Long, Skinny Garden? Hear How We Tweak This Space

From Lush Ornamental Foliage to Lush Edible Leaves

Not sure what to do with a long, skinny, straight-edged garden beside a driveway, patio, or building?

In this episode, we take a long, slender ornamental garden and reimagine the space with edible plants.

The garden we’re thinking about is actually a little sliver of the Joan of Arc Garden in Quebec City. But these same ideas work well in in many home-garden situations.

We talk about:

• Crop ideas (kales, Thai basil, borage, shiso, and fern-leaf parsley)

• Groupings vs. individual plants

• Urns for adding height an interest in this skinny space

• Plants that last into the fall vs. plants that fade with fall weather

If you’re looking for more on edible flowers like borage, check out this article about edible flowers.

Picture of the Space

Want to Switch Out Your Annuals? Try These Herbs Instead

From Coleus to Culinary Herbs

Do you have a garden where you use traditional annuals, but you want to switch it up for something edible?

Herbs are one option.

In this episode, we look at a space that has a tidy, slightly formal feel.

We replace the tightly clipped shrubs with edible alternatives.

And then we change out the annuals for herbs.

If you’re looking for more on using edible plants instead of traditional bedding plants, check out this post.

Picture of the Space

Hear How We Tweak a Public Space to Keep the Aesthetic but Add Edibles

A Container Garden Makeover

Wondering about adding edible plants to an existing gardening without spoiling the aesthetic?

With the right plant choice, along with an understanding of how the space is used, you can add edible plants without spoiling the looks.

In this episode, we take a public space and reimagine it with edibles.

It’s a big space, with lots of lawn. We talk about plant choice for this shady spot, and about plant placement that doesn’t interfere with how this space is used. We include:

• Edibles as bedding plants

• Using height to make a focal point

• Edibles for colour

• Edible perennials

• Fruit for shade

If you’re looking for more on crops for shade, check out this post.

Picture of the Space

From Geranium Glut to Playful Herb Planter Box!

A Container Garden Makeover

Thinking of veggies for your container garden? Or planter boxes with herbs?

In this episode, we look at a patio surrounded by planter boxes that are filled with red geraniums...nothing but red geraniums.

Our goal? Transform this linear container garden from a continuous line of red into something varied, colourful—playful—and edible.

Hear two different approaches to reimagining the planter boxes so that they’re a low-maintenance edible container garden.

If you’re looking for more on the sub-irrigated planters from this episode, find out more here.

Pictures of the Space

Potager Style or Grazing Garden?

The Challenge

In this episode, the challenge is coming up with a creative food-gardening concept for a zone 3 garden.

Right now, the space is bare ground. It’s hard clay soil.

The garden space is nestled between a pathway and a retaining wall. There are nearby spruce trees, so there’s only morning sun.

There’s also a “hell strip” on other side of pathway, with a skinny little band of ground between the pathway and a greenhouse.

Challenges (apart from cold winters) include deer and rabbits.

Tune in below to hear me share two completely different concepts for this space!

Pictures of the Space

The main growing space, located between a low stone retaining wall and a pathway, with spruce trees on one side.

Looking at the main space from another view. Note the “hell strip” on the right, between the pathway and the greenhouse.

Approaching the space, which is just around the corner on the pathway.

SPRING Finale: How to Grow a Climate-Change Veggie Garden

Making a Vegetable Garden More Resilient

We head to the UK to chat with homesteader Kim Stoddart about how to grow a resilient vegetable garden.

We talk about:

• Top tips for growing vegetables when conditions are not predictable

• Choosing crops for a climate-change vegetable garden

• Perennial vegetables

• Tips for veggie gardening in hot summers

Kim is an award-winning writer, journalist, and educator. Her new book is The Climate Change Garden: Down to Earth Advice for Growing a Resilient Garden. 

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Harvest Rainwater for Your Garden and Landscape

Rainwater Harvesting and Natural Air Conditioning

Brad Lancaster is a permaculture and regenerative-design consultant and educator. His specialty is sustainable landscapes. 

