Canada's Local Gardener Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

Faced with the very arduous task of building a new gardening bed, Shauna Dobbie, editor of Canada’s Local Gardener magazine, turns to veteran gardener Ian Leatt to hear about his experiences. In addition to being a long-time grower of vegetables and flowers, Ian is the president of Pegasus Publications, the company that publishes Canada’s Local Gardener.

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It is seed starting time across Canada. From March through June, depending on where your garden is, you may be starting seeds indoors and out. Kevin Twomey, former owner of T and T Seeds in Winnipeg, has grown vegetables and flowers from seeds throughout his life. Shauna Dobbie, editor of Canada’s Local Gardener print magazine, is preparing to put in her first full-sized vegetable garden this year, and she talked to Kevin about what she’s done right, what she’s done wrong, and what she should do next year.

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People of all ages become fascinated with the monarch butterfly when they learn about its long flight from Canada to Mexico in a single generation. Joan Harvey is a member of Monarch Teacher Network, and she joined Master Gardener Julianne Labreche in an event called Meet the Monarch last summer. Shauna Dobbie, editor of Canada’s Local Gardener magazine, chats with the two about the life cycle of monarchs and how to build a monarch garden.

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Mario Doiron is a modern homesteader in New Brunswick who raises fowl and grows vegetables on a small farm. Shauna Dobbie, editor of Canada’s Local Gardener magazine, talks with him about how he grow vegetables and what gardeners can do to maximize their efforts and save money.

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Bamboo is a kind of plant in the grass family (Poaceae) with over 100 genera. Most of them are tropical, but a few will survive and even thrive in Canada. Garry Hedberg and his wife Brenda had several clumps of them growing in South Surrey, in the Vancouver area, some as tall as 60 feet. Shauna Dobbie, editor of Canada’s Local Gardener magazine, talks to Garry about his experience growing this plant, which is fairly uncommon in Canada.

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Dorothy Dobbie is the originator of Canada’s Local Gardener magazine, a former Member of Parliament, President of the International Peace Gardens on the border of Manitoba and North Dakota...

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Darryl Cheng is an industrial engineer who became interested in houseplants a few years ago. He would do time-lapse videos of his plants on social media, and that led to a huge Instagram following and book deals, including his popular book The New Plant Parent. 

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Mehdi Sharifi is a research scientist at the Summerland Research Station in British Columbia and Dana Johnson was a research assistant there who was partially responsible for developing the first federal Indigenous Demonstration Garden at the site. Shauna Dobbie, editor of Canada’s Local Gardener magazine, talked to them both about planning and instituting the garden.

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Greg Auton is a garden writer and podcaster from Nova Scotia who grows hundreds of garlic plants every year. Although he is a very prolific writer, has a family of four and maintains a 2500-square foot vegetable garden, these are things he does in his spare time, when he is not working as a civil servant. 

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