Let your garden go to pot(s) this summer

Gardeners in Muskoka must cope with two unalterable realities: the season is short, and the soil is shallow. We can’t do much about the length of our summers, but we certainly have options when it comes to the soil. We can bring in truckloads of topsoil, compost and mulch and transform an entire property. Or […]

March 2020 events

TWO ROADS DIVERGED March 7-28. Inspired by the poem, The Road Not Taken, Roxanne Driedger and Marike MacDonald will show that with many commonalities, artistic expression is individual and expressed differently. At The Chapel Gallery in Bracebridge. MUSKOKA MAPLE TRAIL March 13 to April 24. The most Canadian of culinary trails, the Muskoka Maple Trail […]

Still time for glogg

The season is changing, but there’s still plenty of winter left. Which means still plenty of excuses to have a warming cup of glogg. Most northern European countries have some form of drink that is made from hot wine. In Germany it’s Gluhwein (a lovely name which means “glow wine”), in France it’s vin chaud, […]

Bring a little light to the tail end of winter

Nobody can say for sure when the winter will end, but we can guarantee that there will still be snow on the ground in Muskoka this March Break. So if you’re up at the cottage with the kids, this could be your last chance to get out and play in it. If your family spends […]

Blooms that chase the snow away

By the middle of March, we northern gardeners are chomping at the bit to get our hands into the soil. Some of us scratch the itch by poring over seed catalogues, starting seedlings in sunny windows, or just obsessively watching HGTV. Growing season for most of us is still a month or more away. But […]

Birthday time for bruins

We tend to think of hibernation as a sleep that lasts for months, but deep in their dens black bears are doing something really important: the moms are giving birth to tiny, tiny bear cubs. It’s just one of the amazing things that characterize bear hibernation, a months-long sleep that really has no parallels in […]

Bringing garden ideas home

It’s easy to get jealous if you spend any time in subtropical gardens this winter. Everywhere you look you’re surrounded by gorgeous plants that just won’t grow in Muskoka. We know because we often get photos from our clients, showing us gardens they’ve seen on their travels and asking if we can create something like […]

Seeing shapes in winter

Photography isn’t just about capturing what you see: it can also be a way of changing the way you look at the landscape. To get a truly different view of Muskoka this winter, try photographing it in black and white. Black and white landscape photography has a long and honourable history. Ansel Adams is undoubtedly […]

Blueberry galette

Blueberry pie is one of the delights of summer. Heck, any fruit pie is a perfect dessert when the fruit is in season. You can make pies year-round with frozen fruit, of course, but somehow they just don’t taste… summery enough. Maybe it’s because the effort that goes into making a perfectly shaped pie is […]

February 2020 events

THE ART IN ME Until Feb 28. An exhibition by the art students of Bracebridge and Muskoka Lakes Secondary School and Saint Dominic Catholic Secondary School. Sometimes it is easy to forget what it was like to be a teenager. This exhibition not only showcases the local emerging talent, but also allows viewers much insight […]