Culinary Garden

June is a great time for herb gardening! Transplanting basil and seeding cilantro are on the list this week, as well as looking at a bed with some cilantro transplants that really lagged. Our greenhouse herb garden has been doing great, and many perennial herbs are ready to harvest. We harvest some lemon balm to dry and cut mint on a green roof, and make an iced tea. Watch or listen weekly as we w...

The transition from spring to summer is happening fast! Our rhubarb and greenhouse spinach are bolting, and although that signals an end to the spring harvest, we will prolong it a little longer because we haven't quite had our fill of rhubarb yet. Transplants that we carefully tended in the indoor growroom have been getting ready for the harsh spring environment, with a couple of casualties, and...

We spend the day at the Community Garden in Sackville New Brunswick, there is lots to do as the spring warms up! We use a Broadfork, look at different types of compost, plant peas, harvest fiddleheads and sochan greens, start a willow fence, and pull some weeds. Watch or listen weekly as we work through the growing season in a kitchen garden: planning, planting, harvesting, processing, and problem...

Sarah talks to Sackville New Brunswick gardener Laurel McIntyre about adding perennials plants to your garden. Laurel has many decades of experience and has some great tips for thinking long-term about your garden and the best types of plants to meet your garden goals. Watch or listen weekly as we work through the growing season in a kitchen garden: planning, planting, harvesting, processing, and...

Perennial plants are an important part of your garden, whether it's a plant, shrub or tree. We talk about why and how to divide your perennials plants in spring, whether you're moving them around your garden or bringing them to a plant swap. Trees also can be moved and planted in spring, and we have some tips for the best ways to ensure healthy trees and shrubs in your garden as the season gets st...

It's spring and we have been busy building garden beds. There are many different ways to do this, from sheet mulching, to building and filling raised beds. We discuss different approaches you can take based on your site, materials available, time, and budget. Watch or listen weekly as we work through the growing season in a kitchen garden: planning, planting, harvesting, processing, and problem-so...

We are out and planting at last with the warm spring weather. Slowly all our indoor gardening projects are moving outdoors. Our hodge podge garden in planted, grown for an early-summer vegetable dish traditional to the Maritimes. Sarah is experimenting with growing transplants and direct seeding herbs and other cold-hardy crops. We have encountered cutworm damage in the garden for the first time,...

We are noticing so many signs of spring, with plants, animals and insects all coming out of their winter resting time. Bees are everywhere looking for nectar and pollen, and we talk about native trees that provide important nourishment to native bees. Many plants, including invasive plants, are coming back to life and with a list of ones that are edible, maybe we can put a small (very small) dent...

Our greenhouse provides enough cover that herbs and greens are really growing, while outside we are still looking to those lovely little green shoots and foraged roots to keep us excited about the weather to come. With six weeks til last frost date, we are planting tomatoes, and talk about the varieties we chose and why, as well as information about the first GM tomato plant available to gardeners...

It is "fools spring", where it feels like spring is just around the corner, even though but it will still be several weeks before the season of flower blooms, abundant greens, and the spring culinary specialties that we love to cook. This would have been a hungry time of year in the past, as the larders are emptied, and we have some tips to save last years' garlic for a few more months. We list ou...

Good weather this week allowed us to do some outdoor work, getting further along on our garden plan for 2024. Removing a few trees and shrubs will make way for raised beds and a compost area, and was a quick project for cool weather. We are seeing so many spring signs in our gardens and the environment, and there garden events including "Seedy Saturdays" happening soon. These are great ways to mee...

Spring is .... here? No not really, but it will coming soon, and phenology can be used to track spring signs as they move North across the continent. We are starting to prune, but holding off on cleaning up our garden beds, and using soil blockers to start seeds for our summer garden. Watch or listen weekly as we work through the growing season in a kitchen garden: planning, planting, harvesting,...

Even in the winter season, we have indoor gardening projects on the go. It is what gets us through the winter, but growing plants indoors is full of challenges. Pests can be an issue in potted plants that come indoors, and we have a simple solution that has really worked to keep them in control this year. Our unheated greenhouse is full of small spinach plants, waiting for longer days to grow, and...

There's snow on the ground, so we are starting our Culinary Garden season by talking about planning for our 2024 season. Drawing a base map helped assess the areas with the best garden conditions, but oops, what did we already plant there? We learn why it's important to plan out tree and edible shrub locations. We are excited to build more raised beds this year, but what to build them out of, and...