Aug. 18 Column: Local Gardener Profile Laurie Jarmer

I love learning about all aspects of gardening. And the best way to do that is by meeting and talking with other gardeners. For my garden column today, I have written a profile of local gardener Laurie Jarmer.

Learn how she and her husband, Rick, have transformed their backyard into a food factory in today’s edition of The Spokesman-Review. Here’s a link to it online: Sloped backyard is becoming a productive vegetable garden. Or you can read my column below (don’t miss this week’s video underneath it!).

Laurie is a Spokane County Master Gardener. A few years ago, she and Rick moved here from Portland, where they had an enormous garden every year. When they bought their home in the Five Mile neighborhood, the yard posed some challenges. They overcame them beautifully! I think you’ll find a lot of inspiration from how they tackled them.

During the interview, Laurie mentioned how they’ve had good luck with a product called Deer Off. It is a repellent and here is a link to the product: Deer Off. I like how it lasts a whole season because it is protected from the weather.

I’m including additional photos of their garden at the bottom of this post. Remember that you can click on any of them to view a much larger image.

Column:

When Rick and Laurie Jarmer bought their Five Mile home in 2016, they had a realization. The landscape wasn’t exactly the garden of their dreams so they immediately rolled up their sleeves and got to work.

“I came up with a five-year plan and we’re on year four now,” Laurie Jarmer explained.

The garden of Laurie Jarmer

The Jarmers moved to Spokane from Portland, where they had a huge garden. Their current home is on a small, sloping lot. Laurie Jarmer went through the Spokane County Master Gardener program in 2017. Her goal was to learn everything she could about gardening in the Inland Northwest.

“This year’s plan is to do the front yard,” she said. “We tore out the old junipers and cut down a large blue spruce because I wanted more light. Then we put in a rock wall. Eventually, I’ll add a cut-flower garden and roses.”

While the front yard is coming along, it was their backyard that won me over. Once I passed through the side gate, I was greeted by a lush, healthy vegetable garden growing in raised beds.

“Our main goal was to be able to grow a lot of our own veggies. We’ve done that for decades,” Jarmer said. “It’s an adventure when you get a new yard: you can do whatever you want. I’ve learned gardening takes a lot of patience and I know you can’t do it all in one year.

First-time visitors would never know their back garden presented a challenge. The ground slopes away from the house and was covered with creeping junipers. After the Jarmers tore them out, they thought about what came next. On the plus side, the area faces south/southwest. That would provide vegetables with the sunlight they need. But there was still that slope.

“When I saw this hillside, I decided we should terrace it,” Laurie Jarmer said. “Two years ago, we put in five raised beds, which Rick angled to better accommodate the slope. We added more beds last year.”

To make the most of the space, they made the beds narrow. They’ve planted crops a little closer than she would ordinarily prefer. She also uses supports to grow some crops vertically.

She frequently recommends raised beds to family, friends and Master Gardener clients.

“They are so much easier to work in,” she admitted. “The older you get, the less you want to be on your hands and knees. You also get really good soil. And having a drip irrigation system is ideal since it provides consistent water to all of the plants.”

I was impressed with the wide variety of thriving vegetable crops. Lettuce, onions, parsnips, carrots, beets, broccoli, pole beans, asparagus, cabbage, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, and summer and winter squash. Herbs are growing in a metal stock tank and rows of berry plants grow nearby.

Jarmer starts all of her plants indoors from seed. Each bed is labeled with one of her colorful signs indicating its contents.

Garden challenges

Deer and squirrels are the biggest challenges. Once they surrounded the backyard with a solid fence, the deer haven’t jumped over it. That’s because they can’t see what’s on the other side. Squirrels have been decimating their peach crop. Laurie has covered the tree with bird netting which is keeping them away.

Even though there are occasional trials to deal with, gardening is still her favorite activity.

“There is nothing more relaxing,” Jarmer said. “Gardening keeps your mind at peace about everything. I just love it.”

This week’s video:

Here is this week’s “Everyone Can Grow a Garden” video. What’s the topic? August garden tasks. In it, I cover some important jobs to take care of this month which I hope you will find both useful and interesting.

If you’d like to watch other videos of mine, here’s a link to my YouTube channel.

Here are additional photos from the garden of Rick and Laurie Jarmer:

Above left: Laurie’s herb garden, which is growing in a galvanized stock tank.
Above right: the berry patch.

The above 2 photos give you a better overview of how their backyard edible garden is laid out. It’s amazing how much they can grow in such a small space!