Sandy Seed Library News - June 2025

 

Happy June, Gardeners!

Summer is just around the corner and I am itching to get my seed starts outside. But I think I will just appreciate the time I have to do some general garden maintenance before all my time is taken up with my new plants.

Upcoming Events

Preserving Berries

Preserve your bounty! Join Oregon State University Extension for a presentation exploring various methods to preserve your berries using the Library of Things equipment. Learn the basics of canning, jam and jelly making, freezing, and dehydrating, ensuring you enjoy your harvest all year long.

When: Friday, June 13, 6 - 7pm

Where: Sandy Public Library, Hoyt Community Room

The Buzz About Bees

Get the buzz about bees and how they support the world around us from wildlife to our own lives. Join OSU Extension Service Master Gardener™ volunteers Mary Lindstrand and Tina Mori as they share interesting facts about bees and the vital role these amazing pollinators play in the ecosystem, along with steps you can take as a gardener to support bees.

When: Thursday, June 26, 6 - 7pm

Where: Sandy Public Library, Hoyt Community Room

Pub Talk: Integrated Pest Management at Home

Join Clackamas River Basin for an evening of learning and discussion on Integrated Pest Management. Bring the family, friends, dogs, and any pest, gardening, or management questions.

When: Saturday, June 14, 5:30 - 7:30pm

Where: Time Traveler's Brewery (326 Broadway St, Estacada, OR)

Register Here

Wildflower Walk in Estacada

Join us for an immersive day of native flowers, bees, and more as we tour a recently converted pasture turned 1-acre wildflower and pollinator meadow at the Bugni Forest & Tree Farm. This multi-year conversion has introduced dozens of native grasses, wildflowers, shrubs, and trees. Bring a lunch and a chair for a day of outdoor learning!

Registration is $10 for a single attendee or $15 for multiple people sharing a vehicle to encourage carpooling, as parking is limited at this field location. Bring your friends, families, or neighbors!

To read more about how they transformed their pasture, read this article: From Pasture to Pollinators

When: Tuesday, June 24 at 2pm

Where: Estacada, address will be sent upon registration

Register Here

Sandy Edible Gardening Group - Fall and Winter Planning with Leslie

Don't let your gardening stop at the end of summer! It's time to start planning and planting to have fresh veggies this fall. 

Share the highs and lows of edible gardening with your neighbors as we swap tips, timelines, strategies, and resources. This group is open to all, whether you are just starting out or gardening year-round. Together we'll go from seed to maximizing the bounty of the harvest.

Meets: Every 4th Monday of the month (next meeting: June 23)

Time: 6:30 - 8:00pm

Where: Sandy Public Library, Hoyt Community Room

Container Gardening

In May we had gardening author Maggie Stuckey out to discuss container gardening and her book The Container Victory Garden. The event was a casual and inclusive conversation that highlighted the benefits of growing your food in containers. Turns out that Maggie got into writing about container gardening over 20 years ago when she moved into an apartment with no garden but wanted to continue to growing her own veggies. After turning to the library to look for books on how to transition to containers and not finding anything written on the subject, she decided she would be the one to write it. She co-authored The Bountiful Container, which quickly became the go-to resource, and now you can find plenty of books on the subject, including her most recent work, The Container Victory Garden, which is an updated version of her previous book combined with historical accounts of victory gardens during WWII.

Some of my key takeaways from our conversation:

• Maggie really drove home the point that we should not be discarding all the soil in our containers at the end of the season. After the plants are spent, you really only need to amend the soil with some fresh soil cultivated on the top. You will be supplementing with fertilizer.
• She also wanted to highlight having fun getting creative with your containers of choice (don't forget to add a drainage hole) by upcycling and painting a variety of vessels. You can design an edible arrangement by combining different plants that you find aesthetically pleasing to plant together. This could be a good opportunity to try companion planting, although she has no official recommendation on combinations.
• Finally, if the edible portion of your plant requires flowering first, that means the plant needs a minimum of six hours of sunlight. The wonder of containers is that you can move them to follow the sun should you need to.

The Bountiful Container by Rose Marie Nichols McGee and Maggie Stuckey

"Discover a world far beyond the expected cherry tomato in a flowerpot. A world with virtually no weeds, no soilborne diseases, and no overplanting, where you can fine-tune sun and shade and bring perennials indoors for the winter."

The One-Pot Gourmet Gardener by Cinead McTernan

To grow ingredients to a recipe in a single container together is such a fun idea!

Maybe I will try a salsa container with tomatoes, cilantro, and garlic. What will you try?

Container Gardens by Number by Bob Purnell

For the non-edible gardener, try these fun container arrangement ideas to brighten up your landscaping. One thing that stood out to me is the idea to have some plants contained within the container, like the bulb flowers. My daffodils are taking over a container it shares with my coneflowers, so maybe having those bulbs contained further will help prevent that from happening.

There are some edible arrangements here as well, but that is not the sole focus.

What I've Been Reading Children's Edition

Wildflower Emily: A Story About Emily Dickinson, a graphic novel by Lydia Corry

Lovely illustrations accompany some of Ms. Dickenson’s poems that showcase Emily’s passion for flowers and nature. With her trusty dog, Carlo, by her side, they adventure through the fields, forests, and rivers in the pursuit of flowers to press into her herbarium. The end gives a brief account of Ms. Dickinson’s and Carlo’s life together.