Gardening Help

The spookiest night of the year is nearly upon us and pumpkins across Canada await transformation. Many will be carved in the traditional jack-o’-lantern style with two triangles for eyes, a third for a nose and either a goofy toothy grin or a scary sneer. Others will become temporary masterpieces—wicked witches, haunted houses, creepy spiders, flying bats, and perhaps with the recent election, we’ll even see some political pumpkins.

While centuries old, the pumpkin-carving tradition is more popular than ever. Canadians shell out more than $20 million a year on fresh pumpkins. Some Read more…

Gary Cohoon has been selling and installing siding for more than 30 years. However, he believes much of his knowledge will soon become obsolete.

Cohoon owns Cherokee Home Exteriors in the Atlanta area. About two years ago, he started selling a new composite siding product that’s “going to take over the market,” he said. The new material is a mix of polymers and wood fibers that requires special training and a new installation method unlike those he has completed for decades. Howeve

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Ironically, the kitchen itself seems to be the antidote to fat.  America’s obsession with pre-packaged food has made 26.7% of us obese, according to the Center for Disease Control.  Experts across the board agree – if you want to lose weight, you have to get into the kitchen and prepare your own food.

For many, the convenience of prepared food points to a problem – people don’t have time to cook.  Why?  Long days at work are a factor, but according to bestselling author and TV host Christina Pirello, “Most people’s kitchens are highly inefficient, particularly the big ones.”  Awkward layouts, poor organization and substandard kitchen tools make hard work of cooking. 

Pirello said, “Of course, what you cook is the biggest part of it.  But, if you have a kitchen you love, and it doesn’t have to be expensive, but it’s clean and orderly and the utensils work and your stove works, you’ll feel inclined to cook more, as opposed to just grabbing a takeout container or a dinner from a bag that your throw in the oven.”

“If you’ve got a kitchen – a sink, a cook top, maybe a microwave, and an oven, it doesn’t matter what quality it is, you can make your kitchen skinnier,” said professional foodie-gone-low-fat-guru Nancy Fox, of the Web site Skinny Kitchen. 

The layout of the kitchen is key for efficiency.  “I like to have my sink to my left, and a work station where my cutting board is and my stove to my right so that I’m not getting a workout before I even start cooking,” said Pirello. “My refrigerator is no more than 3 steps away.  My i

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I have not got into the habit of eating Nasturtium and it may be too late for me to start at my age. However my vegetarian children take a different view.

Eating Nasturtium

• The leaves of the nasturtium plant are edible, with a peppery flavour, that can  tossed into salads.
• The flowers make a unique garnish to fresh foods and add a splash of colour.
• The seed pods can be treated like Capers and pickled or used as a crunchy addition to salads.
• For tastiest nasturtium leaves, keep the plants well watered, which helps to moderate the spiciness of the leaves and flowers.
• According to Reneesgarden ..’I prefer to toss them among sweeter greens like butterhead or crunchy Batavian lettuce, rather than with other bitter greens. Th

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Just because the summer is over, it doesn’t mean you have to write off your garden until next year. Choose one or more of these fall-flowering perennials to provide continuous colour in your flower beds.

Late-season blooms for a colourful fall garden
It wasn’t so long ago that gardeners began putting their gardens to bed for the winter on Labour Day: pulling out all annuals, tying up shrubs and cutting perennials to the ground. After all, the growing season was over—wasn’t it? But t

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