Tomato season is in full swing, and this year’s harvest is looking fantastic! My secret to success? The 5-Tier GreenStalk Original Vertical Planter. It’s an amazing solution that lets me grow both my tomatoes and strawberries in the same container, saving space and making watering a breeze. The photos below show just how well everything is doing. I’ve been growing tomatoes on the upper tiers, including some beautiful purple cherry tomatoes and some larger green […]
If you garden in the Pacific Northwest, you know the feeling. After a long, gray winter, there’s a shift. The rain feels a little warmer, the days get a little longer, and a specific kind of excitement starts to bubble up. Spring is finally, truly here. For us, the sign is when the nights are consistently staying above 40°F. It’s the green light we’ve been waiting for! This is the crucial moment to start moving […]
The Pacific Northwest weather keeps teasing us lately. This morning it was 29 degrees. I have the hyacinths covered with bell jars to keep them from freezing and I mulched all of the little tender crocuses. They all thought the couple of warm days were the indicator to do their thing. Someday spring will actually arrive and then it will be non-stop gardening and preserving until October-ish. Stay tuned for updates as the busy season […]
There’s a popular saying that “April showers bring May flowers,” and here in the Pacific Northwest, that couldn’t be more true. After a long, damp spring, the garden suddenly explodes with color in May, making all the patience and hard work worth it. This year, the main event on our homestead is the triumphant first bloom of our bearded irises. I ordered them last year, and they arrived so late in the fall that I […]
Every summer, our Butterfly Bush (Buddleia davidii) explodes into a beautiful display of purple flowers, and just as its name promises, it becomes a magnet for butterflies. It’s an incredible sight to see them fluttering around, and it’s easy to understand why this plant is so popular. The pollinators certainly love it. However, as we’ve learned more about gardening responsibly here in the Pacific Northwest, we’ve come to understand the complicated nature of this beautiful […]
Have you ever walked through your garden on a cool morning and seen perfect, tiny beads of water hanging from the edges of a leaf, even when it hasn’t rained? For years, I assumed this was just dew or maybe the plant “sweating.” It turns out, it’s a fascinating process called guttation, and it’s a sign of a very healthy, happy plant. While it looks like dew, it’s completely different. Dew forms from condensation on […]
If you’ve ever had a mountain of ripe tomatoes from the garden, you know that fresh salsa is a must. But have you ever tried fermenting it? Fermented salsa is a game-changer in our house. It develops a complex, tangy flavor that’s incredibly delicious, and the fermentation process makes it a naturally probiotic-rich food. Best of all, you can completely customize it based on what’s abundant in your garden and how much heat you like. […]
As the Pacific Northwest gardening season winds down, our focus shifts from the garden beds to the kitchen counter. The harvest is in, and now the quiet, magical work of preservation begins. One of our favorite methods is lacto-fermentation, and there’s no better visual for this living process than a jar of pickles, happily bubbling away. Many people who are new to fermenting get nervous when they see this activity. Is it safe? Is it […]
As gardeners in the Pacific Northwest (specifically Zone 8b), we know that our growing conditions can be unique. Finding advice tailored to our cool summers and mild, wet winters is key to a successful harvest. That’s why I always recommend the Edible Gardens Workshop Series from the Pierce County Conservation District. If you live in the area and haven’t checked this program out, you are truly missing out on a wealth of local gardening knowledge. […]
A little break from the busy gardening season to enjoy this beauty that bloomed today. Never thought I could grow things I have only seen in floral arrangements. It makes it all worth it to have beautiful things to look at and delicious things to eat.
