The 2009 Green Thumb Sale is over, but will be back next summer!  In the meantime, be sure to check out all of the other specials we currently have here on our blog!

As we cool down a bit and leave the smoldering temperatures of the past week behind us, we would like to let you know that we have decided to extend our Annual Green Thumb sale by an extra week!

Many people were simply not able to make it out due to the extreme weather, and we ended up closing early on a few days earlier in the week for the safety of our employees and guests, so not everyone was able to take advantage of the sale prices.

The official end date for the 2009 Green thumb Sale will now be Sunday, August 9th.  We still have lots of sale items in stock, but some items are running low and may be gone before the end of the sale, so shop early for the best selection!

Also, be sure to keep a close eye on your plants and their watering.  The extreme heat may be behind us, but even temperatures in the 80′s and 90′s can dry a plant out quickly!

I don’t know about you, but when the weather heats up, my appetite sags a bit, and so I look for bright, fresh flavors with something a little different going on.  Is anyone else like that?  So when I saw this recipe in the August Sunset Magazine, I knew I would love it.  It is so simple: just grill up a colorful assortment of vegetables:  I grilled tomatoes, Walla Walla onions, red peppers, eggplant, and zuchini, using just a little olive oil and salt and pepper.  Arrange the grilled veggies on a platter and drizzle with dressing; garnish with mint leaves.

What makes it all come alive is the dressing; its pretty amazing!  This would be great on just about any vegetable:  asparagus, steamed broccoli, potatoes – just a few suggestions I think I’ll try.  So, if you have a mint patch, you really must try this salad; its a winner.

In a blender, or food processor, puree 1/2 cup olive oil, 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice, 1/2 cup mint leaves, 1 minced garlic clove, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper, and 1/4 tsp dry mustard.

These are challenging times, we all know.  It is a good time to protect our assets and do what we can to maintain and even improve their value.  And for most of us, our most important asset is our home.  Not only is it the center of our family life, where we make our memories together and put down roots; it is  also a significant part of our financial picture.  So it only makes sense to not only look at your home’s livability, but also to keeping its value.  Every realtor will affirm that landscaping makes a difference – we’ve all heard of  ‘curb appeal’, right? 

We are addressing these timely issues in this upcoming class on real estate and landscaping.  Ron Phillips, our landscape designer at Farmington Gardens, will be here with Vicki Burr, a real estate broker, to give you ideas for improving the value of your property through smart, careful landscaping choices.  Whether you are spiffing your place up for immediate sale, or prudently looking down the road five or ten years, they will have some great suggestions.

Feel free to bring in a few enlarged photographs of your property, if you would Ron and Vicki’s specific suggestions.  It won’t be possible to provide full landscape plans during this short class time, but you will come away with their professional on-the-spot assessments.  (Ron, of course, is available for landscape design projects, by appointment.)

This is a free class – please call to register at 503-649-4568.

Now is the time to start plans for your fall and winter garden – with just a little thought, you will be harvesting your own lettuces, spinach, onions, kales, peas, and more even as the weather turns cold and wet.  If this interests you, then we hope you will join our class this Sunday at noon – Rose Marie Nichols McGee will be here to talk about which veggies are ideal for the fall garden, as well as her strategies for year-round edible gardening.  Rose Marie is an expert on this subject, and wrote the book Bountiful Container, which will be available for signing.  She’s also had some experience with Straw Bale Gardening, so I’m eager for her to see our first attempts with that technique.

This is a free class – please call to register at 503-649-4568.

The harvest season is just underway, and already our generous customers have brought in over 300 pounds of produce to our Plant a Row for the Hungry program.   We are well on our way to surpassing last year’s record of over 3000 pounds!

