Uncategorized

Unexpected Discoveries In A Small Garden

Have you ever visited a garden that was not what you expected?

I recently had the opportunity to visit a small 2-acre garden run by master gardeners Mount Vernon, WA in conjunction with Washington State University.

Photo: Pink Dogwood

Now for those of you who kindly read through my myraid of garden travels on my Northwest road trip – this garden was somewhat different and completely unexpected.

I’ve had the opportunity through my travels to visit a number of gardens run by master gardeners and I have found them to be places for learning more about plants and gardening practices.

Discovery Garden

While I expected much of the same with this garden, I found so much more. Within its boundaries, there were so many separate gardens including a 4 seasons, cottage, Japanese, native, shade and sun garden just to name a few. However, in addition to the more traditional gardens, were also an imaginative children’s garden and an enabling garden for those with disabilities.

I’ve been waiting to share the wonders of this garden with you. I hope you enjoy the tour!

Discovery Garden

The Discovery Garden is located in the small town of Mount Vernon, otherwise known as the bulb-growing capital of the U.S. It is 60 miles north of Seattle.

Espaliered apple trees grew on the fence along the front entry.

Small apples were ripening, which made me remember that Washington is the state where the most apples are grown.

As we entered the gardens, we noticed helpful signs that described the theme of each sub-garden along with a list of the plants growing in it.

The paths curved, creating islands where each individual garden stood. This photo, above, shows how curving paths create a sense of mystery, leading one on to discover what is around the bend.

The Four Seasons garden showed examples of plants in bloom alongside others that will bloom later in the season.

Of course, anywhere I find peonies growing, I find it hard to tear myself away from this lovely flowering plant that can never grow in my warm desert garden.

Japanese gardens are quite popular in the Northwest and this garden had one of its own.

My mother and I journeyed through the garden on a cloudy Saturday morning. As we walked through the gardens, we met with one of the 27 master gardeners who take care of this garden.

She was nice enough to take us on a tour of the gardens and told us that the entire garden was designed by master gardeners. I must admit that the landscape designer in me was extremely impressed at how well it was designed.

Gardeners know that most landscapes hold secrets that aren’t always evident to the casual observer and this one was no different.

She guided us toward a tree that held a tiny hummingbird’s nest.

They have Anna’s hummingbirds living in the gardens year round.

However, I was very happy to be able to see a Rufous hummingbird for the very first time, drinking nectar from nearby flowers.

Continuing on our adventure through the garden, I spotted swaths of purple in the distance.

Have I ever told you that I like irises almost as much as peonies?

Thankfully, these can be grown in my Arizona garden.

The Herb Garden was next.

The sage was in full bloom and it was hard to imagine that people grow them for their foliage and not their lovely flowers.

There was even a variegated sage.

I really liked these rustic plant signs.

Within the Herb Garden, was a display with a list of herbs and how they are used as dyes.

Who knew that basil is used as a black dye?

Photo: Flowering Garlic Chives

Our time in this garden was limited since we had a plane to catch in Seattle in the early afternoon. To be honest, we hadn’t expected to find so much to explore in this university garden and so we had rush to see as much as we could.

Photo: Columbine

Of course, like most educational gardens, this one had a great compost working display.

Divided bins were filled with ‘greens’, ‘browns’ and ‘twigs’.

However, my favorite part was the ‘Yuck Bin’…

One of the many reasons that I like to visit gardens whenever I travel is that I get to see plants that don’t grow where I live.

This is the Heather Garden, filled with a variety of heathers.

I admit that I haven’t seen much heather growing except for trips to Great Britain.

Some of the heathers were beginning to flower.

While there is much more to see, I want to share with you one last garden area in this post that really caught my eye.

Have you ever heard of ‘naturescaping’? I haven’t, but it immediately sounded like my style of sustainable, low-maintenance garden.

This area of the garden was filled with native plants and associated cultivars that receive minimal maintenance. The plants were chosen with the goal of attracting wildlife with many plants providing shelter and food.

I hope you have enjoyed the first part of the tour of this small garden.

