--Home Gardening Guides--Garden Party--Home Gardening Blog --

This time of year, the Associated Garden Clubs of Spokane ordinarily host a tour of several beautiful gardens in the Spokane area. What with the nasty heat spell and drought we've been having, they decided to hold a Garden Party instead and YOU are invited!

It will take place at 601 W. Bradford Ct. on Sunday, Aug. 2nd from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. In this beautiful garden setting, there will be refreshments and the opportunity to visit with fellow gardeners.

Deb Garrett's wonderful garden is located on the upper South Hill near Comstock Park. It features sculptures by local artist David Govedare and plantings designed to create a serene, tranquil place.

The primary purpose of the Garden Party is a membership drive for the Associated Garden Clubs of Spokane. Those who bring new members will be eligible to win door prizes. This is an opportunity to learn more about this local club with a rich history.

There will also be two presentations given: one on Japanese Ikebana floral arranging at 11 a.m. and the other on straw bale gardening at 1 p.m. The latter talk will be given by none other than Randy Palmer, whom I profiled in last Sunday's edition of The Spokesman-Review. He is an amazing gardener!

Gardening experts will be on hand to answer your questions as well. This enjoyable event is free and open to the public.

July 2015 - Hello Friend gunderson-assessment,In the article you read this time with the title July 2015,we have prepared well for this article you read and download the information therein . hopefully fill posts we write this you can understand. Well, happy reading.

Judul : --Home Gardening Guides--Garden Party--Home Gardening Blog --
link : --Home Gardening Guides--Garden Party--Home Gardening Blog --

July 2015

This time of year, the Associated Garden Clubs of Spokane ordinarily host a tour of several beautiful gardens in the Spokane area. What with the nasty heat spell and drought we've been having, they decided to hold a Garden Party instead and YOU are invited!

It will take place at 601 W. Bradford Ct. on Sunday, Aug. 2nd from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. In this beautiful garden setting, there will be refreshments and the opportunity to visit with fellow gardeners.

Deb Garrett's wonderful garden is located on the upper South Hill near Comstock Park. It features sculptures by local artist David Govedare and plantings designed to create a serene, tranquil place.

The primary purpose of the Garden Party is a membership drive for the Associated Garden Clubs of Spokane. Those who bring new members will be eligible to win door prizes. This is an opportunity to learn more about this local club with a rich history.

There will also be two presentations given: one on Japanese Ikebana floral arranging at 11 a.m. and the other on straw bale gardening at 1 p.m. The latter talk will be given by none other than Randy Palmer, whom I profiled in last Sunday's edition of The Spokesman-Review. He is an amazing gardener!

Gardening experts will be on hand to answer your questions as well. This enjoyable event is free and open to the public.

Read More

--Home Gardening Guides--July 26 column--Home Gardening Blog --

How would you like a gazebo like this?

Here is a link to my column in today's edition of The Spokesman-Review: Backyard oasis. It is about my featured local gardener for July, Randy Palmer.

Randy and his wife live on a city lot in northwest Spokane. His garden is amazing! I took a lot of photos while I visited his garden, just to give you a sense of how nice it is and also provide some inspiration. Enjoy!

(remember that you can click on any photo to view a larger image)

Entrance to his backyard.

Entrance to Randy's "secret garden."

Randy's "secret garden," behind his garage.

Five raised beds for growing veggies.

Straw bale garden for tomatoes.

July 2015 - Hello Friend gunderson-assessment,In the article you read this time with the title July 2015,we have prepared well for this article you read and download the information therein . hopefully fill posts we write this you can understand. Well, happy reading.

Judul : --Home Gardening Guides--July 26 column--Home Gardening Blog --
link : --Home Gardening Guides--July 26 column--Home Gardening Blog --

July 2015

How would you like a gazebo like this?

Here is a link to my column in today's edition of The Spokesman-Review: Backyard oasis. It is about my featured local gardener for July, Randy Palmer.

Randy and his wife live on a city lot in northwest Spokane. His garden is amazing! I took a lot of photos while I visited his garden, just to give you a sense of how nice it is and also provide some inspiration. Enjoy!

