What to do this week There are so many garden projects vying for my attention these days. The red currants and gooseberries are at their peak so I am busy picking and cleaning for the freezer. I discovered that gooseberries get sweet enough to eat out of hand if theyRead More

What to do this week It has been a slow start but with the recent heat and ample rain, the garden is starting to catch up. This column will spend as much time in the kitchen as outside, with tips on using the incoming bounty. Right now you should beRead...

What to do this week The heavy work of planting should all be done by now. Until it’s time to plant cover crops and late season greens in another month, if it’s not planted now, it’s not going to get planted. The cool weather this spring has slowed things downRead More

What to do this week By now, the bulk of the spring planting should be accomplished, or nearly so. Even with this cool weather tomatoes should be in the final stages of hardening off if not transplanted already. Squash plants should get planted in another week so you might startRead More

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 my favorite foods are in that family. Namely, tomatoes, peppers, eggplants andRead More

What to do this week My plum and pear trees are blooming now and I am getting impatient to plant out the tomatoes. It is still too early yet, though, so I am sublimating the urge by getting a jump on planting the beans and potatoes. We are still likelyRead More

What to do this week The weather is still far from warm and settled and like the rest of Nova Scotia I am waiting on the apple blossoms to start planting my warm weather crops like beans, potatoes and tomatoes. Ideally, the blossoms will give us our marching orders whenRead More

Sino-Nova Scotian relations I honestly don’t know what to make of Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil’s apparently chummy relations with China at a time when Canada and the People’s Republic are barely speaking (and Port of Sydney promoter Albert Barbusci has been cruelly abandoned by his Chinese backers, a factRead More

What to do this week Having got the early spring planting well underway, it is time for me to turn my attention to orchard chores. The trees are budding out and many are already at the green tip stage. It only takes a few days of warm weather for thingsRead More

What to do this week I finally got my tractor going after having it sit all winter and as soon as the soil dries a bit after the recent rains, I will get going on the mid-spring planting. I generally wait until the lilacs are putting out their first leavesRead More