Michelle Smith

Beets. (Photo by Madeline Yakimchuk)

Gardening Tips: Getting to the Root of Things

August 24, 2022 at 12:08 pm

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. This column last appeared on 19 August 2020.   What to do this week This week, we are still on harvesting, and mid-season busy-ness. IRead More

Garlic. (Photo by Madeline Yakimchuk)

Gardening Tips: Harvesting Garlic

August 10, 2022 at 12:15 pm

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. (This column last appeared on 5 August 2020.)   What to do this week Let the serious harvest begin! (Depending, of course, on what youRead More

Red currants.(Photo by ojonsson from Göteborg, Sweden [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)]

Gardening Tips: Berry Busy

July 27, 2022 at 11:45 am

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

By Idéalités - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=76261189

Keeping Pace with the Produce

July 13, 2022 at 11:30 am

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 10 July 2019.   What to do this week The heavy work of planting should all be done by now. Until it’s time to plant coverRead 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

Gardening Tips: You Say ‘Tomato,’ I Say ‘Get Planting!’

June 29, 2022 at 11:15 am

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

Flowering buckwheat cover crop. (Source: The Campus Community Garden http://web.uvic.ca/~ccgarden/buckwheat-covercrop/, University of Victoria)

Gardening Tips: Cover Crops

June 22, 2022 at 11:10 am

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

Deep-planted tomato plant. (Photo by Dave Wallis / The Forum http://www.inforum.com/lifestyles/home-and-garden/4261574-getting-tomatoes-fast-start)

Gardening Tips: Not-So-Deadly Nightshades

June 15, 2022 at 12:30 pm

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

Small-scale crop rotation at the Ecological Garden at Odder. (Photo by Sten, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0), via Wikimedia Commons

Gardening Tips: Beautiful Chaos

June 8, 2022 at 12:30 pm

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

Zucchini flower, photo: By net_efekt CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=36613855

Gardening Tips: Zuke, Alors!

June 1, 2022 at 11:45 am

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

Seed envelopes. (Source: Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/electrosara/seed-saving/)

Reframing the GMO Debate

May 25, 2022 at 1:29 pm

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