The November Use It Up Challenge is here and it's all about tackling sentimental clutter.

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Grab your seeds, trowels, planters, and soil. It’s time for the April 2021 Use It Up Challenge. This month we are focusing on seeds. Garden season is fast approaching. In fact, some may already have started their gardens, especially if you live in the southern climates. However, for those of us in the North, there are a few weeks to go before we can safely get our hands in the dirt. Since many plants can be started indoors, this is the perfect time to work on using all of the seeds you have accumulated over the last few months or years. So grab your seedsRead More →

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September is coming to an end. This is a big month for the garden. It often signals the end of the growing season, which also means the scramble to get the last of the harvest done. After having an unseasonably hot summer, September quickly brought in those cool fall temperatures. We experienced several nights of negative temperatures with several frosts, which did a number on the plants. In fact, I cannot believe the difference between how the garden looks now and what it looked like at the end of September last year. It’s amazing how much of a difference there can be each year. ThisRead More →

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August is a strange month for the garden. It is when most of the plants are producing like crazy yet at the same time, it’s when everything starts to slow down. That is the side-effect of growing in a cool and short garden season. Well, most years it’s cool, however, this year was abnormally warm. Not only that, but there was a distinct lack of rain over the course of the month. Even with these challenges, the garden did pretty well this month. Without further ado, here is the August 2020 garden update. Let’s see how everything is growing. August 2020 garden update What’s growingRead More →

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As the garden season shifts from growing to harvesting, it’s important to have a place to wash those freshly picked vegetables. That’s where a DIY veggie wash station comes in handy. Whether your garden is large or small, every gardener will benefit from having a veggie wash station. No more being hunched over washing the dirt from your harvest. Now, all you need to do is place the veggie on top and give them a thorough spray with the garden hose. This is especially handy for root crops like radishes, carrots, and potatoes, that tend to be covered with more dirt. As an added bonus,Read More →

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July is the month that the garden starts to come into its own. Since everything has been planted and had at least a few weeks to grow, it’s easy to see the potential that the garden has. The plants may still be small, but at least it is the first month that the garden really starts to shine. Not only that, but some items can be harvested by now – usually herbs. Of course, this also means that there are only about 2-3 months left of the growing season. It sounds crazy since it only just began, but that is one of the downsides toRead More →

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The start of the garden season officially arrived in June. Where I live in Northern Ontario, our average last frost date is mid-June, which means it’s safe to plant after that day. Now, there are exceptions to this, as some plant varieties do well with frosts and cooler temperatures. Even though I got an early start to the garden this year, planting as early as March – though it meant bringing those plants in every night for almost three months – June is when the vast majority of the garden was planted. Now that the planting is complete, I thought I would share a JuneRead More →

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For years one thing that has been missing from my garden was a potting bench. I knew I wanted one, but they weren’t something I could find in the stores and if I did they were very expensive. Over the years, I had considering making one myself. However, having never built anything before, I wasn’t sure I could do it. But this year I decided to throw caution into the wind and make my own DIY garden potting bench. After looking at random pictures of potting benches, I knew what I wanted mine to look like. As part of all of my May garden prep,Read More →

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May is not the typical time to start a garden in Northern Ontario. However, there’s not much typical about this year. Gardening is one of my favorite things to do during the summer months. Not only does it provide my family with food, but it gets me outside in the fresh air and sunshine. Gardening is also a fantastic way to keep in shape, especially during the early stages when prepping the area and planting time. The May 2020 garden is an unusual but welcome sight. Spring is a good opportunity to spend some time in the garden, admiring the plants coming out of theirRead More →

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Not all gardening occurs outside. Adding some indoor plants to your home is a great way to include some extra life and a pop of color in any room. It can also help to keep your green thumb going during the cooler months of the year. Whether you live in a warm or cooler climate, indoor gardening is a great option. Even if you don’t have a green thumb these easy to grow indoor plants are something you can add to your home. In fact, this is a great way to grow that green thumb of yours. With a little research, finding low maintenance plantsRead More →

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The garden season is over. It always seems to sneak up on me. One moment, it’s June and the seeds are going into the ground. Then in the blink of an eye fall has arrived and the last of the plants are clinging to life.  The final weeks of the gardening season are always a blur of frantic harvests, steady weeding and then prepping everything for winter. This garden overview will cover my struggles, triumphs and general thoughts on the 2019 gardening season. 2019 garden overview This was by far the most unusual year for the garden. Normally, we have fairly wet and cool weatherRead More →