But, I’m not finished yet. I’ve saved the best for last. Come back next time to see the Children’s, Enabling, Native and Vegetable Gardens.

You may even spot the elusive Peter Rabbit in Mr. McGregor’s garden…

A Hidden Garden in the Smallest Place

Blackberries, Jars and a Young Helper

DIY, Uncategorized

Do you grow fruit in your garden?

For those of us who live in warm, southern climates, you’ll often see a citrus tree or two in the growing in the backyard.

While I do have a lemon and orange tree growing in my garden, that is just the beginning of my fruit crop. I also have a pair of apple and peach trees that generously provide us with fruit in late spring.

The final fruit crop that I grow isn’t found on a tree but rather on bushes.

Ever since I was a child in Southern California, I have loved blackberries. We had a line of blackberry bushes growing along the back wall of our suburban home and it was often a race between us and our dog ‘Smitty’ to see who would get to them first.

Now, I have my own blackberry bushes growing in my side garden, which are located right behind my apple trees.

While I enjoy eating fresh fruit, I also like to make jam so that I can enjoy the fruits of my garden throughout the entire year.

Last month, I made several batches of peach jam and last week, it was time to make my first batch of blackberry jam.

It took a few weeks to get all of the blackberries picked from the bushes. The reason for this is that not all the berries ripened at once, so we would freeze them after picking until the entire bush was clean of berries.

My 13-year-old son asked if he could help me make the jam. I was pleasantly surprised that he would want to help me, but I will take any opportunity I can to spend time with my son.

We gathered supplies – canning jars with lids, sugar, powdered pectin and a canner.

The first step involved mashing the blackberries in a large pot before adding the powdered pectin.

The blackberry mixture had to be heated to a high temperature until it began to boil.

Then it was time to add the sugar. Jam takes a lot of sugar, but I don’t like mine overly sweet, so I decreased the amount of sugar by 1 cup.

It helps to have the sugar pre-measured before boiling the fruit mixture.

After adding the sugar, we needed to heat the mixture back up to boiling. It was nice to have a helper, since you have to stir the entire time. Once it begins to boil, you have to let it continue for 1 minute before taking off the heat.

Take a couple of minutes to scoop off any foam that accumulated on the top of the blackberry jam before filling sterilized jam jars.

We carefully added the hot blackberry jam mixture into the jam jars. It smelled so good that we were tempted to try some, but decided against it since we didn’t want to burn our mouths.

Using the handy magnet utensil that came with my canning kit, I carefully put on the lids.

At this point, you can allow the jam to cool and then enjoy it on toast or English muffin. But, you will need to refrigerate the jam unless you want to preserve it by processing it by water bath canning.

A hot water canning bath involves submerging the jars of jam in boiling water for several minutes. This will preserve the blackberry jam and allow it to last over a year on the pantry shelf.

Canning kits include a large pot, metal insert, funnel, magnet utensil for lids and tongs. They are relatively inexpensive and can be found at Walmart or Amazon. I have even seen them in my local Ace Hardware store.

After a 10-minute boiling water bath, the jam was ready to be taken out carefully with tongs.

We let them sit overnight to cool before eagerly tasting the fruits of our labors.

It is hard to compare the delicious taste of homemade jam that was made from fruit from your own garden. In fact, I find myself tempted to make a second piece of toast just so I can enjoy some more delicious blackberry jam.

Of course, you don’t have to grow your own fruit to be able to make jam – simply buy some fruit at your local grocery store or farmers market. Earlier this month, I saw 1/2 pint containers of blackberries on sale for 97¢.

While I make jam every year, this was the first time I’ve made blackberry jam and I can’t wait until next year to make some more.

Thankfully, I have eleven jars to last me through the next year.

***********************

Want to learn more about canning?

If you are lucky, maybe your grandmother, mother, or aunt can teach you. 5 years ago, my mother taught me how to make jam and I’ve never stopped.

If you don’t have anyone to teach you, a simple Google search can help you find a class offered nearby or you can learn how to online.

Road Trip Day 8: City Traffic, Border Crossings and a Farm House Garden

Road Trip, Uncategorized

The last full day of our Northwest road trip began with a ferry ride yesterday.

