Last week started with a bang…. literally. My beautiful car crashed and is out of commission. But now it is sunny again, we have a rental car in the driveway and no one is injured. So, I am happy to be back in the garden cleaning up, harvesting and playing in my greenhouse.
Whether you live in Whitehorse or Calgary you probably dream of longer summers. In fact even if you live in the mild west coast, you’d probably love more summer and the ability to grow more adventurous crops like Lemons, Navel Oranges or Figs. In northern climates this is now possible with the help of Bob Duncan of Fruit Trees and More .
Do you journal about your garden? Do you know want to be entertained and learn from your own garden efforts? Of course you do. That is why Donna Balzer wrote the Three Year Gardener’s Gratitude Journal: Part Diary, Part Personal Growing Guide. This guide is packed with fun tidbits and garden information as well as garden stories. Donna shows you how to use it in your garden.
If it is little jobs for little people you are excited about sharing then watch the second half when Donna works with her grandkids in the garden. Tips for getting kids involved? Just do it yourself and they will follow and the messier the better.
Before I tell you something about the tomatoes I am growing this year let me admit my own bias. I am a fan of the newest hybrids because I love the flavour and richness they bring. Since reading the book Ripe: The Search for the Perfect Tomato by Arthur Allen (2010, Counterpoint Press) I have been excited about the potential of all the new tomato genetics brought to us via scientists going back to the wild looking for new flavours, new colours, new interest, new genetics.
Knowing when your watermelon is ripe helps you pick it at the peak of perfection. Pick it too early and it is light pink and only half as sweet. Pick too late and it is soft and decomposing. In Northern gardens summer is ending soon so we have to make a call…. here’s how I do it. UPDATED September 18, 2018
