Pick Prairie Hardy Fruits... or plant them now.

Today's Calgary Herald featured my column Berry Picking Fun. Here is the illustration featured in it by Mariko McCrae (Feedlot Studios).

If you missed the column you can read it in the Herald online: http://www.calgaryherald.com/life/Donna+Balzer+Berry+picking/6996692/story.html

Hardy Fruits Conference the Best!

Dr Bob Bors chats up Haskaps

Carmine Jewel Cherries almost ripe

I am just flying home from Saskatoon. Not an unusual location and certainly not exotic but - seriously- this was one great conference. I met so many farmers - new and old. I had some laughs - Becky, a small market gardener, told me she was looking for "Prince Farming"; Deanna told me she had already found him and he is both handsome and handy!

The talks about new crops were riveting (in a geeky horticulture kind of way) and the tours were wonderful. I learned about spacing of new crops and we met folks growing an entire tree nursery of 65,000 trees on 2.5 acres in town. There are just so many people to mention and thank but first comes Dr. Bob Bors, head of the fruit breeding program at the University of Saskatchewan. This coming friday I will speak more about the NAFEX conference on CBC radio during my regular phone in on July 27th and have also written a column about garden fruits for the Calgary Herald. Above are a couple of pictures of the state of things in the field of horticulture.   More to come.

Debbie from Alaska is shown here looking at the new wonder fruit Haskap.

Successful GardenCoaching

"Last summer you kindly visited my home and gave me some suggestions about redoing parts of the yard.  Your ideas were quite compelling as I tried making changes one step at a time." said Elaine by email. My motto with garden consulting  is : I help those who help themselves! I rarely hear back after my two to four hour consultation- people just go about their merry way building their own beautiful gardens one step at a time. In fact when I do hear back it is often because the gardener has moved to a new home and wants to start all over again.

 "What started out as a few modifications developed into a lovely re-landscaping.  The cardboard to kill the grass worked well so that this summer I have entirely new flower beds.  The cosy nook at the north end of the deck became a stone patio.  Ironically we had just finished laying the stones when the neighbour decided to remove the fir trees that were shading the area.  No problem because the trees has long since passed their best before date.  Now there is a patio which gets morning sun. "


 Elaine shared the photos shown here. She did all the work herself- I just supplied the ideas and inspiration!

Floriade Blooms and Landscapes Video

You Call This a Zucchini?

Check out this little video I made on the street in Haarlem, NL yesterday. Yes- I am home from Floriade and will be posting bigger things soon - but this is a trial run!

P.S. WE have already been eating zucchinis at home. Here is a photo of a plant I am growing from  Renee's Garden seeds called Astia Container Zucchini. I seeded it on April 15th and my husband transplanted it for me into this patio pot mid-May. It was producing edible fruits when I returned from my trip to Floriade in Europe in late June. What fun! Just over two months from seeding to eating!

Report From Floriade in Holland

I will be reporting in about Floriade on CBC radio- Alberta at Noon - as soon as I get home from Floriade in Holland on June 22, 2012. If you  haven't heard of this premiere horticulture event look it up on line! My personal impressions and loads of photos will be put on this site as soon as I can after I return.

Meanwhile don't worry if you don't see any blog updates..... I will be back! Here is a sneak peak of the landscape views there:

What would Donna Do?

Yes my garden cartoon in the Calgary Herald is another fun addition to the body of work by Mariko McCrae and I - check it out in today's Herald. Here is a bit of a teaser -

If you are building pots make sure to add a thriller, spiller and filler!

Water Your Pots - Automatically

Today I interviewed Helen Gitzel at Regency irrigation in Calgary to get the details on watering pots automatically. My husband set up a system for me but - alas- I didn't know what to call the bits and pieces he used so I called Regency. If you want to set up your own self watering system and you are not too handy, you can call most irrigation companies  and they will walk you through it. Or you could go to Regency in person if you are local and want to customize something for your own pots and plants.