We chat with Brad about using the landscape to harvest rainwater. And about using the landscape as a living air conditioner. 

Brad also talks about a very inspiring project that he helped spearhead, a community food forest.

We talk about: 

• Using permaculture principles in landscaping

• How to harvest rainwater in the landscape

• The connection between landscapes and cooling

• Using the soil and "speed bumps" in the landscape to make it a living sponge

• Selecting plants to suit the landscape

• The Dunbar Springs Urban Food Forest

Brad is the author of Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond.  

Need Space? Harvest More from the Same Plot with Vertical Gardening

Grow a Vertical Garden

Vertical vegetable gardening squeezes more plants into a limited space by making use of space above the ground.

In today’s episode, Steve digs into vertical gardening.

We talk about:

• Top crops for vertical gardening

• The benefits of vertical gardening

• Support structures in a vertical garden

• Materials to make your own trellises and support structures.

Small-Plot Intensive Vegetable Production (SPIN Farming)

Worm Castings

Wally Satzewich joins us from Saskatchewan to tell us about Small-Plot Intensive Farming (SPIN Farming.)

Having studied psychology and ran a taxi franchise, Wally became interested in market gardening.

So he bought a farm.

But a conventional market garden wasn’t the right fit for him. That’s because a big operation requires hired help and capital outlay for equipment.

So Wally and his wife Gail sold the farm—and moved back to the city. To farm—to farm other people’s yards.

And in the process, Wally mapped out a system of best practices called SPIN farming (Small Plot Intensive farming.)

Today he tells us his journey, and what he’s learned along the way.

We talk about:

• Running the 20-acre market garden

• Downsizing and setting up in the city

• The SPIN model and variations on it

• Comparing SPIN farming to commodity farming

• Using the SPIN model in small towns

• Top tips for new urban and SPIN farmers

How to Feed Soil and Plants with Worm Compost (Vermicompost)

Worm Castings

Andrew Huxsel joins us from St Placide, Quebec to tell us about worm composting. Also known as vermicomposting.

Andrew runs Vermicbec, a company that sells worms and worm compost.

We talk about:

• How vermicomposting works

• Using vermicompost (a.k.a. worm castings or worm wompost)

• Large scale vs. home-scale vermicomposting

• Top tips for home gardeners wanting to try worm composting (If you’ve tried it and had bug problems, Andrew tells you how to solve the problem)

Edible Garden Question and Answer (and what to do about Bolting Lettuce)

Bolting Lettuce, Artichoke, Squirrels, and More!

It’s planting season here..and the gardening questions are pouring in. 

Here’s the Q + A from our latest live show.

We talk about:

• Favourite tomato varieties

• Support for tomato plants

• Mulch

• Asparagus

• Microgreens

• Lemons

• Artichoke

• Squirrels

• What to do about bolting lettuce

Here’s an article about artichokes: Find out How to Grow Artichoke in Northern Climates

7-Year-Old Certified Farmer Talks About Crops, Kids, and Insects

Youngest Certified Farmer in Georgia

We head to Georgia to chat with 7-year-old Kendall Rae Johnson and her mom, Ursula.

Kendall is the youngest certified farmer in the state of Georgia.

At her aGROWKulture Farm she grows her favourite crops and teaches other kids about gardening.

Kendall has been on Good Morning America, The Ellen Show, and Sesame Street.

Our own connection with Kendall is that we’re fans of the organization KidsGardening.. Emma and Kendall were both involved in an event that KidsGardening hosted last year.

Kendall’s new book is I’m Growing Places.

Equipment for Healthy Soil, Less Toil, Minimal Till (and no more Rototiller!)

2-Wheel Tractor

We chat with Zach Loeks, an educator and grower who specializes in edible ecosystem design.

He talks about the two-wheel tractor, a versatile piece of equipment that he says can be used by backyard gardeners, homesteaders, edible landscapers, and in community gardens.

(If you’re about to skip this episode because you don’t want more equipment…stay a while. Zach has insights into soil and tillage too.)

