ABOUT OUR APPROACH

WE SEE lots of garden glamor. Picture-perfect plants pose in picture-perfect gardens.

WE BRING you real gardening.

Trust us…it’s still fun.

WE TAKE a serious—yet fun—look at gardening tips, concepts, and products.

And we tell you when we think we spot gardening guff.

ABOUT DONNA

Gardening Pedigree

  • Farmer’s daughter
  • Horticultural Science major, University of Alberta 

Occupation

  • Garden Consultant: Recent large projects include horticultural consulting for historic landscapes. Advises gardeners in their own backyards.
  • Radio Personality: Radio gardening show in Alberta.
  • Television Personality: Co-host of internationally broadcast Bugs & Blooms.
  • Writer: Specializing in gardening books and articles, with a regular column in The Calgary Herald for over 15 years.

 

 

Location

Generation

  • Boomer

Likes

  • Simple techniques
  • Soil-friendly methods

Hates

  • Gardening guff

A Favorite Plant

  • Cardoon 

Claim to Fame

  • Common-sense approach and simple solutions. (OK, the TV show too)

Incidentally

  • Donna likes to check out new products and try every gadget or garden-related product at least once so she knows whether to suggest it to listeners and clients.

ABOUT STEVE

Gardening Pedigree

  • Some wives are hockey widows on game night. On weekends, Steven’s wife, Shelley, is a gardening widow.
  • Horticultural Science major, University of Guelph

Occupation

  • Freelance Journalist: Focused on gardening, farming, and food.
  • Garden Consultant: Specializing in growing vegetables in urban areas. 
  • Parent: Home-based father of three young kids. 

Location

Generation

  • X

Likes

  • Simple techniques
  • Low–input approaches

Hates

  • Gardening guff

A Favorite Plant

  • Figs

Claim to Fame

  • Steve was once foolish enough to believe that parsnip wine might actually taste good…and used his bumper crop of parsnips to make wine. Yuck.

Incidentally

  • Steve tends to be cheap when it comes to buying gardening gadgets, though since meeting Donna has splurged on a worm composter. 

 

No Nonsense Vegetable Gardening

Seriously. Fun. Reading.


"YOUR BOOK HAS CHANGED MY LIFE!" declared one reader said when she met Donna on the street.

 

Garden coaches Donna Balzer and Steven Biggs TELL ALL, empowering you in the vegetable garden.