A lifelong passion for anything landscape and garden related: Design , construction, maintenance, horticulture, farming, botany, and recently writing to put into perspective
Author: mikoiko66
Mulch: the key to successful gardening
I get asked a lot for gardening tips: what to do and not to do. These, of course, are never replied with straightforward answers. There are so many factors in such a dynamic environment that it's never an exact science. …
The Atypical, Unfair Economics of Farming.
Q : How do you make a million dollars farming? A: Start with 4 million! As far as business models go, none is as bizarre as farming. There are very few winning formulas. It's either large scale corporate agribusiness (which …
Tips and tricks for starting seeds
With the promise of spring just around the corner, starting seeds initiates the growing season. Nothing conveys more optimism and hope for the future for a gardener. Seeds are amazing, wonderful little specks of embryonic life.They are relatively easy to …
Cannabis Cultivation (aka Growing Weed) Then and Now
With legalization finally here, and the stigma of using cannabis diminishing, I'm not incriminating myself to confess I've been growing my own for decades. Even though this ancient herbal medicine has been around in most cultures for millennia, the evolution …
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The Miracle of Seeds
Now that I've described how plants have sex (see last post on Plant Porn), it wouldn't be a sex education lesson without also stating the consequences of such activity. Yes, plants get pregnant as well! Seeds are described technically as …
Plant Porn and Botanical Deviants
Heres a shocker , especially for prudes -- PLANTS HAVE SEX! That's right, just like all animals, a plant's main purpose is to reproduce and they have a complex reproductive system to achieve that goal. If you admire flowers in …
Winter Farming ?
What do Canadian farmers do in the winter? The smart, financially stable "Snow Birds" follow the geese south. Most farmers are less fortunate and have to somehow find a way to make an income and pay the never-ending bills. I've …
An Ode to Shovels and Rakes
These two unassuming primitive implements no doubt helped propel humankind from hunter-gatherer to agrarian in some sticks-and-stones fashion long before the Iron Age. As I will describe, my very being is also "owed" to these simple tools, so I thought …
Career Posting for a Homestead Farmer
(This is a photo of my first kitchen garden and campsite in my rookie year homesteading circa 1994 ) The few job postings I've come across for farming are usually for minimum wage labouring on commercial farms. You might be …
Our 2018 Farming Season in a Nutshell: Part 3 (Late summer/Fall)
The third instalment of Mike Roger's season recap, or Why Farming is Not for the Faint of Heart.
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Traced Elements 