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Northwest Gardening
April 2020
The Shape of Winter
As predicted by climate change models for the Northwest, our recent winter season arrived later in the autumn, and was highlighted by heavier, more sustained rainfall. We had relatively mild temperatures overall and only one serious snowfall, which melted after … Continue reading
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December 2019
Gardening in Autumn
Garlic and Shallots Just before Halloween, the early fall rains finally ceased and the clay soil in my garlic and shallot patch on the Skagit Flats dried out enough to be worked into raised beds. The dikes on the nearby … Continue reading
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October-November 2019
Fall and Winter Plantings
By now, the late August plantings for the next three seasons should be established. The goal is an initial level of plant maturity, established before the first frost, which allows continued slow growth through our relatively mild winter. The lettuces … Continue reading
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September 2019
A Garden Visitor
I recently invited a retired entomolgy professor, Bob Gara, from whom I had recently taken several courses at the Anacortes Senior College, to tour my garden. He had previously identified from a photo the flying beetles on a Russian thistle … Continue reading
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August 2019
Field Days
During the past month I attended two field days at the WSU Agricultural Research Station in Mount Vernon. The first was hosted by the Bread Lab for a tour of their extensive wheat, rye, barley and buckwheat test plots. The … Continue reading
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July 2019
Garden Visitors
Over the years I have been fortunate to have the advice and frequent garden visits of a local retired nurseryman, who stays active doing multiple vegetable gardens to supply fresh produce to local churches and nonprofits. We compare notes: his … Continue reading
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May 2019
Fire Season, Again
Earlier this year, I attended a lecture by a fire ecology professor from WWU. on the upcoming fire season in the Pacific Northwest. The talk was presented by the Friends of the Forest, the local environmental group that originally helped … Continue reading
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April 2019
Surviving a Winter Storm
During the two weeks of snow cover in February, it was a welcome sight to find winter-hardy flowers and frost-resistant vegetables surviving our mild martime version of a “polar vortex.” The saving grace for the plants was the absence of … Continue reading
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October-November 2018
The Other Half of Gardening
Appropriate to the fall season, the squirrels are rushing about the tops of the Douglas firs, sending a bumper fall crop of cones to the ground, where the bushy-tailed rodents will harvest and hide the seeds before the rains return. … Continue reading
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September 2018
The Autumn Turn of the Year
With the coming of fall, the garden enters its third major seasonal shift. After the plantings of early and late spring, and the harvest of summer, autumn is the time of final plantings before the onset of winter. In late … Continue reading
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