Attention garlic lovers! Why buy grocery-store garlic grown half way around the world when you can grow your own right at home? It’s an easy-to-grow, low maintenance crop that produces two harvests - first the edible flower stalk (called a garlic scape) in early June, and then the fat, juicy bulb in late July to early August....
15 August, 2019 In Your Garden
So you’ve harvested all your garlic, and it’s curing in a nice, cool, dry place. Maybe you’re eating some that’s fresh from the ground (I hope so!) And once again, you’re looking at your too-large harvest wondering “what the heck am I going to do with all this garlic!?” There are a few things you can do to make your garlic last, abating that otherwise inevitable “ack! I let it rot!” guilt, the gardeners’ dilemma....
14 August, 2019 Recipes
We've always struggled with powdery mildew at the BUFCO Lab, so when Arlene heard about compost tea, she immediately tried spraying a compost tea concoction on a rosemary plant covered with powdery mildew. Lo-and-behold, the compost tea appeared to reversed the disease. So, when we saw the first signs of powdery mildew on our otherwise prolific tomatoes last month, we knew we had to try applying compost tea....
13 August, 2019 BUFCO Lab
Last month one of BUFCO’s long-standing Toronto clients had us designing and implementing a landscape beyond our normal comfort zone of raised bed installations and edible garden plantings. Removing an array of large, well established and pretty uninspiring ornamental shrubs, establishing three gardens (organic annual edibles, organic perennial edibles, and a pollinator garden), laying a flagstone patio, laying a series of flagstone stepping stones across a huge yard and through the gardens took us happily and excitedly down a new path. And at the end of that path was this Herb Spiral....
19 July, 2019 Installations
Where do you live? Not what town, city or Rural Road, but rather, in a condominium or apartment building? A sprawling ranch house property? Basement rental or a cozy little row home? Or perhaps a mid-town property with average sized yards front and back. Given the opportunity, we can choose where we live. Plants, on the other hand, and particularly those in controlled garden environments, don’t have such options. They’re put in the ground where the gardener wants them to be, and that then is their lot in life....
18 July, 2019 Installations
Tomatoes are relatively easy to grow if you can give them at least five hours of direct sun a day. You will be richly rewarded with an exquisite late summer harvest if you provide a stake to support their growth, feed them well with quality compost and prune them properly. Sound intimidating? It’s not really, once you understand basic tomato plant anatomy....
18 July, 2019 In Your Garden
This summer we're experimenting with brewing compost tea for our plants. In a nutshell, compost tea is a concoction of compost diluted in aerated water. Most home gardeners (and even farmers) don't make enough compost for their gardens/farms. Compost tea is all about stretching the benefits from the compost we have as far as possible by breeding the beneficial microbes in the compost. To do this we need to create the right environment for the microbes to thrive....
16 July, 2019 BUFCO Lab
How early in the season can a vegetable garden be planted? Early!
You might be surprised to learn that there are many vegetables prefer growing in cool weather and actually grow poorly during the summer heat. In honour of our 10th Anniversary I highlight here my top 10 favorite cold hardy veggies that I love to plant in early spring. ...
Amongst many factors, the grade, or slope of your yard is an important consideration in determining the height of your raised garden beds. ...
15 April, 2019 Installations
On this dreary morning, after making myself a colourful breakfast, but before I allow myself to eat, I whip out my phone and take a photo of my masterpiece.
When I go walking in High Park with my beloved Dixie by my side, I carry my other beloved, my cell phone, which is also always by my side. How many times have I clutched my pockets in a panic, “Where’s my cell phone?!!!” ...
