Don’t panic if your pepper seedlings are not coming up. Maybe they’re just not coming up YET. Why haven’t my pepper seeds sprouted? Growing chillis or other peppers from seed can be tricky – or actually deceptive is a much better word, especially if you are seeding your peppers around the same time as yourContinue reading “My pepper seeds aren’t sprouting!”
Author Archives: Jacqueline Windh
Ripening late-harvest tomatoes indoors
Wouldn’t it be nice to eat salads made with your own fresh garden tomatoes even in the middle of winter? Or to cook with your own, pesticide-free, home-grown Roma tomatoes? Well you can – by ripening them indoors! It is mid-January here in Canada – the middle of winter. Yet I am still eating freshContinue reading “Ripening late-harvest tomatoes indoors”
Prepping the vegetable garden for winter
The main garden season is over spring and summer – and then early autumn (or fall, depending upon where you hail from) is harvest time. But the work doesn’t stop with the harvest: you still need to prepare your vegetable garden for fall and for winter. (Above, in the photo, are: my blueberry bushes turningContinue reading “Prepping the vegetable garden for winter”
Quinoa: Not only nutritious and easy to grow, but beautiful!
One of the crops that I grow in my garden that seems to surprise people the most is quinoa. Many think of it as an “exotic” food – but that does not mean it needs a tropical climate. It is actually native to the high country of the Andes, so it tends to do veryContinue reading “Quinoa: Not only nutritious and easy to grow, but beautiful!”
Advice for southern hemisphere vegetable gardeners in this time of COVID
It’s springtime in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and much of South America. COVID-19 first came to the attention of most of us here in the northern hemisphere during our springtime – and the many concerns about our food supply made it a very different planting season. In fact, those concerns are why I initiatedContinue reading “Advice for southern hemisphere vegetable gardeners in this time of COVID”
Growing carrots in pots or other containers
Some vegetables work well in containers and some don’t. Sometimes there are even advantages of growing vegetables in pots or other containers! Carrots can go either way – it’s important to do them right. Same as if you are planting them in the garden: you are growing carrots for the ROOT, and it is aContinue reading “Growing carrots in pots or other containers”
How I am preparing for possible food shortages
Even back in July, on Dave’s and my big trip to the city, I could not find fresh products from Asia such as curry leaves and kaffir limes: the grocers told me it was because of COVID. In August, Dave could no longer get the brand of gnocchi, made in Italy, that we usually getContinue reading “How I am preparing for possible food shortages”
One of my favourite garden harvests: home-grown tomatillos
Tomatillos have to be one of the best-value plants to grow in your home vegetable garden. You absolutely cannot compare the quality of home-grown tomatillos to the rock-hard semi-ripe tomatillo fruit that is (occasionally) available in grocery stores. How do you grow tomatillos? Growing tomatillos is pretty much the same as growing tomatoes – butContinue reading “One of my favourite garden harvests: home-grown tomatillos”
What to do about mould or mildew on cucumber and squash plants
It’s that time of year: the leaves of the cucumber and zucchini and other squash plants are starting to go mouldy. What can you do? Well, first of all, like any sort of problem-solving, you need to understand what the problem is. And it is not actually mould! It is a kind of mildew knownContinue reading “What to do about mould or mildew on cucumber and squash plants”
How to grow the “right” amount of garden vegetables for your household
Some people think that growing vegetables in your backyard garden is like growing vegetables on a farm, only less of everything. But that is absolutely wrong! Anyone growing food for sale – whether a small-scale market gardener or a huge industrial food producer – wants a whole bunch of one or a few things readyContinue reading “How to grow the “right” amount of garden vegetables for your household”
The Food Garden 