You’ve asked for bird supplies, and now we’ve got them!  Check out our new inventory — seven different seed blends in various sizes; suet blocks; and ready-to-use hummingbird nectar.  We have a great new selection of different feeders, suet cages, and nectar feeders.  And to provide cozy accomodations for your backyard friends, we have bird houses and even bat houses. 

Fall is a great time to get bird feeders up and filled.  Nothing is more entertaining during the grey winter months than having your backyard become the favorite hangout spot for chickadees, goldfinches, flickers and more.  At our house we become very attached to our hummingbirds as the weather gets cold — we always marvel at how impervious to the elements they seem to be.  Observing nature through the seasons…. a good thing.

Fall officially arrived last week, and this weeks brings the return of cooler weather.  Fall is in the air, and although it may be early, there are signs of the season everywhere.  You don’t have to look far for glimmers of fall color, and the transition will accelerate rapidly over the next week or two.  Fall is the best time to plant, and a truly enjoyable time to be out in the garden!  Here are some fall pictures that we took while walking through the nursery today.

I always find this month an interesting time in the garden!  Many of the summer veggies have peaked but are still huge and productive.  The tomatoes, for instance, are still big and beautiful, and thankfully still ripening.  The kale is so huge it stops people in their tracks.  The Swiss chard, peppers and eggplants continue to look good.   Meanwhile, it is time to pull out those that have finished and make way to replant for even more good eating down the way.

Today I spent a couple of hours out in the garden.  It was time to harvest the pumpkins and pull out the declining vines.  Same for the cucumbers that have climbed to the top of our six-foot hand-made trellis.  (Amazingly, there were about 6 pounds of cucumbers hidden in there!)  And by the end of the season like this, there are dead and fallen leaves littering the garden, which are becoming slimy and diseased.  A good strategy for a healthy garden is to tidy up – slugs love this kind of plant material, so let’s not make it too easy for them. 

It was also time to give another pruning to the tomato vines – as I’ve said before, it is important to cut out extra foliage to let in light and air.  I also cut out new blooming shoots that had sprouted since I last thinned.  All of this will promote ripening – a good thing!

Once the bed was tidied up and I could ascertain how much available space there was for planting, then the fun began!  I planted a traypack of Olympia spinach, which did so awesomely in the garden last fall.  I also planted a traypack of red Pac Choi, which hopefully will be as prolific as the green variety we put in last fall.  And lastly, I put in a traypack of cauliflower.  I hope I don’t regret that, because cauliflower takes a bit of room.  But since we’ve not had that in the garden yet, I thought we should show you what it does.  So check it out the next time you are here.

With all these tasty new things in the garden, I scattered a bit of Sluggo around, just to distract the slugs.  As you know, Sluggo is safe for birds and animals, but does the trick for our nemesis the slug.  I highly recommend taking preventive measures!  And using Sluggo this time of year will kill off the adults before they have a chance to lay eggs over the winter, thereby reducing your slug population next year – a very good thing.

So I hope you too can find a bit of time this week to do some garden clean up and maybe plant a few new things too.  Remember the strategy of succession plantings – when something comes out, plant something new!  We have a good assortment of veggie starts here now, as well as garlic and onion sets.   Now is a great time to get all those going.

Navigating the multitude of plants and products that we carry can be a daunting task, which is why we bring you our weekly featured selections.  These are the best of the best for the week, and are front and center when you come to the nursery so you don’t have to hunt around for them!

Featured items for September 25th through October 2nd:

Orange Mums – A striking color that has fall written all over it!

Purple Asters – A beautiful companion to the Mums

Purple Pansies – Who can resist?

Hydrangea ‘Endless Summer’  – Going where no Hydrangea has gone before – Fall

Hameln Dwarf Fountain Grass (Pennisetum ‘Hameln’) – In their prime!

EB Stone Bulb Food and Bone Meal – Time to plant and feed bulbs!

Black Gold Organic Potting Soil – Only the best!

Please note:  we’ve had to cancel Sunday’s class for Creating a Pet-Friendly Garden.  Please watch our schedule next season, as we hope to bring it to you again.

Fortunately, this happens rarely – thank you for understanding!

Our fall shipment of Garlic has arrived, and with it comes a chance for you to grow your own and experience a world of flavor that you won’t find in most supermarkets!  Garlic varieties have many subtle differences and variations from mild to absolutely fiery, and everything in between.  Our varieties include German Porcelain, Early Italian Purple, Brown Tempest, Chesnok Red, Inchelium Red, Nootka Rose, Purple Glazer, Silver Rose, and Elephant Garlic (which is not really a garlic, but close enough).  Garlic needs to be fall planted for best success, so plant yours soon for the best harvest next year!

Our Garlic Information Sheet has been updated for the 2009 planting season, and has descriptions of all of the varieties that we carry and how to plant and care for them.  You can find it in our online reference center, or download it directly here.

If you are a gardener with pets, then you have some unique priorities that can be a challenge to juggle.  You want a safe place for your pets to enjoy the great outdoors, while at the same time you don’t want them destroying the landscaping.  With a few careful strategies, you can have your cake and eat it too. 

Melinda Frey and Anne Taylor, landscape designers and animal lovers, will be here Sunday, September 27 at 1 pm to talk about their tips for sharing the garden. 

This is a free class, but we ask you to register:  call us at 503-649-4568, or email events@farmingtongardens.com, and tell us how many will be attending.  Hope to see you here for this informative class!

