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I’m Steven Biggs. I help people grow food.

Meet Steven Biggs

I Help People Grow Food

MY PASSION is incorporating edible crops into the landscape to create beautiful, edible landscapes with a long and varied harvest.

I was recognized by Garden Making magazine as one of the “green gang” of Canadians making a difference in horticulture.

My yard includes a driveway straw-bale garden, rooftop kitchen garden, wicking beds, an edible-themed front yard, and fruit plantings.

My gig is communications. I work as a horticulturist, college instructor, broadcaster, speaker, and author. The common thread is that I shares ideas about how to creatively use edible plants in the landscape. And I make it fun.

I am available for:

  • Speaking engagements

  • Radio and podcast interviews

  • Newspaper, blog, and magazine interviews

  • Freelance writing work.

Where to Find Me

At the radio studio

At the radio studio

 

How I Got Here

I have worked in horticulture and agriculture for more than 25 years.

After getting a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture from the University of Guelph, I worked in greenhouse and nursery production, plant propagation, biological controls, horticultural supplies, and farm marketing.

Other Parts of my Life

Hanging out with my children.

Hanging out with my children.

  • Children. Raising three children (my teenage daughter Emma and I co-wrote the book Gardening with Emma, a book to inspire kids to garden).

  • Food. Admission—I actually enjoy grocery shopping. Food really interests me. So I've been known to do unconventional things like make parsnip wine or come home with a few laying hens.

  • The Outdoors. I love foraging for mushrooms with my kids, camping, or just going for a picnic.

  • Community. Toronto is an amazing city for food. Southern Ontario has diverse agricultural and horticultural operations, giving me lots of neat things for to write about. I live in a part of Toronto called Willowdale, where I've found that one of the best way to meet my neighbours is to garden in my front yard.

  • Music. I’m no musician…just a hack. But I have fun jamming with my boys (they play electric guitar and drums, and tolerate me on bass guitar.)

Becoming a Writer

I can still picture the look of surprise on my wife’s face when I came home and announced I’d quit my job…to be a caregiver.

I can still picture the look of surprise on my wife’s face when I came home and announced I’d quit my job…to be a caregiver.

I NEVER THOUGHT I’d be a writer or speaker. I’m a horticulturist.

But every so often I get impulsive (and that can drive my wife, Shelley, crazy). Luckily for me, one of those impulsive moments brought me to where I am today.

I can still picture the look of surprise on Shelley’s face the day I came home and casually mentioned that I’d quit my job as a recruiter. I sucked at that recruiting job. I left a job….

Click here for the rest of the story of how I became a writer.

A Fun Niche: Figs

I have had loads of fun growing figs here in Toronto—and sharing my fig-growing tips with other cold-climate gardeners.

I never set out to be known for figs, but on occasion somebody I don’t know comes up to me and says, “Hey, you’re the fig guy!”

Click here to read about how I got into growing figs.

Recognition