1. Hose y or splitter

2. Rubber garden hose (measure to get the right length so you don't have a bunch of extra hose)

3. Automatic timer (ranges in price 19.95- 115.00)

4. Multi- port bubbler

5. 1/4 inch micro tubing 

6. Micro sprinkler or bubbler - one for each pot you want to water.

After you set up the system test it out to make sure you have enough time. I have pots in a sunny area with soilless mix instead of soil so I use about 10 minutes of water every day. 

Have fun!

Planting Pots is Personal

"Grow your own way!" I said as I finished my talk at the Springbreak Garden Centre in Hillcrest Mines Alberta. I wanted to empower gardeners, not lecture to them, as I  spoke to an enthusiastic crowd in a region low on frost free days (zero per year on average according to one enthusiastic gardener.)

It is easy after thirty plus years of working and reading and studying gardening to simplify everything down to five easy points or ten things to remember but I would rather guide than give clear answers. And that is why my patio pots look nothing like the ones I will write about in my Calgary Herald column next week. If you have been following my columns they are crazy fun with full-on cartoons. If you like them send a note to the Herald- they need positive feedback for new ventures such as this. Spoiler Alert: I liken dracaena to old school Elvis sideburns.

In the past I have used dramatic golden bamboo, tall dinner plate dahlias and exotic evergreens in my patio pots. This year I have put together a new palette because my backdrop is all green - as in a beautiful park. In the picture shown I have included Wine & Roses Weigelia in the back as the tall thriller plant because it its dark coloured leaves and golden veins; Golden delicious pineapple sage repeats the yellow veined thriller plant while tequila sunrise and ruby double superbells add blooms to the middle filler section.  Wojo variegated vinca and Caliente Orange ivy geraniums finish off the pot as the spillers. The pot is just planted so it will get bigger and better over the season because for the first time ever I added a slow release fertilizer in the pot and my husband built me a great little portable irrigation system (details to follow.) I am built and ready to go. But first I am off to Fort St. John in northern British Columbia where I will be speaking to the local horticultural club and visiting the reportedly amazing Dunvegan Gardens greenhouse. "It is the heart of gardening in this area" said the program organizer Lynette. I can hardly wait. There is a good chance I will be rebuilding or adding to my pots when I get back. Watch for it!

It is early days for the newly planted pot above - I will add updated photos as it grows.

Join Me for A free Talk

Free Public Lecture – Ready, Set, Grow: Ideas for Growing Vegetables in Calgary with Donna Balzer

« Back to Events

Event:

Free Public Lecture – Ready, Set, Grow: Ideas for Growing Vegetables in Calgary with Donna Balzer

Start:

May 17, 2012 7:00 pm

End:

May 17, 2012 8:30 pm

Cost:

Free

Organizer:

Community Natural Foods

Phone:

403-930-6363

Updated:

April 13, 2012

Venue:

CNF 10th Avenue Location

Phone:

403.930.6363

Address:
Google Map

1304 10th Avenue SW, Calgary, Alberta, T3C 0J2, Canada

New to gardening? Start with a guff-free approach and discover what’s practical, what’s needed, and where to start. Already gardening? You’ll find out if that over-the-fence advice really makes sense. If you’ve always wondered whether to test your soil or how to make raised beds, this talk is for you.
Join Donna Balzer, award winning media personality, blogger and author of three books. Her Bugs & Blooms television show, originally aired on HGTV, still brings comments from fans and her seasonal CBC Garden phone-in show is popular across Alberta. Her latest book is No Guff Vegetable Gardening.

Mild winter hard on plants

Well gardeners are facing the harsh truth that our mild winter trashed a lot of our favourite plants. Next friday when my cartoon column returns to the Herald (it is only going to appear every second week) you will see the list of plants that died in my garden this year. Did you have something die? Let me know.

Meanwhile here is an all too sad photo from one of my client's gardens of Picea abies 'Pumila. RIP.

Graphic Garden Column

From Sandy: "Loved your column today!  Fun and full of smart info."

From Heather: "Opened the paper and was delighted to see your new column – congratulations!"

Welcome back to the Calgary Herald Garden section in Calgary  today- Carole Dobson starts her new column and we hear from the Calgary Horticulture Society about one of my favourite perennial Mardi Gras Helenium.  In big news my garden column is going in a new direction. It is a joyful juicy cartoon-style column. Buy a Calgary Herald or check it out at the library. If you love it let me know! Grow your own way.

