FIELD JOURNAL

Our log of experiences and experiments growing our own food.

Since 2014 we have been growing food on borrowed land in the city. Some of it we sell and some of it we eat. These are the stories of our experiences along the way. Use the search bar on the right to look for posts in the blog that match your interests. For more specific information about our growing methods and record keeping, check out the educational opportunities on our Grow With Us page.

Growing Vegetables Without Rain

This isn't the kind of subject I would prefer to write about, but rainless growing has unfortunately become the reality in Saskatoon this...

Jul 28, 20215 min read

A Compost Bin to Last a Lifetime

When we redesigned the layout of our home garden plot last fall, I designated some space to build a larger and more central set of...

Jun 30, 20216 min read

Patience, Pacing, and Practice: An Improved Mindset for Spring Planting

When I started growing my own food, I thought that vegetable gardens were planted in the spring and harvested in the fall. Since then my...

May 31, 20218 min read

8 Upgrades That Have Made Our Garden Work More Productive

Most of the growers that I work with are keen to grow more food with less time, in less space, or both. If you can, why not? In this...

Apr 29, 20215 min read

Using Vegetables in the Off Season

Hi, Rachel here, with an update from the kitchen side of our food growing adventures. For the majority of our relationship, Jared and I...

Mar 31, 20214 min read

LED Grow Light Comparison: SunBlaster vs Active Grow

I have published detailed data on SunBlaster LED grow lights in the past and we had a challenger from Active Grow step forward recently...

Feb 18, 20218 min read

10 Lessons From the Vegetable Garden: Part 3

One of the pleasures of growing your own food is that there is always more to learn, so we're back with our annual round up of new...

Dec 28, 202015 min read

An Experiment in Onion Spacing

We transplant a lot of crops around here if you haven't noticed yet. The numerous benefits of transplanting include improved...

Nov 27, 20206 min read

Fall Garden Makeover

One of the projects on my wish list this fall was changing up the bed orientation at our home plot. I'm happy to report that we were...

Oct 29, 20203 min read

Grafted Tomatoes Prove Their Worth

One of the experiments we did this year in the field was a comparison of grafted and non-grafted tomato plants. After a season of...

Sep 30, 20204 min read

Where Are We Growing? Higher!

Vertical growing has got to be in your game plan if you are aiming to make the most of your garden space, but things can get messy if you...

Aug 30, 20204 min read

Vegetables Can Run Relays Too

In my days as a track and field athlete, the 4 x 100m relay was one of my favourite events. It was the only track and field event that...

Jul 30, 20203 min read

Winning the War on Weeds

We’ve fought our share of weed battles over the years having grown on 10 different plots, most of which started with serious weed...

Jun 15, 20207 min read

Live Training Begins for Home Vegetable Growers

The big news at the Vegetable Academy this month is the start of our new live training option for members. We've started to offer this...

May 21, 20203 min read

A Definitive Grow Light Study

Buckle up growers! It’s time to break down the mystery of grow lights and reveal the scientific concepts that we need in order to answer...

Apr 13, 202016 min read

Eight Benefits of Starting Your Own Seeds

For growers challenged with short summer seasons, indoor seed starting is an important strategy to help get an early jump on slow growing...

Mar 17, 20205 min read

How much money is a vegetable garden worth?

I frequently come across articles touting the social and environmental benefits of growing your own food, but I rarely see any specifics...

Jan 27, 20207 min read

What's your gardening personality type?

I have chatted with many growers over the years and there are some particular characteristics that keep coming up over and over. These...

Jan 20, 202010 min read

10 Lessons From the Vegetable Garden: Part 2

We're back with another round of vegetable growing lessons after our 2019 season. No two seasons are ever identical so there is always...

Jan 2, 202014 min read

The Last Three Tasks of the Season

As soon as our weekly harvesting routines wrapped up this fall, work shifted focus to fall clean up duties. There are a few critical...

Nov 2, 20192 min read