Good Gardening

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

What you eat plays a big part in your personal climate impact. And the elephant in the dining room turns out to be a cow.

Meat and dairy production account for 15% of food climate emissions. And three quarters of all agricultural land is used for livestock. The environmental impact from all that land cleared - often forested land - to pasture livestock, or grow feed for animals adds even more to the footprint of meat and dairy.

Congratulations to those of you who are flying less- or not at all, driving electric vehicles, and making sure you don't waste food.  our efforts are helping to stop climate change.

You can help cool the planet- especially the cities most of us live in, end a major source of garbage for the landfill, stop oil extraction, and improve the value of your home in one easy step.

My lettuce is bolting, the cabbage is cracking, and the raspberries are half sun scorched. My garden is perfect - because I have realistic standards.

If you are new to gardening, you may be comparing your home grown produce to the stuff you get in a supermarket. The outer leaves of the store lettuce were thrown away so you wouldn't have to deal with a few holes, slightly yellow leaves, or the nutrients - which are higher in the outer leaves.

Master Recycler John Fischer here with KLCC's Living Less Unsustainably- or today Dying More Sustainably.
I have long been disturbed by the use of fuel to cremate people after they die. Apparently I was not alone. Starting next July, human remains can be composted in Oregon, and then returned to the earth as fertilizer. Cremating a person uses as much energy as driving a car from Eugene to Chicago, and leaves behind just ash, and CO2.
Composting provides a valuable product - fertilizer - without the damaging by-products.

Hi All, Lane County Extension Master Gardener John Fischer here with KLCC's Good Gardening.

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

Carbon Dioxide is not the only climate changing gas increasing in our atmosphere. Methane accounts for 20% of the warming, and with levels  increasing even faster than CO2, that contribution is increasing.

Hi all, Lane County Extension Master Gardener John Fischer here with KLCC's Good Gardening.

I really appreciate the opportunity to be a source of garden information for all of you each month. But having the most productive vegetable patch means digging deep for ideas.  

   While doing research on green tags, or carbon offsets last month, I was surprised to see how variable miles flown per person is.  Some people fly often, and have large travel footprints while others take a trip every year or two. 

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.