The ferry was to take us from Victoria to Vancouver.

When we arrived for the ferry, approximately 60 minutes early, we got in line with our car – it looks like a bunch of cars stopped on a freeway. You then turn off the engine and sit in the car or lock it up and head over to the rest stop, complete with restaurant and shops until you are notified to start boarding the ferry.

We felt a bit more experienced this time with the process of bringing our rental car onto the ferry (as it was our second time) and walking upstairs to the passenger levels.

What we weren’t prepared for was how huge this ferry was. There were 3 levels for cars, busses and even semi-trailer trucks.

Food options consisted of a large cafe and coffee shop.

There was a very large gift shop AND a video arcade – my kids would love this!

You could also venture outside to see the beauty of the islands we passed by.

After docking just outside of Vancouver, we promptly headed toward the city.

We were somewhat surprised at how much traffic there was and it took a very long time to arrive at our hotel downtown.

This morning, after a quick breakfast, we were going to take the city trolley tour so that we could hop on and off to see the many attractions of this vibrant city.

However, we were informed because of the ongoing transit strike, that the tour was delayed. So, we decided to go out on our own.

We headed toward Granville Island Public Market, which is located in the downtown area.

It is a fun and creative place with artist studios where you watch art being created before your eyes – a definite draw for both locals and tourists alike.

Stores offering unique wares are scattered throughout the small island.

If you have pets, this shop in a railroad car likely have just the right thing for your 4-legged friend.

When I travel, I like to find stores that sell handcrafted items made from local residents. I found a beautiful Christmas ornament in this little store made by an 80-year old woman.

As we walked through the streets of the public market, there was a small dog that was walking about in its own.

He was obviously at home and comfortable with his surroundings. He paid no mind to us or any other passersby.

Now before you think that this is a lost dog – think again. He belongs to one of the local vendors and has free reign of the market.

Our attention was drawn to a nearby lake where a family of Canadian geese were swimming.

On shore, we met up with another feathered family. I found it symbolic that on our last day in Canada, that we would see Canadian geese.

We had hoped to see more of this beautiful city, but there was so much traffic due to the transit strike and it took a very long time to travel small distances, so we made the difficult decision to cut our visit short by a few hours and head back toward the States.

On our way out of the city, we spotted this community garden.

Vancouver is quite close to the U.S. border and we soon found ourselves sitting a long line to cross over the border. We settled ourselves in for a long wait.

Road Trip Day 8: City Traffic, Border Crossings and a Farm House Garden

As we inched our way closer, we saw this archway at the actual border. I like this wonderful statement about our two countries.

People anxious to visit the United States took turns taking pictures next to this sign while waiting for their cars to go through the border crossing.

It’s almost our turn!

While we had a wonderful time in Canada, I didn’t like having to pay for an international phone plan, which had extremely limited data (which I went over).

While waiting in line to cross, once we got within feet of the border my phone suddenly got a ‘No Service’ signal and then once we crossed, my regular carrier took over and I was so happy to be able to use my normal cell phone allowances again.

Since we had some extra time to fill due to our shortened visit to Vancouver, we stopped by the Fairhaven historic downtown neighborhood in Bellingham, WA.

Many of the stores had garden themed products and while I have no plans on seeing the ‘Fifty Shades of Gray’ movie, I may need to read this book 🙂

We spent about an hour shopping, spending time in a clothing boutique, checking out the local bookstore and admiring some really lovely handmade woodwork.

The last night of our road trip is to be spent in Mount Vernon, WA before we leave in the morning for Seattle where we will fly home.

Mount Vernon is known for being the largest producer of flower bulbs. They also have the Skagit Tulip Festival every April.

Choosing Mount Vernon for the last stop of our trip was largely due to its proximity from the Seattle airport AND a small garden that we wanted to visit.

LaConner Flats Farm & Garden is an 11-acre display garden of a large family-owned farm.

The gardens are free to visit and you are welcome to walk around on your own.

