Share my passion for all things gardening!
For this week’s garden column, I decided to write about growing cool-season crops. Here is a link to it in today’s edition of The Spokesman-Review: Mind your peas and onions, and other tips for starting cool-season crops. Or you can read my column below. Column: Mind your peas and onions It won’t be long before we can plant cool-season vegetable […]
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After the lengthy winter we’ve been experiencing, we Spokane-area gardeners can celebrate the arrival of spring by attending this year’s Cabin Fever Gardening Symposium. That is the subject of this week’s garden column, which you can read below. Column: Cabin Fever Gardening Symposium offers gardeners a chance to dig into learning After enduring a winter that began innocently enough but […]
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If you’ve followed me for long, you know I am absolutely crazy about raised bed gardening! There are so many great attributes of this method of gardening, that I just had to share them in my column. You can read it in today’s edition of The Spokesman-Review: Raised beds offer bountiful benefits. Or you can read my column below. Column: […]
Read moreLast year, for the very first time, I started growing cucamelons. If you’ve never heard of them, they are related to cucumbers. They look like teeny-tiny watermelons and have a delightful citrusy crunch. They are also known as Mexican sour gherkins and mouse melons. I bought my seeds from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds and you can also find them at […]
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The Budget-Wise Gardener by Kerry Ann Mendez (St. Lynn’s Press, 2018, 176 pp., $19.95) We gardeners love to save money, don’t we? After all, by stretching our dollars, we can spend even more on our passion right? Before I started reading The Budget-Wise Gardener, I envisioned what it would be about. Perhaps starting your own plants from seed, recycling products, […]
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Last Sunday, I attended a dried-flower wreath workshop and had the best time! It turned out to be the perfect activity for a gloomy winter afternoon. A dear friend and Master Gardener colleague of mine, Cathi, invited several of us to join her for a tasty soup lunch and the wreath-making workshop. We all jumped at the chance to have […]
Read moreEach year, the Spokane County Master Gardeners host this special series of classes on a wealth of useful gardening topics. I wanted to make sure you are aware of this 12-week course because it’s a wonderful opportunity for those with all levels of gardening skills, even beginners! The classes are scheduled for Thursdays from 9 a.m. to noon, starting on January […]
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This morning, I posted this photo on my Facebook page and Instagram feeds. I wanted to post it here in case you don’t follow those accounts. As you can see, my insect hotel has a bit of snow on it. I hope my little solitary bee buddies are tucked in for the winter. I built this insect hotel last April, […]
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Have you heard the term “crop rotation” before? Chances are, you’ve discounted the notion of it because you’re not a farmer. Well, crop rotation applies to humble vegetable gardeners like you and me because it is an easy way to ensure the health and productivity of our gardens. If that caught your attention, you’ll be happy to hear that I’ve […]
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Even though I’m on my winter column-writing break, that doesn’t mean I’ve stopped shooting videos for you! My newest video is on how to plant bulbs. In this case, I’m talking about planting spring-flowering bulbs. (see video near bottom of this post) And before I forget, I also wrote a column last month for The Spokesman-Review about this very topic: […]
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