A table at a farmers' market with various produce. Fall leaves are on the ground in the foreground.

Erin's Fall Garden Journal

The end of October is fast approaching and with it the end of the 2025 gardening season here in Huron County, Ontario. After a couple frost warnings and light frosts, last night we had the first hard frost of the fall. Part of me wishes we still had several more warm, sunny months to keep on growing and part of me is ready to cozy up indoors by the fire and start planning for next season!...

Close up of rhubarb leaves

Growing Rhubarb Part 3: Rhubarb Care, Forcing, Dividing, and Harvesting

Once rhubarb is established, it requires surprisingly little maintenance, though a few simple techniques can greatly improve both yield and flavor. In part 3 of this series, we’ll cover how to care for rhubarb, including how to divide it, how to harvest it, and a couple of other tips. Overwintering Rhubarb In temperate climates, rhubarb generally survives the winter on its own. In fact, the plant needs around 500 hours (around 7 weeks) at 40°F (4 °C) or below to trigger healthy new growth in spring....

Rhubarb

Growing Rhubarb Part 2: Adaptations for Different Climates

Although rhubarb prefers temperate environments, it can be grown outside its ideal temperature range with some care. With additional winter prep in colder climates and careful planning for summer in hot regions, rhubarb can thrive almost anywhere. More so than in temperate climates, it’s vital to watch the weather. Extreme heat spells or cold snaps require forethought to protect your plants, and site selection is even more important. These tips cover key points for hot and cold climates, and how you can grow rhubarb successfully....

Rhubarb growing in a vegetable garden

Growing Rhubarb Part 1: Popular Rhubarb Varieties and Planting Guide

Rhubarb is a hardy perennial. It’s easy to plant, care for, and harvest. With so many varieties out there, it can be overwhelming to pick the right one, and then choose a good place to plant it. In the first part of this series, we’ll discuss popular varieties and go over how best to plant rhubarb. Popular Varieties There are dozens of rhubarb cultivars, each created for different reasons. Some grow more quickly, others are sweeter, and some are suited to more challenging environments....

Mushrooms and roots on a field

Mycorrhizae 101: The Underground Network That Feeds the World And Your Garden!

Fun fact to blow your mind before your morning coffee: In just one handful of healthy soil, there are enough fungal filaments to wrap around the Earth. Twice! (Filaments are the ultra-fine strands that make up the body of a fungus. You can think of them as the fungus’s roots) These microscopic globetrotters form one of the oldest and most successful partnerships in nature. For nearly 450 million years, fungi have been building vast underground networks that connect plant roots, trade nutrients, and help entire ecosystems thrive....

hands (woman) pruning a young tree with pruning shears in a foggy autumn field

Autumn Pruning: How (and Why) To Do It Now

Autumn has arrived! Up in the mountains, the icy wind came with it. Leaves turn fiery red and orange before falling one by one. Soon, your fruit trees might look a little bare. Don’t feel sorry for them, this is the perfect chance to peek inside the crown and see what’s really going on. And yes: it’s the right moment for a light autumn haircut. But careful: not all pruning belongs in autumn....

Composting a tree in an Arizona garden

Composting in the Desert

Deserts are notoriously harsh environments. Hot and dry (excluding Antarctica), with low rainfall, desert soils are challenging for most plants and take years to naturally build fertility. Deserts are found on multiple continents, from Australia to the Desert Southwest in the USA. Compost is an excellent soil amendment and a powerful way to enrich impoverished soil. But as compost requires moisture and plenty of organisms, is it possible in the desert?...

Palo Verde tree with leaf mulch

Mulching Trees: A Guide

Trees are wonderful. They provide shade, structure, habitat, and beauty to a garden. But if you’ve planted a tree in your yard, it may not be in its natural or preferred environment. Supporting its growth means helping recreate those natural conditions wherever possible. While trees get around 90% of their mass from carbon in the air, the remaining 10% from the soil is equally vital. So, how can you mimic that natural nutrient cycle and the accumulation of organic matter on the ground at home?...

colorful leaves covering the ground

Leaf Mold: The Simple, Nutrient-Rich Soil Booster Every Gardener Needs

If you live anywhere with deciduous trees, then you have the key ingredient for one of the best natural soil supplements—leaf mold. This organic material improves soil structure, boosts moisture retention, and supports beneficial soil organisms, making it an essential addition to any garden. In this article, we’ll run through the simple process and break down (pun intended) some of the science behind it. What is Leaf Mold? Despite its name, leaf mold isn’t slimy, smelly, or unpleasant....

Bowl with red, white and yellow onions

Meet the Allium Family

Again and again, gardening confirms how incredibly minimal our consumption of species diversity is. In my household, there’s someone cutting an onion for dinner every single night. And to be fair, I guess most people do. It’s always there. Yet the diversity we actually use is pretty much… yellow or red. Like what?! There are so many varieties in this amazing family. And in my opunion (sorry, couldn’t resist), there’s a whole world of flavor, beauty, and history we’re missing out on....