![Red currants.(Photo by ojonsson from Göteborg, Sweden [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)]](https://capebretonspectator.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/red_currants_crop-200x150.png)
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 first appeared on 7 August 2019. What to do this week There are so many garden projects vying for my attention these days. The red currants and gooseberriesRead More
![Top: Tomato seedlings by Dwight Sipler from Stow, MA, USA (Tomato seedlingsUploaded by Jacopo Werther) [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons) Bottom: Potato plants by fir0002 | flagstaffotos.com.au [GFDL 1.2 (http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/fdl-1.2.html)], from Wikimedia Commons](https://capebretonspectator.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/potato_tomato_plants-200x150.png)
Editor’s Note: This column last appeared on 24 June 2020. What to do this week Summer is here and we begin the frantic time of planting all the warm-weather crops as quickly as possible before too much of our very short season passes us by. Every year is different,Read More
Editor’s Note: This column last appeared on 10 June 2020. What to do this week This is the time of year when you might be starting a new garden bed — maybe your first, maybe an extension of your existing garden — which makes it a good time to talkRead More
Editor’s Note: This column first appeared on 19 June 2019. What to do this week It’s been a long time coming this spring, but the apples are in bloom and it’s time to start thinking about – nightshades! Not the deadly kind, of course, but a lot of myRead More
Editor’s Note: This column first appeared on 6 June 2018. What to do this week You may think crop rotation is only for big farming operations, but you have a lot to gain from doing it too. It is just as important in a backyard garden. If you plantRead More
Editor’s Note: This column first appeared on 5 June 2019, but I spoke with the gardener on Friday and she was, indeed, still waiting on her apple blossoms. What to do this week The weather is still far from warm and settled and like the rest of Nova ScotiaRead More
A recent phone-in on CBC’s Maritime Noon on the issue of labelling products containing genetically modified organisms (GMOs) left me irritated and frustrated with both sides of the debate. As an enthusiastic and, dare I say, popular seed-saving educator, I never fail to be asked about my views on GMOs.Read More
Editor’s Note: This column first appeared on 30 May 2018. What to do this week This time of year many people are starting to move their seedlings from the house or greenhouse to the garden. Even if you have decided to run the risk of frost, your seedlings willRead More
Having tried to understand the financing of the EverWind green hydrogen project in Point Tupper it’s now time to consider the science—or lack thereof—behind it. First, you need to understand that hydrogen does not come in a variety of colors. The color coding is used to denote how the hydrogenRead More
Editor’s Note: This column first appeared on 16 May 2018 but I suspect the picture of the lilacs in full bloom was from the previous spring. What to do this week There is an old folk saying that one should not plant summer crops until the lilacs and appleRead More
