by Donna Balzer | Jan 8, 2016 | ARTICLES, GARDENING, Uncategorized
I am doing a test run for my new talk this year at the Nanoose Garden club and I met the good people of that club today when I dropped by their January meeting. My newest topic? “CHANGE YOUR WORLD: ONE CABBAGE AT A TIME”. It is a talk about improving your garden with three simple steps: Better Soil, Better Shelter, Better Schedule.
by Donna Balzer | Jan 8, 2016 | Bugs & Buggers, Flowers & Alpines, Food, GARDENING, Soil
Be inspired as Donna shares her top ten reasons to garden in all the seasons and all throughout our lives. Hire her to speak at your event. She promises a beautifully illustrated talk including plenty of practical gardening tips with a bigger message . Donna helps gardeners grow and beginners blossom.
by Donna Balzer | Dec 26, 2015 | Bugs & Buggers, Food, GARDENING, Greenhouse, Soil
Gardening is all about playing and “experts” like Elliot Coleman, in his book “The Winter Harvest Handbook” stress plants won’t actually grow when there is less than 10 hours of sun per day (this happens at different latitudes but in Calgary and in most of Canada we are probably down to eight hours of sun a day right now and I am not sure when we crossed the 10 hour threshold.)
by Donna Balzer | Nov 27, 2015 | Food, GARDENING
It was a great opportunity I couldn’t pass up so I went to Italy last fall and found out all about slow food both from eating it and experiencing the wonders of Terra Madre and Salon Du Gusto.
by Donna Balzer | Apr 27, 2015 | Bugs & Buggers, Food, Gadgets, GARDENING, Greenhouse, Landscaping Tips
I had a few aphid skeletons in my closet. Well in my greenhouse actually. These are the little white skins shed from aphids as they grow. They are more obvious than the aphids themselves. It’s all my fault really because I had a big plan to bring in some strawberries from my garden last fall and keep them alive in my greenhouse so that when they started growing I would have the first crop of aphids – oops I meant strawberries.
by Donna Balzer | Jan 15, 2015 | Food, Gadgets, GARDENING, Greenhouse
My babies wake up before I do. They take a drink and grow patiently while I lay about in bed. This is because i set up a timer for my seedlings so I no longer need to pop out of bed in the morning to make sure they are up and growing.