The Weekend Gardener Sunday May 13th

Join me tomorrow (Mother's Day Sunday) from 11 am to 1 pm for The Weekend Gardener.. I'll be joined by:

Peter LePierre and Pat Langley of Home Harvest Kitchen Gardens!

Crystal Godfrey, the designer behind Secret Gardens by Crystal will talk container gardening! From crops in pots to non-stop blooming annuals for your window boxes and containers.

Beckie Fox, the editor of Garden Making magazine.. she'll preview their summer issue, which hits stores on Monday, May 14th and we'll talk fertilizing roses, marigolds and tilling versus no-tilling..

Debra Prinzing, the author of The 50 Mile Bouquet.. Debra will share some of her favourite cut flowers and we'll chat about the rising trend of local flower growers..

Can't wait! Listen live on News 95.7 FM, News 88.9 FM, News 91.9 FM or live on www.news957.com

Plant Sales and Plant Contest!

About 1/3 of my veggie, herb an annual
flower seedlings.. yikes!

Tis the season for plant sales. From driveways sales of potted up hosta and daylily divisions to the slightly more diverse sales offered by garden clubs, every weekend in May seems to bring more plants to the ever-increasing pile on my front porch. Currently in that space, there are literally hundreds of hardening-off seedlings nestled beside rhododendrons, witch hazel, hydrangea, alliums, coleus, herbs, raspberries and more. And, with a handful of plant sales this weekend, I know that resistance is futile and that pile of plants will continue to grow.. So, here are a few of the upcoming plant sales, along with one of my book events taking place this Saturday in Berwick!

The Atlantic Rhododendron and Horticultural Society:

Sat May 12th, from 1 to 3:30 at Le Marchant-St. Thomas School Gymnasium (6141 Watt Street) in Halifax. This is a BIG sale.. not only will there be a good selection of rare and unusual (as well as common) rhododendrons, azaleas, evergreens and more, but some of the members will be selling divided plants from their own gardens. Arrive early! Members will also be on hand to answer your gardening questions and offer advice.

Annapolis Royal Rare and Unusual Plant Sale:

Sat May 12th from 1 to 4 pm at the Farmers Market by the Wharf in Annapolis Royal. Plant lovers will find this sale worth the 2 1/2 hour drive. There will be a range of merchants including Bunchberry Nurseries, Gardens North Seeds, Baldwin's Nurseries, Ouest-Ville Perennials and over a dozen vendors in all.. Arrive early, but the fun doesn't begin until 1 pm!

The Year Round Vegetable Gardener Book Signing and Q & A:

Sat May 12th from 1 to 2:30 at The Briar Patch in Berwick. Bring your gardening questions and come say hi! There will be copies of my book for sale and plenty of veggie seedlings, perennials, trees, shrubs, annuals and more to tempt you! I know I'm in trouble.. just hoping they have an Empress Wu hosta for me to buy.. And a kousa dogwood.. and some blackberries.. and...

Also, don't forget to scroll down and check out my last blog post about the Proven Winners contest! It ends in just 2 days!! Enter to win a copy of my book and a preview box of Proven Winners plants that won't be available to gardeners for a whole year! Good luck!

BIG Contest!! Win a copy of my book AND a box of not-yet-released Proven Winners plants!!

Ok.. big contest and I've been sitting on it for over week waiting to share it with you! Many of you know that I blog monthly for Proven Winners (see the PW badge on the right side of my blog to read my posts). They have been kind enough to put together an amazing contest that where the winner will not only win a copy of my book, The Year Round Vegetable Gardener (2012 American Horticultural Society Book Award Winner - sorry for the plug!), but also a box of preview Proven Winners plants that won't be available in garden centres until 2013!! Seriously exciting for any plant lover.

Contest Details:

Contest runs from May 4th until noon PST on May 11th, 2012

The preview box of new Proven Winners varieties may include Superbells^® Lemon Slice Calibrachoa, Senorita Blanca^® Cleome, Luscious^® Berry Blend Lantana, Blushing Princess^™ Lobularia, Supertunia^®Watermelon Charm Petunia and Colorblaze^®Marooned Coleus. DROOL!! 


The winner will be announced by 5 pm PST on May 11th.

Entering is simple! Just ‘like’ the Proven Winners Facebook page and/or my Facebook page and then return to the Proven Winners blog post (here) and leave a comment saying you did so. You can enter up to two times. The winning entry will be chosen at random. Oh, and this is a multi-blog contest, so be sure to visit the other participating blogs to learn more! Check out the end of the post for a list of them all.

Here are the participating blogs of my fellow Proven Winners bloggers (love these ladies!):

www.punkrockgardens.com

http://www.cowlickcottagefarm.com/

http://reddirtramblings.com/

http://www.kissmyaster.co/

http://www.jpetersongardendesign.com/

http://www.northcoastgardening.com/

http://www.gardenertofarmer.net/

http://www.thedandelionwrangler.ca/

http://insidestorey.blogspot.com/

GOOD LUCK!! 