(remember that you can click on any photo to view a larger image)

Entrance to his backyard.

Entrance to Randy's "secret garden."

Randy's "secret garden," behind his garage.

Five raised beds for growing veggies.

Straw bale garden for tomatoes.

Read More

--Home Gardening Guides--July 19 column--Home Gardening Blog --

This shows the hoop house we were building last fall.

Here is a link to my column in today's edition of The Spokesman-Review: Never too early to start planning for fall.

Even though it has been incredibly hot lately, the focus of my column is on getting your fall and winter garden under way.

You'll probably recall that I've been experimenting with growing veggies during the colder months of the year for the past two winters. I had bit of luck with it the first winter, and more success this past winter. And you know how that works: a little bit of success makes a gardener want to try, try again!

The above photo shows the early phases of constructing a hoop house last fall, to cover two raised beds that had already been planted with cold-hardy vegetables. You can watch a video of the project to see how we built it.

In today's column, I talk about how it's time to start your seeds indoors so they'll be off to a good start before the cold weather hits -- that way, they'll have good growth so you can start harvesting your greens. I also list the most cold-tolerant vegetable crops and varieties to grow for maximum success.

Corn salad (a.k.a. Mache)

 I'm going to start my kale and minutina seeds tomorrow. The other plants I'm going to grow (claytonia, 'Bordeaux' spinach and 'Vit' mache) do best when sowed directly but I need to wait a bit as they don't tolerate temperatures in the 80s and 90s!

Two good mail-order sources for fall and winter garden seeds are Johnny's Selected Seeds and Territorial Seed.

I'd love to hear if you're going to give this a try this fall and winter, and how things went. Just drop me a note at inthegarden@live.com.

July 2015 - Hello Friend gunderson-assessment,In the article you read this time with the title July 2015,we have prepared well for this article you read and download the information therein . hopefully fill posts we write this you can understand. Well, happy reading.

Judul : --Home Gardening Guides--July 19 column--Home Gardening Blog --
link : --Home Gardening Guides--July 19 column--Home Gardening Blog --

July 2015

This shows the hoop house we were building last fall.

Here is a link to my column in today's edition of The Spokesman-Review: Never too early to start planning for fall.

Even though it has been incredibly hot lately, the focus of my column is on getting your fall and winter garden under way.

You'll probably recall that I've been experimenting with growing veggies during the colder months of the year for the past two winters. I had bit of luck with it the first winter, and more success this past winter. And you know how that works: a little bit of success makes a gardener want to try, try again!

The above photo shows the early phases of constructing a hoop house last fall, to cover two raised beds that had already been planted with cold-hardy vegetables. You can watch a video of the project to see how we built it.

In today's column, I talk about how it's time to start your seeds indoors so they'll be off to a good start before the cold weather hits -- that way, they'll have good growth so you can start harvesting your greens. I also list the most cold-tolerant vegetable crops and varieties to grow for maximum success.

Corn salad (a.k.a. Mache)

 I'm going to start my kale and minutina seeds tomorrow. The other plants I'm going to grow (claytonia, 'Bordeaux' spinach and 'Vit' mache) do best when sowed directly but I need to wait a bit as they don't tolerate temperatures in the 80s and 90s!

Two good mail-order sources for fall and winter garden seeds are Johnny's Selected Seeds and Territorial Seed.

I'd love to hear if you're going to give this a try this fall and winter, and how things went. Just drop me a note at inthegarden@live.com.

Read More

--Home Gardening Guides--Variety comparison: A tale of two beans--Home Gardening Blog --

I'm growing two varieties of bush beans this summer. I usually just grow pole beans but decided to make a little extra room in my garden for thems because bush beans tend to be quite prolific.

One variety is French beans 'Gourmet Green Baby Filet Type' from Ed Hume Seeds (see above right). I grew it last year and couldn't believe how many beans it produced! They are narrow and small but very tasty.

