lemons Home Page

More Sources for Plants

Steven Biggs 2025-10-09 Steven Biggs 2025-10-09

Shopping for Nut Trees? Find Out Where to Buy Nut Trees and Nut Bushes

Where to find nut trees and nut bushes for sale.

By Steven Biggs

Nut Tree Nursery List

header image showing basket of nuts beside a nut tree

I get a lot of messages from people looking for more edible plants for their home gardens and edible landscapes. So I hope this list of nurseries that sells nut trees and nut bushes helps you find the plant you’re looking for.

This list focuses on nurseries, garden centres, and specialty nut growers in Canada and the northern USA.

It’s a work in progress. If there’s a nursery you recommend, please e-mail me to let me know.

Before you browse nut tree nurseries, get started with Nut Tree Shopping Tips, below.

Canada Nut Tree Nurseries

USA Nut Tree Nurseries

Tips When Plant Shopping

Here are tips to keep in mind as you get ready to order trees and shrubs.

Delivery vs. Pick-Up

It’s expensive to ship trees and shrubs! They’re big. And if there’s soil—they’re heavy too.

Delivery costs depend on the distance, the size of the plant, and whether it’s in a pot with soil, or is “bare root.”

(Bare root means it’s dormant, and there’s no soil.)

If picking up your fruit plants is an option, you can usually save quite a bit of money.

Ordering and Shipping Fruit Trees and shrubs

Shipping usually begins in spring, when there’s no further risk to the plants from cold temperatures.

The first to ship are “bare root” plants—dormant shrubs and trees with no soil. (Roots are wrapped in something damp to prevent them from drying out.)

Cross-Border Shipments

Some sellers don’t ship out of country. That’s because it usually involves “phytosanitary” inspections and paperwork.

Or, there might be restrictions on shipping some types of fruit to some regions (to avoid the spread of pests or diseases.)

If you find an out-of-country vendor who ships to your country, ask about the cost of phytosanitary certificates—as well as the delay that inspections can cause for your shipment.

When You Receive Your Order

Bare-root Plants. Keep them somewhere cool and dark until you’re ready to plant them, so that they remain dormant. Plant as soon as possible. Make sure the roots stay moist.

Potted Plants. There’s less of a rush planting potted plants than there is with bare-root plants. Keep plants well-watered until they’re planted.

Canada Nut Tree Nurseries

USA Nut Tree Nurseries

Canadaian Nurseries Selling Nut Tree

Looking for Canadian nurseries selling nut trees? Here’s a list of Canadian retailers of nut trees. Remember: Not all nurseries grow their own plants. So if you want Canadian-grown plants, ask the nursery if their stock is produced in Canada.

Bunchberry Nursery

Upper Clements, Nova Scotia

Along with fruit trees and bushes, nuts, and figs, specializing in alpines, heaths and heathers, dwarf conifers, rhododendrons, grasses and perennials.

Exotic Fruit Nursery

pinnable image showing nut tree and a basket of nuts — Pin this post!

Lunenburg, Nova Scotia

Hardy fruit, exotic fruit, and nuts.

Hardy Fruit Tree Nursery

Rawdon, Quebec

Cold-hardy nut trees, nut bushes, and a wide mix of fruiting plants.

Grimo Nut Nursery

We get Ontario grown pecans here! They sell a wide range of nut trees and nut bushes, along with some minor fruit.

Founder Ernie Grimo joined us on The Food Garden Life Show to talk about cold-adapted nut trees. Tune in here.

Nutcracker Nursery

Maskinongé, Quebec

As the name suggests, nut trees is a specialty. I’ve ordered plums and damsons here and was pleased with the quality of the plants.

Pépeinière Ancestrale

St-Julien, Quebec

Good mix of nut trees and nut bushes. This is where I got my first cherry-plum bushes. Fruit and nut trees.

Prairie Hardy Nursery

Two Hills, Alberta

Recommended by my horticultural colleague in Alberta Donna Balzer.

Rhora's Nut Farm and Nursery

Wainfleet, Ontario

Specializing in nut trees and minor fruit.

Silvercreek Nursery

Wellesley, Ontario

Nuts and fruit. Some of my apple trees are from Silvercreek—and I took a fantastic grafting workshop there.

Whiffletree Farm and Nursery

Elora, Ontario

Nut trees, nut bushes, fruit trees and bushes, and orchard supplies.

Willow Creek Permaculture

Dutton, Ontario

Fruit and nut trees.

