We’re putting the finishing touches on Halloween around here, in preparation for our Halloween Festival tomorrow.  We are excited about this new event, and hope you will plan to bring your children, grandchildren, and pets!  Costumes for all are very much encouraged - we hope everyone will join in our parade at 2 pm, followed by our costume contest with some great prizes.  We’ll be serving cookies, freshly made popcorn, cider, and Kick Ax coffee!

Family Halloween Festival at Farmington Gardens

Saturday, October 31  ~     1 – 4 pm

I know this is a little outside the usual scope of this blog, but I’m so excited about this I must share.  Tonight on Oregon Public Broadcasting (8 pm to be exact) a new special airs, “The Botany of Desire.”  Based on the best-selling book by Michael Pollan, it explores how the interest humans took in four plants affected their evolution.   Apples, tulips, marijuana, and potatoes are each discussed at length historically and up to the present.  Each of these has a desirable trait – sweetness beauty, intoxication, and control – that humans throughout the centuries have sought out.  Pollan makes the argument that the relationship between these plants and humans was beneficial to the survival and evolution of both sides.  As someone interested in botany, and more generally how nature works, it makes for fascinating reading.  And I am sure it will make fascinating programming tonight!

Now that the edible gardening season is slowing down (hopefully you are still tucking in a few cool-season veggies for fall and winter eating!), I thought I’d check in with all you new gardeners.  I know we have LOTS of new gardeners this year because I’ve talked with many of you, and so naturally I’m eager to know how you fared.   How did your first season of edible gardening go for you?   Do you feel successful?  Did you encounter challenges, and if so what were they?  Did the experience meet your expectations?  Were there lessons learned that you’d like to share?  As we’ve said before on this page, gardening is a life-long pursuit, and taking the time to assess and reflect on our gardens is a very important step to learning.  And sharing with other fellow gardeners having similar experiences can be enlightening.

Since this blog is not meant to be a forum for this sort of discussion, I would love to have this conversation with you on our Community Page.  http://community.farmingtongardens.com/ If you’d like to share your achievements and struggles, pose questions, share plans for the future – please go to this link and click on Edibles in the Garden.  I’ll meet you over there, and we can talk!  Think of it as a support group for edible gardeners…

Photo by Gene Sasse (c) 2008 used courtesy of Weeks Roses

Note: this sale is now over.   As you may know, our roses have been on sale (60% off!), as we clean out this year’s inventory to make way for next year.   As we winnow down our rose stock, we’ve found several Cape Diamond shrub roses that haven’t found homes yet.  I don’t know why these have been overlooked, because they have so much going for them — they are very disease-resistant – no worries about black spot, powdery mildew, rust & downy mildew.  They have a great old-fashioned spicy fragrance, and can be trained as a large spreading shrub, or encouraged to climb upwards.

And who knew that roses could have such brilliant fall colors?  You should see them today – blazing color.  I don’t remember ever seeing such a vibrant shrub rose at this time of year.  If your garden has room for one more no-fuss rose, think about adding a Cape Diamond to your landscape.  We only have 10 or so left, and at $8, such a bargain.

This time of year we start making plans for gift-giving during the holidays, don’t we?  And for those of us who garden, it is only natural to look to our gardens for the raw materials to make unique, personal gifts for our loved ones.   And in our new era of frugality, making beautiful gifts with very little expense is an added bonus we can all appreciate.  In fact, I participate in an annual gift exchange where we have two hard and fast rules:  it must be handmade and we can only spend $5.  Let me tell you, that can be a real challenge to adhere to, so I will be paying close attention to Mary’s ideas!

In this upcoming class, Mary Ludlum will present tons of useful ideas you can take away for use this year.  She will have ideas for making gifts out of all kinds of natural materials found in your backyard or along the trail of your favorite  hike in the woods.  Some of the projects she will showcase:

• rustic picture frames made with twigs or birch bark
• centerpiece candelabras fashioned from a large branch
• new ideas for projects using grape vines
• easy ways to embellish a basic evergreen wreath or centerpiece
• and lots more!

This is a free class, but please register so we know you’re coming:  503-649-4568, or events@farmingtongardens.com.  We hope to see you there!

We all have good intentions about decorating for the various holidays throughout the year, but let’s face it – it can be work to haul out the stuff and set it all up.  We’ve heard you, and have put together a quick, easy and affordable way for you to decorate your front porch for the autumn season with fresh, seasonal items.  This will easily take you through Thanksgiving with a minimum of muss & fuss.  At $24.99, our Fall Front Door Package includes:

• 1/2  hay bale
• 1 pumpkin of your choice
• 1 corn stalk bundle
• 6-inch mum of your choice
• 6-inch cabbage of your choice
• 5  4-inch winter pansies of your choice

If your front porch is large and you need more, you can get two packages for $5 off.  And don’t forget your  five cans of food for the canned food drive, and receive an additional 20% off. 

What an easy way to make your entry way inviting for trick-or-treaters and your Thanksgiving guests!

Thank you for the terrific response so far to our canned food drive – we have the best customers!   We have already filled up two barrels with non-perishable foods for the Oregon Food Bank, and we still have weeks to go (til November 15th).

Just a reminder:  if you are planning any gardening projects this fall, don’t forget to bring in your minimum of five cans of food, and we will thank you with 20% off your purchase.  Amazingly, this offer includes already-discounted items, so you have the potential for some serious savings.  However, it doesn’t apply to:  bulk soil, delivery fees, design or installation services, and does not stack on top of (but can be used instead of) senior and professional discounts.  But everything else – plants, trees, statuary, fountains, pots, tools, gloves, sale items - 20% off.  The seasonal decorations – pumpkins, corn stalks, hay bales – are also included in this offer.

