Share my passion for all things gardening!
Happy Easter! Here is a link to my column in today’s edition of The Spokesman-Review: With proper care, winter squash thrive. It’s all about growing winter squash and pumpkins. (you can also read my column below) Last year, I really got ours off to a great start by starting them early indoors. Then I covered the soil in their bed […]
Read morePhoto #1: Getting ready to swap out the old T Tape for Aqua Traxx Last year, my husband and I installed a new drip irrigation system on our raised beds. We’ve used soaker hoses on each bed for years but they frequently clogged with minerals. That in turn reduced the amount of water coming out of them. We felt it […]
Read morePhoto #1: drip irrigation This is a continuation of our discussion (see previous post) about the new drip irrigation system we recently installed. I wanted to show you what we did on one of our 3′ x 8′ raised beds. Drip irrigation supplies: Photo #1 shows the supplies we needed: 1/2″ tubing to make the manifold, 1/2″ figure-8 ends to […]
Read moreThis young Chickadee mugged for the camera in my garden last summer. Here is a link to my column in today’s edition of The Spokesman-Review: Bringing in the birds. (you can also read my column lower in this post.) It’s about one of my favorite subjects, which is attracting birds to the garden. If you regularly follow this blog and/or […]
Read more
This photo shows the 4 metal trellises attached to the cattle panel. Here is a link to my column about trellises in today’s edition of The Spokesman-Review: Trellises transform look of fence. Or you can read my column below. I hope you’ll enjoy this one because it was a bit of a departure for me. It’s all about a fence […]
Read moreEach year, we gardeners enjoy picking out the flowers and vegetable crops we want to grow. We have fun growing plants from seeds. And we especially enjoy the process of tending our gardens throughout the season. But one thing we often neglect is the soil. It’s just kind of “there” for planting purposes, right? It’s easy to forget that it […]
Read moreFear not: those wimpy seedlings will grow into these big leeks! (Note: I think this post needs a subtitle of “How to torture your leeks.” That is exactly what I’m going to tell you how to do!) If you are growing leeks for the first time this year, congratulations! I’ve grown them off and on for years and just love […]
Read moreI wrote about growing onions in my Sunday column. But some extra information about planting onion starts should help. I planted mine today. This is probably the earliest I’ve ever gotten any type of onions in the ground! They are a cool-season crop so I haven’t jumped the gun in that regard. They can’t be planted until the soil can […]
Read moreHere is a link to my column in today’s edition of The Spokesman-Review. For onion success, opt for long-day. As you can guess, it’s all about growing onions. (you can also read my column below) They have to be one of my most successful and productive crops. Especially now that I know about the importance of growing long-day varieties in […]
Read moreAnnuals: As you’ve already learned, I’m just crazy about zinnias! Here is a link to my column in today’s edition of The Spokesman-Review: Annuals add color after perennials are through. (you can also read my column lower in this post.) It was a fun one to write because it’s about some of the newest varieties of annual flowers available this […]
Read more