Share my passion for all things gardening!
There is an event coming up in the spring that you need to know about: the Cabin Fever Gardening Symposium, which is put on by the Spokane County Master Gardeners and Master Gardener Foundation of Spokane County. Why do you need to know about something that won’t take place until March 21? Because tickets for it sell out quickly and […]
Read more
Those who live in the Inland Northwest are in for a treat when Oct. 10 rolls around: Joe Lamp’l, host and executive producer of the popular PBS program, “Growing a Greener World” will be the keynote speaker for this year’s Spokane County Master Gardener Fall Banquet! Yes, “that” Joe. That’s the topic of my garden column, which you can read […]
Read more
I hereby declare the garden tour season officially open! Or at least, it will be on Saturday (June 15) when the Spokane in Bloom garden tour takes place. Learn all about it in my garden column in today’s edition of The Spokesman-Review: Spokane in Bloom kicks off garden tour season. This wonderful tour provides folks with the opportunity to wander […]
Read more
For my first garden column in June, I’ve focused on something that we probably all know, but tend to forget about. And that is observing good cultural practices in the garden so our plants thrive. Here’s a link to it in today’s edition of The Spokesman-Review: Follow best practices to keep plants thriving. When I went through Master Gardener training […]
Read more
Oh, how I love blueberries! They are so simple to grow and provide us with plenty of berries for eating fresh, supplementing our morning yogurt or oatmeal, adding to baked goodies, and even for making something as fancy as a blueberry-balsamic reduction for salmon (one of Bill’s specialties). So it makes sense that this week’s column is all about how […]
Read more
While I fully intend to do a season-end review of the different vegetables I’ve grown, I just can’t wait that long to tell you about the most amazing honeydew melon! The cultivar name is ‘Ha Ogen’ and I purchased the seeds from Botanical Interests. In the past, I’ve grown a lovely honeydew melon that’s called ‘Arava’, and it came from […]
Read more
Ugh. I could’ve sworn I pruned our raspberry canes last fall, but as you can see from the photo to the left, I most definitely didn’t! Fortunately, it can be done in late winter/early spring, so no harm done. Since this task might seem puzzling to some folks, I thought it would be helpful to explain how to prune raspberry […]
Read more
Growing apples is a bit problematic because they are susceptible to some nasty insect and disease problems. Growing apples organically is even more challenging for the exact same reason. And yet, my husband Bill and I have taken on that very challenge in our home orchard because we love the idea of eating apples that were grown without chemicals. To grow […]
Read more
‘Tis the season for picking Italian plums, isn’t it? In addition to drying them, making jam or tarts, they are awesome in spiced plum butter. We made it for the first time last year and discovered a fabulous, can’t-eat-just-one appetizer to make with it. Take a pita cracker, top with some Cambozola or other creamy cheese that has a bit […]
Read more
My husband, Bill, and I grow three kinds of grapes: ‘Canadice’, ‘Glenora’ and ‘Vanessa’. The first to ripen is ‘Glenora’. Sometimes we use the grapes for jelly and oftentimes we make grape juice. Doing the latter is very simple, especially if you have a steamer/juicer. Let’s go through the steps: 1. Pick the grape clusters, leaving them on the […]
Read more