The other variety is 'Purple Teepee Bean' from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds (above left). I was attracted to this variety because the description indicated the beans would be held above the foliage, making it easy to harvest. I thought that sounded great because we all know what a pain it is to harvest bush beans! That's because the plants usually fall over from the weight of the beans and you have to dig through the foliage in order to see where the beans are.

So I planted both and started harvesting them a week ago. Here is a comparison of the two, in case you'd find it helpful:

Gourmet Green Baby Filet Type _

• Seed color: White
• Bean length: About 4"
• Ease of harvesting: Fair. It's difficult to see the beans.
• Taste: Very good, tender pods.
• Comments: Very prolific. Freezing quality is good (but not excellent).
• Would I grow them again? Definitely. The taste and productivity make them worth a spot in the garden. I think they are better for steaming and eating right away, rather than being topnotch for freezing.

Purple Teepee Bean _

• Seed color: Brown
• Bean length: About 5"
• Ease of harvesting: Fair. Most of the beans I've picked so far have been hanging down under the foliage near the main stem, so it's hard to see them. To make matters worse, the plant stems are deep purple -- same as the beans -- so it's hard to see a dark purple bean against a dark purple stem!
• Taste: Very good, tender pods. Haven't eaten any I've frozen yet so can't comment on freezing quality.
• Comments: Purple pods change to green during cooking process. Pretty pink flowers, prolific. 
• Would I grow them again? Only until I finish off the seed packet!

July 2015 - Hello Friend gunderson-assessment,In the article you read this time with the title July 2015,we have prepared well for this article you read and download the information therein . hopefully fill posts we write this you can understand. Well, happy reading.

Judul : --Home Gardening Guides--Variety comparison: A tale of two beans--Home Gardening Blog --
link : --Home Gardening Guides--Variety comparison: A tale of two beans--Home Gardening Blog --

July 2015

I'm growing two varieties of bush beans this summer. I usually just grow pole beans but decided to make a little extra room in my garden for thems because bush beans tend to be quite prolific.

One variety is French beans 'Gourmet Green Baby Filet Type' from Ed Hume Seeds (see above right). I grew it last year and couldn't believe how many beans it produced! They are narrow and small but very tasty.

The other variety is 'Purple Teepee Bean' from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds (above left). I was attracted to this variety because the description indicated the beans would be held above the foliage, making it easy to harvest. I thought that sounded great because we all know what a pain it is to harvest bush beans! That's because the plants usually fall over from the weight of the beans and you have to dig through the foliage in order to see where the beans are.

So I planted both and started harvesting them a week ago. Here is a comparison of the two, in case you'd find it helpful:

Gourmet Green Baby Filet Type _

• Seed color: White
• Bean length: About 4"
• Ease of harvesting: Fair. It's difficult to see the beans.
• Taste: Very good, tender pods.
• Comments: Very prolific. Freezing quality is good (but not excellent).
• Would I grow them again? Definitely. The taste and productivity make them worth a spot in the garden. I think they are better for steaming and eating right away, rather than being topnotch for freezing.

Purple Teepee Bean _

• Seed color: Brown
• Bean length: About 5"
• Ease of harvesting: Fair. Most of the beans I've picked so far have been hanging down under the foliage near the main stem, so it's hard to see them. To make matters worse, the plant stems are deep purple -- same as the beans -- so it's hard to see a dark purple bean against a dark purple stem!
• Taste: Very good, tender pods. Haven't eaten any I've frozen yet so can't comment on freezing quality.
• Comments: Purple pods change to green during cooking process. Pretty pink flowers, prolific. 
• Would I grow them again? Only until I finish off the seed packet!

Read More

--Home Gardening Guides--Coeur d'Alene Garden Tour: report #2--Home Gardening Blog --

Gorgeous Oriental lily!

Here is my second post on the Coeur d'Alene Garden Tour, which we attended on Sunday. Today's post is about great gardening ideas -- things like plant combinations that work, containers that pop and an unusual idea.

Remember to click on each of the photos for a much larger view. Enjoy!

Nice combination of annuals.

The repetition of the yellow Coreopsis works!

Nice butterfly/pollinator/bird planting.

Simple but beautiful container.

Awesome combination of annuals in this pot!

