A week in the life of a 15-year-old gardener in Canada — Assembly

Emma writes about caring for winter crops, recording her podcast with her dad and preparing to sell and swap her tomato seeds.

15-year-old Emma Biggs lives in Toronto with her parents, two younger brothers and “a lot of plants.” Having learned gardening from her dad, Emma’s backyard teems with the crops she grows and harvests year-round — including purple-streaked peanuts, hyacinth beans and 130 varieties of tomatoes. Last year Emma also started selling and swapping her extra tomato seeds with other gardeners, a process she says is rewarding in more ways than one. “When you share seeds, you get the satisfaction of knowing that someone is gaining access to fresh, healthy and delicious food and, hopefully, growing a love of gardening,” Emma explains. She also hosts a monthly radio show with her dad to celebrate their shared love of growing food. Read on to learn more about a week in Emma’s life — both in and outside of her Toronto garden.

Sunday

I slept in today, like I do on most weekends. I am in no way a morning person and so, after five days of having to get up early for school, the weekends are when I recharge.

Today, I didn’t get much done. I have come to realise that every day is not going to be a productive one for me. There are tasks that I need to finish, such as schoolwork, and then there are also all the things I want to get done, like cleaning my desk, writing blog posts and going through all of my photos. The problem is that there are endless things to accomplish and not enough hours in a day. Today was a day when I did a lot of reading and not much of anything else. I read a variety of books, but many of my favourites are science fiction, futuristic or dystopian. I guess that is what weekends are for.

One thing that I did get done was shelling dried beans or removing their seeds from the outside shell. While I eat most of the beans I grow as fresh snap beans, I do save enough to grow again the following year and share seeds with fellow gardeners, of course. Swapping and sharing seeds is so rewarding, because you’ll end up with new and exciting varieties to grow when you swap. And when you share seeds, you get the satisfaction of knowing that someone is gaining access to fresh, healthy and delicious food and, hopefully, growing a love of gardening.

I am hoping it’s going to be a good week, one where I don’t get too much homework, finish a lot of things that I want to get done and enjoy each and every day.

Monday

Today was a good day! I don’t have any homework. I got a good sleep last night so I wasn’t tired today.

We had our first snowfall last night and not all of it has melted yet, which is exciting! It’s making me excited for skiing and skating! I also shelled more beans today. It’s something that is kind of relaxing. Just sitting at my desk, shelling beans and listening to music.

My dad and I recorded a podcast today with one of our good gardening friends. Our podcast is called the "Food Garden Life Show," and we talk to different experts about growing, cooking and using the garden to build community. In this episode we talked all about seeds, different vocabulary that you should know when shopping for seeds, seed stories, tomato breeding and varieties and more! Our friend gave me lots of tips and ideas for my seed sales this year. I love talking with like-minded people, and I learn so much every time!

I started selling tomato seeds last year because I had lots more than I could grow myself. It went pretty well, so I will be doing it again this year! I spent quite a while talking with Dad about my seed sales this year. I was trying to figure out all the things that I need to order — like envelopes and labels — and how I’m going to sell them. There’s still so much for me to do, but it’s a good start. I’m hoping to be able to start sales by next week.

Tuesday

Today I did some research into bean weevils, which are bugs that I often get in the bean seeds that I save from my garden. I’ve always had them and recently took my dad’s advice of putting the seeds into the freezer after they’re completely dry. I was researching to see how cold the freezer should be and also how long I should leave the seeds in there. Many gardening forums said a few days is enough, but I also found a really interesting study that was done that talked more specifically about the freezer conditions needed to get rid of bean weevils.

I also continued shelling my purple hyacinth beans. While I’ve read that they are a staple crop in some parts of the world and have edible parts, I’ve also heard that they can be poisonous. I didn’t end up eating any this year but hope to in the future. I did, however, save lots of seeds.

I’m learning virtually, so I have a teacher and classmates but I’m at home sitting at my desk all day. It’s hard spending so long on a computer and doing two subjects for two-and-a-half hours each a day. But, you do what you gotta do! It does mean that I can shell beans while my teacher is giving a lesson!