In this episode we talk about:

• A look at the 2-wheel tractor

• How it’s different from a rototiller

• How home gardeners, landscapers, and homesteaders can use 2-wheel tractors

• What can a 2-wheel tractor do beyond tilling (spoiler alert: they can blow snow and bale hay too!)

• Earthworks for swales, berms, and beds on contour

• Tillage: minimum till vs. no-till

Zach’s books are:

• The Permaculture Market Garden

• The Edible Ecosystem Solution

• The Two-wheel Tractor Handbook.

This Orchard Doesn't Look Like an Orchard (and it's full of Trios!)

Permaculture Orchard

We chat with orchardist Stefan Sobkowiak who replaced an organic apple orchard with a permaculture orchard at Miracle Farms.

“Imagine an orchard that doesn’t look like an orchard.”

Stefan Sobkowiak at Miracle Farms, a permaculture orchard. (Photo by Myriam Baril Tessier)

We talk about:

• Why he prefers a permculture planting to a monoculture organic apple orchard

• How can an orchard be a permaculture?

• The system of “trios” he uses as a basic design unit

• Minimizing external inputs

• Using sheep in an orchard

• Timelines for establishing a permaculture orchard

• Using fruiting shrubs under trees

• Planting perennial flowers, herbs, and vegetables underneath fruiting shrubs

When it comes to the idea of permaculture, Sobkowiak says, “It’s just applied common sense.”

Kitchen Scrap Gardening: From Avacado to Ginger to Citrus

Grow What's in Your Kitchen!

In this episode, we head to Vermont and get great ideas for what we can grow right now, in early spring, using what’s in the kitchen.

We talk about kitchen-scrap gardening with Em Shipman, Executive Director at KidsGardening.

Em also tells us about Kids Garden Month, with lots of fun activities and prizes for kids.

Em Shipman, Executive Director of Kids Gardening.

We talk about:

• Growing small seeds from the kitchen (e.g. citrus)

• Growing large seeds (e.g. mango, avacado)

• Growing roots and tubers and rhizomes (e.g. ginger, sweet potato)

• Things for kids to do in the garden in early spring

• Kids Garden Month

More Kids Gardening Ideas

We have lots of fun kids gardening ideas for you.

Check out our kids gardening section, with plans for a bug vacuum, and Emma’s videos about how to grow crops for kids.

Figuring Out How to Bring Back a Lost Giant...the American Chestnut

Blight-Resistant American Chestnut in Canada

In this episode, we dig into some history, a sad story – and hope.

All this from a tree that was known as the redwood of the east. A towering tree prized for its wood. A tree pivotal to the forest ecosystem.

And by the 1950s, it was thought to be extinct in Ontario.

But it wasn’t extinct. And it’s not extinct now.

We head to southwestern Ontario to find out what the Canadian Chestnut Council is doing to bring the American chestnut back to the landscape.

Whether you’re a forager, interested in food forests, or want to grow nuts, this is a fun chat.

Our chestnut guide is Ron Casier, chair of the Canadian Chestnut Council.

We talk about:

• The American chestnut, and the place it held in the ecosystem

• Chestnut blight, and its effect on chestnut populations

• The “Canadian” American chestnut

• Breeding disease-resistance American chestnut varieties

American chestnut trees for trials

Flowering

American chestnut leaves

American Chestnut trials

1912, St. Williams, Ont. Dr.J.H. White with American Chestnut

Afraid of Late Spring Frost? Low-Tech Mini-Tunnels are a Simple Solution

Niki Jabbour on how to Make and Use Mini Tunnels

Less frost damage. Fewer bugs. Better growing conditions.

Mini tunnels have lots of advantages, and they're easy to make and use.

For this episode, we head to Nova Scotia to chat with vegetable gardening expert Niki Jabbour about how to make and use mini tunnels.

She’s the author of Growing Under Cover: Techniques for a More Productive, Weather-Resistant, Pest-Free Vegetable Garden and the creator of the online course How to Build and Use Mini Hoop Tunnels in the Vegetable Garden.

