Share my passion for all things gardening!
Diane and Bruce Moriarty in their productive straw bale garden. I think you are going to love today’s column from The Spokesman-Review! Remember how I wrote a feature story in May about a Spokane Valley couple who were trying straw-bale gardening? Well, that was Bruce and Diane Moriarty. They had 40 straw bales and grew all sorts of veggies in […]
Read moreNow that you’ve watched the video about my pole bean trellis, I wanted to better show you how it’s set up in my garden. As you can see by the above photo, I have 4 arbors that span a 3-foot-wide path between two of my raised beds. Each arbor has spikes that you push down into the soil for stability. […]
Read moreJoe uses cattle panels to support his tomato plants in his salsa garden. In my column in today’s Spokesman-Review, I’ve written a profile of another local gardener. His name is Joe Hutchinson and he is crazy about tomato salsa. Each year, he grows a lot of tomatoes, onions, peppers and herbs so he and his wife, Donna, can bottle up […]
Read moreEvery year I grow a lot of green beans. I usually only grow pole beans (‘Italian Snap’) but am also growing bush beans (‘French filet’ style beans) which have been really productive. I have to admit that I’m a bit of a chicken when it comes to canning low-acid vegetables, which beans are. That’s because of the risk of botulism […]
Read moreThe veggies are ready to go into the oven for tomato sauce! Boy, are we in the middle of tomato-harvesting season and I’ll bet you are, too. We primarily grow paste tomatoes for making sauces and catsup. However, we don’t always have the time or inclination to break out all of the canning gear. Today, I picked our first big […]
Read moreAre you’re wondering how my vegetable garden is coming along? You’ll be pleased to know that my column in The Spokesman-Review today is an update on that very topic. Most everything is growing and producing well, but I’ve had a few frustrating setbacks. Take a look: Good summer for vegetables. Or you can read my column below. The photo above […]
Read moreMary Lee Gaston Here is a link to my column in today’s edition of The Spokesman-Review: ‘Lasagna gardening’ yields big harvest. Throughout the summer months, I enjoy meeting with local gardeners and writing profiles of them and their wonderful gardens. Today’s column is a profile of Mary Lee Gaston, who lives in northwest Spokane. She grows an amazing vegetable garden […]
Read moreHere is a link to the feature story I wrote in today’s edition of The Spokesman-Review: Gardening goes undercover. It’s about garden season extension so you can grow salad greens and other veggie crops through the fall and winter. I have been so excited to write about this topic ever since conducting my own little experiment last year. I had […]
Read moreHere is a link to my column in today’s edition of The Spokesman-Review: Knowing culprit keeps tomato problems in check. Since gardeners love to grow tomatoes, and since certain issues can crop up with them, I thought it would be helpful to talk about this today. Hopefully your tomatoes are growing great, though, and you’ll never need this information! If you’re […]
Read moreMy veggie garden is in an area that can occasionally get pretty windy. Most of the crops do just fine but corn is particularly susceptible to the wind. I have to say that there is nothing quite so depressing as having a really great-looking patch of corn one day, then have it all snapped off at ground level and lying […]
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