Learn all about the beautiful American Goldfinch on this episode. We show you different feeders that attract these sweet little birds and we also talk about why they may stop feeding from your finch feeders! Find a selection of finch feeders on our website here.
Wellbeing as we move towards winter

The colour palette, crisp air, and smells of autumn offers such sensory splendor, and we hope you’re spending as much time as you can outdoors. Fall is the time of year when things slow down in preparation for winter. Trees shed their leaves, and plants go dormant. Birds fly south, and those that stay are […]
Garden Gate: Episode 198 – Weather sticks (Sept. 11, 2020)
A weather stick is a traditional means of weather prediction. It is a piece of balsam fir mounted outdoors. It twists upwards in low humidity and downwards in high-humidity environments. They’re incredibly simple – just a stick with the bark removed and a little piece of the tree’s trunk left attached so that you can […]
Garden Tips: Fall migration’s on its way

As we move into fall, the birds begin their move for the winter. Although there are still plenty of American Goldfinch and Northern Cardinal young begging for food, most of this year’s hatchlings are now fully independent of mom and dad and are footloose and fancy free. As young disperse from their home base, the […]
Garden Gate: Episode 197-Dog Bite Steel (August 28th, 2020)
https://youtu.be/XHaGrlrJeG8 We always have a great time visiting with artists J.P Schoss and Brenda Tucker of Dog Bite Steel. Our vehicle comes back packed with great pieces! And they never last long in the shop. Made from recycled propane and oil tanks, these colourful pieces add some quirkiness to your home or garden and are […]
Garden Gate: Episode 196-Using compressed seed cylinders (Aug 14th 2020)
A few years ago our bird food supplier created these marvelous seed cylinders. They are made with the same great quality bird seed that we receive fresh weekly from Millcreek seed company, located in Ontario. 2-3lbs of quality bird food is compressed into these seed cylinders. Birds such as woodpeckers, blue jays, nuthatches, chickadees, pileated […]
Garden Gate: Episode 195 – Adding colour to the garden
We LOVE colour! Check out all the fun and colourful items we carry in the shop. Tub Trugs, Metal flowers and birds, carpets and our super popular Solair chairs! Brighten things up this year and have some fun.
All that Glitters IS Gold

American Goldfinches are the latest-breeding songbird species in this area. They molt their feathers a second time in the summer, which is unusual for most bird species and leads to increasingly bright colours as the season progresses. Their song is a cheerful musical babbling, and their flight call – po-ta-to chip! po-ta-to chip! – is […]
Garden Gate: Episode 194 – Get the right tools (July 17, 2020)
https://youtu.be/ewkBNGNjhis We carry a variety of tools to help you with all your gardening needs. The garden bandit and telesco weeder are Canadian made and very handy tools. They’re great for weeding. We’ve carried these tools since the day we opened in 2002. We also carry gloves, heat guards to help keep you […]
Garden Gate: Episode 193 – Supply and demand (July 3rd 2020)
We’ve been busier than ever as have similar shops across North America. Just about everyone is putting up bird feeders and enjoying this new very relaxing hobby! Because we’ve all be so busy with this hobby some products are currently in very limited supply. Warehouses have been shut down and are just now […]