Homegrown
January 25, 2012
WELCOME to this issue of Homegrown, a newsletter bringing you practical advice on growing vegetables, fruit, and other garden edibles.
Click here to subscribe to Homegrown.
Click here to view past issues.
If you like this newsletter about growing vegetables, please forward it to a friend.
And don’t forget to explore my website,
The-Locavores-Garden.com, for lots of fun and practical gardening information.
Steven Biggs
Gardener, Garden Writer, Garden Coach, Horticulturist
Practical, no-nonsense advice for the edible garden.
 
Follow me on Facebook and Twitter for ideas about gardening, food, and farming. Like my Facebook page to get a chapter from my book
No Guff Vegetable Gardening.
Contents
1. Grow
2. Eat
3. Laugh (Kids in the Garden)
4. Learn (The No Guff Front)
5. Note
6. About Homegrown
1. Grow
ONIONS
I grew some beautiful torpedo-shaped onions last summer—but they’ve said, “Enough storage is enough,” and are all sprouting. But look at my storage onions: they’re not sprouting.
TIP: When choosing onion varieties for the garden, decide if you want some for storage. If you do, look for varieties suited to storage. With proper storage condition, these varieties will last until your crop is ready the following year.
LEMONS
I don’t want to give the impression that I harvest a lot of lemons.
I don’t.
In fact, I’ll probably give this one (the first of a paltry half dozen) to Joe and Gina, my friends who gave me the tree and always jokingly ask about the “harvest.”
TIP: I have seen an in-ground lemon tree here in Toronto, laden with fruit. That is my goal.
FIGS
The fig trees in my shed are dormant—and the goal is to keep them dormant as long as possible.
If they come out of dormancy and start growing too early, I have a problem, because they’ll need more light…but won’t tolerate any frost if they’re outdoors.
TIP: Keep your potted fig trees in a cool (ideally 0-5°C), dark spot to keep them dormant.
ROSEMARY
The rosemary in the cold sunroom is blooming!
I use it mainly for roasts…and my kids like the flavour and will munch on a few leaves now and then.
TIP: If you have a reputation as a slayer of rosemary plants (as I did) don’t worry. The secret to overwintering them indoors is a cool, bright location.
2. Eat
 ”This is delicious!" declared Emma after we made the filling for holubtsi (cabbage rolls). I think she was eating as much as she was putting into the cabbage leaves.
I make the filling the way my Great Aunt Anna taught me: rice, ground beef, onions, bacon, bacon fat...and the secret ingredient.
The secret ingredient? Dill. Don't be stingy with the dill.
GARDEN TIP: When dill is plentiful in the garden, I chop and freeze it.
(If you allow dill to self-seed in the garden, you'll probably have a nice crop for freezing in late summer.)
3. Laugh (Kids in the Garden)
 ”Quinn, come and choose what to grow in your garden this year,” said Emma, coaxing him to the table.
I gave Emma the catalogue, not sure how interested she would be, let alone her brother. But there she was, circling what she wanted and directing Quinn to do the same.
Some of what they circled: carrots, gladiolus bulbs, strawberry plants, cherry tomatoes, and—surprise—beets.
4. Learn (The No Guff Front)
No Guff News
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Hurray!!! Donna and I are excited to team up with St. Lynn’s Press of Pittsburgh, which will soon release an American edition of No Guff Vegetable Gardening.
From the No Guff Website, GardenCoachesChat.com
Excerpt from No Guff Vegetable Gardening
Timing of seed starting is often a confusing thing for new gardeners, as not all books and seed packets say the same thing.
The confusion is made worse by the fact that planting dates are linked to the last spring frost date…something that varies by region. Think of that date as a beacon that guides you to an appropriate planting date. Simply work backwards from the average last spring frost date.
If you’re in Canada, visit GardenCoachesChat.com to look for frost dates in your area.