I was sadded to read in the paper recently of the dramatic increase in food stamp recipients in Washington County this year, so I know there is a very urgent need for quality food donations for these families.  We have selected the Sunshine Pantry in Beaverton as the recipient of our donations; they are providing a vital link for hundreds of local families.  (For more information on the Sunshine Pantry, please visit:  http://www.sunshinepantry.org/)

If you are interested in donating your surplus fruits and vegetables, we want you to know we welcome you.  Simply bring your produce here on Sunday afternoons, and we will see that it gets to those in need.  We will keep track of your donations, and provide you with a receipt at the end of the season, which you can use at tax time – we suggest you talk with your tax advisor for all the details.  We will also track your donations on a punch card, which when completed will earn you an FG gift card.  And as if that weren’t enough, we will also give you credit on your Garden Rewards points at the end of the season!! 

In other words, it is a Win-Win when you participate in the Plant a Row program.  Please don’t let your excess harvest go to waste; there are families that will be grateful to have it.

A great time was had by all today during our concrete leaf casting class.  We used rhubarb leaves, which have deep veins and ruffled edges, perfect for an artful bowl.  Here is a rough outline of how these are made:

• Using a shallow box as your work space, mound up a pile of damp sand.  Place a square of plastic over the sand.
• Prepare your leaf:  select a leaf with prominent veining on the back side, and with few blemishes on it.
• Mix dry ingredients together in bowl: 2 parts sand, 1 part Type I/II Portland cement; dry oxide color if desired.
• Slowly mix 1/2 part water and 1/2 part liquid concrete fortifier into the dry mix; stir well, and knead with gloved hands, add more as needed being careful not to add too much. 
• Lay your leaf face down over the mound of sand covered with plastic.  Taking small handfuls of wet cement, place onto the back side of the leaf and pat gently into place, so that the cement will fill in all the crevices between the ribs.  Work from the top down, adding more handfuls as you go.  If the cement starts firming up, dip your gloved finger into water and rub gently – a little water goes a long way here.
• When the leaf has been covered almost to the edges, it is time to add hardware.  Insert a curved piece of wire if you want to hang your piece.
• It is done!  Tuck a sheet of plastic around your project, and leave it alone to cure for 48 hours. 
• After 48 hours, you can pick it up and remove the leaf.  It will need to continue curing for about 30 days before you paint and/or seal it.

We will have a leaf painting class on Saturday, August 29th, 10 am – noon.  Spaces are still available, and you need not have attended this first class – for an additional $7 you can purchase an unfinished cast leaf which you can use for your project for this class.  This class is $45 ($40 if you also took today’s casting class); and registration is required – call us at 503-649-4568.

Each summer, we host one or two special evening events here at the store.  Long summer evenings are an enchanting time to be here – the color, textures and fragrances seem enhanced by the vast sunset overhead.  It is quite magical.  This year’s event is a repeat benefit for P.E.O., a non-profit which provides much-needed scholarships to women.  All proceeds will go toward that mission, as well as a portion of the evening’s sales.

This event features television and KLX Radio garden guru Mike Darcy, who will again entertain while sharing some of his favorite gardening tips.  There will be a silent auction full of items large and small, including several container gardens donated by Farmington Gardens.  Wild Currant Catering is providing the scrumptious food to nosh on, and Barefoot Winery will be here sharing their vintages.  Of course, we will have special shopping opportunities throughout the evening as well. 

Tickets are $25 in advance, or $30 at the door.  To purchase your tickets, call 503-292-2144, or email the PEO at peo@ptak.org.  (Note:  We are not handling pre-sales here at the store.) 

We hope to see you here – it is a fun evening!

The intensity of spring projects has now given way to the slower pace of a warm summer.  Our garden beds are filling out nicely, there is fruit developing on trees, and the veggie beds are earning their keep with daily ripe offerings.  Let’s not forget to sit in the shade of our gardens with a favorite beverage and enjoy the view – and doing that from the comfort of my hammock is MY own personal favorite!   These warm summer days are few here in Oregon, so we should savor them while they are here.

