Good Gardening

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. 

When your garden fills up with weeds, it's tempting to scowl at your neighbors’ dandelions, and assume all your problems came from over there.

It's more likely that most of the weeds sprouting were from seeds left over in your soil from last year, or the year before, or the year before...  And even more likely that the weeds are sneaking into your vegetable patch underground.

I don't spend much time on flowers, but this year the combination of a sudden spring after the April deluge has made them irresistible even to a dedicated edibles grower.  And there is a lesson coming for both ornamental and food gardeners.

It is cold, wet and gray outside. But if you can get out there for five minutes now, planting a tree or new shrub in the spring will be much easier.

Here's a quote from the March 1895 Eugene weather summary written in early April.    "While the coast range passes are still blocked by snow, they are expected to open in the next two weeks".  Yes the weather is different, and we must adapt to the changes in the way we garden. 

For many vegetables, harvest is a one day affair.  The carrot is either in the ground, or on the table.  And once you've picked the carrot, it won't grow back again.