The centerpiece of the garden is made up of circular beds of rose bushes surrounding a gazebo – an ideal place for a wedding.

The backdrop for the roses and gazebo are formally shaped shrubs underplanted with flowering perennials.

However, it was what was behind the formal garden space that really interested me…

Behind the formally-pruned shrubs were the more informal areas of the garden.

Trees, shrubs and perennials were planted in a carefree mixture, tied together by pathways of green grass.

To be honest, there were plenty of weeds intermixed with the flowering shrubs and plants. But, it is this untamed, natural type of garden that I like best.

Several, large flowering shrubs provided vivid displays of color.

As we were admiring the flowers, we rounded the corner and came face to face with four little goats…

They were busy eating the fresh green grass and initially paid no attention to us.

A little robin stood in our path and was quite friendly.

He didn’t move until we got quit close and then hopped to the fence. Robins are rare in my neck of the woods, so I always look forward to seeing them when I travel.

The goats finally noticed our presence and came over to see if we had any food to share. Sadly, we didn’t.

I crouched down to take a picture of the friendliest goat and didn’t realize how close I was until he licked my camera’s lens.

Even though we didn’t have any food for them that didn’t stop one of them from following my mother as we walked along the path.

The pathway along the goat’s enclosure was just on the other side of the formal garden, which was separated by large shrubs.

Alongside the pathway, I saw a plant that I have rarely seen before – holly!

As we neared the end of our tour of the garden, I looked back toward our cute little friends and was trying to figure out how I could possibly talk my husband and HOA into letting us have goats 😉

This garden is surrounded by fields of wheat and the Cascade mountain range can be seen in the distance.

It is well worth the visit if you ever find yourself traveling in Northern Washington State.

We have had so many wonderful adventures during our fifth annual road trip. But, I am excited to come home and see my husband, kids, grandkids, dogs, garden – you get the picture…

Bags Are Packed – Destination ?

Road Trip, Uncategorized

Do you like to travel?

I bet you do. But, if you are like me, you don’t like the having to tasks such as packing, finishing up last minute things at work and such.

Since I will be traveling without my husband and kids, I’ll also need to stop by the grocery store so that they don’t starve while I’m gone.

Below, is my kid’s puzzle of the United States and on it, I have placed the states that I have visited – many of them on annual road trips with my mother.

As you can see, there are some empty spaces and our road trips are an ongoing effort to visit all the different regions in the United States.

So before I reveal where we will be going this year, let’s look at the options for the road trip we considered:

Southern and Plains states.

A few Rocky Mountain states.

New England, including Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine.

The Northwest, including British Columbia, Canada.

and

Texas and surrounding states.

Before I reveal our destination, I have to confess that it wasn’t our first choice. We had initially decided to travel to New England and had worked hard on an itinerary filled with fun things to do and see.

But, that was before the harsh winter that they experienced. We were advised by many New England natives that a trip this year would be difficult due to spring being delayed and numerous road crews repairing damaged streets due to pot holes left from the cold winter.

So, we decided to postpone our New England trip to next year (hopefully).

The destination that we finally decided on for this year is a region that we have both visited, but wanted to explore further…

We will be visiting the Northwest and British Columbia, Canada and I can hardly wait!

I have been to Seattle twice, but not by car and I look forward to exploring more of this dynamic city.

I’m ashamed to admit that I have never visited Oregon. It has always been a state that is flown over on my way to Washington and I have always wanted to explore it further.

Here is a detailed map of where we will be going:

Our journey begins in Portland, where we will visit the world famous rose garden. Of course, we will also explore other areas of this fun city.

After leaving Portland, we will drive to Astoria and spend some time before heading up to Seattle.

Later, we will stay in Port Angeles and visit the Olympic National Park.

The next leg of our journey involves a ferry to get us to Victoria, Canada. I was fortunate to have spent a day in this very English city including Butchart Gardens, which I plan on seeing again.

Another ferry ride will take us from Victoria to Vancouver, which I have always wanted to visit since the Olympics was held there.

The last portion of our trip will bring us back toward Seattle with a stop in Mount Vernon and more gardens to visit.