We talk about:

• What mini tunnels are

• Mini tunnels and weather

• Mini tunnels and pests

• Materials to make mini tunnels

• Getting an early start in the spring garden

• Turbo-charging heat loving crops with mini tunnels

How to Homestead and Live Sustainably in Your Community: Small-Scale Homesteading

Small-Scale Homesteading

Homesteading as a State of Mind

We head to Minnesota to chat with small-scale homesteaders Michelle Bruhn and Stephanie Thurow.

Both are urban homesteaders, and they’ve collaborated on a book to help small-scale homesteaders, Small-Scale Homesteading.

We talk about:

• What homesteading means to them

• The idea of small-scale homesteads in urban and suburban areas

• Tips for aspiring homesteaders

• How to get started homesteading

Stephanie’s Rhubarb Shrub

Stephanie talked about her rhubarb shrub in this episode, and said she’d share the recipe. Here it is!

Yield: 2-3 cups finished shrub

Ingredients

• 1.5 cups rhubarb, chopped (fresh or frozen) – discard green leaves, as they are poisonous.

• 1.5 cups white granulated sugar

• Days later: 1.5 cups organic apple cider vinegar (or other drinking vinegar of choice).

Directions

Scrub rhubarb clean, chop and combine with sugar in a clean pint canning jar. Shake jar to mix sugar and rhubarb well. Wipe the rim of the jar with a clean dampened towel and apply the canning jar lid and tightly screw on the ring. Store the jar at room temperature, out of direct sunlight and allow the mixture to macerate over a couple days, until a thick syrup is made. A few times per day, vigorously shake the mixture to speed up the process (or you can use a clean spoon to stir well).

After 2-3 days, once the sugar has dissolved and a syrup is made, use a fine mesh strainer to strain out the solids, reserving the syrup in a measuring cup. Use the back of a spoon to push out any excess syrup. Once strained, measure the amount of syrup that was collected and add that same amount of vinegar to the syrup (it will be 1-1.5 cups of vinegar), stir well to mix. Store in a clean airtight jar and refrigerate. Enjoy within a few months for best flavor.

To serve

Mix about a shot of the shrub mixture with water, or carbonated water. Serve over ice. Shrubs also make delicious and unique cocktail mixers.

Side notes

You can also use brown sugar, coconut sugar, maple syrup or other sugar alternative in place of white granulated sugar.

This method of shrub making can be applied to any fruits and herb combinations. Strawberry shrub is my all-time favorite.

Don’t toss the strained-out fruit solids! They are delicious mixed into plain yogurt or oatmeal or blended into a smoothie.

This recipe was adapted from WECK Small-Batch Preserving (2018) with permission from Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.

Michelle Bruhn and Stephanie Thurow

Michelle Bruhn

Stephanie Thurow

Big Harvests from a Small Space with a Vertical Vegetable Garden

Grow a Vertical Vegetable Garden

Space. For many gardeners, there’s never enough of it.

So in small spaces we train crops upwards instead of outwards. The term vertical gardening is often used to talk about adding the dimension of height to a garden.

Today on the podcast we head to Vancouver Island to chat with vegetable gardening expert Donna Balzer about vertical gardening.

Steven and Donna are teaming up to hold a live online event on Vertical Vegetable Gardening on April 4, 2023.

Bay Laurel

Dave Hanson from The Grow Guide Podcast joins us to talk about growing the Mediterranean herb bay laurel.

Steven and Dave are teaming up for a live online event on creating a Mediterranean Kitchen Garden in cold climates on March 14, 2023.

Donna Balzer

Dave Hanson

Outstanding Oregano + What to Produce Besides Crops on a Homestead

Oregano that Tastes Like Oregano!

We find out how to grow great Oregano with Dave Hanson from The Grow Guide Podcast.

(No more bland oregano that tastes like...hay!)

Why Now is a Great Time to Homestead

Homesteader Steve Maxwell talks about his journey from suburban Toronto to a rural homestead on Manitoulin Island.

He tells us why he think there's more opportunity than ever for homesteaders today.

Steve shares his ideas about homesteading opportunities here.

Steve Maxwell

Dave Hanson