Getting an Early Start to the Vegetable Garden

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Living around the Kitchener-Waterloo area in southern Ontario we have a decent gardening season, but most years you can’t reliably plant vegetables outside until late May and most produce is finished by late September. I’ve read a lot about year-round … Read More

Weather Confusion – What Happened To Spring?

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If it wasn’t April 4 I’d think this was someone’s idea of an April fool’s joke. After a very mild winter, with little snow, old man winter dressed up as a Polar Vortex and decided he’d show up just as … Read More

Practical Crop Rotation – A Second Look

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Gardening evolves with knowledge and experience. I have been formally planning my vegetable garden layout on paper for several years now and each year I think I get a little bit better. In addition to learning about plant families, I … Read More

Crop Rotation, Plant Families And The Vegetable Garden

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When planning your vegetable garden, consider the benefits of crop rotation. Good crop rotation prevents the build up of pests and diseases in the soil and preserves micro-nutrients. For example, legumes (beans and peas) will actually add nitrogen to the … Read More

Why Can’t I Grow Cauliflower?

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I’ve got a pretty good green thumb when it comes to outdoor plants and the vegetable garden. On top of that I love to experiment. We’ve grown our own sweet potatoes, celery, kidney beans, black beans and even pak choi … Read More

Growing Celery – The Grand Experiment

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I first outlined our plans to grow celery in our garden in my Growing Celery in Ontario post in early May. Well I’m happy to say that the experiment in growing celery our first time has been a huge success. … Read More

San Marzano Plum Tomatoes Under Cloches

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We are trying to get a head start on the garden this year since planting everything in a two week time frame can be a bit overwhelming. I purchased 8 small San Marzano Plum tomatoes Monday from a local garden … Read More

Growing Celery in Ontario

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Always eager to try something new, I decided to try growing our own celery this year. I thought it would be nice to see if we could have our own fresh celery to add to potato salads during the summer … Read More

Time To Start Onions From Seed

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Luckily for me it’s a leap year.  My 2012 vegetable garden schedule called for me to start my first indoor seeds, onions, at the end of February.  And they just made it in the nick of time — thanks to … Read More

2012 Vegetable Planting Schedule

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The garden layout is finished, the seeds have arrived. It’s almost time to begin spring seed sowing. This year we are putting in over 50 different varieties of vegetables. Some are old favourites, many are new. Growing so many types … Read More

2012 Vegetable Garden Plan

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This is the fourth year that I have sat down and actually planned out our yearly vegetable garden on paper. Our 2012 vegetable garden layout takes into account crop rotation, the fact that we have some new garden space thanks … Read More

Extending the Harvest #1

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Last April I posted about my new mini-greenhouse that we purchased to use as a cold frame to extend the harvest as far into winter as we could. While we planted some lettuce in the greenhouse this past spring, I … Read More