How about a "garden bed," complete with annuals for a quilt?

These summer squash were growing in overturned pots... and loving it!

July 2015 - Hello Friend gunderson-assessment,In the article you read this time with the title July 2015,we have prepared well for this article you read and download the information therein . hopefully fill posts we write this you can understand. Well, happy reading.

Judul : --Home Gardening Guides--Coeur d'Alene Garden Tour: report #2--Home Gardening Blog --
link : --Home Gardening Guides--Coeur d'Alene Garden Tour: report #2--Home Gardening Blog --

July 2015

Gorgeous Oriental lily!

Here is my second post on the Coeur d'Alene Garden Tour, which we attended on Sunday. Today's post is about great gardening ideas -- things like plant combinations that work, containers that pop and an unusual idea.

Remember to click on each of the photos for a much larger view. Enjoy!

Nice combination of annuals.

The repetition of the yellow Coreopsis works!

Nice butterfly/pollinator/bird planting.

Simple but beautiful container.

Awesome combination of annuals in this pot!

How about a "garden bed," complete with annuals for a quilt?

These summer squash were growing in overturned pots... and loving it!

Read More

--Home Gardening Guides--Coeur d'Alene Garden Tour: report #1--Home Gardening Blog --

Who wouldn't want a little garden cottage like this?!

Yesterday, my husband and two friends and I went to the Coeur d'Alene Garden Tour. This year, it featured six beautiful gardens in Post Falls, Dalton Gardens and, of course,  Coeur d'Alene.

I saw some fun garden decor and also some potential DIY projects that I thought you might enjoy seeing. Remember that you can click on any of the photos to view an enlarged image. Enjoy!

Cute "birdhouse tree"

Easy pole bean trellis

Fabulous hoop tunnel for heat-loving veggies.

Vertical succulent garden

Tool holder

Cute sign!

Nice potting bench

July 2015 - Hello Friend gunderson-assessment,In the article you read this time with the title July 2015,we have prepared well for this article you read and download the information therein . hopefully fill posts we write this you can understand. Well, happy reading.

Judul : --Home Gardening Guides--Coeur d'Alene Garden Tour: report #1--Home Gardening Blog --
link : --Home Gardening Guides--Coeur d'Alene Garden Tour: report #1--Home Gardening Blog --

July 2015

Who wouldn't want a little garden cottage like this?!

Yesterday, my husband and two friends and I went to the Coeur d'Alene Garden Tour. This year, it featured six beautiful gardens in Post Falls, Dalton Gardens and, of course,  Coeur d'Alene.

I saw some fun garden decor and also some potential DIY projects that I thought you might enjoy seeing. Remember that you can click on any of the photos to view an enlarged image. Enjoy!

Cute "birdhouse tree"

Easy pole bean trellis

Fabulous hoop tunnel for heat-loving veggies.

Vertical succulent garden

Tool holder

Cute sign!

Nice potting bench

Read More

--Home Gardening Guides--July 12 column--Home Gardening Blog --

The Rose Garden on Petrin Hill

Here is a link to my column in today's edition of The Spokesman-Review: Historic gardens worth the climb. This one was particularly fun to write because it's about the gardens my husband, Bill, and I visited while in Prague, Czech Republic, last month.

In my column, I talk about several different gardens and promised to post additional photos of them on my blog. So here they are! Refer to the captions for the locations. I hope you'll enjoying reading about them. Remember that you can click on any of the images in order to see an enlarged view.

Water garden on Petrin Hill

Looking down into Vrtba Garden

View of Prague from high above Vrtba Garden

Wallenstein Gardens water feature

Mr. Peacock in Wallenstein Gardens

The unusual grotto in Wallenstein Gardens

More of Wallenstein Gardens, with the Czech Senate behind.

One of the terraces of the Gardens Below Prague Castle.

Looking down into some of the Gardens Below Prague Castle.

July 2015 - Hello Friend gunderson-assessment,In the article you read this time with the title July 2015,we have prepared well for this article you read and download the information therein . hopefully fill posts we write this you can understand. Well, happy reading.

