Dan Box

Hi Serene,
Another late reply- I figure we must be in the same area of eastern Ontario, at least sort of. My approach to finding like-minded people is community events. Anyone pushing "buy local" at the fair, giving away seeds...
Send me a pm if you are near the 401 and want to compare notes.

Hey folks, just adding my name to the list. Not exactly in Ottawa, but eastern Ontario, closer to Montreal.  Got a few acres and focussing on berries and fruit for now.

I'm east of Ottawa so not super-close to Bancroft but yeah, kinda, sort of?  Welcome!

Hi Susan, welcome!
I am nearby in Eastern Ontario and facing the same challenges- how to keep some plants alive in a cold sunroom through the long winter.
I have a few grow lights but of course the garden  centres are all closing for the winter...

Re: growing a new pineapple from one you bought

Ryan M Miller wrote:I have never successfully tried this trick yet, but I have seen a video of an Australian gardener on Youtube demonstrate this method.

Thanks for the video Ryan. I came here looking for info and that video is perfect/hilarious.
"Just cut the top off and bung it in the ground"

I'm going to start one and see if we can grow it indoors (in Canada...). Apparently it takes 18months to grow a new fruit!

Just to annoy everyone I wanted to share a link to this UK TV series about poorly-behaved homeschool kids.

Feral Families

Of course they're trying to make homeschoolers look bad, to caricature and sensationalize the whole thing in order to attract viewers. How much freedom is too much for young kids?

Not exactly what you're talking about but these parents near Montreal take turns teaching kids whatever subjects the parents know. The rules for homeschooling in Quebec are strict so I guess everyone's motivated to show they have some plan/structure in place. It does cost money to use.

The Nook Homeschooling Centre

Bump.  Us too. Three youngns being homeschooled so far.  Anyone else in Ontario?

Timmy Eco wrote:Might want to see if your windows need a refill of Argon.

Anybody know how I might check that?? And is it worth the expense?

One of the best things you could do for the long term would be to figure out a way to bring fresh air into the house across a heat exchanger. This is the essence of Passivhaus ventilation

Thanks Phil.. Any links for that? Sounds like the right idea.  I know a bit about heat exchangers/heat recovery ventilators but again, just more expensive boxes with fans.

L is probably right that we're lacking in make-up air. The house was built in the early 80's, not too old or leaky, so not much fresh air coming in.  But all the fresh air in the world won't make it dry inside with a family of six.