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Donna Balzer is a garden expert, a regular guest on CBC radio and host is internationally aired "Bugs & Blooms" on HGTV. For more great tips from Donna, visit www.donnabalzer.com. You can also read Donna’s gardening books: No Guff Vegetable Gardening with Steven Biggs and keep track of your success with her Gardener’s Gratitude Journal: Part Diary, Part Personal Growing Guide.
As summer thrives, it's the ideal time to start preparing your winter greenhouse for a successful cold-season harvest. This guide will provide essential tips on succession planting, choosing the right crops, and maximizing your greenhouse's potential through strategic summer planning.
An overview of winter greenhouse growing has been covered in our December 2023 blog post, but it seems worthwhile to expand the conversation of winter growing in a home or hobby greenhouse this month as well. For one thing, a greenhouse is not the end of the story. A few other accessories and ideas will make you a more successful grower this winter.
Uncover insightful tips and strategies that turn the labor of winter food cultivation into a rewarding journey. Your next adventure in gardening awaits.
As we close in on late fall and the days get shorter, I am considering ways to bring more light and joy into my life. I decided to decorate my greenhouse with lights. Not grow lights. (They have to be placed 15 cm above plants to make a difference.) No, I am thinking about decorating generally and decorative lights specifically. Lights to stretch the beauty of my greenhouse through the upcoming social season and spread a bit of cheer.
My Helpful Husband (AKA Keith) installed a door sill on my new greenhouse while I was away last week. I had no idea I needed a sill so that proves my point: I am a gardener, not a builder. I take certain things for granted.
I am sitting in my newly built greenhouse as snug as a bug. The sun is shining, and I take my coat off even though it is a cool fall day. I am still dreaming of my final greenhouse layout and watching my little lemons grow. (Okay - that's an exaggeration - the lemons bloomed in August and the tiny fruit is still the size of my baby fingernail! They are growing slowly, but unlike the grass a June rain, I can't actually watch them grow.)
This summer I started a long-distance move and after an extended period away my greenhouse plants are crying - yes crying - for help. Wilted plants, dry leaf tips, pale leaves and poor appearance. The trouble, it turns out, is that my house sitters were overly cautious about watering and using the fertilizer I left out for them. Now that I am home, I am growing my plants back to perfection.
“The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry. *” I just never thought they would go awry during the...
It’s really, truly spring and the neighbours are jealous. They don’t have a greenhouse, so getting ready for spring in their gardens is all about buying high-cost overgrown plants from commercial greenhouses.
