Winter 2021

Harrowsmith

Make, Grow, Sustain, Share

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Our Contributors
Gastronaut, author, artist and eight-time Guinness World Record holder BOB BLUMER is best known as the creator and host of Food Network’s award-winning shows Surreal Gourmet, Glutton for Punishment and World’s Weirdest Restaurants. He has also writte
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Changing the World
This issue marks a new beginning for Harrowsmith in many ways. We welcome our new editor-in-chief, Jennifer Reynolds, who you might know from Canadian Living and Gardening Life. Jennifer is excited to expand the brand and build partnerships to amplif
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Harrowsmith
Publisher Yolanda Thornton [email protected] Incoming Editor-in-Chief Jennifer Reynolds [email protected] Editor, Summer and Winter Editions Catalina Margulis [email protected] Home and Farm Editor Steve Maxwell Food Editor ILona Daniel
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West Coast Dreamin’
The last time I was in B.C., I was holding a 9-month-old baby — the first of four, it would turn out to be. I met up with my best friend, and together with my son, we explored the Sunshine Coast, ate like queens, and enjoyed luxurious B&Bs with fun a
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Mailbox
Editor’s note: In our Summer 2021 issue, we asked you to send in your favourite sunrise photos. Here’s what you shared. The January sun breaks over rural solitude in Grey County, Ontario, 2021. Marilyn Holley, Hanover, Ontario Sunrise in Kawart
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Arlene Dickinson
She’s known for her role on Dragons’ Den and has become a Canadian, if not international, icon, so I can be forgiven if I’m a little nervous about interviewing Arlene Dickinson — the Jann Arden bestie, self-made multimillionaire and mother of four wh
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Coffee With Arlene
Where’s the best place to sit down and have a coffee in your town? I really like the Sunterra Market coffee shop. When you go to the local farmers market, which vendor do you visit first? Generally the bread vendor. When company arrives from out of t
Harrowsmith3 min readArchitecture
Pruning 101
Most Canadian gardeners hang up the trowel for the winter and settle in for a break. While there is less to do in the garden when the snow is flying or waist deep, there is one job that is best timed for the “off season”: pruning. Pruning is perfec
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Trees For Heroes
THE WINDOW DECAL ON OUR TRUCK READS “A TREE FOR EVERY HERO.” THE HIGHWAY OF HEROES TREE CAMPAIGN WAS HATCHED ABOUT 8 YEARS AGO, WHEN A SMALL GROUP OF CONCERNED CANADIANS IDENTIFIED A SCHEME TO BOTH HELP SAVE THE PLANET FROM THE EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHA
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What Tools You Need (A Useful List for Christmas Gift Giving)
Hand pruners. These are for light work. Use hand pruners for shaping existing tree branches and for reaching into young, woody growth to remove 1- to 3-year-old growth that has bent over and broken under the weight of the ice. Good-quality hand prune
Harrowsmith1 min readArchitecture
Best Practices For Tree Planting
Planting trees is not a simple case of digging a hole and covering the roots of the new tree with soil. Trees for Life has adopted the Vineland Tree Planting Protocols, based on extensive research at the Vineland Research and Innovation Centre in Nia
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7 Winter Garden Design Tips
Gardening for winter interest is becoming increasingly popular as our changing climate brings us outside more often during the winter months. Here’s how to enjoy and enhance your landscape’s natural beauty. There are plenty of options to enjoy natur
Harrowsmith1 min readArchitecture
9 Must-Have Plants for Winter Interest
A glossy broadleaf evergreen with beautiful yellow flowers. A sturdy grass that holds its shape through the winter. These cold-weather-loving perennials bloom for weeks (at Christmastime in the West Coast, early March in central Ontario) and mainta
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From Great Heights
I am sitting at a table made of walnut, on an oak chair of deep mature colour. As I rub my hands on the smooth careworn arms, I remember someone, a dear family member, who sat in this very chair for many years. I am surveying the landscape of my life
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West Nile Virus
Like so many Canadians of my vintage, I can remember a time before West Nile virus became something we would hear about every summer along with tick bites, sunscreen and wildfires. As diseases go, it’s still considered to be a relative newcomer to C
