A white plate with flower and herb seeds.

Seeds of change and controversy

Do the seeds we use to grow vegetables have an untold story? In a new video documentary presented by TVO, the “battle for the future of our seeds” is presented with fascinating viewpoints that certainly aren’t mainstream. But this collection of personal stories from a wide variety of impassioned people–from “the Noah of the seed world”…

Indicator weeds

Can’t beat invasives? Eat ’em!

Got an invasive weed overtaking your garden? If you’re a glass-half-full kind of person, there are a couple of reasons why that might not be such a bad thing. First, weeds are actually great communicators. If you’ve got two or three kinds of weeds that thrive way more vigorously than any other kind, they’re likely indicator…

A ditch is filled with plants to create a rain garden.

5 wild plants for an edible rain garden

Sure, keeping rainwater on our properties is way better than having it wash away into storm sewers and eventually into our Great Lakes (picking up pollutants as it goes). At the same time, who doesn’t want to jump on the Grow Your Own bandwagon? But creating an edible rain garden? That had to be music…

Edible plants are used instead of ornamentals in a flower bed.

New, old foodscaping ideas for any garden

In hip urban neighbourhoods all over North America, the hottest new garden design trend is foodscaping–landscaping that melds modern garden aesthetics with agriculture. You can pin this trend on an urge to save on grocery bills, a newfound fascination for growing-your-own or the thrill of creating something beautiful out of what’s considered utilitarian. But motives…

Hemp leaf in hand

Your garden. Your garden on drugs.

Back in the day, people used to sneak out for a smoke in the garden. One of the more intriguing predictions from the Garden Media Group, a home and garden marketing and PR firm based in Pennsylvania, is a growing trend in smoking your garden–as in lighting up some home-grown. [ATTENTION CANADIANS: The idea of playing…

Glasses and vegetables

Lettuce be: A new view on growing your own

I have to admit that growing my own groceries hasn’t been high up on my WhooHOO-gotta-do-it!!!! list. Except for a brief love affair with basil and tomato plants back in the day, picking herbs and vegetables for me seemed a whole lot easier at a farmer’s market than in your own backyard. [And, yes, I…