Tomorrow on The Weekend Gardener

Me signing books after my talk in Saint
John this past week (Thanks Steve
for taking the photo!)

Wow, where did spring/summer of 2012 go? It's Canadian Thanksgiving weekend, which also signals an end to The Weekend Gardener radio show for 2012.. We'll be back in late March/early April for another 8 or so months, but for now, we go dormant for the winter. I'd love to say that I head off to Fiji for those off-months, but sadly that's not the case.. I've got a handful of upcoming magazine deadlines and will have this new book manuscript off to my editor in about a week (assuming the last few contributors send me their stuff!) :)

I've also still been 'on the road' quite a bit, most recently in Saint John this past weekend talking to the Fundy Gardeners, a huge garden club with such amazing enthusiasm!

But as for this Sunday, the last radio show for Season 6, I always like to end on a high note and try to come up with something a bit different, but with plenty of fun packed in! I also really like to give stuff away, so in the spirit of giving stuff away, I've got my dear and slightly wacky friend Carla from Halifax Seed joining me to talk bulbs/fall gardening and we'll give away bulbs and other tidbits!! Also, Bloom Greenhouse and Garden Center on the Hammonds Plains road in Halifax has given me some sweet prizes too!

In our second hour, we will attempt something we've never done before. We will try to hook up live to The Mike Nowak Show in Chicago, which will also be broadcasting live.. wish us luck, but if it works, it will be fun!  Mike is a passionate environmentalist and his show is incredibly popular across the US. Check out his link for podcasts.

Amanda Thomsen's upcoming book. It is amazing.

Finally, we will end with the zany Amanda Thomsen of Kiss My Aster! We'll recap 2012, talk trends for 2013 and she will give us a preview of her new book that is coming out late 2012 - also called Kiss My Aster. I have seen it and it. is. genius. Just like Amanda. I predict it will be THE most popular, in-demand gardening book for 2013. It's smart, sassy, informative and gorgeous - the first graphic novel gardening book I've ever seen. Initially I was doubtful (but she has my same publisher!) so when I saw the 'almost finished' product my first thought was - thank goodness my book came out last year! :)

Anyway, I hope you'll tune in tomorrow - News 95.7 FM in Halifax, News 88.9 FM in Saint John and News 91.9 FM in Moncton. Or, if you're in a land far, far away, try us at www.news957.com where you can listen live.

Happy Thanksgiving Canada!

New Proven Winners Blog Post!!

Just a quick link to my latest blog post for Proven Winners.. I had so much fun writing this one! :)

Click here!

The gourds are coming in..

It's begun - the gourd harvest.. many more photos to follow in the coming days, but here are the first two long handled dipper gourds.. That is a 1-foot ruler for a sense of scale.. Can't wait to share these with the local school kids.. The big snake gourd will next.. :)

A Visual Tour of the 3rd annual Mother Earth News Fair!

The legendary Ira Wallace of Southern Exposure
Seed Exchange - AWESOME to meet her and have
the opportunity to hear her speak. I went right after her and
she is a tough act to follow!
(Thanks to Kenny at www.veggiegardentips.com for taking
the photo! But, he disappeared before I could get one with
him too!!)

I'm baaaaaack! And I had so much fun at the Mother Earth News Fair in Seven Springs, PA. The venue was amazing - tucked between the rolling mountains of Pennsylvania - and I met some amazing folks, as well as some of my favourite experts and authors over the course of the three day event. I had three talks during the fair on various elements of year round veggie gardening and the turnouts for each were great and the attendees asked such thoughtful, interesting questions. I thought I'd share some of my photos with you below..

The Storey Publishing booth - the ONLY time I was able to
wade through the people in it to take a few unobstructed photos!
(See my book - lower right corner - and my mini poster?)

My speaker 'goodie' bag had Happy Hen Treats.. where else
but at the Mother Earth News Fair!! So funny, loved it!

My 1st talk.. here is my view of about 1/3 of the audience, dozens turned
away due to lack of space.. 

The Mother Earth News Fair bookstore catalogue -
look at the book in the middle of the top row!

A quiet moment in the bookstore. Any time there were less than
50 people in this large area was a 'quiet time'. Everyone
was hungry for knowledge and the book selection was incredible.
(They sold out of mine after day 1 - good and bad!) :)

Some of the outside action at the fair.

Yum - maple cotton candy!

