The Farm - Terre Noire

08/22/2026

08/08/2026

The multitude of books in the Farm-Terre Noire Library are not solely how to plant individual species of carrots, turnips and potatoes but more about the history, geography and points of interests about a whole slew of plants found on planet Earth. i.e. Artemisia dracunculus is not familiar to everyone whereas Tarragon, the common name, is recognized by many.

My point is that in The Farm Terre Noire Library we opt to look at each plant from a variety of ways ranging from science, history, location, use and availability.

To the unfamiliar it would appear that all the books in the inhouse farm library are about how to plant and grow specific species of plants whereas nothing could be further from the truth.

We want to know where each variety of plant originated and where, when and by whom was it identified. Even more important than our tractor or our tiller are the books in our library.

The garden season in northern Cape Breton is very short, but our inhouse library is accessible year round.

Russell Daigle (always reading a garden book) 2026-06-08

08/06/2026

Garden Books To The Rescue
Gardens and books seem to be a perfect fit although I admit that I may have gone overboard on the book side of things. I have been collecting & reading garden books for well over fifty years and in a remote kind of way it appears to be paying off.

I had a serious fall in the winter that resulted in a brain bleed and loss of memory. After a three week stay in the local hospital along with many out-patient visits, I am well on the way to recovery. If my recent posts appear to be somewhat repetitive, I apologise. This is all part of the recovery process. Reading and writing is keeping my brain active. I do not have a garden this season but I am maintaining a gardener’s state of mind.

I have hundreds of garden books of all sizes and shapes and topics. The many pictures in the larger coffee-table type of books are definitely helping my memory recall. ...and writing these morning posts is really good medication, even if they are somewhat boring to our regular followers.

I simply say thank you for the moment with a promise of more meaningful texts in the days ahead. Your questions and comments are always very much appreciated.

Happy gardening, Russell with Coco by my side and oh yes, Joan. 2026-08-06

08/04/2026

I have a lot of American friends, in fact the property to our left is the summer home of an older couple from New York State and the home on our right is the summer home of a younger couple and their adorable six year old twin girls; they hail from Pennsylvania.

From the Farm Terre Noire Library, I can select Sandra Rebok’s “Humbolt and Jefferson – A Transatlantic Friendship of the Enlightenment” or Marta McDowell’s “All The President’s Gardens – Madison’s Cabbages to Kennedy’s Roses—How The White House Grounds Have Grown With America”.

Next, we have Thomas Jefferson’s “The Garden and Farm Books” ...and then we read Andrea Wulf’s “Founding Gardeners...The Revolutionary Generation, Nature and the Shaping of the American Nation”.

Next, is “The Science of Plants – Inside Their Secret World” a co-production between the Smithsonian in association with KEW.
We also have Andrea Wulf’s “The Brother Gardeners – Botany, Empire and the Birth of an Obsession”; Yes, the United States of America is well represented in The Farm - Terre Noire Library.
Happy gardening, happy reading,

Russell & Joan Daigle and Coco, the canine member of the family. 2026-08-04

07/31/2026

Some recent reads that I highly recommend: "Botany of Desire" by Michael Pollan, "The Naturalist's Garden" by John Feltwell and "VALUE(S) by Mark Carney.

Russell Daigle 2026-07-31

07/25/2026

"Farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil and you're a thousand miles from a corn field." Dwight D. Eisenhower

Do you have book recommends from these authors: Jane Kilpatric, Peter J. Hatch, Robin Wall Kimmer, Mirabel Osler, Vandana Chiva?

Thank you,
Russell Daigle

07/22/2026

Who are you, where are you, where did you come from? Many home gardeners cultivate a garden not only for produce but for a specific variety of produce.

Every plant requires seed, nutrient rich soil, heat, light and water; sounds simple enough, but is it? The average gardener really only has to know how to grow a few crops that are chosen according to each individual’s heritage and location.

I just know that the tomatoes growing in my Italian neighbour’s yard are of the San Marzano variety: best for making tomato sauce.

And the kitchen garden at a local gourmet restaurant is usually more to provide a specific variety of crop. How is your garden tied to your kitchen? RD 2026-07-22

07/17/2026

At The Farm Terre Noire, the gardens and the library are inseparable; if you are not planting, then be reading about plants.

It matters not the season; always have a book on the go. For over a half a century we have found garden books and gardeners have a way of finding each other and this makes gardening an endless learning program.

With an online computer account and a library card there is no reason why anyone cannot garden today; vegetables, herbs, flowers or trees, the how-to is all available, much of it for free.

07/15/2026

The necessity of the right garden book and hands in the soil.

No two gardeners are the same, we are all of a different age, heritage, education, life experience and readers of different books.

No two garden locations have the same rainfall, soil chemistry, hours of sunlight, air temperature and plant growing history.

A friend and fellow gardener who lives in north Florida was harvesting his winter potatoes when, here in Cape Breton, we were just planting ours. In both instances we were using seed potatoes from Prince Edward Island. The other commonality we have is that we read the same books.

One can read all the books we want but if we long to be a gardener then sooner or later, we are going to have to immerse our hands in the ground and become one with the soil. In my region I see that happening less and less.

Russell Daigle 2026-07-15

07/14/2026

“The Oxford Companion to the Garden” by Patric Taylor” weighs 2.6 kilograms (2 lbs 11.5 ounces); that’s a lot of garden related information. This book is not about how to plant a garden; it is more about garden related information.

Other companion titles in the Farm Terre Noire Library are “The Historic Gardens of Oxford and Cambridge” by Mavis Batey and “The New Oxford Book of Food Plants” by J. G. Vaugban and C.A. Geissler.

While I draw heavily on English writers it does not mean I grant any exclusivity to England; For example, the farm library includes, “All The President’s Gardens” by Matha McDowell, “Thomas Jefferson The Garden and Farm Books” by Robert C. Baron and “Humbolt and Jefferson – A Transatlantic Friendship of the Enlightenment” by Sandra Rebok.

The biggest challenge Joan and I have is “Where do we put all these books?”

Russell, Joan & Coco – the Daigles