Graphic Garden Cartoons

Wow- this is the preview of big things to come! Starting next week in the Real Life section of the Calgary Herald (in print or online) check out a whole new way to learn gardening as Donna Balzer and Mariko McCrae "show" you gardening through Mariko's fresh fun illustrations. New, easy, simple. It's all you need. Here is our sneak-a-peak launch cartoon:

PS Join me Sunday afternoon for a garden chat at Strathcona Chapters in Edmonton.

Magic for the Cancer Society in Regina

Yes I am speaking in Regina about Magic in the Garden. What a fun topic. Saskatchewan is birthplace of my mother. Home to my cousins. Here I come Regina! The folks there produced this lovely poster. Please support Cancer Research by passing it around and do come if you are in the area!

Calgary Gardeners Free Talk

Tonight 6:30 (April 26th) is my free talk at the Signal Hill Chapters in Calgary. If you have time to drop by after work I will give a short chat about getting started in the garden this spring. I have free No Guff mugs to give away to the first three people so come on down! Bring your questions. I have to run out at exactly 7:30 but if you have questions and miss me then don't forget to phone them in to CBC radio this friday on Alberta at Noon.

No Guff Reviews keep pouring in...

"With knack for combining wit and knowledge, Balzer and Biggs take a "he says/she says" approach to sharing insights about growing vegetables" says Diane Daniel in the April 1, 2012 issue of Homes-Extra in the Toronto Star.
Thanks Diane!

Press Release This week - Have you heard?

CANADIAN BRAIN DRAIN AN AMERICAN GAIN

Canadian Gardening Character Heads South

Toronto and Calgary, 27 March 2012—Canadian gardening personalities Steven Biggs and Donna Balzer are sending Guff to the USA.

It wasn’t a hard choice to send Guff packing, not with the reaction he’s caused. That reaction has been overwhelmingly positive—like the time someone stopped Balzer on the street and said, “Your book changed my life!” That book, No Guff Vegetable Gardening, is the wacky Canadian book that is home to Guff.

The book—graphic novel meets gardening—brings together the gardening perspectives of two very different Canadian horticulturists: boy and girl; east and west; and Gen Xer and boomer. But they’re not alone: Guff, the chief antagonist, is a curmudgeonly third “expert” with silly advice that Biggs and Balzer discuss.

The reaction to the book in Canada has been so positive (it’s now in its second printing) that Balzer and Biggs are collaborating with American garden publisher St. Lynn’s Press to take it—and Guff—to an American audience.

The authors think the conversational coaches’ corner approach makes gardening a lot more fun. They’re not alone: Toronto Star reviewer Peggy Mackenzie says, “Energy emanates from this book, which seems odd since it’s about growing vegetables.” It helps that there are lots of fun anecdotes, such as Biggs’ stories about making parsnip wine or washing carrots in the washing machine.

"Occasionally in a librarian’s life … a book will arrive that causes immediate bibliomania. A book that is so different, so appealing, and upon reading it, so completely perfect, that it must be shown with great excitement to everyone who loves books," says Susan Yates for the Gabriola Sounder.

Earth Day at Bylands

It is almost earth day and I am trying to dig myself out of the mess I have created. First I have a load of things planted in my greenhouse that need to be moved outside in the next few weeks before they get too big. This includes cabbage and broccoli and hardy lettuce (Freckles Romaine pictured above). The tender plants need to stay indoors a while longer yet.

Trouble is I am off to Bylands Nursery in Kelowna on Sunday where I am giving an updated talk about vegetables (loosely based on my book No Guff Vegetable Gardening.) Jenny at Bylands has been the best to work with and she warned me the talk would be in the greenhouse but right up to the last minute I was asking her about powerpoint. Uh- No. It is in a greenhouse where it will be bright and sunny and spring-like. It will not be good for slides. Oops.

So this morning I converted my whole talk to just over ten slides and Jenny has promised to print them out. (wish I could show it here - let me know if you are a computer person and know how to add pdf's or keynote presentations to blogspot).