Wednesday

Today was the day when my dad and I co-host our monthly radio show, which we do in addition to podcasting twice a week. On our show, we talk about everything related to growing your own food. We’ve talked to people all across North America, from Texas to the Yukon. We have talked about so many things, including permaculture, microgreens, growing figs, seed saving, urban farming, growing tomatoes, cold climate gardening, companion planting, plant breeding and more! Before COVID-19, we’d drive to the radio studio, have lunch and bounce ideas off each other all day. I really miss that part of it, but I still love doing the show. Today we chatted with a well-known market gardener, Jean-Martin Fortier. Market gardening is small-scale farming that mainly uses hand tools (so no big tractors!). I learned so much and had a really great time chatting with him. It’s crazy how fast time flies. It seems like just yesterday when we did last month’s show.

Today I also started pulling apart the cotton I grew. I grew a variety called Red-foliated, and I think it is really cool. It’s not something that I had ever seen growing before I grew it and so actually taking care of the plants and then harvesting the cotton is pretty neat. I got the plant from a friend when I went to pick up tomato seedlings. I’m not exactly sure what I’m going to do with the cotton, but I will be saving the seeds to grow again.

Other than the radio show, going on a bike ride with a friend and schoolwork, I didn’t accomplish much else today. I did order some of my supplies for selling seeds (like envelopes), which is one step done. Hopefully, I’ll finish more tomorrow.

Thursday

I feel like I’m getting closer to being able to sell my tomato seeds! I grew over 100 different varieties of every shape, size and colour imaginable last year and am very excited to be able to share some of those soon! Today, both the envelopes to package the seed varieties and the mailing envelopes arrived. All I have to do now is sort out how the online shop will work, print labels for the seed packages and start packaging seeds! I don’t know if I’m going to meet my goal of getting ready to sell them by the end of the week, but I know that it won’t be long. It feels really good to be this far along!

I grew peanuts this year, a variety called Fastigiata pin striped. I pulled up the plants and harvested them about a month ago and let them dry in my basement. I hadn’t opened up any of the peanuts before today. I was really excited because this variety was supposed to have some purple streaking on it. And when I opened them up, they did! They are definitely the prettiest peanuts I’ve ever seen! I took way too many pictures of them! I’m going to save a few of them to grow again next year and then roast and enjoy the rest.

And… it’s almost Friday! I’ve had a great week! I’ve accomplished a lot both with school and with other office stuff, and I’m not sleep deprived, like I usually am. I am so looking forward to the weekend!

Friday

I didn’t do too much today. I finished shelling my Purple hyacinth beans, which felt really good. That’s it for bean-shelling for me this year.

Today I also harvested some Hakurei turnips and radishes. I find that by the time that the main growing season is over, after we start getting frost around mid-October, I’m exhausted and ready for a break. But I do miss all the fresh produce during this time. This year, I’m growing some cold-tolerant crops so that I can enjoy fresh veggies for more of the year. I have some winter radishes and some turnips. I had some beets too, but a rabbit decided that they would make a great snack and there’s not much left of them anymore.

Saturday

I spent quite a while today outside gardening. The weather was amazing, which is kind of crazy because we had snow not too long ago. I’m happy with it though, as it gave me an opportunity to get some garden cleanup done. I cleaned out some plants, put away stakes and poles and rolled up chicken wire.

I also started cleaning walnut tree leaves out of my wicking beds. There is a massive black walnut tree in my neighbour’s yard, and black walnut trees give off juglone, a substance that kills anything in the tomato family. That means that I can’t grow tomatoes or any of their relatives (like peppers and eggplants) in the whole back half of my yard. My solution was to plant the seeds in raised beds that have pool liner in them to stop the root from reaching the contaminated soil below. Plus, they have a special watering system (called sub-irrigation or wicking) built into them so that I don’t have to worry about watering as often. I have three of these beds, and today's task was to clean out all the fallen leaves from the walnut tree so as not to contaminate the soil. I finished about half of them.

Sunday

Today, my family and I drove to our grandparents’ house, which is about an hour away. We spent most of the day there. We stayed outside and six feet apart the whole time, but it was still great to see them. I was tired when we got home, so I worked on my website for seed sales then gave it a rest and read for a little while. I didn’t make as much progress on my seed sales this week as I’d hoped, but I do feel like I'm not far off from being ready. I need to finish setting up the online store, call the bank to get some information, print the seed package labels and finally package up the seeds.

And just like that, the weekend is over! It’s hard to believe I have school again tomorrow.

Emma Biggs

is a 15-year-old Gen-Z gardener, author, speaker and blogger. Her passion is growing tomatoes, trying new, unusual crops and saving seeds. She is the co-host of The Food Garden Life Show and the author of “Gardening with Emma,” which helps kids find the fun in gardening (and helps adults remember how much fun gardening is!). You can find Emma at emmabiggs.ca.