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West Nile Virus Prevention
1 Repair or replace damaged window and door screens. 2 Rid your property of standing-water sources, including old tires, children’s toys, flower pots, swimming pool covers, buckets and cans. Really, this would be any object where water can accumulat
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In Stars the
Getting out to see the night sky is a visual adventure in astronomy and more impressive than just reading about it. To help make the dark night sky more accessible, the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC) has embraced over two dozen sites acr
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All The Trimmings
Adding fresh winter decorations is a beautiful way to adorn your home for the season. And while flower shops and garden centres are fabulous places to find these items, making your very own creation with your garden clippings or purchased greens is t
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What You Need To Know About The Reciprocating Saw
Reciprocating saws (often called “recip saws” for short) may be the least appreciated mainstream power tool in the world. Invented in 1951 by the Milwaukee tool company and dubbed the Sawzall, recip saws are cutting better than ever, thanks in part t
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Blades Are Everything
The versatility of recip saws comes down to blade design, so the greater variety of blades you have on hand, the more valuable and versatile your recip saw will prove to be. I even know one fire department that uses reciprocating saws with metal-cutt
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Forest Seeding
If you’ve got pastures or hayfields that need improving, you’ve got to try frost seeding. It’s a proven technique that makes it possible to improve the species composition in a given plot of land without tillage. Besides saving time, money, fuel and
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A Circle Of Green
Summers can get pretty dry where I live on Manitoulin Island, Ontario, and this means it makes sense to feed a bit of hay out on pasture during the summer, before the fall rains kick in and the pasture starts growing again. I feed hay in round bale f
Harrowsmith6 min readRegional & Ethnic
Wild, Wonderful Western Canadian Cuisine
British Columbia is Canada’s most westerly province and boasts a diverse geography that includes rugged mountains, inland deserts, rocky coastlines, breathtaking beaches, sprawling forests, turquoise lakes and grassy plains. This unique landscape has
Harrowsmith2 min readRegional & Ethnic
Flavorbomb Molten Nutella Chocolate Cake
This Nutella-centred molten chocolate cake recipe, from my book Flavorbomb, adds another layer of decadence to the timeless classic — and presents the perfect opportunity to use up some of the fresh berries that you squirrelled away in the freezer fo
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Capital Tea
For most of us, there’s nothing like a cup of tea to soothe the soul on a cold winter’s day. For Margit Nellemann, though, tea is about more than flavour. “It’s tradition. Celebration,” says the co-founder, tea specialist and clay maker at Westholme
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Bookshelf
Cowichan Tribe Elder and botanical expert Luschiim Arvid Charlie discovered early on the healing powers of plants. Learning from his great-grandparents and others of their generation, Luschiim has brought together those teachings, as well as insights
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Around The World
For many people, travelling with their kids on drives across the country, never mind ships or planes across the globe, is challenging. For Canadian travel writer Bruce Kirkby, however, there was no doubt in his mind when it came to setting off on a b
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Picks for Kids!
Featuring the stories of 100 young climate change trailblazers, environmental justice changemakers, sustainable business leaders, and green inventors and entrepreneurs, from 38 countries around the world and 32 U.S. cities, Stone Soup for a Sustainab
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The Best Ideas Come From Old Guys
I just celebrated my 70th birthday this past year. Our culture attaches great importance to decades only because of the calculations of some forgotten Byzantine astrologer, not because there is any cosmic significance to the decimal system. Still, th
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Things We Love
Take a glance at their Instagram page and there’s no doubting that “from the garden” comes first for this minimalist, farm-to-table Vancouver eatery, where roasted cauliflower and cabbage salad make the dinner menu, along with crispy haricot vert, se

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