All gardeners know that gardening is good for you. We can feel it. Any skeptic can check out the oodles of studies about how gardening can benefit your physical health and mental wellbeing. There’s even been recent research involving a group of seniors in or around their seventies that revealed gardening activities (digging, fertilizing, raking,…
I can’t think of a better way to close the year than to share with you a remarkable book I’ve been reading. The Forest Unseen by David George Haskell is nothing short of breathtaking in scope and style, remarkably so given that the entire book focuses on one small patch of forest floor just a…
Last month, The U.S. Department of Agriculture updated their plant hardiness zone map for the first time in over a decade. Unsurprisingly, the new “lowest likely winter temperature” in all 48 states south of the Canadian border is now 1.4C warmer. In an AP news article, Boston University plant ecologist Richard Primack, who was not…
Judy Garland may have sweetly elevated rainbows to technicolour cliche, but they’ve always been happy, shiny wonders–ever since the sun’s rays met air-borne water droplets and there were sentient beings around to take notice. Now they figure in myths, superstitions, beliefs and symbolic declarations the world over. Marvelling at a rainbow’s beauty is a moment…
“The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness.” So said American “Father of National Parks” John Muir in 1938. He had a unique and powerful way of describing nature and this particuilar piece of advice comes across as practical, mystical, exciting and impossible–all at once. But inspiring nonetheless. Whenever I discover something…
Heat is important when you want to grow things in your garden. That’s pretty self evident, particularly when you’re staring out a window at a world covered in snow and ice. But I didn’t realize just how much heat affected growing things until digging deep (har, har) into my latest course on organic horticulture through…
There’s an acquaintance of mine who rolls her eyes every time I mention that I’m taking another online gardening course. I figure she just doesn’t know what she’s missing. I get that “gardening” and “online” may seem to go together like “fish” and “bicycle” but there are virtual classrooms out there offering amazing experiences that…
I love when science legitimizes my tendency to play in the dirt. Research has proven that direct contact with soil is actually very beneficial for your health. Last month, a blog posting from the David Suzuki Foundation, reported on microbes, biodiversity and how getting dirty is actually good for you. Here’s a taste of that…
This terrific infographic from CottageCountry.com in support of the Davidi Suzuki Foundation is a great reminder about why it’s important for everyone to put away their cell phones and computers and get outside. We gardeners tend to do this on a regular basis but after reading this you may feel the urge to grab your…
Before you mow down or dig up those dandelions, write down the date they started blooming! That’s what NatureWatch is hoping you’ll do. By asking ordinary people like you and me to become Citizen Scientists and participate in some easy environmental monitoring programs, they hope the combined research will help track the rapid changes in Canada’s…
A thought provoking posting from the always fascinating champagnewhiskey blog that’s particularly timely as trees begin to soften with new spring buds. champagnewhisky There are few places in the world, if any, that aren’t touched by human activity, including places with no humans. And one of our chief human activities over the past couple of…
Whoa! Garden geeks listen up. Is it just me or do the latest brilliant ideas from Jeremy Rifkin, prolific writer, lecturer, and advisor to heads of state, sound familiar? In his latest book, The Zero Marginal Cost Society, he explains his theory about “the emerging Internet of Things”, a “global Collaborative Commons and the eclipse of…
Who says you need a brain to rally help, change course to avoid an obstacle, or share your food? After reading The Intelligent Plant by Michael Pollan, you’ll think twice about being so “cerebrocentric”. Published in The New Yorker in 2013, this article is a fascinating overview into the curious, contentious and controversial world of plant intelligence research. Reading up…
“Spring travels north at about thirteen miles a day.” So wrote Diane Ackerman in her provocative book, “Cultivating Delight“. She figures this equates to 47.6 feet per minute or about 1.23 inches per second. When I read this, my first thought was at that rate, you could actually keep pace with Spring–meet up with it…
One of my favourite blogs, champagnewhiskey has once again helped my adjust my perspective. This post features a video of a flight through the Andromeda Galaxy which, I’m reminded, would actually take 40,000 years to accomplish at the speed of light. To up the humbling factor, I suggest you watch the video, then walk outside…
Horticulturist, Arborist and Garden Columnist
Celebrating gardens, photography and a creative life
Garden of Flowers, Beads, and Yarns
ruminate vb. to chew (the cud)
Reflections On A Life in Exile
Saint Andrews Forest Farm Blog
a chat over the garden fence
There's always room for one more plant.
a little garden near Gawler
.....and nurturing my soul
Ministry of the fence 