**If you have any helpful advice on what to do and see in this area, I’d love some advice.

I hope you will join me as our journey begins! I will be blogging from the road, sharing the sights and experiences along the way.

It all begins on Friday…

Reading The Leaves: Diagnosing Common Plant Ailments

Compost, Uncategorized

Did you know that you can often tell what is wrong with a plant by looking at its leaves?

It’s true.

Photo: Manganese deficiency

‘Reading the leaves’ to diagnose common plant ailments isn’t hard to do if you know what symptoms to look for.

Problems such as iron or nitrogen deficiency are fairly easy to identify as is salt and sunburn damage.

Read on to learn how to diagnose these problems in your plants in my latest Houzz article:

What’s Wrong With My Plant? Leaves Often Hold the Clues

Replace Thirsty Flowering Annuals with Succulents in Containers

Replace Thirsty Flowering Annuals with Succulents in Containers

California, Uncategorized

Do you have a pot or two that you fill with flowering annuals each season?

Replace Thirsty Flowering Annuals with Succulents in Containers

I must confess that I did this for years – both in the landscapes I managed and at home. In fall, I would plant combinations of alyssum, geraniums, lobelia, petunias and snapdragons. In summer it was celosia, salvia and/or vinca that I turned to for color.

But, with many areas of the country experiencing significant drought conditions, perhaps it’s time to think about replacing thirsty flowering annuals with drought tolerant succulents in our containers.

On a recent visit to California, (which is suffering from extreme drought conditions), we walked through the small beach town of Carpinteria.

This is a fun place to walk, especially through the downtown area with their plant nurseries and the beach is really a great one for swimming. We used to camp near the beach as kids and spent swimming in the ocean.

A visit Carpinteria for us is never complete without a visit to crushcakes for their delicious cupcakes.

In front of their restaurant, I noticed a unique coffee pot container filled with aloes.

After eating my favorite vanilla cupcake, we continued our walk down the main street.

Other store fronts also had pots filled with attractive succulents.

In fact, what was unusual was that there weren’t any pots filled with flowering annuals, as you would normally see along a picturesque downtown area.

That made me realize that while I love flowers, I didn’t miss them.

The absence of flowering annuals, got me to thinking that if you live in an area where there is drought, or even if you don’t – maybe we should look at using succulents instead of flowering annuals?

Like flowering annuals and perennials, there are countless types of succulents available with soft, colorful shades and unique shapes.

Another reason to consider using succulents is that they are easy to grow – especially when compared to flowering annuals.

All you need is a container with holes for drainage, potting mix formulated for succulents and the succulents themselves.

You could plant a variety of succulents or even add some cacti into the mix…

A container like this one above, needs water twice a month in summer and monthly in spring and fall.

I loved this succulent container that I saw at recent visit to a client’s home.

I must confess that I stopped growing flowering annuals a few years ago because succulents are easier to take care of – especially with watering.

Using succulents instead of flowering annuals doesn’t have to be fancy – in fact, a single agave looks great by itself.

But, what if you aren’t a fan of succulents. Is there a drought tolerant option instead of planting flowering annuals or perennials?

Believe it or not, bougainvillea makes a great container plant and they don’t need much water. Simply water them deeply once a week in summer and twice a month spring and fall. In winter, water them every 3 weeks.

**So what about you? Could you ditch your containers filled with colorful flowers for a waterwise one filled with succulents?

I’d love to hear your thoughts!

California Nursery Visit

Uncategorized

Do you like to visit California “Golden State” ?

I do. I spent the first 20 years of my life in the Golden State before getting married and moving to Arizona.

Since then, California was a frequent destination for visits with my parents, siblings and their families.

But, now since my family all has moved to Arizona, visits were infrequent.

That is, until my daughter was stationed at a Navy Base in CA. We have just finished up a trip visiting with my daughter and our 3-month old grandson.

My daughter was stationed at a Navy Base in Golden State

It’s times like these, that we live only 7 1/2 hours away.

During our visit, we stopped by one of our favorite little beach towns, Carpinteria, which is located about 90 miles north of Los Angeles.