When plants reach transplanting size too soon before they can go in the garden, they become root-bound, will wilt easily, and quickly use up the food in the soil. That’s stressful for the plants—and plants that undergo such stress won’t always recover once planted in the garden.
When to Start Seeds Indoors (weeks before last spring frost)
- 10–12 weeks: celery, eggplant, leeks, onions, parsley, peppers
- 6–8 weeks: basil, early lettuce, okra, tomatoes
- 6 weeks: broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, kohlrabi
- 4 weeks: cucumber, lettuce (once again), melons, pumpkins, squash
Not all vegetables are started indoors: beans, beets, carrots, parsnip, peas, radish, and spinach are examples of crops that are sown directly in the garden.
Others, such as cucumbers or lettuce, can be started indoors for an early crop, and then sown directly in the garden for a later crop.
IF YOU LIKE MY NEWSLETTER, YOU’LL LOVE THE BOOK
Click here to buy it.
5. Note
NIAGARA SEEDY SATURDAY, Feb. 11, 2012
I’m excited to be a speaker at Niagara Seedy Saturday, where I’ll talk about growing edibles in containers.
Click here for more information about Niagara Seedy Saturday.
STRATFORD GARDEN FESTIVAL, March 1-4, 2012
For great display gardens, a well-known garden marketplace, and a roster of great speakers (including me), come to this festival, the proceeds of which support The Lung Association.
Click here for more information about the Stratford Garden Festival.
TORONTO SEEDY SATURDAYS, March 2012
This year there will be a number of Seedy Saturdays around Toronto.
Click here for more information about Toronto Seedy Saturdays.
OTHER UPCOMING GARDENING TALKS
I’ve been busy booking talks for this spring and summer. If you’re looking for a fun and engaging gardening talk, keep an eye on my listing of talks—I’m adding new ones weekly.
Click here for information about talks I’m giving and that my co-author Donna Balzer is giving.
BOOK REVIEW: The Untamed Garden
This naughty little paper-wrapper treat will titillate even non-gardeners. Paper-wrapped, you ask? Yep. The dust jacket resembles a creased, brown paper bag, the sort used in the past to hide indulgences such as bottles of liquor or…naughty books and magazines. The jacket covers the lower portion of the cover, allowing browsers to see flower-bedecked revellers at the top. It is clear there is more to see under the brown paper…and, yes, there is.
The chapters, which look at our love affair with plants, follow the path of many relationships: innocence, flirtation, romance, anticipation, deception, seduction, desire, lust, denial, passion, rapture, and devotion. Don’t worry, there’s sex too. Day advises, “The truth is, the plant world is drenched in sex.” Click here to read more of my review of Sonia Day’s book The Untamed Garden.
Have useful garden “stuff” that belongs here? Drop me a line to tell me about it.
6. About Homegrown
I am Steven Biggs, a garden writer and farm writer, and publisher of Homegrown. I write about gardening, agriculture, and the food system.
AS A LIFE-LONG GARDENER, I’ve managed to garden wherever I’ve lived—creating allotment gardens, container gardens, indoor gardens, and gardens in the overgrown backyards of rented houses.
I garden in Toronto, Canada, with the help of my kids Emma, Quinn, and Keaton. I share the kitchen with my wife Shelley (although she points out that sometimes I am bossy in the kitchen).
Along with a degree in agriculture (horticultural science major), my work experience spans plant propagation, greenhouses, biological controls, nursery and conservatory plants, and horticultural supplies.
If you’re interested in the agri-food system, visit my personal website (StevenBiggs.com) and read some of my articles that look at farming issues and the food system.
Click here to view past issues.
If you like this newsletter about growing vegetables, please forward it to a friend.
And don’t forget to explore my gardening website,
The-Locavores-Garden.com, for lots of fun and practical gardening information.
COMMENTS? IDEAS? FEEDBACK?
I'd love to hear from you. Just reply to this newsletter and tell me what you think!
Contents © Steven Biggs
Garden writer, horticulturist, garden educator, garden coach
Toronto, 2012
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