- Bugs & Crawly Creatures in my Backyard
In addition to all the wonderful fruits and vegetables that fill my garden, I have also
- Enjoying the “Fruits” of my Labour
For years I’ve been obsessed with growing fabulous, fresh fruit right here in Central Alberta. Not
- An Interview with Anna: Her Inexpensive Geodome Greenhouse
Some time ago I was introduced to Anna from northernhomestead.com – a fellow gardening enthusiast from central Alberta. She writes a
- How to Build a Garden Trellis for Grapes and Kiwis
For years I’ve had great plans to build a garden trellis for my many varieties of
- Grapes: They can actually grow in Alberta!
This week I experienced my first real grape harvest. Sure, I’d had managed to grow a
- More Spring Flowers in Alberta
Orange and yellow tulips, flowering crab, and pears flowers – Just another fantastic show of color this spring
- My Fruit Trees Are Budding
Well folks, I took another photo stroll around the yard and snapped some of my favorite
- A New Inexpensive Greenhouse within a Greenhouse Solution
That little, inexpensive “greenhouse within a greenhouse” project, according to the weather almanac, could have just added 9 days to my growing season – for FREE!
- The Budding of Spring
One of my favorite types of photos are the macro photos of spring buds. There is
- Remembering Autumn
As mild as this winter has been, it’s still been winter! Don’t get me wrong –
- Greenhouses: More Than Just Functional
Some of the most popular articles that I’ve written on this website have been about my
- The Corn Likes the Weather…
I don’t think I have ever experienced a summer in Alberta when, by the 20th of
- Community Gardens
As I mentioned in one of my recent posts, I recently returned from vacationing in the
- Vacationing in the Kootenays
My wife and I just returned from visiting my parents in the Kootenays of British Columbia.
- The Deer Strike Again!
It looks like this will be another saskatoon-less summer. Things were growing so well… Lots of
- Kiwis, Grapes, Blackberries, and More!
In my last post, I took a photo stroll around the yard. But at that time
- Here’s What’s Growing By the May Long-Weekend
It was way back in in the June of 2008, that I took a Photo Stroll
- Square Foot Garden Planting Plans
Recently, I’ve had a few requests about exactly what to plant in these square foot gardens
- A Few More Haskap/Honeyberry Pictures
This morning I made an unexpected discovery. While checking my an email address that I haven’t
- Beans & Sunflowers
If you remember way back in the early part of this summer, I told you about
- Summer 2010 Recap
I must say, this has been probably the worst gardening year I’ve ever experienced. The weather
- Fourth Year Haskap
I took a trip back the farm earlier this summer and snapped a couple of pictures
- Field of Beans (and Corn)
Finally the snow has melted and the forecast no longer has overnight frosts. Time to get
- A Texas-Style Hoop Frame PVC Pipe GreenHouse
It’s almost Spring! Yes, there may be a foot of snow on the ground still. Yes,
- My Hoop-Frame Greenhouse In the Snow
Well, not that long ago I showed you that a hoop-frame greenhouse could survive a Canadian
- Can A PVC Pipe Greenhouse Survive A Canadian Winter?
It’s December 12 in Central Alberta. Last week brought a lovely little blizzard with high winds
- The Winner of the 2009 Tomato Awards Is… Sweet Cluster!
I don’t know if you’ve picked up on this yet, but I like tomatoes. I’m pretty
- Sunflowers & Honey Bees
Hi folks! I just wanted to share this picture with you. I snapped it this morning.
- Can Milk Jugs Help Grow Tomatoes?
The heat in the milk jugs is slowly released throughout the night
- Eggplant Anyone?
While taking a landscaping course recently, I had to identify the colors used in a particular
- An Inexpensive, Hail Proof, PVC Pipe Greenhouse
The hail broke windows, shredded siding, and striped everything off of his saskatoon and raspberry bushes – but his greenhouse covered with this same woven poly was completely undamaged!
- Better Late Then Never
After getting started tremendously late (due to landscaping issues), my garden isn’t looking too bad –
- BillyCo Junction Upick
A few weeks ago I had a real hankerin’ for some strawberries. I checked into my
- Haskap / Honeyberry Pictures (After Three Years)
As promised earlier, here are a few haskap/honeyberry pictures. These were four inch seedlings about three
- Haskap/Honeyberries 2009 Update
The plants had more than doubled in size this year and were covered in little berries.
- Stump Grinders: A Necessary Evil
The next step in landscaping our yard was removing the four large stumps from what would
- A New Home – A New Garden
Last summer I bought a new house – as I’ve eluded to in some of my
- Hoop Frame Greenhouse in New Zealand
It seems everyone is in the greenhouse building mode! Ok, well, maybe not EVERYONE, but many
- My “Inexpensive Hoop-Frame Greenhouse” Design in Nova Scotia
Recently I received a comment on my post “How to Build An Inexpensive Hoop-Frame Greenhouse” from
- Block Planting Carrots, Onions, Lettuce, & Dill
I had a comment today on my post regarding square-foot gardens asking about some pictures of
- Does Companion Planting Work? Just Ask My Beans!
After quite a bit of reading about companion planting, last spring I decided to try it.
- The Saskaberry Ranch near Olds
My love of fresh fruit has kept me on the trail to experience the many upick
- Prairie Perfect Orchards near Innisfail
This weekend was the annual Summertime Country Drive (a collection of 25 central Alberta farms &
- What Kind of Flower Is This?
This is just a quick and simple post asking just one question: What kind of flower
- The Jungle Farm Near Innisfail
Today was the Strawberry Festival at the Jungle Farm just north of Innisfail. Since that’s right
- Deer – My 2nd Worst Enemy
Gardening in Alberta certainly has it’s challenges. The #1 challenge has got to be the weather.
