Our Annual Planting Guide
Prepare your gardens!
Planning is one of the most important elements of gardening. It is also one of the easiest steps to overlook, especially for the beginner. Knowing … Continue reading
Outdoors: Page 18
It’s About Time
Spring is slow this year
For the past six months or so, some animal has been digging holes next to the path along the ponds on the east side of … Continue reading
Herbs First!
Now is the time to plan your herb garden
What’s the most cost-effective crop you can grow in a small space? Many commercial growers agree that it’s culinary herbs, and I think this may … Continue reading
It’s About Time
Prepare yourself for spring activities
February is a very interesting month for the Willamette Valley. Although it’s midwinter in the northern hemisphere, we have spring activity gearing up, with expectations … Continue reading
It’s About Time
Many birds now rely on the kindness of bird feeders
The natural world has its regular rhythms disrupted by natural disasters like ice storms, much the way human environments change. Incense cedar trees have proven … Continue reading
Some Like It Dry
Count on iris for summer-dry gardens
Significant rain in early October is a boon to gardeners who value the fall gardening season. This goes in spades for those of us who … Continue reading
It’s About Time
The days are getting shorter
The equinox passing is reflected in shorter days. The rate of change itself changes. Change in day length is fastest at equinox and slowest at solstice. The day-to-day change at equinox is about 3 minutes a day but only 30 seconds a day at winter solstice. At the end of September, seeds of incense cedar were scattered to the winds and now their cones are raining down. The cones of incense cedar decompose over winter and are gone by spring. Continue reading
Summer’s End
And the virtues of escarole
August went by in flash, as usual. Daily watering chores. Jam making. An ocean of applesauce. After a week’s vacation in a cabin by the Metolius, I somehow carved out time to think about the fall and winter vegetable garden. Space must be carved out, too, and I’m grateful for any crops that can go in after the pole beans and tomatoes are torn out in October. But starts of red Russian kale, my favorite for winter eating, need to go in as soon as possible. By October what you see is more or less what you get until growth starts up again in March. Continue reading
It’s About Time
September is the month of hiking
September is the month that hikers in western Oregon look forward to more than any month. Rainless days are almost guaranteed, mosquito levels drop off quickly and tourists thin out after Labor Day. This year there are a few qualifications to what is typically our best month for backpacking. Mosquito levels may be slow to disappear in the high country because there haven’t been enough freezing nights. Continue reading
It’s About Time
The mosquitoes have returned
The mosquito fern that covered the eastside Delta Ponds’ surfaces with dramatic purple the past two winters had nearly disappeared by late spring of this year. The duckweed family overtook the mosquito fern and turned the ponds green, much to the gustatory delight of the waterfowl. Suddenly, in July, the mosquito fern has made a resurgence and may regain dominance; observations to come. Even the green is different. Instead of common duckweed, the green is dominated by the tiny water meal (Wolffia) of the flowering duckweed family. Continue reading