That is not to say that there aren’t a few seasonally-appropriate tasks that we should keep track of.  Here are a few things to be aware of  in the next month:

• If you are watering your lawn (some folks choose to let it dry out during the summer), remember that deep watering less frequently is better than frequent sparse watering; also, aeration of the lawn will allow water to soak more deeply.
• Keep staking tomatoes as they climb higher and higher; pick off any diseased leaves and thin out foliage for better air circulation and light penetration.
• Remember that all hanging baskets need special attention during hot weather - water daily; during extreme heat waves it can be a good idea to take down hanging baskets and put them in a shady spot on the ground, where it is cooler.  Dark pots especially absorb lots of heat and can be very damaging to roots.
• Water in the early morning for the least evaporation, and remember to water deeply and infrequently. 
• Midsummer is a great time to think ahead for fall vegetables – bush beans, peas, lettuces, spinach, radishes, carrots, and all the brassicas (cauliflower, broccoli, kale, etc.).  Don’t forget we have a great class coming up August 2 at noon on getting  a fall garden going. Call to register!
• Fungal diseases may appear on lupine, hollyhock, delphiniums, zinnias, and roses – they will look like they are dusted with powder, or in the case of roses, have red rusty or dark spots.  Pick off diseased leaves and clean up fallen leaves to prevent spreading, and apply fungicide if necessary.
• Fungal disease in the veggie garden (usually appearing on zuchini, melons, winter squash, and cucumbers), where we often want as few chemicals as possible, it is important to keep diseased leaves picked up.  Increase air flow through plants, and support off the ground.  If needed, treat with Bonide’s Tomato and Vegetable 3-in-1, which contains Neem Oil.
• Use fine mesh netting to protect your blueberry crop from birds – we have a netting that is very unobtrusive and does the trick.
• Keep up with the weeding – once a weed has produced mature seeds, your work will multiply!
• Mulching will keep moisture in the soil and keep it cool.  Just an inch does the trick.

Keep an eye on these things, and your garden will thrive.  But the best summer advice here is in that first paragraph – cool beverages and a hammock!

Thursday, July 23rd marks the beginning of our 16th Annual Green Thumb Sale!  Our biggest sale of the year only lasts for 2 weeks, but the deals are amazing, and the prices are never lower.  This year’s sale is the biggest ever, and a majority of things in the store are on sale during the event.  You can download a complete sale list here. Remember though, this sale ends August 2nd, and some items may sell out quickly at these ridiculously low prices.  Shop early, and check back often as more items will probably be put on sale as the sale progresses!

The 2009 Green Thumb Sale is over, but will be back next summer!  In the meantime, be sure to check out all of the other specials we currently have here on our blog!

Green Thumb 2009 is coming.  Stay tuned for more information!

We had a great class here Sunday on do-it-yourself landscape design.  Ann Nickerson was here to repeat the class she gave last month on the same topic.  We had 50 heat-resistant folks turn out to glean every bit of information they could. 

For those of you who just don’t want to deal with designing your own garden, and would like some professional assistance designing and/or installing your landscaping, just a friendly reminder that Farmington Gardens offers those services.  Included in the fee is a discount on plants purchased for the plans.   Stop by and pick up an informational brochure, or speak with Ron Phillips about your design needs.  Ron has done some great landscapes and would love to work with you in creating the garden you’ve always wanted.

We are offering a great opportunity to learn the techniques of concrete leaf casting.  Garden artist Jackie Flowers (appropriate name!) will be here this coming Saturday, July 25th.   I am really impressed with the quality of Jackie’s work – the texture of the castings themselves, and also the sophistication of the coloring she uses.   She layers on many colors, and brings out the texture of the leaves in very life-like ways.  I can’t wait to learn her secrets!

This two hour class begins at 10 AM to avoid the heat of the day.  Class size is limited to 16, so you will get lots of individual attention – and lucky for you, there are still a few spots available!  The class is $45, and you will create a beautiful leaf bird feeder mounted on a copper stand.

If you would like to learn her color techniques, we are offering a companion class on Saturday, August 29, also 10 AM to noon.  We will be painting our cast leaf bird feeders, and taking them home.  Same price for this class, $45, but we are offering a two-fer:  take both classes for $80.  Still not an inexpensive set of classes, but I really feel you will come away with some great skills to build on.   (Also, should you not be able to attend the first class, but would still like to take the second class for the color techniques, you will be able to purchase for $7 a pre-cast leaf; so don’t let that stop you!)

Pre-registration is required for both of these classes:  call 503-649-4568 to sign up.