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Stories Tagged - Gardening
News
June 22, 2016 | CREBNow
Beauty on the balcony
Five tips on how to add some wow factor to your outdoor space
It is possible to plant your balcony using leftover plastic containers and old grocery bags. That said, it is also possible to wear old coffee sacks as clothing.
If you want beauty on your balcony or your body, plan ahead and look for the right pieces to make a statement because even a small space deserves to be beautiful.
Here are five tips to boost your balcony's beauty this spring:
1. Cover the balcony floor
If you have old, tired outdoor rugs or a concrete balcony, laying outdoor floor decking can quickly change the ambiance. Outdoor floor decking can be cut to size to fit your space. It doesn't need to be glued down, so it is easily lifted for winter or when you move. If your balcony is the same size of a woven plastic rug, skip the wood floor and buy a new area rug to cover the existing surface.
It is possible to plant your balcony using leftover plastic containers and old grocery bags. That said, it is also possible to wear old coffee sacks as clothing.If you want beauty on your balcony or your body, plan ahead and look for the right pieces to make a statement because even a small space deserves to be beautiful.
Here are five tips to boost your balcony's beauty this spring:
1. Cover the balcony floor
If you have old, tired outdoor rugs or a concrete balcony, laying outdoor floor decking can quickly change the ambiance. Outdoor floor decking can be cut to size to fit your space. It doesn't need to be glued down, so it is easily lifted for winter or when you move. If your balcony is the same size of a woven plastic rug, skip the wood floor and buy a new area rug to cover the existing surface.
News
May 27, 2016 | Donna Balzer
Fools rush in
Create a back-up plan with insulating fleece
It's early spring and it seems like time to plant.
Well go ahead and shop 'till you drop. But consider holding back on planting the tender plants such as Hosta, Begonias and even Marigolds unless you have a backup plan this spring.
I'm not talking a big plan like a home greenhouse or sturdy cold-frame. The backup plan can be as simple as a few meters of insulating fleece, also sold as Reemay or spunbond polyester. This light fabric is sold in packages at hardware stores and by the meter from rolls in garden centres.
It is sold in different thickness levels and is good for different degrees of frost. Even the thinnest, lightest fleece materials will give a few degrees of frost protection, and that is what we need in May in Calgary.
It's early spring and it seems like time to plant.Well go ahead and shop 'till you drop. But consider holding back on planting the tender plants such as Hosta, Begonias and even Marigolds unless you have a backup plan this spring.
I'm not talking a big plan like a home greenhouse or sturdy cold-frame. The backup plan can be as simple as a few meters of insulating fleece, also sold as Reemay or spunbond polyester. This light fabric is sold in packages at hardware stores and by the meter from rolls in garden centres.
It is sold in different thickness levels and is good for different degrees of frost. Even the thinnest, lightest fleece materials will give a few degrees of frost protection, and that is what we need in May in Calgary.
News
April 11, 2016 | Donna Balzer
First signs of spring
Plants may not wear a watch, but they know what time it is
It's March and days are ripe and sunny enough for a patio lunch downtown. Other days bring wind and snow and winter boots out of the closet. Seriously, is there really anything a newbie gardener can do outside this early in the season?
Sarah found out by accident that there is plenty you can do early. She attempted to plant her spinach in May with her other garden crops a couple of years ago and then found out, by surprise, that spinach could tell time. Perhaps not time the way people measure minutes but certainly plant time, as dictated by the sun and the moon.
When the days got longer close to summer solstice on June 21, Sarah's spinach, barely four leaves old, suddenly bloomed and went to seed. She was devastated because spinach is one of her favorite foods and it was finished for the season before July.
It's March and days are ripe and sunny enough for a patio lunch downtown. Other days bring wind and snow and winter boots out of the closet. Seriously, is there really anything a newbie gardener can do outside this early in the season?Sarah found out by accident that there is plenty you can do early. She attempted to plant her spinach in May with her other garden crops a couple of years ago and then found out, by surprise, that spinach could tell time. Perhaps not time the way people measure minutes but certainly plant time, as dictated by the sun and the moon.
When the days got longer close to summer solstice on June 21, Sarah's spinach, barely four leaves old, suddenly bloomed and went to seed. She was devastated because spinach is one of her favorite foods and it was finished for the season before July.
News
March 24, 2016 | Donna Balzer
What is your garden style?
Not everything is timeless when it comes to outdoor design
Do you have a high-end ultra-modern home with striking features that looks like it came out of a recent copy of Architectural Digest?
