Many of us are trying to incorporate more sustainable practices into our gardens, so that we can create a more natural balance.  This enables (and requires) us to use fewer harsh chemical pesticides – a spray bottle cannot differentiate between a good bug and a bad bug, so they all get it.  A healthier alternative is to encourage beneficial insects to inhabit your garden – by providing habitat and a healthy environment for them, they will be your eyes and ears on the ground, seeking out ‘bad’ bugs for their lunch.

The praying mantis is one such ‘good’ bug.  I love to find them hanging out in my garden – they are so big (5″ long at maturity!) and interesting looking with their large front arms tucked up under their chins - they are fun to watch, and especially to share with children. 

Praying mantises are not picky eaters – they enjoy a wide food buffet of choices.   They are known to eat alfalfa weevil, aphids, asparagus beetle, bean beetle, boll worm, broccoli worm, cabbage moth, cane borer, celery worm, chinch bug, Colorado potato beetle, corn borer, corn earworm, cucumber beetle, fall armyworm, fruit worm, hornworm, leafhopper, leafminer, leafroller, mites, thrips, mosquitos, crickets, and whitefly.  I’ll bet we’ve all got a few of these crawling around our gardens.

This would be a fun and educational project to do with your children this summer!  After they hatch, place a few in a large ventilated jar or covered aquarium.  Feed them a few drops of sugar water in the beginning, as well as a moth or a clipping from a rose bush with aphids on it.   Their appetites will grow as they do, so you should probably plan to release them eventually.

We still have praying mantis egg cases for $5.99.  Each case will hatch roughly 200 babies, and now is the time to get them out in your garden, before it gets any warmer.

I was pleased to see the front page article this morning in the Oregonian about composting kitchen waste.  Many of us fail to take the time to collect and deposit our kitchen waste onto our compost piles, using our outdoor bins mainly for yard debris.  But as we know, we cannot put kitchen waste into our yard debris cans for weekly pick up - they are composted using different methods – and so kitchen waste heads for the landfill. 

I encourage you to read today’s article on the benefits of composting for our environment, and then to consider attending our upcoming class.  We’ll have Glen Andresen, Metro’s Natural Gardening Specialist here on Saturday, June 20th, to talk about “Composting 101.”  I have toured Glen’s home garden, and I must say, he’s the real deal.  Over the years, he has developed a sustainable system that works for him — his entire urban lot is devoted to edible gardening – fruit trees, raised beds filled with annual and perennial vegetables, bees, and several compost bins.  Glen will walk us through the easy steps in converting our kitchen and yard waste into a nutrient-rich amendment for our gardens.  And, if  you can’t wait for our class, read all of  Metro’s tips on composting at  http://www.oregonmetro.gov/index.cfm/go/by.web/id=553.

We sell Metro’s Earth Machine compost bins here at Farmington Gardens for $49.99, so if you don’t feel like driving out to Swan Island to pick one up, you can get them here.  This is the year to adopt some good habits, both for ourselves and for the planet!

p.s.  Please call us to register for this class – 503-649-4568.

Thank you to all who attended our two sessions on Kitchen Gardening – they were both lively classes, and we enjoyed meeting you all, and hearing about the new gardens you are planning!    It is obvious there will be lots of good eating going on this season!

For those of you not able to be with us for either of these classes, I wanted you to have the highlights.  So here are my top ten tips for having a successful garden that you actual enjoy creating and maintaining ~

