Good Gardening

You are probably aware of my penchant for all things edible. The lack of spring rain this year has left the blooms on my fruit trees longer than in many years, and they are beautiful.

Hi all, Climate Master John Fischer here with KLCC's Living Less Unsustainably.

During the pandemic year, air travel and its climate gas emissions have fallen by two thirds. If you are planning a trip in the future, consider buying carbon credits- or "GreenTags" now to offset the emissions of your future flight.

Carbon offsets are paid for by the consumer. Ten to twenty dollars per ton of CO2 emitted. The money is used to fund wind and solar energy, capture methane at dairies or landfills, fund reforestation, and other environmentally helpful projects.

Most of us long time gardeners have a list of vegetables we grow each year. In other words we are stuck in a rut.

The stuff we buy, wear out, and throw away is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the pacific northwest. Manufacturing, transporting, and disposing of consumer goods- shoes, bedding, toasters, televisions and the like- generates 40 to 50 percent of our emissions.

Few things provide more fresh tasty produce than a fruit tree.  And few things confuse new fruit growers more than pruning.

Hi All, Master Gardener John Fischer here with KLCC's Good Gardening. I'll be joined in a minute by climate master John Fischer who wants to talk about the environmental problems with flowers flown in from far away, but first let me give you some ideas on how you can decorate the table or give flowers to loved ones next month by finding beauty outside here and now.

These cold foggy days are a good time to dream about the sweet warm days of summer, and the bounty they bring. And the sweetest thing you can grow here is a fig.

I'm never sure if I should make garden suggestions after you've had a problem because it's fresh in your mind, or give you a pre-warning even though you might be saying- "huh-that's never happened to me." So today I'll do both.

The beautiful red yellow and orange fruit my home orchard produces each year is sweet, tart, and juicy. The second harvest that is just starting has all the same colors and is feast for the eyes instead of the palate.

Hi, Master Gardener John Fischer here with some good news about your backyard, and commercial food crops growing in our smoky ashy region.

If you have trouble getting seeds to sprout in the spring, this might be a good time to let nature help plant next year's garden.

A lot of people are having their first ever garden this year and I'd like to repeat a few time tested ideas for you. Those of you who already know everything, go outside and weed for two minutes, but you will miss details on a free seed give away.

You have to love the way blackberries grow in Oregon. Ouch. The taste, ouch, the abundance, ouch, and all the ways you can eat them. Ouch.

Many of us have been home more over the last few months. Enjoying the space, considering some changes, and maybe noticing a few things that need repairing or replacing.

You won't hear me talk about ornamental plants much. I put my energy into things I can eat. But there are places near the house where edibles won't do well, so something pretty is better than nothing.

If you don't prune shrubs and bushes near the house, eventually you can't see out the window or get near the structure for maintenance. But to keep the form of the plant while controlling its height and spread requires pruning out full branches, not just cutting back the tops of existing growth.

Here's a fabulous garden opportunity that you can't act on right now may be an exercise in bad timing, but if you don't see the results now, you won't be convinced to act when the time comes this fall.

We are participating in ordinary activities in different ways now, and have adapted to new circumstances.

So you've planted seeds for the first time this spring- or the 50th, and sprouts are coming up- some of what you planted, and a lot of weeds. 

If you've never had a garden before, you might be thinking about it now.  Here are some simple things you can grow in a small space, that will provide you and your family with fresh nutritious produce- and a fun outdoors activity.

Isn't it great when doing something nice for yourself doesn't hurt the planet, and helps other people too?Unfortunately, buying clothes and giving them to the thrift store doesn't fit that dream.

Your garden can produce a lot- of food, and of waste. Getting rid of the produce is easy- have seconds. And getting rid of the garden waste along with all your kitchen scraps is easy too because somebody else will do the work.

Residents of Eugene, Portland, Salem, Albany and Corvallis can put all their food scraps including meat and dairy into their green waste cans.  That is not true for any other areas in Lane County- ask your city counsellor if you want the policy to change where you live.

When I go to a potluck, the first thing people ask me is a garden question. Well, actually the first thing they ask is "Did Laurie (my wife) bring a pie?"

Then it's then garden question, and then something on recycling. As a Master Recycler, Master Composter, and Climate Master, I have a good base of knowledge on Reducing, Reusing, and Recycling.

In a weird way, you have to admire a good scam. We've been tricked into buying bottled water from Los Angeles instead of drinking our own MacKenzie River water.

Master Gardener John Fischer here with KLCC's Good Gardening. Sometimes careful planning, and benign neglect can produce the same results in your garden.  Having grown cabbage for many years, I know that leaving the base of the plant in the ground after harvesting the head of cabbage will allow three to five cute little "single serving" cabbages to grow where the first head was cut off.

Pests and disease can cause problems for your crops. Like you don't get to eat what you grew.  Resistant varieties have helped reduce disease problems, but resistant does not always mean immune. And to make things more confusing, the same plant will show different levels of resistance in different locations.

It can be tough to keep harvesting lettuce - at last edible lettuce-  through the heat of summer.  The first planting has gone to seed and since many fall vegetables won't sprout in warm soil, you can be left with no salad on the table.

The color and sheen of your vegetables can tell you a lot about how they will taste before you even take a bite.