This is our first post about growing figs in a cold climate. We get asked a lot about how we grow figs in our cold climate and short growing season, so I want to share our first experiences and as usual, we will add more information as we go. We have had our fig tree now for two summers and have ...
Gardening
End Of Season – Garden Update 2019
The growing season of 2019 has come to an end, at least in the outside garden and greenhouse, time to do an end of season garden update to review our annual garden. What worked well in this year’s garden, and what we will be looking into doing differently in the future. Every year is a little ...
Preparing the Garden for Winter
Preparing the garden for winter, a time when gardens go dormant. Winter is an important time for the garden and the garden soil. You might have noticed that the colder an area is, the richer is the soil. There are a few important steps that can make the garden soil even better and also help the ...
Plant Protection From Frost
Freezing temperature is something we constantly deal with in a northern garden. There can always be another frost after the "last day of frost" and before the "first day of frost". Plant protection from frost is crucial for growing a successful garden in cold climate. In this post, we will talk ...
Growing Peppers in Cold Climate
Growing peppers in cold climate is in many ways similar to growing tomatoes, but still different. Tomatoes are more popular, more forgiving and a bit easier to grow. In overall though if you are successful in growing tomatoes, peppers can be your next thing to conquer. We love to grow peppers. ...
Growing Tomatoes Summer Update
Growing tomatoes in cold climate and harvesting ripe tomatoes in the summer is something we write a lot about here at Northern Homestead. Today we are sharing a 'growing tomatoes summer update' in pictures. Starting from seeds, planting and harvesting ripe tomatoes in July. This (2019) is a good ...
Dry Spring Challenge in the Garden
Planting seeds into something that feels more like dust than soil, is a common thing here in Alberta. With over 300 days of sunshine a year we do not get much of rain at any time. Spring, however, often feels especially dry. Here we share how we deal with the dry spring weather challenge in the ...
To Till or Not to Till the Garden
To till or not to till the garden is a question gardeners in the past did not have. Growing up on a homestead, our garden has always been cleaned up, fertilized with composted manure, and turned over. We did that every spring. Teens and young adults in our rural town would form work crews to help to ...
Do Not Use Weed Control Fabric in the Garden
Just to roll some Weed Control Fabric (aka landscape fabric) out in your garden and not to worry about weeding anymore sounds good. Stopping weeds without dangerous chemical, and doing it for many years - some give a 25 years guarantee, wow! But is this true, does it work as promised? Here are 3 ...
Blizzard Conditions In The Garden
Living in Alberta Canada, blizzard conditions in the garden are a common threat. We have experienced it in spring as well as in fall. There is the possibility of snow in every month of the year. Our first spring here in 2008 we had beautiful weather in mid of April . We were excited to finally ...