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 It’s time to wrap up the gardening season, but there doesn’t need to be a wholesale effort to rake and tidy up before winter. It’sRead 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 Soon the autumn gales will strip the leaves off the trees and shrubs and the cold nights will send them into their winter slumber. ThatRead 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 week, I’d like to give you a few tips on how to get started with seed saving. If youRead 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 The main thing I am doing now, besides harvesting, is dealing with cover crops. I’m crimping or otherwise destroying theRead More

When I was young, there was a saying that was often used to describe someone who wanted to do two incompatible things simultaneously: “She wants to have her cake and eat it too!” The moral of the saying was that we often have to make difficult choices: we can’t preserveRead More

Editor’s Note: I had to stop watching CBRM’s Tuesday council meeting to tune into the provincial COVID-19 update (full disclosure: I tried to watch both simultaneously with predictable results) and so can only report on half of the council meeting but I promise to watch and report on the restRead...

The May 12 virtual CBRM council meeting lasted a fraction of a minute over 3 hours. Although all current councilors and a number of CBRM staffers were in attendance, the video (which you can watch on YouTube) consists almost entirely of footage of Mayor Cecil Clarke, sitting in his office,Read...

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 Our original idea for this column was to write about what I am actually doing in theRead More

Editor’s Note: The Spectator is reaching into Michelle Smith’s gardening column archive for some tips about weeds which apply as much today as when they were written in April 2017.   What to do this week Let’s talk a bit about garden weeds. The particular weeds you struggle with inRead More