Share my passion for all things gardening!
Beaks, Bones & Bird Songs: How the Struggle for Survival Has Shaped Birds and Their Behavior by Roger J. Lederer (2016, Timber Press, 280 pp., $24.95) As most folks know, I am an avid birdwatcher. I love watching them, photographing them and landscaping to attract them. I’ve also discovered that a large percentage of the gardeners I connect with are […]
Read more
Nothing is too good for my sweet bird friends! Here is the latest addition to the bird feeders in our garden: an Edwardian Bird Feeder from Gardener’s Supply. Isn’t it a beauty? As you can see, the birds think it’s quite wonderful. While the design is attractive, it has an extra benefit that I’m sure many of you will appreciate: this […]
Read more
As you’ve probably discovered, I’m VERY into starting my own plants from seeds! In my opinion, being successful at it requires a decent grow light set-up. It’s true that you can put your flats of seeds in a sunny window, there are two problems with this. First, seedlings need about 16 hours of light daily. That’s not feasible since our […]
Read moreDo you enjoy starting your own plants from seed as much as I do? You’ll be excited to hear about a wonderful new seed-starting kit. It’s the GrowEase Seed-Starter kit from Gardener’s Supply. Here’s a short video on the kit’s features:Why do I like this seed-starting kit so much? Here are close-ups of the various components: This is the water […]
Read moreHere is a link to my column in today’s edition of The Spokesman-Review: Working smart keeps body happy. (or you can read my column lower in this post.) The primary focus is on gardening comfort. It is about the things we can do to make gardening easier and more comfortable for our bodies. I’m talking about stretching beforehand, not doing […]
Read moreHere is a link to my column in today’s edition of The Spokesman-Review: Welcoming good bugs will help oust pests. (you can read my column lower in this post.) Today’s topic is about attracting beneficial insects to your garden. For years, I’ve prided myself on growing everything organically. When I occasionally have insect problems, one of the things I’ve used is […]
Read moreSusan Mulvihill is co-author with fellow columnist, Pat Munts, of Northwest Gardener’s Handbook. Published by Cool Springs Press in Jan. 2015, NGH contains a wealth of knowledge for gardening in the beautiful Northwest. What’s really special about this book is that it covers the Inland Northwest region. This is an area that hasn’t been given much attention in garden books. […]
Read moreThis is what floating row cover looks like. It’s terrific! Here is a link to my column in today’s edition of The Spokesman-Review: Products boost plant health organically. (you can also read my column lower in this post.) This one’s about how I garden organically through the use of some very helpful, environmentally-friendly products. I hope you’ll find it interesting […]
Read moreOver the years, I’ve written about my battles with leaf miners. They are the larvae that tunnel in between the cells in the leaves of spinach, beets and Swiss chard. How do they get there in the first place? What are leaf miners? Well, the adult is a fly that lays eggs on the leaves. Once the eggs hatch, the […]
Read moreAs you know, birds absolutely love to eat cherries. We have a few cherry trees in our little orchard. Every year, it’s a battle to keep them from robbing our harvest. Last year, we covered our trees with huge sheets of floating row cover. Partly to keep the cherry fruit flies from laying their eggs on the cherries. But we […]
Read more