Judul : --Home Gardening Guides--July 12 column--Home Gardening Blog --
link : --Home Gardening Guides--July 12 column--Home Gardening Blog --

July 2015

The Rose Garden on Petrin Hill

Here is a link to my column in today's edition of The Spokesman-Review: Historic gardens worth the climb. This one was particularly fun to write because it's about the gardens my husband, Bill, and I visited while in Prague, Czech Republic, last month.

In my column, I talk about several different gardens and promised to post additional photos of them on my blog. So here they are! Refer to the captions for the locations. I hope you'll enjoying reading about them. Remember that you can click on any of the images in order to see an enlarged view.

Water garden on Petrin Hill

Looking down into Vrtba Garden

View of Prague from high above Vrtba Garden

Wallenstein Gardens water feature

Mr. Peacock in Wallenstein Gardens

The unusual grotto in Wallenstein Gardens

More of Wallenstein Gardens, with the Czech Senate behind.

One of the terraces of the Gardens Below Prague Castle.

Looking down into some of the Gardens Below Prague Castle.

Read More

--Home Gardening Guides--Vegetable garden update--Home Gardening Blog --

As I wandered through my veggie garden yesterday, doing a little weeding here and some pruning there, I thought you might be interested to see how it's coming along. Remember that you can click on any of the photos to view an enlarged version.

One of the most exciting things I saw (well, it doesn't take much to excite me, I guess) was my first "Trombetta di Albenga" zucchini! That's in the foreground of the above photo and it's only a few inches long but will eventually grow about 15" long and will look somewhat like a trombone. How cool is that? I got the seeds from Renee's Garden.

While we're on the subject of squash, look how crazy my winter squash and pumpkin bed is looking! Yup, that's it to the left of the corn patch, which is already developing ears of corn.

Anyway, the smaller photo to the left isn't great because of all of the vines and leaves in the way but you are looking at a young 'Candystick Delicata' squash. Those seeds came from Fertile Valley Seeds and they are an heirloom variety.

And this next squash photo (to the right) shows a larger variety of winter squash (it's either 'Blue Ballet' Hubbard or Sweet Meat - Oregon Homestead', can't tell yet) are already growing. I can't believe how early the veggies are developing this summer! I even pruned back a few canes that were wandering a bit too far from the raised bed... something I don't ordinarily have to do until August.

Here's a photo of the paste tomato patch (to the left). They're doing really well and have lots of tomatoes growing on the vines although they're still quite green. The varieties are 'Italian Pompeii' (from Renee's) and 'Amish Paste - Kapuler' from Fertile Valley. The latter is also an heirloom that is supposed to have much larger fruits than what the regular 'Amish Paste' variety tends to develop.

The photo to the right shows some 'Amish Paste - Kapuler' tomatoes and they're already looking quite stocky to me. Will keep you posted on that.

Last but not least, since our pea patch is done, I loosened the soil in that bed and planted a cover crop (see photo below), which I'll turn into the soil later to increase the soil's fertility. Boy did those seeds germinate quickly in this heat!

July 2015 - Hello Friend gunderson-assessment,In the article you read this time with the title July 2015,we have prepared well for this article you read and download the information therein . hopefully fill posts we write this you can understand. Well, happy reading.

Judul : --Home Gardening Guides--Vegetable garden update--Home Gardening Blog --
link : --Home Gardening Guides--Vegetable garden update--Home Gardening Blog --

July 2015

As I wandered through my veggie garden yesterday, doing a little weeding here and some pruning there, I thought you might be interested to see how it's coming along. Remember that you can click on any of the photos to view an enlarged version.

One of the most exciting things I saw (well, it doesn't take much to excite me, I guess) was my first "Trombetta di Albenga" zucchini! That's in the foreground of the above photo and it's only a few inches long but will eventually grow about 15" long and will look somewhat like a trombone. How cool is that? I got the seeds from Renee's Garden.

While we're on the subject of squash, look how crazy my winter squash and pumpkin bed is looking! Yup, that's it to the left of the corn patch, which is already developing ears of corn.