1. Location, location, location.  Choose the sunniest spot you’ve got, preferably 8-12 hours a day of direct sun.  We can’t overemphasize this one – it is the single most important factor to the success of most gardens.   If you are interested in growing any of the warm weather crops – tomatoes, peppers, melons, squash, cucumbers, eggplant – you must have lots of sunshine.  If your garden is somewhat shady, you still can garden, but should stick to the crops that will thrive in that environment:  lettuces, spinach, peas, onions.
2. It’s all about the soil.  Focus on feeding your soil and not your plants, and you will be well rewarded.  With luck, you should have lots of earthworms working away in your garden – this is one sign of healthy soil.  Compost is a very important addition to all types of soil: it helps loosen clay, allowing it to drain and have better aeration.  And paradoxically, it also allows soil to retain moisture during the heat of the summer, just when you need it.  Compost also creates the perfect climate in your soil to allow the nutrients present to be taken up by your plants.  All the nutrients in the world aren’t enough if they aren’t accessible.
3. Use raised beds where possible.  There are no downsides except the initial investment, and you will reap the rewards for years.  They offer so many advantages:  the soil warms up and dries out faster in the early spring, allowing you to plant earlier.  By not stepping in the beds, the soil will stay loose and uncompacted, allowing your plants to grow deeper root systems.  This in turn allows for a slightly closer spacing, because roots go down and not out.  Hence, better space utilization and more harvest!
4. Rotate crops.  Avoid planting the same crops in the same space every year, and you will lessen your chances for soil-borne diseases that can occur.  
5. Interplant and successively plant.  Try thinking of your garden as a diverse ecosystem instead of a farm with rows of monocrops.  By interspersing your plants into smaller clusters, you will reduce pest infestations and the spread of disease.   And plan for succession harvests – plant items like lettuces, spinach, beans, and peas every two or three weeks for a continual harvest throughout the season. 
6. Use smart watering techniques: if possible water from below with soaker hoses or drip systems.  This will keep the foliage from getting wet, possibly setting up your garden for fungal diseases.  If you must overhead water, do so in the morning, so that the plants’ foliage can dry out before nightfall.  Also, remember that young seedlings will require hand watering until their root systems get established.  Finally, aim for infrequent but deep watering — giving plants too little water will only encourage them to develop roots near the surface; this will put them in jeopardy of constantly drying out – and making you a slave to your garden. 
7. Harvest frequently and as soon as ripe.  This will ensure a continual harvest, because when ripened fruit stays on the vine, it signals the plant to stop producing.  This is especially important with beans.
8. Go vertical whenever possible.  By training up peas, beans, tomatoes, melons, squashes, and cucumbers, they will make a smaller footprint on the garden space, enabling you to underplant other things around them.    Use trellises, tomato cages, heavy bamboo or cedar staking to create upright structures for these.   Cradle the heavy fruit, like melons or large squashes, with a sling made from nylon stockings or plastic mesh from grocery store produce.
9. Plant what you love, and get your children involved!  Not only will they learn to love what they are growing, but they will begin to sense the beauty of the cycles of nature.  And you will be energized by the wonder they bring to your garden.
10.   Don’t expect perfection.  We all have successes and failures – gardening well is a lifelong pursuit.  Train yourself to be observant to what’s going on in your own space, and you will be better equipped to deal with issues as they arise.  I strongly recommend keeping some kind of garden journal, to record when you planted things, when you fertilize, when the harvesting begins.  Only by looking back on this record will you learn what works for you and what doesn’t, and you can tweak things next year. 

Good luck with your gardens – we look forward to helping you in the journey, and want to hear of your successes and your challenges.  Here’s to a bountiful harvest!

We’ve been having some pretty chilly nights still – and to top it off, I’ve heard that our spring will be unseasonably cooler than normal till June.  That is going to make growing any of the warm-season crops especially challenging this year.  Darn.  I’m talking about tomatoes, peppers, melons, cucumbers, squashes, and eggplant.  Fortunately, all of these are good candidates for using our Gardeneer Season Starters.  These early season plant protectors are pyramid-shaped and water-filled — they surround the plant, absorbing heat from the sun during the day, and giving it off during the night.  Think of it as a blanket for your favorite veggies!  You are able to plant up to six weeks earlier with this protection, which also means you HARVEST weeks earlier too.   Take good care of them and they will last several seasons.  We have one on display here – come in and feel how much warmer it is inside!

