Share my passion for all things gardening!
Here is a link to my column in today’s edition of The Spokesman-Review: Explore seed catalogs for veggie varieties. As you know, we gardeners receive plenty of seed catalogs in the mail that inspire us to purchase seeds for the coming year’s garden. Today’s column is about some of the newest varieties of vegetables that I think are worth knowing […]
Read moreFor the past 3 years, I have been growing artichokes. Yes, artichokes, here in the Inland Northwest! I didn’t even realize you could grow them here until I bought a couple seedlings on a whim at a Leavenworth, Wash., nursery. Lo and behold, they grew beautifully and what’s even better is that they rewarded my efforts with several artichokes. And […]
Read moreSince seed-starting is our hot topic right now, I wanted to give you more information about what I’m starting and the types of seed-starting kits and containers I use. I mentioned in my Sunday column that I start peas, beans, squash, pumpkins, corn and melons indoors. You don’t have to do this unless you have the same situation I do: […]
Read moreHere is a link to my column in today’s edition of The Spokesman-Review. Timing is everything when it comes to planting seeds. (or you can read my column below) It is the second of two parts on starting your own flowers and vegetables from seed. I hope you’ll find it helpful! If you have any questions, just let me know […]
Read moreHere is a link to my column in today’s edition of The Spokesman-Review: Kick off to gardening season: Ready, Set, Plant! It’s the first column of the growing season — hooray! It’s always exciting to talk about our favorite subject, isn’t it? Today’s column included a list of all of the veggies I’ll be growing this year. As promised, I’ve […]
Read moreI love seeing things like this during the winter months. These photos were taken from my upstairs office window, looking down towards our side yard. What you’re looking at are deer tracks coming from our unfenced front yard towards our backyard. As you can see, the tracks do a brief meander before the deer decided to do a U-turn (see lower […]
Read moreWe had a pleasant surprise yesterday. A huge flock of Bohemian Waxwings paid us a visit — or more specifically, came to dine on the berries of our American Cranberry Bush (Viburnum trilobum). Usually, we tend to see Cedar Waxwings from time to time but the Bohemians come less frequently. And they are so brightly feathered that I have to […]
Read moreOne of my favorite birds that visit our garden is the Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus). They are a large woodpecker with beautiful markings. These guys are a little over 12 inches tall and have a wingspan of 20 inches. The feathers on their backs alternate between black and buff-colored stripes and they have a white rump directly above their tails. […]
Read moreNow that December is officially here, it’s beginning to look a bit more like Christmas around here. I made two swags yesterday: one for our mailbox post and the other for our wood shed door. Just for fun, and just because I have the materials on hand anyway. If you’ve never made a swag before, I thought you’d appreciate a […]
Read moreDo you have any pumpkins left over from your garden? There is nothing finer than a homemade pumpkin pie, especially when you fill it with the yummy goodness of your very own, homegrown pumpkins. Even if you didn’t grow any, you can easily find pie pumpkins, also known as sugar pumpkins, at the grocery store. You would think that turning […]
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