After 25 years, the creator of the Toronto Gardener’s Journal & Source Book, Margaret Bennet-Alder, decided to transfer her labour of love to a new team of gardeners. She chose sisters Helen Battersby and Sarah Battersby of Toronto Gardens.
Since 2017, the Battersby Girls have annually updated the garden diary, renaming it to better reflect its contents.
The 30th Edition of the Toronto & Golden Horseshoe Gardener’s Journal was recognized with Gold and Silver Medals in the 2022 Media Awards of GardenComm, the international association for garden communicators.
In the Gold round, the GardenComm judges said: “The Journal is what every gardening journal should be.”
In 2025, Helen and Sarah invited Canadian garden author, blogger, and podcaster Steven Biggs of Food.Garden.Life.com and noguffpress.ca to take on the role as publisher of the Journal in a whole new form.
Under Helen’s leadership, the three worked hard together to transform the journal into a bilingual “true north” edition. What had begun as Margaret’s personal garden diary, expanded into the Toronto Gardener’s Journal and, more than 25 years later, grew to cover Ontario’s Golden Horseshoe. For 2026 and beyond, it became a journal for all Canadians.
About the Canada Gardener’s Journal
- Perpetual diary, so you can make it last 1 year, 2 years or even 3!
- Spring/fall frost dates for every province and territory
- Calculators to help know when to start seeds or transplant outside
- Sheets to record what you bought, sowed or planted – and when
- Seasonal tips to inspire or guide you, indoors and out
- Or to record your seasonal flops, successes and surprises
- Planning grids for your raised beds or garden
- Plant and seed sources, and more, in an updated Canada-wide directory
- Laminated covers to add durability for the garden
- Printed in Canada on environmentally friendly FSC-certified paper
Whether you grow veggies, natives, or exotic flowers, the new Canada’s Gardener’s Journal makes your gardening life easier.