What about your yard? Does it look like it came from a Home and Garden magazine circa 1985?
This jarring contrast of cottage-style garden with modern home seems hard to understand until you think of the process. Homeowners do not design homes – builders and architects do. Yet homeowners are the ones often design their own gardens.
News
Feb. 26, 2016 | Donna Balzer
Mineralize your soil to grow better food
A sneak peek into this year's Home & Garden Show
If you could grow healthy lettuce with the same protein value as steak, would you? After all, according to Steve Solomon, author of The Intelligent Gardener, it's possible to grow lettuce with 20 per cent protein simply by mineralizing your soil.
Solomon mocks garden writers, myself included. He says, in a long and thorough way, most of us do not replace the minerals in the soil at the same ratio we take them out when we harvest plants.
So I decided to test my soil recently, and I got some bad news.
My problem is I am afraid to pollute the soil with excess fertilizers, so I add only natural ingredients like compost and worm castings. Solomon, who used to be an organic farmer, says compost is not enough. The soil system is broken and compost alone will not put our humpty dumpty soil together again.
If you could grow healthy lettuce with the same protein value as steak, would you? After all, according to Steve Solomon, author of The Intelligent Gardener, it's possible to grow lettuce with 20 per cent protein simply by mineralizing your soil.
Solomon mocks garden writers, myself included. He says, in a long and thorough way, most of us do not replace the minerals in the soil at the same ratio we take them out when we harvest plants.
So I decided to test my soil recently, and I got some bad news.
My problem is I am afraid to pollute the soil with excess fertilizers, so I add only natural ingredients like compost and worm castings. Solomon, who used to be an organic farmer, says compost is not enough. The soil system is broken and compost alone will not put our humpty dumpty soil together again.
News
Feb. 26, 2016 | Rachel Naud
Soil-utions for your veggie garden
Want to bloom your own bounty? Here are four things to do to get your garden ready
Not much can beat a ripe, juicy tomato picked fresh from the vine, or a crisp cucumber that packs a nutritious crunch. Homegrown veggies are delicious, nutritious and cost-effective.
Yet as Calgarians also know, there's a small window in which to grow their bounty.
That's why those with a green thumb like to plan out their seasonal gardens – from determining the garden's design to, of course, choosing the variety of crops – to make the most out of the planting and growing season.
If this is your first crack at planting and you're not sure how to get started, don't be intimidated, said Chelsie Anderson, owner and operator of Chelsie Squared Gardening.
Not much can beat a ripe, juicy tomato picked fresh from the vine, or a crisp cucumber that packs a nutritious crunch. Homegrown veggies are delicious, nutritious and cost-effective.
Yet as Calgarians also know, there's a small window in which to grow their bounty.
That's why those with a green thumb like to plan out their seasonal gardens – from determining the garden's design to, of course, choosing the variety of crops – to make the most out of the planting and growing season.
If this is your first crack at planting and you're not sure how to get started, don't be intimidated, said Chelsie Anderson, owner and operator of Chelsie Squared Gardening.
News
Feb. 26, 2016 | CREBNow
Five questions with the 'No Guff Gardener'
Sneak peak at this year's Home + Garden Show
Nobody arguably knows more about how to succeed as a gardener in Calgary than Donna Balzer. The noted horticulturist and speaker is author of No Guff Vegetable Gardening, a regular CREB®Now columnist and trusted messiah for countless Calgarians trying to discover their green thumbs.
On Feb. 26 and 28, Balzer will take the stage at this year's Home + Garden Show to talk about how we can change our world, one cabbage at a time. CREB®Now recent sat down with Balzer to get a sneak peek.
CREB®Now: Why should I start thinking about my garden now when there's still snow on the ground?
Balzer: Gardening is two parts dreaming and three parts doing. The best ideas might be waiting for you right now at a talk, on Pinterest or in a gardening book. If you are serious about starting a garden, you will want to start looking and reading now because by the time the weather is perfect for doing it is too late.
Nobody arguably knows more about how to succeed as a gardener in Calgary than Donna Balzer. The noted horticulturist and speaker is author of No Guff Vegetable Gardening, a regular CREB®Now columnist and trusted messiah for countless Calgarians trying to discover their green thumbs.
On Feb. 26 and 28, Balzer will take the stage at this year's Home + Garden Show to talk about how we can change our world, one cabbage at a time. CREB®Now recent sat down with Balzer to get a sneak peek.
CREB®Now: Why should I start thinking about my garden now when there's still snow on the ground?
