The Marigold Potager Diaries

Phew, fall sure did come quickly to the prairies, this year! Leaves were green, gold, and then gone... all within the span of 2 weeks. Crazy beans!  We have been doing a little bit nearly every day to clean out the gardens and yards. Our goal is always to have things buttoned up by Thanksgiving. We are so not there this year! Some crazy fool (ahem) plants so many flowers and veggies, that there is a crazy amount of compostable material to clean up (plus other tasks) at the end of the year ; )  On the island, I used to hold a free 'Putting The Garden To Bed/Planting Garlic' workshop on Thanksgiving weekend (price was a food bank donation of any kind, big or little).  Here on the prairies, we need to get the garden cleaned up soon-ish just in case winter comes early. We occasionally get snow in October, though it usually melts right away, but you never know what mother nature is going to throw at you, eh?  Added at posting time - apparently we are getting snow and col...

Hi there! Happy Sunday.  We had a really cool day yesterday, highs of just 7°C and woke up to a bit of frost on the rooftops. Thankfully, it was not cold enough for long enough to do any damage to the tomatoes, dahlias, basil, or fall mums... as we did not cover anything. We decided it was do or die ; )  The temps are going right back up again to the high teens and low 20's, so gardens are still good to go! Just a one day blip.  Homemade salsa made with veggies from our garden.  We have made our salsa for the year, so even if the tomatoes had been goners we would have still felt okay about it. Now, we are greedily hoping that we get enough ripe tomatoes to make a batch of pasta sauce, as well. We always want more, eh?  This is the recipe that we used . I say we, but hubby really does most of it. All I do is skin the tomatoes and help with the jarring up. He is a retired chef so he is much faster and better at all the chopping!  We tripled the recipe - made ...

Well, hello! Happy sunny Sunday. Here on the prairies, we are having amazing sunny, warm weather. For another few days, at least. Then it is supposed to go back to seasonal temps.  I have finally felt able enough to go down the stairs and hang out on the patio, so hubby and I go out and sit out there daily, while the sun is shining. I sit there (contentedly, with a smile on my face) and watch all the birds, bees, hoverflies, and even wasps, buzzing about the flowers. It is perfect!  Here are some inspirational links I found for you, this week. Fall gardens, potting sheds, baked donuts, and apple recipes.  Garden Inspo While they last, Rainbow Seeds from New Brunswick is selling off their 2026 seeds at 40% off. Some really great seeds!  Building our Potting Shed (Part 2)   - love both the windows that open outwards and the flooring.  Design a Beautiful Fall Garden Pollinators Will Love  - stunning gardens and great inspo.  Fill Patio Pots wit...

We did, in fact, not get an extended summer with beautiful weather in September. Autumn has most definitely come to the prairies.  This has to be the shortest summer (weather wise) that I have experienced in a very long time. That said,  my flower pots, sunflowers, hanging baskets, window boxes, as well as the tomatoes still all look perfect. Overgrown, a little bit wild and crazy, but fantastic. A typical look for a fall garden.  I love fall. It is my favourite season as it brings lovely colours to our trees, a bit of wild and wooly to our yards as we leave dying plants standing for the birds, ladybugs, and bees. A fabulous time of year.    Garden Things   This article from Houz  4 Elements of a Stunning Fall Garden  has wonderful pictures and ideas to amp up your fall garden.  West Coast Seeds has a sale on their seeds right now, some up to 40% off.   How to Grow Eggplant From Seeds: 9 Essential Steps September Gardening: Tasks ...

I have only been saving flower seeds in earnest, for about 4 years. Prior to that, though I would save some seeds, I was pretty higgledy-piggledy about it. I did not do it with any big passion or interest, just picked some of the easy ones to sow in spring and left it at that.  At the same time as I was moving and shutting down my wee Nitty Gritty Greenhouse business, Floret Flower Farm started showing us detailed information about seed saving (mostly zinnias) and several of my favourite Instagram peeps were posting about seed saving flowers of all kinds. Man, I got hooked.  The timing was right. As I would no longer be ordering seeds to sell at the greenhouse business, I would no longer have access to all those great seed varieties any longer... plus the savings, of course. Time to get real about saving seeds! Plus, it looked like fun. So, here is the thing. Cosmos seeds are super easy to save. Dead simple. Really!  In September, stop deadheading.  Allow the seeds ...