So swing by the grocery store on your next visit to Farmington Gardens to take advantage of the savings!

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 next two weeks, and are front and center when you come to the nursery so you don’t have to hunt around for them!

Featured items for October 9th through October 15th:

‘Shaina’ Japanese Maple – A smaller statured upright with wonderful deep red summer foliage and blazing red fall color!

Golden Barberry (Berberis thunbergii ‘Aurea’) – Brilliant Yellow foliage lights up your garden!

Smoke Bushes (Cotinus) – They all look amazing this time of year, especially ‘Grace’ and ‘Golden Spirit’.

Onion Sets – Plant now for a bigger spring harvest.

Northwest Best Fall and Winter Lawn Food – The time has come to feed the lawn.  Don’t delay!

Our October Newsletter is now available in our newsletter archives!  Our October edition is full of gardening tips and advice, and has information on lots of upcoming events at Farmington Gardens.

For those of you that may not know, we publish a monthly newsletter, The Farmington Gardener, that is full of timely gardening tips, informational articles, store news and events, and absolutely awesome coupons!

Garden Rewards members who have given us their e-mail address (which we keep in the strictest confidence and never share or sell to anyone else) automatically receive our monthly newsletter.  The mailed version has coupons and sales information, but the archived version does not.  If you are a Garden Rewards member and are not getting our newsletter (and would like to), please let us know so that we can update your information.  If you aren’t a member and would like to sign up to receive the newsletter with coupons and sale information, signing up is easy!

The tomato season is drawing to a close, I’m sad to say.  But as I always try to look on the bright side, I want to point out that you might have a bonus crop of Green Tomatoes sitting out there.  You will certainly find plenty of advice on how to bring those in and have them ripen for you over the next couple of months, and many of those strategies work pretty well.  However, I would advise you not to sock away ALL of your green bounty, but save a little for tasty green tomato dishes.  Green tomatoes are a fruit all unto their own.  They are full of bright tangy citrus-y flavor, and should be enjoyed for what they are.  Just don’t try to compare them to your favorite ripe tomato; they are a different fruit. 

During our Tomato Festival this year Chef Dan Brophy, from the Oregon Culinary Institute, gave a class on Preserving the Harvest.  One of his recipes, Salsa Verde, was a knock-out.  He had made it with green tomatillos, but he said it also works great for green tomatoes.  I highly recommend you give this one a try!

Salsa Verde

Yield: 3-4 cups

2 lbs                       tomatillos, husked and soaked in warm water  or green tomatoes

1 large                   yellow onion, peeled and diced fine

4 large                   garlic cloves, peeled, smashed and minced

2-4                          jalapeno chilies or to taste

3 Tbsp                   salad oil, canola, soy or olive

½ cup                     lime juice

1 bunch                 cilantro, leaves removed from stem and chopped

2 tsp                       ground cumin

1 tsp                       dried oregano

1 tsp                       Kosher salt

1 tsp                       freshly ground black pepper

Combine all ingredients, except cilantro and spices in a large bowl or pan and mix together.  Place in a 400 degree oven and roast for 20-30 minutes.  Stir once or twice.  Mixture should be fragrant and showing signs of caramelization.  Remove from oven and allow to cool.   Process mixture in a blender or food processor, adding cilantro and remaining spices including salt and pepper.  Cover and chill. Sauce will keep under refrigeration for 3-5 days.

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 October 9th through October 15th:

‘Limelight’ Hydrangea – A new color on an old favorite.

‘Golden Spirit’ Cotinus (Smoke Tree) – A fantastic new variety with brilliant golden foliage!

‘Goldcrest’ Monterey Cypress – Soft foliage, fantastic smell, classic form.

‘Efanthia’ Euphorbia (Spurge) – Unbelievable fall and winter color, and very durable.

‘Wild Watermelon’ Salvia – Did we mention that the color is pretty wild?  A bit of brightness for upcoming cloudy days.

Northwest Best Fall and Winter Lawn Food – It’s got what lawns crave.  Enough said.

It’s October, and that means three things here at Farmington Gardens – It’s time to plant, the place is looking fantastic with all of the beautiful fall color, and it’s time for our Annual Canned Food Drive!

The Fall Canned Food Drive has been a tradition at Farmington Gardens for longer than any of us can remember, but it is certainly a tradition that keeps getting better every year.  From October 8th through November 15th, you will receive 20% off of your total purchase (with a few minor exceptions) when you bring in 5 cans or packages of food to donate.  This 20% comes of of your total sale, so it even applies to already discounted material!

Last year, we brought in over 2,000 pounds of food that went to the Oregon Food Bank to help those in need in our area, and we are hoping for an even bigger year this year.  The current economic climate has generated a lot of need in our state, and the food bank has been absolutely swamped, so any and all help is appreciated.  So if you want to drop off more than 5 cans of food, we will certainly welcome it.  This is a great opportunity to do something great for the community and save a bundle on plant material for your yard!

Finally, although we still call it the Annual “Canned” Food Drive (it’s one of those hard-wired traditions that are really hard to change), we realize that more and more food items are no longer sold in cans, so donations are not limited to canned items only.  According to the Oregon Food Bank, the most needed items are: Canned meats (i.e., tuna, chicken, salmon), canned and boxed meals (i.e., soup, chili, stew, macaroni and cheese), canned or dried beans and peas (i.e., black, pinto, lentils), pasta, rice, cereal, canned fruits, 100% fruit juice (canned, plastic or boxed), and cooking oil.  Basically anything that is non-perishable is acceptable.