Share my passion for all things gardening!
Here is a link to my column in today’s edition of The Spokesman-Review: Ditching the dirt. It’s all about straw bale gardening, which I think you’ll find quite interesting. I’d never heard of it until one of my Master Gardener colleagues read a newly-published book on the subject and decided to give it a try in one of our demonstration […]
Read moreThis is what floating row cover looks like. It’s terrific! Here is a link to my column in today’s edition of The Spokesman-Review: Products boost plant health organically. This one’s about how I garden organically through the use of some very helpful, environmentally-friendly products. I hope you’ll find it interesting and useful. I also wanted to mention that due to […]
Read moreOrganic gardening: Adding organic amendments to your soil is a great way to grow beautiful, productive plants. Here is a link to my column in today’s edition of The Spokesman-Review: When going organic, it helps to know your surroundings. This one is the first of two parts on organic gardening. I’ve been gardening organically for several years now. It’s easier […]
Read moreOver the years, I’ve written about my battles with leaf miners, which are the larvae that tunnel in between the cells in the leaves of spinach, beets and Swiss chard. How do they get there in the first place? Well, the adult is a fly that lays eggs on the leaves. Once the eggs hatch, the maggots do their damage […]
Read moreHere is a link to my column in today’s edition of The Spokesman-Review: Ideas, inspiration abound at Garden Expo. This one’s all about Garden Expo , which is next Saturday, May 10th, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. What? You haven’t heard about Garden Expo? It is truly the best garden show around, with plenty of plants and bulbs, garden […]
Read moreIt’s hard to believe we’re at the end of March already, but that just means we’re getting closer to more pleasant weather and getting to be out in the garden on a regular basis. Hooray for that! Here is a link to my column in today’s edition of The Spokesman-Review: Get early start with spinach, chard. The topic is on […]
Read moreHere is a link to my column in today’s edition of The Spokesman-Review: Tango celery excels in short seasons. Even though the headline makes it sound like it’s only about growing celery (I don’t write the headlines), it’s also about growing tomatillos, both of which warm-season crops. What? You’ve never grown them, or perhaps have no intention of growing them? […]
Read moreHappy 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. Last year, I really got ours off to a great start by starting them early indoors, then covering the soil in their bed with red plastic mulch to increase the soil […]
Read morePhoto #1: Getting ready to swap out the old T Tape for Aqua Traxx Last year, my husband and I installed a new irrigation system on our raised beds. We’ve used soaker hoses on each bed for years but they frequently clogged with minerals, which reduced the amount of water coming out of them. We felt it was time to […]
Read morePhoto #1: drip irrigation Continuing our discussion (see previous post) of the new drip tape system we recently installed in our garden, I wanted to show you what we did on one of our 3′ x 8′ raised beds. Photo #1 shows the supplies we needed: 1/2″ tubing to make the manifold, 1/2″ figure-8 ends to seal off each end […]
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