Calgary gardeners loved our No Guff soils talk at the Calgary Horticulture Society Spring Garden Show April 2011.
I HELP GARDENERS GROW! Award winning journalist; television host (Bugs & Blooms); columnist on CBC radio and in the Calgary Herald; book author. Invite Donna Balzer to speak at your special event.
Showing posts with label No Guff Vegetable Gardening. Show all posts
Showing posts with label No Guff Vegetable Gardening. Show all posts
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Monday, April 4, 2011
Monday, March 21, 2011
Canadian Press Interview at Canada Blooms
Steven Biggs and Donna Balzer were interviewed in Toronto at Canada Blooms about their new book No Guff Vegetable Gardening. Follow the link to see what they had to say:
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/video/ent-22186814/tips-for-new-gardeners-24571025.html
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Read the Calgary Herald for a Sneak-A-Peak
Here is advance notice that the Calgary Herald has started running excerpts from my newest book - No Guff Vegetable Gardening- in this Friday's Calgary Herald. Check out the Life Today section of the Herald for the first excerpt on Friday March 18th.
Pick up a copy of the book at your closest independent bookstore or garden center, and let me know what you think. PS Thanks to all my friends who have been buying books and sending me notes. I really appreciate the support.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Tomatoes Started
I like to start my tomatoes mid-March because that gives them 8-10 weeks to grow before they go outdoors to face summer. This year I started some greenhouse tomatoes (Cobra with medium sized fruit and Juliet because it is new) way back in February. I did this because I wanted them to grow big enough to be planted out in the greenhouse at Easter in Qualicum Beach. If you were following along, my 88 yr old mother minded my tomatoes last year. She kept reporting back that they were fine until she had her cataract surgery. Well, that was last year and every gardener knows a new year is a fresh start and a clean slate, so I am optimistically started seed again this year.
The outdoor Calgary tomatoes did not get started until yesterday - in between talk planning and media stuff (for the new book). It is good to take a rest and do something almost mindless. Some people read or watch tv- I like to walk the dog or garden if I have free time. So, I had picked up a bale of pro-mix at garden retreat last week in anticipation of this big event and I pulled out my new plug seeding trays and I was ready. Then I read my diary notes from last year. I know perfectly well that anything germinated over heat sprouts quickly - sometimes in just a few days. Last year I started lettuce just before I went away for work and when I got back it was long and white and thin. Ok - it was disgusting.
Put two and two together and you'll see me in Toronto this week which means I won't be home tending tomatoes. So to slow down their germination I put my twelve little seeds in soil but did not put them over heat. Instead, I put them up in my office- a place I wear my new fingerless gloves (thanks Katie) in the winter.... If these Sungold tomatoes are not up by the time I am back I will pop them downstairs on the heated floor and push them a bit. I do have a class to teach about seed starting next week in Calgary. Guess I won't have any germinating seedlings to show for that.
The outdoor Calgary tomatoes did not get started until yesterday - in between talk planning and media stuff (for the new book). It is good to take a rest and do something almost mindless. Some people read or watch tv- I like to walk the dog or garden if I have free time. So, I had picked up a bale of pro-mix at garden retreat last week in anticipation of this big event and I pulled out my new plug seeding trays and I was ready. Then I read my diary notes from last year. I know perfectly well that anything germinated over heat sprouts quickly - sometimes in just a few days. Last year I started lettuce just before I went away for work and when I got back it was long and white and thin. Ok - it was disgusting.
Put two and two together and you'll see me in Toronto this week which means I won't be home tending tomatoes. So to slow down their germination I put my twelve little seeds in soil but did not put them over heat. Instead, I put them up in my office- a place I wear my new fingerless gloves (thanks Katie) in the winter.... If these Sungold tomatoes are not up by the time I am back I will pop them downstairs on the heated floor and push them a bit. I do have a class to teach about seed starting next week in Calgary. Guess I won't have any germinating seedlings to show for that.
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