Preparing the greenhouse for winter is as important as preparing the garden. However, it still is different. If you have been following our blog, you know we built a Geodesic Dome greenhouse ourselves. There are multiple ways to prepare a greenhouse, regardless of its size or shape; here are some ...
Preparing Fruit Trees for Winter in a Cold Climate
Preparing fruit trees for winter in a cold climate is essential. We cultivate cold-hardy fruit trees in our cold climate (Zone 3). However, young trees may not have experienced a true cold winter yet, depending on their origin. We cover what qualifies as a cold-hardy tree and provide some reliable ...
End-of-Season Garden Update for 2025
With the Canadian Thanksgiving weekend upon us, it's time for the End-of-Season garden update for 2025. Our urban garden has usually been productive, but I think it’s safe to say that this year it has truly outdone itself. If you are new here, we garden in Alberta, Canada, in plant hardiness zone ...
A Dozen Ways to Preserve Apples
It's apple time around here, and apples are everywhere. Apples are one of the fruit crops that do well in cold climates and short growing seasons. Here are a dozen ways to preserve apples for a variety of options. The apples we can grow here are often smaller and less sweet than those grown in a ...
Apfelrotkohl (Red Cabbage with Apples) Recipe
Apfelrotkohl (Red Cabbage with Apples), also called Rotkohl or Blaukraut, is a favorite side dish of ours. It is a traditional German recipe. We enjoy growing our own red cabbage and preparing the dish once it is harvested in the fall, accompanied by plenty of apples. Then I freeze it, and it is all ...
Growing Food – Garlic
If you enjoy growing your own food, garlic is an essential crop to have in your garden. Read on to learn how to plant, grow, harvest, store, and use this superfood. Garlic is easy to cultivate and can greatly enhance the flavor of many dishes. While some people have a stronger affinity for garlic ...
Fermented Cherry Tomatoes
Fermented cherry tomatoes are a delightful treat. They have a sweet and sour flavor, bursting in your mouth with a refreshing explosion. Yum! The only problem is getting them to that stage. I have made fermented cherry tomatoes for years, but to be honest, the results were always ...
How to Safely Reuse Canning Lids
It is officially not recommended to reuse canning lids. No company would invest in testing a one-time product to ensure it can be safely reused, as that would not be profitable. However, this does not mean that canning lids cannot be reused safely; it just means that we assume the risk ourselves. If ...
Plum Jam Recipe and other Plum Preserves
Plums are a delicious summer fruit that come in various colors, flavors, and sizes. One thing they all have in common is that they spoil fairly quickly, so the window to enjoy them fresh is quite short. The good news is that plums can be made into delicious jam and other preserves. In this blog ...
Picking Fruit and Berries at Their Peak
As fruit and berry growers in a home garden, it's important for us to pick the fruit when it is at its optimum stage of ripening. But how do we know the best time to harvest? This blog article is a home gardener's guide to picking fruit and berries at their peak. Climacteric and not climacteric ...
