Getting away from my personal life and back to the purpose of this blog, here's an update on our activities and where we are at coming to the end of this short month, and preparing for spring. I don't want to sugar coat anything or pretend we have things figured out because we are soooo far from that, but bit by bit it feels like we are starting to figure out some things. The kids have been amazing through it all.
Why Localeaf? I have a few reasons. Not one of them is extensive horticultural experience or credentials, because really, honestly, I have none. Everything I know about plants and gardening I taught myself, mostly through trial and (a lot) of error. Winter experiments growing rooting plants in fish water I have been growing plants and … Continue reading Why am I doing this? Some TMI and personal shit resulting in a micro-nursery
I've been winter sowing seeds successfully for sever years, and racking up mistakes, learnings and tips from my experiences, as well as those of many others who started winter sowing before me, so by now I'm pretty comfortable with the practice. I found it overwhelming when I started, so I began small, with just a … Continue reading Winter Sowing for Beginners: Easy Steps to Get Started
We grow plants from seeds. That is at the core of what we love to do. Year after year, our collection of seeds grows. This is in part due to our plants growing, us collecting seeds from our maturing baby plants, saving seeds from our existing harvests, foraging the vast unspoiled wild land near our … Continue reading Our seeds, free seeds, shared seeds, and the small seed companies and nurseries we have loved supporting this year
Native flower mixes packaged by the kids and given out at various markets in Aylmer. It has made my heart happy reaching so many people with our free native seed packs this year. Here is the list of all the native flower seeds included in each of our free packs. We get a lot of … Continue reading Free Native Seed Packs: Planting Instructions
Using plants sourced completely from our garden, the kids whipped up remedies for anxiety, dry skin, sleep issues, and more, just in time for the holiday market season. Shop local and come check them out at Nesbitt Nursery’s market on December 7th! Read the blog to learn more about their salves.
OMG OMG we are moving! More on where we are going later, today I'm focused on the why. As I re-read what I wrote below I have noticed that this post is very long, and gushy, and riddled with run-on sentences. Maybe you stumbled on my blog and you don't want to read my stream … Continue reading Embracing Change: Our Family’s Journey to a New Home
So you're thinking about ditching your lawn. Do it! We've done it, and we promise you won't regret it! In fact, this whole crazy venture we have embarked on by starting Local Leaf first started with an idea to replace a small part of the lawn in our front yard. We started small (not really, … Continue reading Lawn Alternatives: Create a Sustainable Outdoor Space
Imagine a garden that you (almost) never have to water. In a nutshell, that is xeric garden design. Reminiscent of a desert landscape, but adapted to our northern climate, xeric gardens thrive without additional water needs beyond natural elements once established. Plants selected for use in xeric landscape design are drought tolerant, thrive in dry … Continue reading Creating a Drought-Tolerant Xeric Garden
The first patch we converted from lawn in our garden was the dreaded "right of way" area of our front yard, which sees heavy foot traffic and deposits of winter salt and ice left by city ploughs, where I thought no plants would ever survive a winter season. My solution for the space was to … Continue reading Creative Rock Garden Ideas for Challenging Areas
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