Spring’s Hottest Gardening Trends

By Kristen Hamilton

Another gardening season is approaching and this year brings some interesting gardening trends. So, how you can make your garden totally 2012? It’s simple. Follow these trends and add your own twist to them and your garden will be the talk of the neighbourhood.

For 2012 stress-free gardening is the hottest thing going. Having a low-maintenance garden doesn’t mean it has to be boring or have little colour; it means your plants require very little to no deadheading, are pest-resistant and require little water or pruning. There are lots of plant options that add colour and flair without the maintenance. Black Eyed Susan, Liatris, Turtle Head, and Coreopsis are a few of my favourite low-maintenance perennials. One of my all-time favourite low-maintenance shrubs is St. Johns Wort. It provides wonderful colour through the summer, requires very little pruning, and deer don’t like to eat it. Ornamental grasses are also a great option are definitely trendy.

Read more

The Drivers

Photo submitted by David Johns

By Sarah Ryeland and Pamela Steel

In 1854, the Ontario government reached a decision that changed the face of the landscape forever: Muskoka was opened up for settling and free land was now available, up to two hundred acres per family. A route had to be built so that the Europeans could find and claim their land.

 – W. David Johns

And the rest, as they say, is history.

David Johns is an accidental author, his book Pathways to Highways; The History of Huntsville’s First Roads and Automotive Industry, a labour of love.

Read more

Around the World and Back Again

Story and photo by Sarah Ryeland

Most of us dream about travelling around the world. We long to stand at the foot of majestic mountains, feel the spray of a thunderous waterfall and feel our feet sink into the warm sand of a tropical beach. We want to experience the traditions of another culture and greet the unexpected on the road less travelled.

We might not get the chance to visit all the places we long to see, but we can appreciate the world through the eyes of artists who capture the essence and beauty of our environment on canvas, film and beyond.

Read more

Back of Beyond

Photo by Alison Withey

By Sarah Ryeland

Equine assisted learning. Equine experiential learning.

When you hear those terms, what comes to mind? Last week I would have said something along the lines of “using horses to help people with disabilities” or “helping those with challenges overcome their fears” or something like that.

How right I was. And how mistaken.

Read more

Walking el Camino de Santiago

Photo by Peter Coffman

By Pamela Steel

It’s a long walk.

And those who have taken it say it’s life changing.

Several Huntsville residents have walked the up-to-1,000-km pilgrim’s journey through France and Spain, the Camino de Santiago, also known as the Way of St. James.

Read more

Writers for a cause

By Karen Wehrstein

It’s three in the morning in the lower-level room at the Huntsville Civic Centre. Not long from now, the first light of day will show through the windows and the birds will begin to sing. All is quiet, with no town politicians or staff working upstairs, no theatre-goers next door, and barely a car passing by on Main St.— except for the furious tapping of fingers on computer keys, the intermittent quaffing of coffee, and the occasional quiet request from one writer to another for a useful snippet of information.

Read more

Art You Can Feel

Photo courtesty of Miranda Thomas

One Huntsville artist shows just how tactile textiles can be

By Sarah Ryeland

Miranda Thomas has been an artist for as long as she can remember. And for someone who’s only 26 years old, that adds up to a lifetime of creation.

“I’ve always been an artist,” she says. “For as long as I can remember I’ve been drawing, painting and creating things.”

But it wasn’t until fairly recently that she discovered her passion for textile arts…

Read more

History Revealed

Photo by Sarah Ryeland

For more photos, click here

How two fires in Huntsville’s past bring a family’s history to light

By Alison Brownlee

A Huntsville building and the family history behind it may have been forgotten had another landmark – the Empire Hotel – not gone up in flames in October 2009.

The Empire sat on the corner of Centre and Main streets and when the hotel was demolished, it left the side of the neighbouring building exposed. The exposed wall showed a crumbling sign that read something like “Merchant Tailor” on an exterior brick wall. Alison Brownlee dove into Huntsville’s history to discover just who this merchant tailor was…

The whole story

76 Trombones and a Butter Tart

Photo by Jon Snelson

For more photos, click here

Huntsville’s the Music Man runs on homemade baking and community spirit

By Gillian Brunette

Four Muskoka residents – an engineer, a music teacher, a high school student and a former furniture maker – might well have never met, but for the fact they share a common passion.

Love of the performing arts.

They also have a strong sense of community and for that reason the four, along with dozens of other likeminded folk, come together periodically to put their talents to work for the benefit and pleasure of their fellow citizens…

Tell me the rest!

The World According to Ed

For more photos click here

One Muskoka blogger takes the web by storm

Story by Sarah Ryeland, Photos by Ed Boutilier

Muskokans often pride themselves on their ability to unplug and get away from it all. One of the main goals of cottagers and year-round residents is to come up here to disconnect, turning off mobile phones, stowing laptops and enjoying a tech-free world.

But for some of us, Muskoka inspires a different reaction.

For Ed Boutilier, coming up to his northern home is a chance for him to connect to the wilderness – and the Internet. An avid photographer, Boutilier shares his passion with followers of his blog, MuskokaBlog.com.

Dubbing himself a “weekend warrior”, Boutilier sheds his nine-to-five businessman persona when he gets to Muskoka and takes to road to find inspiration for his art…

What’s Ed up to?