1. The subtitle of Green’s book could be “an ode to fish emulsion” . Hardly a page flips over before he outlines yet another reason for using this organic fertilizer. (My cats have been trying to convince me to turn in the kelp liquid for fish fertilizer for years — maybe this season I’ll take theirs and Doug’s advice).
2. We’ve all read about how to warm up the soil early in the season by laying down black plastic mulch. But only Green’s book tells you the truth: clear plastic heats up the soil faster than black plastic. Who knew?
3. How many methods does it take to deter critters from the garden? Green outlines many common ones, including the electric fencing trick to keep out deer and raccoons. But, here’s his wiley spin: first, attract the animals by wiping the wire with a rag covered in peanut butter.
4. The section on intensive gardening methods includes plenty of useful charts on plant combinations for a succession of crops and season by season crop rotation suggestions.
5. A plant encyclopedia sets out growing advice for a cornucopia of vegetables and herbs. Each plant profile includes “Additional Information” — another phrase for Doug’s homegrown wisdom. One of my favourites is an explanation of tomato types: determinate vs. indeterminate.  I don’t know how many “official” definitions of these types that I’ve read over the years, but each usually dwelt on whether the plant needed staking (indeterminate) or not (determinate). Well, gosh, Doug spells out right away what we all really want to know — that determinate plants produce fruit all at once, so they’re great if you want a batch of tomatoes for canning while the indeterminate ones ripen in sequence, giving us fresh tomatoes throughout the season.

For anyone gardening in a cold climate, Doug Green’s Guide to Canadian Vegetable Gardening spells out Canada’s newest food rules.

But, for intrepid urban gardener, Gayla Trail (and her online persona You Grow Girl), ingenuity and frugality combine with a passion for plants to transform garbage cans to containers, dresser drawers to planters and rooftops into gardens filled with heirloom vegetables and unusual herbs. Recently, Gayla spoke at a Parkdale Horticultural Society meeting and showed how she does it and what she grows. Here are 12 good things she said that have inspired me to try converting a corner of my yard into a mini-veggie garden this year.

1. Shiso, or perilla, is a herb plant with wonderful purple foliage. Brew the leaves into an iced tea with a fruity, minty flavour. It’s also used to dye ginger pink (the kind served with sushi).

2. Whippersnapper is one of the earliest tomatoes to mature and grows well in containers. Gayla harvests hers in July.

3. Gayla reuses her potting soil from year to year, amending it with compost (especially vermicompost) and rotating her crops.

4. To conserve water, she grows in very large containers which don’t need watering as often as smaller ones do. She also places tall plants at the back of her rooftop garden as a wind break.

5. She hardens off seedlings by placing them in a sheltered gazebo; first for a few hours a day, and gradually increasing their exposure to the outdoors over two weeks. Although it takes extreme patience to do this, she says it really pays off in healthy plants.

6. Clear plastic takeaway containers with lids make great mini “greenhouses” for starting seeds.

7. Peppers, either sweet or hot, need deep containers to accommodate their roots. Gayla grows them in her collection of sap buckets.

8. All of her containers have holes in the bottom for drainage. To make them, she hammers a large nail through the metal bottoms of sap buckets, garbage cans and other metal containers.

9. Yes, she manages to grow strawberries in a strawberry pot! But she also recommends growing Dianthus, which can take the dry conditions.

10. Purple bush basil has tiny leaves that burst with flavour — try it!

11. Sow lettuce in “lettuce balls” constructed of two wire hanging baskets, lined with coir, filled with soil and wired together. Covered all over in leafy lettuce, they look like giant, edible green powder puffs!

12. Grow potatoes in garbage cans by placing a bit of soil in the bottom (don’t forget the drainage holes, and Gayla places the can on top of the upturned, brick-lined garbage can lid which serves as a saucer); then plant the bits of potatoes and cover with a thin layer of soil; as the potatoes sprout, add more soil until it reaches the top of the can and the potato leaves tumble over the rim.

Galya’s working on her next book, so watch for it soon!

7. Start sowing seeds.

• http://www.readytogrow.co.uk/seeds/p_Pink_Oxheart_Tomato.html
• http://www.reimerseeds.com/giant-oxheart-tomato.aspx
• http://www.whiteflowerfarm.com/4905-product.html