Seed Potatoes and Odd Bits

I really need to stay away from garden centres and places like Halifax Seed! I popped in this morning after I recorded my show promos for The Weekend Gardener (can't wait to hit the airwaves this Sunday!) and 'accidentally' bought some onion sets, seeds, gladiolas and dahlias. Forgot to get my raspberries though! Obviously I was overwhelmed! :)

On the way home, I picked up the seed potatoes I had ordered from Hope Seeds - so exciting! I've been hearing about Pink Fir Apple Fingerlings for years (said to be one of the best tasting potatoes), so am thrilled to finally have 1 1/2 pounds to plant this spring. It has an extremely high yield, is resistant to blight, produces vigorous plants and the elongated tubers are soft pink with golden yellow flesh. Excellent roasted or steamed!

Caribe is a purple skinned, white fleshed potato that has become a family favourite for us, so I always plant plenty of this pretty spud. It's very high yielding and we typically harvest all summer long for a non-stop supply of new purple potatoes. It's a NB potato that was bred in 1969.

Belleisle is new to me, but according to Hope Seed it is a super dry potato that is perfect for baking or roasting and was bred in NB in 1958! It has buff, netted skin and white flesh.

I don't have any yet, but I do plan on getting some All Blue potatoes as well. They did fantastic for us last summer and the deep purple skin and flesh is incredibly dramatic and delicious. They make excellent baked french fries that everyone gobbled up.

Lee Valley Seminar Update - This Sat from 10 am to noon I'll be at Lee Valley in Halifax for a talk on growing crops in pots. I'll also cover pallet gardens, potato towers, bagged gardens, salad tables, vertical wall gardens and much more.. tickets are very limited.. I hear there are only a handful left, so if you want to come, call them asap to book your seat!

Time to plant my peas.. I'll try to post soon about whether soaking really helps speed up pea and bean seed germination.. as well as touch on the usefulness of coated seeds - love my coated lettuce and carrot seed!

I'm dreaming of summer.. baby potatoes and onions roasted or sautéed together!

The Weekend Gardener Returns this Sunday, May 6th!!

We're bacccckkk!

Season 6 of The Weekend Gardener kicks off this coming Sunday from 11 am to 1 pm (Atlantic time, which is 10-noon EST) on News 95.7 FM, News 91.9 FM and News 88.9 FM - or, if you're out of range, you can listen live on www.news957.com.

I'm just about to head into the studio this morning to record the promos for the first month of shows and I can tell you that it's going to be a good season! Amazing, interesting, knowledgeable guests! Giveaways (who doesn't love a good giveaway??)! All that and more (do I sound like a radio host??) :)

To jump start this season, I've dedicated the first show to our amazing Maritime gardeners. Jodi Delong will be joining me to talk about her books, extremely popular blog and the new website for gardeners that she launched a few months ago. Also, I want to find out her favourite plants and a few gardening secrets! This is a great opportunity to call Jodi and I with your gardening questions.. don't be shy!! We love to talk gardening.

Then, Cathy Oulton of Bloom Greenhouse and Garden Centre will share some of the exciting new plants for 2012. From trees and shrubs to perennials and container plants, we'll cover it all..

Finally, Aaron and Anna from Sweet Valley Herbs in Keswick, NB will talk herbs. What are the top culinary herbs (hello, basil!) as well as the more decorative ones like lavender and hyssop. We'll talk about garden and container growing as well as how to use your herbs. Love herbs and these guys are fantastic!

Did I mention that we'll also be taking your calls?? 1-877-801-8255 is the number to call on Sunday 11 to 1 pm.

Hope you'll join me!

Protecting your garden from frost - a Canadian Gardening article

A mini hoop tunnel - a quick way
to protect newly planted veggies from
frost. 

Earlier this month, I had a lovely chat with garden writer April Demes.. she was working on an article for Canadian Gardening magazine and it's now been published and she just e-mailed me the link. To read the article, click here! She was kind enough to include me (and the many mistakes I've made over the years! Bunny slippers and sheets!) in the article, along with a few of my photos from The Year Round Vegetable Gardener.. great article and great advice. Thanks April! :)

Upcoming Lee Valley Seminar

Photo from Off the Wall Urban Gardens

Saltscapes weekend is cruising by! I've spent the past two days giving lectures on growing edibles and extending your season.. just two talks left tomorrow and then I'll begin preparing for my next event, which takes place at Lee Valley in Halifax next Saturday from 10 am to noon. Pre-registration is required, as space is limited. Last month, my Lee Valley seminar covered the basics of veggie gardening as well as year round veggie gardening. On May 5th, I'll tackle the fun topic of Crops in Pots (click on the link to be directed to the seminar details and registration info). I'll offer ideas for the top crops for containers, combining ornamentals and edibles in pots, fun ideas for pots, as well as innovative ways gardeners are using their vertical spaces (walls, fences, arbours, etc.) to grow edibles (pallets, shoe bags, gutters and many many more!)