Balzer: Gardening is two parts dreaming and three parts doing. The best ideas might be waiting for you right now at a talk, on Pinterest or in a gardening book. If you are serious about starting a garden, you will want to start looking and reading now because by the time the weather is perfect for doing it is too late.
News
Feb. 19, 2016 | Kathleen Renne
Thinking outside of the box
Home + Garden Show returns to Stampede grounds Feb. 25-28
Change your world, one cabbage at a time: That's how Calgary gardening guru Donna Balzer wants to inspire folks at this year's Calgary Home + Garden Show, which runs Feb. 25 to 28.
"I'll help people understand why it's so important for us to take control of our own food," said Balzer, a CREB®Now regular columnist who will be among dozens of featured presenters at the four-day event, which is expected to attract more than 60,000 visitors this year.
"I want people to realize they can have an impact and help them discover how they can do it."
Change your world, one cabbage at a time: That's how Calgary gardening guru Donna Balzer wants to inspire folks at this year's Calgary Home + Garden Show, which runs Feb. 25 to 28.
"I'll help people understand why it's so important for us to take control of our own food," said Balzer, a CREB®Now regular columnist who will be among dozens of featured presenters at the four-day event, which is expected to attract more than 60,000 visitors this year.
"I want people to realize they can have an impact and help them discover how they can do it."
News
Feb. 04, 2016 | Donna Balzer
Who's afraid of the GMO?
Important to read the fine print when purchasing seeds
Last spring, my grandkids, so excited to hear about genetically modified organisms (GMOs), decided to make their own genetically modified food. Cohen, 7, worked with his brother Kale, 9, to develop a plant that would grow potatoes in the ground and pumpkins above ground. They cut a hole in each potato, stuffed a pumpkin seed into the hole and planted their modified potato as a unit.
"The leaves looked a bit like pumpkins," said Kale, "And we did get potatoes, but we never got any pumpkins."
While the experiment seemed to be a failure, Cohen later wondered aloud about a seedless kiwi he was eating. His mom explained that some foods don't have seeds because they have been genetically modified. She also told him some types of modified seed sprout and make grain that won't grow again because they have a suicide gene designed by big companies to die instead of grow.
Last spring, my grandkids, so excited to hear about genetically modified organisms (GMOs), decided to make their own genetically modified food. Cohen, 7, worked with his brother Kale, 9, to develop a plant that would grow potatoes in the ground and pumpkins above ground. They cut a hole in each potato, stuffed a pumpkin seed into the hole and planted their modified potato as a unit.
"The leaves looked a bit like pumpkins," said Kale, "And we did get potatoes, but we never got any pumpkins."
While the experiment seemed to be a failure, Cohen later wondered aloud about a seedless kiwi he was eating. His mom explained that some foods don't have seeds because they have been genetically modified. She also told him some types of modified seed sprout and make grain that won't grow again because they have a suicide gene designed by big companies to die instead of grow.
News
Jan. 22, 2016 | CREBNow
Calgary Home + Garden Show releases full lineup
CREB®Now presents 'No Guff Gardener' Donna Balzer
Calgary's 35th annual Calgary Home + Garden Show has announced its full list of personalities that will be on hand for this year's show at the BMO Centre.
HGTV star and landscaping expert Carson Arthur, master craftsman André Chevigny of HGTV's Timber Kings, along with Calgary's top gardeners and design experts, will be on hand for this year's edition, as well as more than 650 exhibitors and local vendors.
Also on hand will be Calgary's "No Guff Gardener" Donna Balzer, presented by CREB®Now. A self-described farmer's daughter, army brat and university graduate in horticulture, Balzer co-hosted the award-winning "Bugs & Blooms" segment on HGTV, and answers Alberta-wide garden questions on CBC radio. She is currently a regular communist in CREB®Now.
Calgary's 35th annual Calgary Home + Garden Show has announced its full list of personalities that will be on hand for this year's show at the BMO Centre.
HGTV star and landscaping expert Carson Arthur, master craftsman André Chevigny of HGTV's Timber Kings, along with Calgary's top gardeners and design experts, will be on hand for this year's edition, as well as more than 650 exhibitors and local vendors.
Also on hand will be Calgary's "No Guff Gardener" Donna Balzer, presented by CREB®Now. A self-described farmer's daughter, army brat and university graduate in horticulture, Balzer co-hosted the award-winning "Bugs & Blooms" segment on HGTV, and answers Alberta-wide garden questions on CBC radio. She is currently a regular communist in CREB®Now.
