About

Toronto Gardens bloggers, Sarah (left) and Helen (always right) Battersby

Helen's the know-it-all big sister (a member of the Toronto Master Gardeners); Sarah's the amusing little sister. For more than 12 years, our families have been lucky to live two doors from each other on a tree-lined city street in east Toronto (Canadian Zone 6; USDA Zone 5). We have amassed an intimate knowledge of what it means to garden on dry sand under the shade of Norway maples. We also team up as garden coaches (for people who love to garden) with our business Gardenfix.

Homes sweet homes: As kids, we moved around. A lot. Our family emigrated from England to Canada when we were tots, and first settled in Montreal. We then lived (and helped our family garden) in places as far-flung as North Wales and the Northwest Territories, but spent a lot of time in small towns near Toronto. So it's natural that we put down roots here. Sarah also has a country home in a one-room, century-old schoolhouse on an acre of land two hours outside the city.

Garden plots: That wandering spirit shows up in multiple gardens, giving us an array of gardening experiences to write about. Sarah's: a small balcony garden, a shady (rented) front garden, a sunny guerrilla garden and a community garden plot in the city; plus her large country place. Helen's: two variations on city shade in front and back gardens, and a community garden veggie plot.

Secret identities: Besides being bloggers, Tweeters or Blotters, Sarah is a graphic designer who also teaches her craft at a community college; Helen is a freelance copywriter and creative consultant who also volunteers as chief whipcracker for a local powerwalking club.

More likely to: Sarah is more likely to know who's who in U.S. politics; Helen, to know the names of our 5X-great grandparents. At the library, Sarah is more likely to check out the hot how-to book; Helen, the new mystery novel. For fun, Sarah's more likely to be mixing eclectic playlists for her iPod touch; Helen, to be downloading photographs from her Nikon D40.

Division of labour: We both blog on Toronto Gardens. Helen also keeps up the dialog with other garden bloggers on Blotanical; while Sarah connects with garden Tweeple on Twitter. Sometimes we talk to the same people through different networks, giving the appearance of a Gertrude Jekyll/Ms. Hyde persona. In practical terms, we function as HelenandSarah, one of those whaddayacallits - a synergy? of the best of both. But we bring two different perspectives to Toronto Gardens.