Photo: Fuchsia dependens

While there, we stopped by our favorite cupcake store, Crush Cakes, and then took a stroll through Carpinteria Landscape Nursery, which is always filled with a great variety of plants.

Photo: Fuchsia dependens

As I walked into the entrance, a bright-red flowering plant caught my eye. Fuchsia dependens is a great choice for the California climate.

Photo: Hydrangea

A group of hydrangea made me lament again that fact that they cannot grow in the desert climate. But, that doesn’t stop me lusting after them.

Photo: Foxglove (Digitalis)

Whenever I see foxglove, I imagine myself standing in an English garden. I’ve even seen them offered for sale at our local big box store in AZ, but they would die soon after planting in the desert climate.

A wire container was filled with purple trailing lantana and coreopsis, which I thought was a great example of cool and warm color contrast.

Whenever I find myself near a plant nursery or nice-looking garden, my family knows that I whatever we are planning on doing, will be delayed for a few minutes while I take time to look around.

Because of that, I try my best to hurry as I did this day. But, when I had finished, I couldn’t find them. It turns out that they had found their way to the attached hardware store next to the nursery.

Photo: Mt. Lemon Marigold (Tagetes lemmonii)

This shrubby perennial grows great in the Southwest, drought tolerant garden. Mt. Lemon marigold produces sunny, yellow flowers and looks great, but its foliage does have a strong fragrance when it is touched. I don’t care for the fragrance, so I would be sure to plant it in the background where the fragrance won’t be an issue.

I wish that I could say that Eric was enjoying all of the plants as much as I was, but he slept through the entire visit.

Photo: Verbena lanai series

I’m always on the lookout for new plant colors and varieties. Here was a verbena, which was labeled ‘Verbena lanai series’. I liked its unique purple/white flowers.

This particular nursery has a variety of garden art items. This bunny is the only one you would want to see in your garden.

I loved this flower pot with the drought tolerant kangaroo paw plant growing inside.

News of the severe drought in California is everywhere you go. People are tearing out their lawns and forgoing flowering annuals in favor of succulents. Many drought tolerant plants were featured throughout the nursery. I loved the colorful variety of succulents.

What more is there to say? I would love to have a ‘head planter’ planted with a kalanchoe.

Our trip was short, but fun-filled. We will return again this summer to spend more time visiting and exploring.

Drought Tolerant and Beautiful: Aloe Vera

California, Uncategorized

Do you use any lotion that contains aloe vera?

While most of us think of the medicinal qualities of aloe vera – particularly how they provide relief from burns, its beauty, and drought tolerance make it well worth adding to our “Drought Tolerant And Beautiful” category.

Aloe vera(Aloe barbadensis) thrives in drought-tolerant gardens and produces lovely, yellow flowers in spring, much to the delight of hummingbirds everywhere.

Want to learn more about this succulent beauty? Check out my latest plant profile for Houzz.

Great Design Plant: Aloe Vera

How about you?

Have you ever grown aloe vera?

Drought Tolerant Landscape Irrigated by Rain

Uncategorized

Where do your plants get their water from?

If you are like most people who live in the desert Southwest, your answer may be drip irrigation, a rain barrel and/or rainfall.

But, what if you didn’t have drip irrigation or don’t want to install one? Is it possible to have an attractive, established landscape that can survive on only regular rainfall in the desert?

The answer is yes!

Drought Tolerant Landscape Irrigated by Rain

Last week, I was asked to help a client with her landscape.

Now unlike most of my clients, she had no irrigation. Any new plants had to be able to survive on the average 9 inches of rain that fall each year.

Drought Tolerant Landscape Irrigated by Rain

Her existing landscape receives no supplemental irrigation and is filled with succulent plants such as agave, desert spoon, golden barrel cacti, mesquite, Mexican fence post cacti, ocotillo, prickly pear and red yucca.

Native desert shrubs like brittlebush, bursage and creosote filled out the rest of the landscape.

My client was happy with how her front yard looked, but wanted some help with the backyard.

The backyard was filled with cholla and saguaro.

