Summer 2021

Harrowsmith

Make, Grow, Sustain, Share

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Our Contributors
MARK AND BEN CULLEN Mark is an expert gardener, author, broadcaster and tree advocate and holds the Order of Canada. His son, Ben, is a fourth-generation urban gardener and a graduate of the University of Guelph and Dalhousie University in Halifax. F
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Loving Local
If the pandemic has shown us anything, it’s how tenuous our hold is on supply and demand. “Grow your own” and “locally grown” have never been more important. And things that had gradually gone out of fashion, like baking your own bread and having you
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Harrowsmith
Established in 1976 Issue No. 27 Publisher Yolanda Thornton yolanda@moongate.ca Editor-in-Chief Jules Torti jules@moongate.ca Editor, Summer and Winter Editions Catalina Margulis catalina@moongate.ca Home and Farm Editor Steve Maxwell Food Edito
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Mailbox
Editor’s note: In our Winter 2020 issue, we asked you to send in your favourite photos of past staycations and your favourite places across Canada. Here’s what you shared. Here is one of our memories of Mabou and Inverness, Cape Breton. We stayed a
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Welcome, Summer!
This issue, we go east — to Canada’s East Coast. And what better timing than in the summer, when the gardens are in full bloom and the land is serving up its plentiful bounty. Harrowsmith food editor Signe Langford is back again with another medley
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A Cup Of With A Local
As many know, Lisa MacIsaac is one half of the Juno-nominated singer-songwriting duo Madison Violet, along with Brenley MacEachern. (The video for their song “Tell Me,” from 2019’s Everything’s Shifting, has received a whopping 1.7 million views.) Cu
Harrowsmith5 min readArchitecture
Landscapes Of Anne
Canadian gardens are fantastic. We think Canadian gardeners are a creative lot, and every time we travel around our great country, we are reminded of this fact. Often, we see something that inspires, something that grabs our attention, and something
Harrowsmith6 min read
The Magic Of Root Vegetables
Kids are great for bringing our attention to the magic of gardening. For Mark, watching a grandkid eat their first carrot out of the ground never loses its excitement. The crunchiness, the sweetness and, above all, the fact that it came out of the gr
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Case Study: East Coast Opportunities
Now that we understand climate and microclimate, we want to see the opportunity in the landscape. We are going to focus our case study in northeastern Canada. In these regions stretching from Montreal and up the St. Lawrence Seaway to Nova Scotia and
Harrowsmith7 min read
Microclimates & Edible Opportunity
For a species that has become habituated to shuttling food around at great distances, the concept of microclimates is seemingly lost on modern humans, as is the immense opportunity it provides for growers. The fact that we need more variety in our di
Harrowsmith4 min read
SEASONAL ASTERISMS & TELLING TIME
People associate areas of the night sky with particular seasons. Some areas have catchy names, like Summer Triangle and Winter Oval (seven bright stars from six different constellations). The ancients also associated certain patterns of stars with th
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Fields of Love
Lavender fields are a joy to behold. Purple and green under the golden sun, they inspire artists around the world, and throughout time. Canada is lucky to have many such views spread across our great land, but these crops also come with their share o
Harrowsmith10 min read
Made in Canada, Eh?!
Canadian history was built on the surf and turf of our great land and the labour of those working it, from the earliest people to the present day. A humble but vital part of the journey has been the livestock in barns, in fields, from coast to coast.
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Cellaring Without a Root Cellar
Depending on where you live in Canada, it’s often possible to keep root crops in the garden over winter without freezing. If you grow a mulched garden, pile a deep layer of mulch over carrots, beets, potatoes and other root crops during autumn before
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Lawn Mower Maintenance Basics
If you’ve got a lawn mower, then it needs maintenance TLC if you want it to run properly and cut grass well. Complete the springtime maintenance items you’ll find here and you’ll enjoy a trouble-free grass-cutting season and a better-looking lawn. No
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Eat Better For Less
No matter how convenient it becomes to buy and eat prepared foods from the supermarket, this still leaves some of us wanting more. Are you attracted to the idea of stocking up on bulk quantities of wholesome produce at low harvest prices, then enjoyi
Harrowsmith7 min readRegional & Ethnic
East
Between the longtime efforts of P.E.I. chef Michael Smith, all the international buzz around the Fogo Island Inn, and an exciting crop of young chefs embracing and seriously jazzing up what the land and sea has always provided, East Coast cuisine is
Harrowsmith10 min read
Why We Love THE EAST COAST
Whether you’re inspired by countless songs about the open road, or childhood memories and backseat-driver nostalgia, get out of town and shake things up with a road trip through Canada’s wild, wonderful East Coast. Canada offers plenty of options to
Harrowsmith6 min read
In The Heart Of The Country
We had five laying hens last spring and summer. Six, originally, but one of the family dogs ordered takeout from another farm’s henhouse. Our No. 6 became the reparation payment. There were two hens commonly called Browns, two Plymouth Rocks, and a l
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Bookshelf
In this beautifully illustrated ode to the most extravagant type of water plant, Miek Zwamborn shares discoveries of seaweed’s history, culture and science. Seaweed is so familiar and yet most people know very little about it. Even its names — pepper
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Best Of The East
In the 1960s, author Farley Mowat was living in a small fishing town called Burgeo, on the southwestern coast of Newfoundland. Mowat was thrilled to discover an 80-ton fin whale that was trapped in a nearby saltwater lagoon, because it finally offere
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East Coast Inventions
When it comes to advances for humankind, our minds can quickly jump to the busier metropolises. And yet it’s the quieter East Coast and Atlantic Canada that can be credited for an incredible share of the inventions we enjoy today. In the 1830s, a tee
Harrowsmith3 min read
Who Are You Gonna Call?
I was just reading a piece in the New York Times about how people have been fleeing the city in droves this past year to find freedom from the pandemic. The same thing is happening in our neighbourhood, and rural real estate prices have surged as a r
Harrowsmith4 min read
Things We
Kids can take their love of animals to the next level or find out if being an animal doctor is for them with the Atlantic Veterinary College’s (AVC) vet camp. The week-long summer program is held at the University of Prince Edward Island in Charlotte

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