Editor’s Note: We’re reaching into Michelle’s Smith’s archives for posts as useful now as when they were first published and this week, we’re revisiting one of her lovely long-form essays, first published in November 2019.   The cat and I huddled under the blankets in the dark as the windRead More

Editor’s Note: We’re reaching into Michelle’s Smith’s archives for posts as useful now as when they were first published.   What to do this week You might need a garden shovel or something similar in the next month or so, who knows, but generally, this is the time of yearRead More

Editor’s Note: We’re reaching into Michelle’s Smith’s archives for posts as useful now as when they were first published.   What to do this week From the chill in the air it seems that this week is a good week to talk about fall activities in the garden. Between nowRead More

Editor’s Note: The Spectator is reaching into Michelle Smith’s gardening column archive for some weekly advice that is as relevant now as when it was first written.   What to do this week This time of year there is a lot going on for gardeners. You may be very busy figuring out howRead More

Editor’s Note: The Spectator is reaching into Michelle Smith’s gardening column archive for some weekly advice that is as relevant now as when it was first written, although you might have to wait for the snow to melt to follow these tips from May 2017.   What to do this week Okay,Read More

Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil is on yet another pilgrimage to China as I write, “engaging” with the Chinese rather than isolating them because, according to what he told reporters just prior to his departure, that’s how you show non-democracies “what democracies have to offer.” At first I thought heRead More

Picnic for the Planet News that 250+ media organizations have pledged to do a week of climate change coverage in the lead-in to the United Nations Climate Action Summit in New York on September 23 has made me vow to pull up my socks and make a point of includingRead More

What to do this week The Spectator‘s gardening columnist will be back to her regular schedule next week. (Full disclosure: the Spectator forgot to tell her we were resuming the weekly publication schedule as of September 11. Sorry Michelle!) Luckily, she has written oodles of advice for September gardeners, andRead More

What to do this week Michelle Smith is busy weeding, so here are some of her mid- to late-summer tips from seasons past: On 23 August  2017 she had some advice on storing all that produce you’re harvesting at this point in summer, notably the root vegetables: If you plantedRead More

What to do this week With the prolonged cold weather, there was some serious pouting going on in my house. I wasn’t sure there even should be a column this week and maybe I’m still not certain. But if, like me, you are greatly cheered by a few days ofRead More