Yes please! I'll take 10! This model was about
$2500 and had interior reflectors to heat
water for irrigation. The roof was made from a
type of bubble wrap on steroids that lasts for up
to 20 years. This one had 78 sq feet of growing space.
I'd love a bigger one.. hmmmmmm...

A backyard bread oven! Again, 'yes please'!

Planted Garden Soxx. I was given one as a sample
to try. www.gardensoxx.com Interesting.

Animals at the fair!

Love the goats.. 

With our mayoral race in Halifax almost finished,
will we finally be allowed backyard chickens?
If so, I may just need this fella.

Heirloom veggie posters along
one of the hallways. 

Cool idea for indoor growing.

Hard to do a book signing when they are sold
out of your books! I had my hot tea and bookplates
to sign. The fair still sold backorders for my book which
they shipped for free! :) 

Off to the Mother Earth News Fair in Seven Springs, PA!

If you're in the Pittsburgh area this weekend, I hope you'll pop over to the Mother Earth News Fair to say hi! I'll be speaking twice on Saturday and once on Sunday. For my schedule and that of other Storey Publishing authors, click  here! Can't wait, I hear such great things about the event.. I will be tweeting throughout the weekend, so feel free to follow my adventures on twitter - here! I plan on sharing photos and tidbits from the event.. I may even need to buy a second suitcase to bring home some awesome garden stuff!! That's the trouble with international travel, I need to limit myself.. sigh.. :)

Obviously, there will be NO weekend gardener radio show this weekend.. But, I'll be back on air next Sunday and then for our final show Thanksgiving weekend (Canadian).. so, I hope you'll tune back in for those last two shows of season 6! We'll take our winter break and be back in the spring of 2013..

On a completely unrelated note, check out my Hakeuri Japanese Turnips - they are AMAZING! Quick growing, cool weather tolerant (cold frame crop!) and super yummy.. I sowed about 50 seeds in mid-August and now we have about 50 lovely turnips - some are 2+ inches across, but not pithy at all.

My heirloom onions and my book in West Coast Seeds

I was just playing hooky from making notes for today's Weekend Gardener (11 to 1 pm Atlantic on www.news957.com) and thought I'd wander up to check on my beloved gourds. As I passed the onion bed - I've been eagerly waiting for my heritage Italian onions to be harvestable - I noticed that most of the tops had (finally) fallen over and they were ready! So I grabbed my trusty garden fork and dug up these gorgeous onions. Most of these barrel-shaped beauties were about 3 to 4 inches long and I laid them on newspaper to begin the curing process.

The exact variety is Rossa Di Milano and I bought them from Hope Seed this past spring. The description on their website says that it "keeps just as hard as oak through winter." I don't think mine will last that long! Onion love!

Another happy surprise this past week was the arrival of the Fall/Winter seed catalogue from West Coast Seeds. As I gleefully flipped through the pages, I discovered my book was listed in the catalogue! Check out the photos below as well as the lovely description that accompanied a cover photo..

Ok, off to the radio station, but don't forget to seed more spinach. And arugula. And radishes. And mizuna. And tatsoi. And...

Onion love! (Sorry about the bad lighting)

Love the groovy barrel shape

Hello Fall/Winter seed catalogue!

Look Ma, it's me!! :)

Tomorrow on The Weekend Gardener - Just 4 shows left until our winter break!

Tomorrow on The Weekend Gardener I will talk to Beckie Fox, the editor of Garden Making magazine (www.gardenmaking.com orhttps://www.facebook.com/GardenMaking) about the new fall issue! (Spoiler alert - the featured garden is a Nova Scotia jewel!).

Then, I'll chat with Shannon from Broadfork Farms (https://www.facebook.com/BroadforkFarm) about Open Farm Day which is happening on Sept 16th across

 the Maritimes! (http://www.meetyourfarmer.ca/openfarmday/)

Plus, Scott Croucher of Lee Valley in Halifax will talk tools - for bulb planting, fall clean up and pruning!

Finally, we'll close the show with an interview with John Gillespie, the co-author of the new book, Sow Simple: 100+ Green and Easy Projects to Make Your Garden Awesome.

Listen live at www.news957.com if you're not in the Maritime provinces.. If you are lucky enough to be here, tune in on News 95.7 FM (Halifax), News 91.9 FM (Moncton) or News 88.9 FM (Saint John). 11 to 1 pm Atlantic time (10-noon EST)