Some of my top ten points about Veggie Gardening - A love Affair are:
#10 Size Doesn't Matter
#9 Frost Free Dates are just a guideline
#8 Veggies are Hip
#7 Culture Counts
#6 Good for Your Soil(get your hands dirty)
#5 No age restrictions
#4 It's not a boot camp
#3 Have fun/ Don't forget to Play
#2 Don't let the bugs bug you
#1 Good for you- Good for your soul

For more information about my earth day talk call Jennifer at Byland's Nursery in Kelowna at 1-250-769-7272.
For more information about how I will get all the work done at my place on Vancouver Island stay tuned. I am about to be on the road for 6 weeks. P.S. I also have a place in Calgary so this is becoming complicated. To book me as a speaker for your event call my land line in Calgary (1-403-233-8999) and leave a message- I am not sure where in the world I will be when you call but I do hope I am in a garden.

Meanwhile I am speaking at various towns in Alberta including: Calgary (several dates in April and May), Vilna (April 28), Edmonton (April 29, May 12 &13), Camrose(May 4), Stettler & Rimbey (May 5) and Hillcrest (May 24). In Regina I will be speaking on May 10th - and that is a fund raiser for Cancer so I hope we have a big crowd. In British Columbia I am in Fort Saint John on May 27th. Lynnette there has done an amazing job rallying the troops to bring me in and I look forward to a great response as I return to my Northern roots.

Farmer for a day

Yesterday I swapped stories with other farmers, chatted with new gardeners and had a great old time pretending.

It was my first day at a farmers market as - you guessed it- a farmer.

I was selling my extra tomatoes and lettuce and visiting with shoppers in the tiny community of Qualicum Beach. "Is it time to plant your tomatoes outdoors?" asked several people as they looked at and considered buying my tiny plants. "NO!" I warned everyone. These plants are ready to bump up into a bigger pot but it is not time to plant tomatoes outdoors yet.

My full adventure is going to be featured in my Calgary Herald column appearing May 4 2012 when my regular Herald articles resume on Fridays. Photo above will give a hint of what is to come: Donna as farmer and gardener and generally having fun. Meanwhile mark your calendars- I will be at the Signal Hill Indigo store April 26, 2-12 at 6:30 PM in the evening.

And no, I will not be selling tomatoes there, only books.

Good Bugs in my Greenhouse

This morning when I went into the greenhouse I brought the bugs in with me. Thousands of them. No I am not losing it- I am just trying out something new. Carnivores on a mini-scale.

It all started last week. I saw a single little black fly zooming above me as I approached to water a tiny seedling tomato. A single black fly. Not a hovering mass. I got right on the phone and ordered fungus gnat predators. In the past I have used nematodes to kill off fungus gnat larvae but this time I was going to try something new. My one litre hypo-pak came complete with 25,000 Fungus Gnat predators or Hypoaspis miles (also known as Stratiolaelaps miles).

This little carnivorous insect eats other small insects and is harmless to people. The added advantage over using chemicals is obvious to me. It means my greenhouse is pesticide free. The advantage over nematodes is that Fungus gnat predators also eat thrips and red spider mites. While most gardeners don't see thrips, they are often there in wet soil eating away at the roots of your plants, making them susceptible to damage from disease and drought. Natural Insect Control (NIC) in Ontario is a retail outlet for biological controls and they ship across Canada. The Bug Factory in Parksville is strictly wholesale but they directed me to a retail outlet and I drove over to pick up my precious cargo.

If you go into the greenhouse today you are in for a big surprise. Well, honestly you wouldn't notice it but the little bugs are now hard at work for me in their little piles of vermiculite. It was chilly in the greenhouse today so I turned up the heat a bit. I don't want my bugs getting cold and working at less than their optimum speed. And, yes, I do feel a bit foolish fiddling with nature this way but a greenhouse is hardly nature and I don't want to be inhaling clouds of fungus gnats in two weeks. Instead, my plants will continue to grow in a stress free way as I watch and wait for that first tomato harvest which is only 120 days away now. I hope.