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The Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus) is one of my favorite birds that visit our garden. 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. They have a white rump directly above their tails. Their […]
Read moreNow that December is officially here, it’s beginning to look a bit more like Christmas around here. I made a holiday swag 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 quick […]
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 […]
Read moreYesterday, I got together with several friends to make decorative holiday decor items using natural materials from our gardens. We made wreaths, centerpieces, candle arrangements, gifts and so on. If you’ve been following my blog for a long time, you know that I bring up this topic each year. That’s because it is my hope you will get inspired to […]
Read moreHere are more of the photos I took while my friends and I were making decorative holiday decor items for our homes and for gifts, using natural materials from our gardens: Two wreaths using non-traditional color themes with pretty accents and ornaments. I made this for a gift for some friends. This is a swag one of my friends made, […]
Read moreLook what visited our garden this weekend! You are looking at a female Sharp-Shinned hawk. They are the smallest hawks that fly into our yard this time of year. Since we have a bird-feeding station, there are lot of birds flying around which attracts the attention of these hawks as well as Coopers’ hawks and Goshawks. All of them eat […]
Read moreI have a large perennial bed out front that is just brimming with all sorts of cool plants. But something happens to that bed during the winter that I’m not too crazy about. Since we live in a rural area, there are a lot of animals we have to deal with. The big ones like moose and deer are definitely […]
Read moreSpotted Wing Drosophila: Photos courtesy of Beverly Gerdeman, PhD, WSU Research Associate and WSU Whatcom County Extension. Even if you can’t pronounce the name of this dreaded insect, you need to know about this. And especially if you grow fruit trees or berry plants. The Spotted Wing Drosophila (or SWD), Drosophila suzukii, has been found in Spokane. It is very […]
Read moreI know that sounds like a “B” movie, right? It appears local gardeners are having problems with stink bugs eating their vegetable and fruit crops. That is worrisome to me. I think a lot of us grew up thinking stink bugs were those large black beetles. You know the ones that smelled nasty if you stepped on them. It turns […]
Read moreYesterday, a friend of mine was asking what floating row covers are since I mention them frequently in my columns. I decided it wouldn’t hurt to do a post about this topic. That’s because it’s one of my favorite tools for growing a productive vegetable garden. What is floating row cover? Floating row cover is a lightweight, woven fabric. It […]
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