Our Sandy Seed Library Series of programs for 2025 wraps up this month. I can't believe it. What a fun year! I am so grateful to all of the volunteers that have come out to share their expertise and passion with us and all the learning we have been able to do as a result.
With that in mind, are there any topics that you are hoping for in 2026? Autumn and winter are my planning seasons, and I would love to hear from you.
We know many Oregon gardeners are seeing changes in weather affecting their gardening. Shifts in bloom timing, changes in the amount/type of precipitation your area receives, and other seasonal phenomena are exactly the kinds of things the folks behind Oregon Season Tracker are trying to understand. You can support their efforts simply by reporting precipitation and seasonal plant changes from your own home, farm, woodland, ranch, or school.
Wasps aren’t just stinging pests—they’re essential allies in keeping our ecosystems balanced! Learn how these fascinating insects help our environment at this engaging talk by Scott Mitchell, Oregon State University Ph.D. candidate.
This FREE event is hosted by Sandy’s Bee City USA Action Group. A huge thank you to Scott for traveling to Sandy from Eugene to share his knowledge and research! Call 503-668-5569 for more information about this presentation and other ways you can get involved.
Studies show that plants bring a world of benefits to our home environments. The benefits are wide-ranging—from better indoor air quality to a boost of positive emotions. So how can one successfully grow lush, healthy plants in our Pacific NW homes? Join OSU Extension Service Master Gardener™ Kris LaMar to learn the nuances in care of “potted plants.” Kris will highlight planning before planting, avoiding pests and diseases, and how best to maximize the power of mobility for an indoor planted environment.
**Added bonus **
There will be some houseplants as freebies for those that attend!
When: Friday, September 19, 6 - 7pm
Where: The Hoyt Community Room in the Sandy Library
I recently discovered this nonprofit and love what they do. Many people have fruit trees that grow more than they can consume. Within Portland, these people can reach out to the Portland Fruit Tree project to help them get the abundance into the homes of those who could use it.And they do much more, find out about their programs here.
So what does this mean for Sandy? Well, they are offering a hands-on class on how to preserve your fruit harvest. If you attended our program on preserving your berry bounty and would like to put that in action in an instructor-led format, here is an opportunity!
Welcome Fall! Celebrate the Autumn Equinox and close out the summer with the Edible Gardening Club. The discussion will revolve around what went well in the garden this season and what we'll be changing for next year. If you are able, please bring a potluck dish (doesn't have to be fancy) to celebrate this day of harvest.
**Please make sure all dishes have ingredient cards for those with allergies.**
Meets: Every 4th Monday of the month (next meeting: Sept 22nd)
Time: 6:30 - 8:00pm
Where: The Hoyt Community Room in the Sandy Library
Recap on Demystifying Pressure Canning
What a fun night with so much engagement! The folks with OSU's Extension Service for Family and Community Health are really passionate about educating others on how user friendly pressure canning has become.
Visit their preservation website to get in touch with their hotline, browse resources, find upcoming events, and see what they are up to in the community.
This program will explain the scientific reasoning behind today's recommended methods for drying products while dispelling food preservation myths and unsafe practices of the past. There is a $5 attendance fee.
When: Wednesday, September 17, 12-1:30pm Eastern Time
We try to offer this program every year, and I am glad that we do because with each class I attend, the more confident I feel about seed saving.
Here are a few takeaways:
Biennial seeds can be tricky to save because they do not produce seeds until their second year and anything can happen to the plant in that amount of time.
Perennials are often not grown by seed, they are propagated by cuttings or division because it can be hard to wait years to see the plant flower and fruit.
There are seeds you have to plan in advance for before saving because you do not want cross pollination: squash, melons, cucumber.
Wet seeds vs dry seeds: Wet seeds come from inside fruits & vegetables and need to be fermented in water before dried and stored. Dry seeds are often easier to collect as you get to skip the fermentation process.
This book is full of valuable information and touches on a lot topics that affect our outdoor spaces—from plants and pest management to outdoor, seasonal décor.
The author discusses the “No Mow May” movement and how it is designed to allow early spring-flowering plants a chance to grow and flower to provide food for the pollinators. The movement is not without controversy, however, as some argue that its potential detriments outweigh the benefits. I participated in this movement a couple of years ago and found that the cons did outweigh the pros for us. After we waited the full month, not only was it very difficult to mow, but I found that native pollinators had moved in and made nests and we ended up destroying them. This felt way more cruel as it seemed like a bait and switch. The author points out that some have found nesting bunnies and they either get killed from mowing or displaced. She concedes it should not be an all-or-nothing situation, that maybe simply mowing less often to allow the flowering weeds a chance but not so infrequently that wildlife moves into the lawn with ground nests.
This brings me to the next point that stood out to me: dandelions. Dandelions are non-natives, but they are not invasive. They thrive only in cultivated landscapes and do not pose a threat to native plants or wildlife. But they still are often viewed as a nuisance (especially by your neighbors should you choose to let them thrive in your lawn, like my colleague Rick does). . They provide a source of pollen and nectar for pollinators, especially in barren landscapes, and their deep taproots help break up compacted soil and improve poor soil conditions. So maybe consider not killing them (and if you do, Wolfe asks you to remember to do so in an eco-friendly way—no harmful chemicals).
That’s the genius of Wolfe’s book: it offers a variety of suggestions for bringing more nature into your yard and then lets you decide what and how much feels right for you, whether that is, say, participating in No Mow May or taking a more limited approach. Rick, for example, in addition to letting the dandelions live unmolested in his front lawn, also plants patches of clover in the grass, which provides habitat and flowers for pollinators but rebounds nicely from mowing, which minimizes (but doesn’t eliminate) the disapproving looks from the neighbors.
The book I have been reading is not about seed saving or backyard veggies or introducing natives to encourage pollinators. It is, rather, about walking. And noticing. It is about an exploration of those often overlooked and neglected spaces that sit beside freeways and behind chain link fences and finding there some semblance of hope for the future of the natural world. And maybe for us besides.
The author, Christopher Brown, an Iowa native turned Austin tech lawyer with an interest in public interest environmental law who is also an accomplishedscience fiction author, has produced an important and impressive book that is hard to define. A pleasing and enlightening mix of nature writing, memoir, and considered reflection, it is a timely exploration of the urban and suburban edgelands: the empty lots, abandoned transit lines, failed housing starts, and various other capitalist sacrifice zones where nature hides in plain sight if only we took the time to look. And Brown takes the time to look. And what he discovers is a dominated and damaged Anthropocene landscape on the edges of which nature nevertheless is finding a way to rewild itself. And in that he finds hope.
My favorite thing I learned from this book! The Light Test: You place a piece of white paper down in the spot you want a houseplant to live at the brightest part of the day, then you hold your hand over the paper to determine what kind of shadow (if any) you have. That will tell you if you have direct, indirect, low, or no light.
One of the plants highlighted in this book is the Mother of Thousands. It is so neat looking and if you would like to see one in the flesh, our local Bi-Mart has one on their counter near the entrance!
Please note that if not kept as an indoor plant pet they can be invasive if planted outside, and they are mildly toxic if ingested so use caution around pets and small children.
No comments:
Post a Comment