Are you all sick of hearing about tomatoes yet?  This’ll be quick – folks always want to know what the favorites were at our annual tomato festival, so here they are, listed in descending order of votes.  Sungold and Cherokee Purple were by far the crowd favorites, and tomatoes I would personally recommend you try growing at home.  Sungold is a prolific cherry, with a sweet and fruity flavor.  Cherokee Purple is a large heirloom with a rich tomato flavor and a deep red-purple color with green shoulders.  Both are great additions to the summer garden.

Now this recipe is super yummy.  I will definitely be making this one when I want something warm and spicy this winter.  It will be great with chapati bread, and a yogurt/cucumber salad.

Chole (Curried Chick Peas)

Serves 6

 2 cups                    cooked chick peas, canned or soaked and simmered

4 Tbsp                    oil or butter

½                             red onion, minced

2 cups                    tomato, peeled, seeded, chopped or canned diced

1 clove   garlic, smashed, peeled and minced

2 tsp                       ginger, peeled and minced

2 fresh                   green chilies, chopped and minced

1                              bay leaf

½ tsp                      cayenne

¼ tsp                      tumeric

½ tsp                      cumin, ground

2 tsp                       garam masala

2 tsp                       amchoor powder

2 Tbsp                    cilantro leaves, chopped

TT                           salt, pepper and cayenne pepper

1                              lime, cut into 6 wedges for garnish

 Heat butter or oil in wok or heavy pan. Add chili and onions. Fry until golden. Add ginger and garlic, cook until fragrant.  Add tomatoes. Let reduce about 15 minutes. Add spices except for cilantro. Cook for another 5 minutes.  Add chick peas. Simmer. Reduced until fairly dry or add water/stock and serve soup.

 Serve with rice or whole wheat tortilla. Garnish with cilantro and limes

Aren’t we having some great tomato-ripening weather?!  I’m hopeful we can get them all ripe before winter arrives – the race is on.  And just a reminder: if your tomatoes look as thick with foliage as this one pictured, you really need to grab your clippers and start trimming away some of those leaves – you should be able to see some daylight through the plant.  The tomato plant doesn’t need all these leaves now, and you really need to expose the green tomatoes to light and air.  Trust me; it seems like a totally brutal thing to do, to cut off so much of the foliage, but you will be rewarded if you do!

I promised you a recipe a day until we covered them all from this week’s Tomato Festival.  This Arugula Pesto Couscous and Sundried Tomatoes was really yummy.  Very garlicy.  You could ad lib this recipe in lots of different ways; Chef Dan gave us permission to get creative!

Arugula Pesto Couscous and Sun-dried tomato

 Make pesto. Set aside.  Sauté tomatoes in olive oil.  Season. Cook Couscous. Lightly toss all components together. Serve immediately.

 Pesto:

 2 cups    arugula leaves    

3 cloves   garlic, minced                                     

1 Tbsp    fresh lemon juice                                               

1/4 cup   extra virgin olive oil                                            

1/2 tsp    salt                                                                         

1/2 tsp    freshly ground black pepper            

 1 cup      sun-dried tomatoes, drained, if in oil

2 Tbsp    olive oil

TT           salt and pepper

 Couscous:

 1 1/2 part liquid: 1 part grain

 Bring liquid (water, stock, etc) to a boil.  Add instant couscous, stir thoroughly, cover tightly, turn off heat.  Let stand covered for 10 minutes.  Fluff, season and serve or hold for service.

Chef Dan

For those of you who didn’t make it to our tomato festival, all I’ve got to say is, I’m sorry you missed all the great smells!  Chef Dan Brophy from the Oregon Culinary Institute cooked up some fantastic tomato recipes.  I’ll post one a day till we get all five out there to you. 

This creole sauce was very fragrant, and a little spicy with cayenne. 

Creole Sauce

Yield: 8 cups

2 cups                    onion, diced

2 cups                    celery, diced

2 cups                    bell pepper, red, green or mixed, diced

4                              garlic cloves, smashed, peeled, diced

¼ cup                     olive oil

2 quarts peeled, seeded, diced tomatoes (substitute canned, if necessary)

1 cup                      water

2                              bay leaves

1 teaspoon            fresh thyme leaves removed from stem

6 Tbsps  parsley, chopped

0-1 Tbsp                cayenne pepper

TT                           salt and black pepper

 Option:   1 Tbsp corn starch for thickening

 Saute onions, celery, peppers in olive oil. After they start to tenderize, add garlic and sauté for 2 minutes or so. Add tomatoes and water. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer. Add remaining herbs and spices. Everything except corn starch. Simmer for about 1 hour. Thicken, if desired.  Traditionally served with chicken, shrimp or fish.

**Update 11/12/09 – Most of these plants are gone, but we still have many wonderful plants in our sale area!**

**Update 09/20/09 -  These plants are disappearing quickly, so don’t miss out on the fantastic deals!**

Fall planting season is upon us, and to help you in your planting endeavors, we have some outstanding deals on overstock field grown plants!  Fall is also the season when we clean out some of our overstock, and we have found some groups of plants that need to find good homes.  Our current super deals include a few varieties of Pines, Blue Spruce, and others.  These are large field grown (balled and burlapped) plants that will establish quickly and have an instant effect in the landscape.  These are going for 60%-90% off of our regular retail prices (most only $10-$20), and supplies are limited, so stop by early for the best selection!