- Baby Potatoes Have Arrived
I’ve been wrong before – and I’ll be wrong again. Just last week I wrote a
- Seven Essentials to Growing Tomatoes
This is my third season of growing tomatoes, and believe me, I have learned a lot
- Those Are Some Very Baby Potatoes
I just thought I update you on how my ‘potatoes grown in straw‘ experiment is going.
- Red Lodge U-pick Near Bowden
Yesterday I experienced the joy of my first u-pick of the season! I had been anxiously
- Greenhouse Update
Remember the article I wrote back in May about How To Build An Inexpensive Hoop-frame Greenhouse?
- New Exciting Things at Alberta Home Gardening
Over the past while, folks have been asking me for a few new features on this
- It’s Haskap Season!
Yes, it’s true. I’ve been eating haskap berries this past week. Not bucketfuls, but small handfuls
- My Secret Potato Garden
This spring I had quite a few leftover seed potatoes. I hated to waste them, but
- Growing Potatoes In Straw
This year I tried something new. I had heard rumors of other people doing it, but
- A Photo Stroll Around The Yard
This evening I took a walk around my yard with my little girl and my camera.
- Early Haskap Berries
I took a talk around our yard today and was pleased to notice that my haskap
- My Greenhouse Plastic Gets Destroyed
Today is certainly a sad day. After much work in building my A-frame greenhouse and covering
- My Giant $160 A-Frame Greenhouse
As of today, phase one of my giant A-frame greenhouse is complete. It stands about 12
- Haskap Blossoms in May
Back in November I wrote a post called “Introduction to Haskap Berries (aka Honeyberries)“. Currently, this
- How to Build an Inexpensive Hoop-Style Greenhouse
One of the most valuable assets in my garden is my greenhouse. It has allowed me
- Yup. I’m A Locavore.
Hello. My name is Dave and I’m a locavore. I’ve actually been a locavore for years,
- Protecting Your Tender Plants From A Spring Freeze
Last spring I bought six kiwi seedlings. Within a couple days of getting planted, they were
- When Can I Plant My Garden?
Well, it’s May and by now every gardener in Alberta is biting at the bit to
- Transplanting Tomatoes
Today was the day to transplant my tomato seedlings, and I think I may have done
- Time To Start My Corn Seedlings
Today I planted some corn. I’ve never planted corn as indoor seedlings before, but after attending
- Yellow Leaves On Your Seedlings?
Over the past few days I’ve noticed two things. First, my cucumber seedlings have a tendency
- Why It’s So Difficult To Be An Alberta Gardener
A picture is worth a thousand words, so let me just say this: April 12, 2008
- Starting Tomato, Cucumber, Watermelon, and Pepper Seedlings
Yesterday, April 7, 2008 , I planted my first seeds of the year. If you’ve never
- Planting An Oak Tree
A couple of days ago I planted an acorn with my daughter, and by George, I
- How to Make a Square Foot Garden
I’d like to introduce you to a new way of gardening. It’s called square foot gardening.
- 17 Hardy Fruits That You Can Grow On The Prairies
When I was a kid growing up in central Alberta, I was pretty sure that all
- Is Human Hair Really a Great Fertilizer for your Garden?
On Yahoo! Canada today there was a news article from ABC News entitled “Hair: the best
- Garden Plan & Seeds for 2008
With spring not all that far away, folks are browsing the seed catalogs and are starting
- Building A House With Straw Bales
With the recent week of -40 degree weather, my thoughts have again turned to straw bale
- The Dilemma of Pea Varieties
Peas have long been my favorite garden snack. Ever since I was a kid, you would
- How To Keep Your Grapevines Alive Through The Winter
After my grapes went through their first winter, I wasn’t sure they had survived. Well, after
- Lettuce Fields In Alberta?
While traveling through southern California & Arizona over Christmas, I saw some super-sized gardens. Having grown
- Gardening for Future Generations
This Christmas I was inspired to plant a tree. Maybe two. Maybe even a hundred. You
- Tips for Vegetable Crop Rotation
The ground is frozen and there is a layer of snow covering your garden plot. There’s
- Sweet Bell Peppers
Before two years ago, I had no idea that you could grow peppers in Alberta. I
- How To Grow Amazing Scab-Free Potatoes
For my family, and I imagine many other North Americans, potatoes are the most common food
- How Do Your Carrots Grow?
Over the past two years I’ve grown six different varieties of carrots. I’ve grown purple carrots,
- How To Make A Garden From Scratch The Easy Way
Making a new garden plot is no easy task – no matter how you do it.
- How to Have a Green Thumb Without an Aching Back
What are the three things that consume most of your time and effort in gardening? It’s
- Introduction to Haskap Berries (aka Honeyberries)
If you’ve never seen haskap before, this whole article is going to seem very strange to
- Fort Laramie Strawberries Reviewed
This spring I expanded my strawberry patch. In the past all I had grown was the
- Composting Made Easy… Or Something Like That
Who knew that throwing all your dead plants, moldy vegetables, and manure from your pet pig
- What’s the Deal with this Blog?
I grew up on a farm in central Alberta and naturally, we had a large garden
Today is Easter Sunday March 26, is it too early to fertilizer our apple trees?
Jovette: That seems early to me, but my soil is still frozen solid here. But if where you are, the frost is out of the ground, then I would say – go ahead!
Looking for deer resistant perennials and shrubs for Magrath Alberta area.
What do you recommend?
Thank you.