Food Garden Life Show: Helping You Harvest More from Your Edible Garden, Vegetable Garden, and Edible Landscaping

Grow Figs Where You Think You Can’t — Revised & Expanded
My fig book is now more than three times the size of the original, with practical advice on growing in pots, pruning, overwintering, and getting figs ripe—plus ideas from cold-climate fig growers around the world.
Find out more and get your copy.
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Do you really need to turn your compost? And what happens when your compost bin freezes in winter?

Kayla Siefried, Education Director at the Compost Education Centre in Victoria, BC, joins me to talk about making compost at home. We explore how to choose a system that fits your space and routine, whether that's a backyard bin, a hot compost pile, a worm bin, or a food waste digester.

Then we dig into the everyday details: balancing kitchen scraps with fall leaves, checking moisture, deciding when to turn a pile, and planning for winter composting in a cold climate.

We talk about:
  • The differences between passive composting, hot composting, worm bins, and food waste digesters
  • Choosing a bin and a convenient location, with rodents in mind
  • Using fall leaves as a compost ingredient and garden mulch
  • When a compost pile needs water or more air
  • Keeping browns handy when your leaf pile is buried in snow
  • Allowing extra bin space for scraps that freeze instead of breaking down
Resources:

What is Food Garden Life Show: Helping You Harvest More from Your Edible Garden, Vegetable Garden, and Edible Landscaping?

Want to grow your own food but need creative ideas so you can get the most from your space and your growing zone? Our passion is the edible garden.

We help people grow food on balconies, in backyards, and beyond—whether it’s edible landscaping, a vegetable garden, container gardens, or a home orchard.

There are many ways to approach edible landscaping. Find out how to harvest enough fruit, vegetables, herbs, and edible flowers. Get top tips for exotic crops. And learn how to garden in a way that suits any situation.

Host Steven Biggs was recognized by Garden Making magazine as one of the “green gang” making a difference in Canadian horticulture. His home-garden experiments span driveway straw-bale gardens, a rooftop kitchen garden, fruit plantings, and an edible-themed front yard. He's a horticulturist, award-winning broadcaster and author, and former horticulture instructor with George Brown and Durham Colleges in Ontario, Canada.

Get started with one of our fan favourites. Season 6, Episode 10: Big Harvests from a Small Space with a Vertical Vegetable Garden.