WOW!  Due to the high interest in our Kitchen Gardening 101 Class (specifically designed for beginners interested in planting their first garden), we are adding another date for the same class.  This one will be Tuesday, April 21 at 10 AM.  If you’ve ever wanted to grow your own tasty vegetables, but didn’t know where to begin, then this class is for you.  We will cover all the basics of backyard edible gardening, from the benefits of raised beds, to soil preparations, to choosing a great selection of culinary plants.  We’ll wander out to our demonstration vegetable garden so you can see what’s going on there, and how we manage to grow so much in such a small space. 

According to a recent survey by the National Gardening Association, nearly 20% more people are planning to have an edible garden this year than in the past.  The reasons they give might surprise you – it is not just about the weak economy.  More and more people know they will get better tasting food from their own garden; they will save money on their food bills; they will have better quality food (nothing is fresher and more nutrious when it is picked right before eating); and they will have the assurance of their food’s safety.  The salmonella scares with tomatoes and spinach over the past couple of years are making us all a little skittish.  It is reasuring to know where our food comes from and how it is grown and handled.  Besides all those good reasons, growing your own is just a fun thing to do!  I find I am a much more creative cook when I have good seasonal things to pick every day, right in my own backyard. 

Now is the time to get your plans in place for your first garden, and we want to help!   If you are already registered for the other class on Saturday, but would prefer this Tuesday class, just give us a call and we will be happy to move you over.   Class is free, please call to register:  503-649-4568.

I thought it might be fun to start posting a weekly recipe — a seasonal suggestion from the garden to your table.  To kick things off though, we are starting with an issue I have been asked here several times about – what kind of  wood to use for raised beds.  We know not to use railroad ties (because of arsenic), or wood treated with the highly toxic preservative pentachlorophenol.  So what are we to use that is safe and non-toxic for our edible gardens?  The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) suggests you preserve untreated wood for raised beds with this recipe; it has been shown to be as effective as the toxic treatments, and will last for up to 20 years.

Nontoxic Preservative for Untreated Wood

•  1 ounce paraffin wax
• 3 cups exterior varnish or 1.5 cups boiled l inseed oil
• Enough solvent (mineral spirits, paint thinner, or turpentine at room temp) to make a total volume of 1 full gallon

In a double boiler, melt paraffin.  (Never heat paraffin over a direct flame!)  Away from the heat, vigorously stir the solvent, then slowly pour in the melted paraffin.  Add the varnish or linseed oil and continue to stir thoroughly.  Apply by dipping the untreated lumber into the mixture for 3 minutes, or by applying a heavy coat.  The wood can be painted when thoroughly dry, if you wish.

I don’t know if we’ll be able to keep this up, with the list getting longer and longer!  But since you gardeners are so eager to know what’s available for your vegetable gardens, I will do my best to keep you updated.  Remember, now is a great time to be prepping your garden (adding a layer of compost, weeding etc.), but for the most part you should only be planting out things that can tolerate the cold soil.  This means you should wait to plant out things like tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, melons, cucumbers, squash, beans — all of these like WARM soil.  Now, if you are able to provide warm soil, with a greenhouse or season extenders like cold frames, walls-o-water,  cloches and the like – then feel free to go to it.

Now that I have put the disclaimers out there, let me tell you that the first tomatoes are here!  Yes, we have 8 varieties in 4″ sizes at $1.49 – Oregon Spring, Brandywine, Beefsteak, Big Beef, Roma, Celebrity, Early Girl, and Sun Gold.  These are all great tomatoes for different reasons:  Oregon Spring and Early Girl are early ripeners; Celebrity has great yields and is a favorite with home canners; Brandywine is a classic favorite heirloom with great flavor; Roma is the favorite sauce tomato – low in joice and high in pulp; Beefsteak and Big Beef are both larger sized tomatoes with great flavor and yields; and of course Sun Gold is the hands-down winner of several of our Tomato Fest tastings.  It is a sunny yellow cherry tomato with a sweet fruity taste – kids love it.

Everything else we have is good to go now in the early garden.  These will all tolerate cool soil and spring temperatures.  We’ve got rhubarb starts, horseradish, asparagus, strawberries (bareroot and in pots), artichokes, onions, cabbage, brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, Chinese cabbage, pea starts, Swiss chard, collards, beets,  spinach, celery and lots of lettuces.