USA Nut Tree Nurseries

One Green World

Portland, Oregon

Nut trees and bushes, fruit, subtropical fruits, fruiting ground covers. We chatted with Sam Hubert from One Green World on the podcast to find out all about hardy citrus. They carry lots of other fruit trees, fruit bushes, and berries too.

Raintree Nursery

Morton, Washington

A diverse collections of edible plants including nut trees and nut bushes.

Find This Helpful?

Enjoy not being bombarded by annoying ads?

Appreciate the absence of junky affiliate links for products you don’t need?

It’s because we’re reader supported.

If we’ve helped in your food-gardening journey, we’re glad of support. You can high-five us below. Any amount welcome!

$10.00

$20.00

$30.00

$40.00

Custom Amount

Find Out How to Grow Nut Trees

Grow Nuts Home Page

More Sources for Plants

Steven Biggs 2025-10-09 Steven Biggs 2025-10-09

Nursery List: Fruiting Shrubs, Unusual Fruit, Berry Bushes, and Hardy Fruit Trees

Where to find fruit trees for sale.

By Steven Biggs

Buying Fruit Trees, Fruiting Shrubs, and Berry Bushes

I get a lot of messages from people wondering where to buy fruiting plants. So I hope this list helps you find a nursery with the fruit trees you’re looking for.

This list focuses on nurseries, garden centres, and fruit-growing specialists in Canada and the northern USA.

It’s a work in progress. If there’s a nursery you recommend, please e-mail me to let me know.

Before you browse nurseries, get started with Tips When Shopping, below.

Canada Nurseries

USA Nurseries

Tips When Plant Shopping

Here are tips to keep in mind as you get ready to order trees and shrubs.

Delivery vs. Pick-Up

It’s expensive to ship trees and shrubs! They’re big. And if there’s soil—they’re heavy too.

Delivery costs depend on the distance, the size of the plant, and whether it’s in a pot with soil, or is “bare root.”

(Bare root means it’s dormant, and there’s no soil.)

If picking up your fruit plants is an option, you can usually save quite a bit of money.

Ordering and Shipping Fruit Trees and shrubs

Shipping usually begins in spring, when there’s no further risk to the plants from cold temperatures.

The first to ship are “bare root” plants—dormant shrubs and trees with no soil. (Roots are wrapped in something damp to prevent them from drying out.)

Cross-Border Shipments

Some sellers don’t ship out of country. That’s because it usually involves “phytosanitary” inspections and paperwork.

Or, there might be restrictions on shipping some types of fruit to some regions (to avoid the spread of pests or diseases.)

If you find an out-of-country vendor who ships to your country, ask about the cost of phytosanitary certificates—as well as the delay that inspections can cause for your shipment.

When You Receive Your Order

Bare-root Plants. Keep them somewhere cool and dark until you’re ready to plant them, so that they remain dormant. Plant as soon as possible. Make sure the roots stay moist.

Potted Plants. There’s less of a rush planting potted plants than there is with bare-root plants. Keep plants well-watered until they’re planted.

Canada Nurseries

USA Nurseries

Canadian Nurseries

Looking for a Canadian retailer of fruit trees? Or berry bushes and berry plants? Here’s a list of specialized Canadian nurseries. Remember: Not all nurseries grow their own plant material; some are resellers. If you’re looking for a Canadian product—plants grown in Canada—ask the retailer where the plants are grown.

Bambooplants.ca

Ontario

Great selection of minor and unusual fruit plants.

Boughen Nurseries

Nipawin, Saskatchewan

Boughen sells fruit trees and berries for cold climates. This is where I found my favourite culinary crabapple, ‘Dolgo.’ They also have Nanking cherry, which, despite being easy to grow, can be difficult to find in many parts of Canada.

Bunchberry Nursery

Upper Clements, Nova Scotia

Along with fruit trees and bushes, nuts, and figs, specializing in alpines, heaths and heathers, dwarf conifers, rhododendrons, grasses and perennials.

Corn Hill Nursery

King’s Country, New Brunswick

Owner Bob Osborne is a CBC radio columnist, and the author of the book Hardy Apples: Growing Apples in Cold Climates.

Hear Bob tell us about hardy apples on The Food Garden Life Show.

DNA Gardens

Elnora, Alberta

Specializing in hardy fruit trees.

Exotic Fruit Nursery

Lunenburg, Nova Scotia

Hardy fruit, exotic fruit, and nuts.

Fruit Trees and More

North Saanich, British Columbia

A nursery and experimental orchard. Well worth a visit if you’re in the area—but they do mail-order too. Lots of less common fruit such as medlar and Asian pear. (And olives, citrus, and figs!)