Broken city lab is making magnetic planters in a grassroots effort to bring life to our urban spaces. These small containers are made of biodegradable paper mache-like material. They have a magnet embedded in them to adhere to lamp posts and chain link fences. Keep your eyes peeled this summer for these magnetic planters, and if you see one, water it! Read more about the project at http://www.brokencitylab.org/tags/planters/

Borrowing its structure from the ordered form of a conch shell, combined with the disarray of a wild country field, the herb spiral is a hallmark of permaculture design. Busy with honeybees and other insects, the raised, spiraled garden bed built up with rocks and soil creates a wide diversity of conditions in a small yet highly productive space. Filled with beautiful and useful plants, the herb spiral is truly an ecosystem unto itself.

If you're lacking land to garden on, you can always start a garden in pots. Be sure that your pots are big enough so the roots aren't cramped, and make sure you water often as the sun dries out the soil fast. Be sure not to water too often however, as this prevents air from reaching the roots and can kill your plants. Don't water by a schedule, water when the top few inches of the soil feels dry.

In this container garden is planted peas, basil, tomatoes, cilantro, thyme, cayenne peppers and cat grass.

Gardeners know that earthworms in the garden are a sign of healthy soil. These friendly creatures loosen the soil, create fertile soil clods or aggregates, provide pathways for plant roots, redistribute organic matter, and drain and aerate the soil. Earthworms are active animals and feed by eating their way through the soil and bringing organic debris into their burrows from the surface. As earthworms tunnel through the soil, the soil is ingested and any organic matter is digested.

According to Iroquois legend, corn, beans, and squash are three inseparable sisters who only grow and thrive together. This tradition of interplanting corn, beans and squash in the same mounds, widespread among Native American farming societies, is a sophisticated, sustainable system that provided long-term soil fertility and a healthy diet to generations. Growing a Three Sisters garden is a wonderful way to feel more connected to the history of this land, regardless of our ancestry.

No till sheet mulched beds save vast amounts of time, energy, water,
nutrients and prevent soil erosion. They also harbour increased crop
production over tilled beds, if the beds are built properly. Not needing to
till means you save on gas pollution and money and the cost of owning or
renting a tiller, time spent performing the tilling, mowing, and digging
large-rooted weeds.

What is Sheet Mulching? Essentially it is the layering of organic materials
in a certain proportion, right on top of existing ground.

Why is Sheet Mulching Better Than Tilling or Digging?

It may seem like a lot of work and a lot of investment in materials at first

While it is rarely known exactly how the plants benefit one another, some generalization can be made. ''Companions" often include plants with contrasting properties: sun-loving and shade-loving ones; plants with deep roots and those with shallow roots; slow-growing and fast-growing plants; heavy feeders and light feeders or crops that incorporate nitrogen into the soil; aromatic plants, which often repel pests, and non-aromatic ones. ones with early flowers that provide pollen and nectar for some insect predators and parasitoids (insects that parasitize insects), and plants that do not bear flowers until late in the season (or that are not allowed to flower); plants that are more attractive to a particular pest than another, i.e. as a trap-crop; and plants that stimulate biological activity in the soil with crops that are heavy feeders.

For Windsor Ontario:

Last frost: April 25th
First frost: October 22nd

Growing season length: 180 days