And another reminder about Carl Grimm’s class here on Saturday:  Carl is a Natural Gardening Specialst with Metro, and will be talking here at 10 AM.  He will have lots of information on how to garden sustainably and organically, and especially how to incorporate beautiful edible plants into your landscaping.  If you don’t want to designate a section of your garden for edibles, or don’t like the aesthetics of a vegetable garden, there are certainly ways to grow some of your own food anyway.  Carl will have suggestions for how to do it!  Class is free, call us to register:  503-649-4568.

The interest in mason bees continues to grow since our first class – folks just did not seem to get enough the first time around.   So, in our on-going attempt to be responsive to what you are wanting to learn about, we have scheduled an additional class for Saturday, March 7th.   Beth Rose will repeat her informative talk on how to encourage these native pollinators in your backyard.   And we promise there will be plenty of time for questions and to purchase the live larvae and/or bee houses that you might need.
As with all our classes, this one is free, but please call to register. (503) 649-4568.

Did you know that in addition to making great environmental sense, a rain garden makes great economic sense as well?  Many of our local municipalities offer great incentives to divert water into a rain garden.  Here are a few sites to get you started:

• Clean River Rewards is the City of Portland’s stormwater utility discount program. If you manage stormwater on your property, you can receive up to a 100% discount on your on-site stormwater management charges.
  www.cleanriverrewards.com or http://www.portlandonline.com/BES/index.cfm?c=41976

• Clean Water Services is the public utility serving the Tualatin River Watershed.  Clean Water Hero Program provides up to three hours of free on-site technical assistance to help you create a sustainable stormwater landscape
  http://www.cleanwaterservices.org/EducationAndOutreach/CleanWaterTips/CWHProgram.aspx

• Here is a place to find sample plans of rain gardens in various locations including plants
  http://www.welcometherain.org/

To learn from an expert in this field, join us for our free class February 21, 11 AM.

Call to register – 503-649-4568.

Here in Oregon, we are blessed with an abundance of rain. One of the simplest, and greenest, ways to manage water from a roof and other impervious surfaces is to send water into a shallow depression in the ground filled with plants tolerant of periodic flooding. Homeowners can stem the tide of polluted runoff threatening rivers and streams by setting up a simple ‘rain garden,’ which is beautiful as well as beneficial. The carefully selected plants absorb the water and release it slowly, reducing the risk of flooding, as well as neutralizing some of the toxins present in runoff.  Landscape designer Amy Whitworth will share tips for this sustainable, earth-friendly strategy.   Class is free, please call to register:  503-649-4568.

As our weather stays cold for the next several weeks, and we huddle around the fire, many of us begin plans for our spring gardens.  As you make plans for seed starting, I wanted to give you a heads-up about a new product, due to arrive in January, which we are excited about!  CowPots are a green alternative to plastic pots for seed starting, and have many terrific advantages.  But first, what are they made of?  They were invented by dairy farmers in Connecticut, who were looking for creative ways to use the abundant, nutrient-rich manure produced on their farm.  These clever guys have created a pot that:

• grows sturdier, healthier plants
• goes directly into the soil with the plant; it fully decomposes with no throw-away
• encourages root development
• avoids plant stress
• adds soil-conditioning natural nutrients to your garden
• is convenient and time-saving
• is easy to handle, odor-free, non-toxic
• 100% Made in the U.S.A.
• reduces non-recyclable plastics
• reduces dependence on foreign oil
• reduces municipal waste
• promotes recycling of agricultural waste to horticultural benefit
• made from a highly renewable resource
• nutrient-rich

Wow – no wonder they are talking about these pots on NBC’s Today Show, Larry King Live, Dirty Jobs, and more.  They will cost a little more than the everyday plastic starter pots, but when you factor in all the benefits your little seedlings will receive with the built-in nutrients, it starts looking pretty good.  Not to mention the bonus points you get for ’green’ and ‘sustainable’.  I can’t wait to try them out.

P.S.  If you’d like more detailed information on this product, visit their website: http://www.cowpots.com/