My goal was to add a few of the client’s favorite desert plants as well as include a few more for a welcome splash of green and colorful flowers.

Drought Tolerant Landscape Irrigated by Rain

I added some Argentine giant(Echinopsis candicans) cacti, which she loved.

In addition, I also included chuparosa(Justicia californica) in areas that received filtered shade where their blooms will add welcome color. Pink fairy duster(Calliandra eriophylla) was suggested for bare areas, intermixed with brittlebush(Encelia farinosa) for late winter to early spring color.

I also recommended that the volunteers from several agave growing in front including cuttings from her prickly pear be utilized in the backyard as well.

All of these plants can survive on regular rainfall once established.

Note the two underlined words above, which are important. If rainfall amounts are lower than average, plants may need supplemental irrigation.

In addition, many of the new plants will need irrigation until they become established and grow a sufficient root system – this can take a year or even two.

It should also be stated at this point, that fall is the best time to plant so that the new plants have time to establish a good root system before the heat arrives the following year.

So, how often do you need to water new plants until they become established?

If planted in fall, water native, desert shrubs deeply (1 1/2 ft.) every week for the first month. Then every 2 weeks for the rest of the first year.

For the cacti and succulents, water once a month for the first year, skipping the winter months.

Thereafter, both types of plants, including other desert natives, should be able to survive on natural rainfall.

If rainfall is absent, water once a month. So, you may be wondering what is the best way to water without a drip irrigation system. Here is an easy way to water your plants by creating a DIY drip irrigation system.

Yes, that is a milk jug. You can use them to create portable drip irrigation that you can move from plant to plant. The water is released slowly allowing it to permeate deep into the soil.

You can learn how to make your own here.

A Bountiful School Garden

Uncategorized

Where did you learn about gardening?

I have shared about learning to garden as a young child when my dad gave me my own little plot of land and let me plant whatever I wanted.

Later, I learned more about gardening in school. It was an elective gardening class and it was one of my favorites.

So last fall, when I was asked to visit and help out the Johnson Elementary School Garden Club. Of course, I said “yes”.

As I walked into the school, I spotted a greenhouse and rain barrel sitting in the courtyard. I was getting excited to see what else they had and wondered how I could help.

Farther in, I saw raised vegetable beds, which were implementing the ‘square-foot’ gardening method for growing vegetables.

Once I arrived at the classroom where the gardening club met, I was greeted by several teachers and the students themselves. This is an after school club that is made up of 5th and 6th graders. It is a very popular club as was evident by the filled classroom.

I was asked to talk with the students and was then taken around to see even more of what they were learning about.

I was blown away by their aquaponic garden and grow light set up.

After viewing the classroom, our next stop was a prospective area where they wanted to grow vegetables, which they called “The Back Forty Garden”.

Along the wall that bordered the school, was a raised bed. Their question for me was how and if they could grow vegetables in this area.

The answer was “yes”, but there were some challenges to deal with.

First, there was no irrigation, so drip irrigation would have to be added. The second challenge was that this wall faced west, so growing vegetables in summer would be almost impossible without shade cloth. But, growing vegetables fall, winter and spring would be fine.

I talked about how to amend the soil with compost, composted steer manure, blood and bone meal. I gave them information on what vegetables to plant and when. Fast forward 6 months later and I received a very nice email along with photos of the new vegetable garden.

I love the painted mural, don’t you?

As you can see, a variety of vegetables were planted along the long length. Wouldn’t you love a garden space this big?

The kids planted the vegetables and later harvested them. Each kid got to take home some of the bounty.

Garden Club at Johnson Elementary School in Mesa, Arizona

Look at these proud faces!

School gardens are a great resouce as they teach kids about the environment and nature. Most of all, it can inspire a lifelong passion for gardening.

I wonder how many of the kids in this photo will have vegetable gardens of their own when they are grown up? Once you get a small taste of growing your own vegetables, it’s hard to stop.

The teachers who work with the Garden Club at Johnson Elementary School in Mesa, Arizona are wonderful people with a passion for teaching and gardening.

What a perfect combination!

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