Anyway, the smaller photo to the left isn't great because of all of the vines and leaves in the way but you are looking at a young 'Candystick Delicata' squash. Those seeds came from Fertile Valley Seeds and they are an heirloom variety.

And this next squash photo (to the right) shows a larger variety of winter squash (it's either 'Blue Ballet' Hubbard or Sweet Meat - Oregon Homestead', can't tell yet) are already growing. I can't believe how early the veggies are developing this summer! I even pruned back a few canes that were wandering a bit too far from the raised bed... something I don't ordinarily have to do until August.

Here's a photo of the paste tomato patch (to the left). They're doing really well and have lots of tomatoes growing on the vines although they're still quite green. The varieties are 'Italian Pompeii' (from Renee's) and 'Amish Paste - Kapuler' from Fertile Valley. The latter is also an heirloom that is supposed to have much larger fruits than what the regular 'Amish Paste' variety tends to develop.

The photo to the right shows some 'Amish Paste - Kapuler' tomatoes and they're already looking quite stocky to me. Will keep you posted on that.

Last but not least, since our pea patch is done, I loosened the soil in that bed and planted a cover crop (see photo below), which I'll turn into the soil later to increase the soil's fertility. Boy did those seeds germinate quickly in this heat!

Read More

--Home Gardening Guides--Community garden in Vienna--Home Gardening Blog --

I've recently returned from a wonderful trip to Vienna, Budapest and Prague. As you can probably guess, I was keeping my eyes open for interesting gardens to visit the whole time.

But sometimes, my husband and I would stumble upon something unexpected. That was the case while in Vienna. One day, we spied what looked like a community garden and instantly changed course!

It was called "Karl's Garten" and was unlike most I've seen. In addition to raised beds, we enjoyed seeing their demonstration areas that showed the different types of materials they used both for their raised beds and the soil they filled them with.

I noticed they were growing tomatoes in straw-filled wire cylinders and potatoes in gunny sacks.

I've included a lot of photos with this post; remember that you can click on any of them for a larger, more detailed view.

I liked how they put together clusters of differently-configured raised beds in which they were growing herbs and veggies.






Another item you might find interesting is their seating "units" constructed from pallets. That would be a fun DYI project, don't you think? They were very popular with the locals.

I loved seeing their insect hotels as well. Here are photos of 3 different styles:

If you speak some German, or even if you don't, you might enjoy going to their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/KarlsGarten. It's interesting to see more photos of the garden and learn about events they sponsor. I'm sure Karl's Garten is a valuable addition to the downtown community.

July 2015 - Hello Friend gunderson-assessment,In the article you read this time with the title July 2015,we have prepared well for this article you read and download the information therein . hopefully fill posts we write this you can understand. Well, happy reading.

Judul : --Home Gardening Guides--Community garden in Vienna--Home Gardening Blog --
link : --Home Gardening Guides--Community garden in Vienna--Home Gardening Blog --

July 2015

I've recently returned from a wonderful trip to Vienna, Budapest and Prague. As you can probably guess, I was keeping my eyes open for interesting gardens to visit the whole time.

But sometimes, my husband and I would stumble upon something unexpected. That was the case while in Vienna. One day, we spied what looked like a community garden and instantly changed course!

It was called "Karl's Garten" and was unlike most I've seen. In addition to raised beds, we enjoyed seeing their demonstration areas that showed the different types of materials they used both for their raised beds and the soil they filled them with.

I noticed they were growing tomatoes in straw-filled wire cylinders and potatoes in gunny sacks.

I've included a lot of photos with this post; remember that you can click on any of them for a larger, more detailed view.

I liked how they put together clusters of differently-configured raised beds in which they were growing herbs and veggies.






Another item you might find interesting is their seating "units" constructed from pallets. That would be a fun DYI project, don't you think? They were very popular with the locals.

I loved seeing their insect hotels as well. Here are photos of 3 different styles:

If you speak some German, or even if you don't, you might enjoy going to their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/KarlsGarten. It's interesting to see more photos of the garden and learn about events they sponsor. I'm sure Karl's Garten is a valuable addition to the downtown community.

Read More