April is jam-packed with all the fun themes and awareness days. We have National Poetry Month, National Native Plant Month, Earth Day, and Arbor Day! There will be plenty of events honoring these topics, and there are a few that are local to us:
Bee City, USA Action Group Meeting Would you like to get involved with plans to help the city become more pollinator friendly? Join us at our quarterly Bee City Action Group meeting and hear about our past community projects, and have a say in our future projects! When: Tuesday, April 7, from 6 - 7pm Where: Sandy Community and Senior Center (38348 Pioneer Blvd, Sandy)
Drought-Resistant Landscaping An introduction to drought tolerant, Xeriscape design for the home gardener. Learn through the 7 principles of Xeriscape and how to plan, design, implement, and maintain a decorative and sustainable landscape that thrives with little to no irrigation. When: Tuesday, April 7, from 7 - 8pm Where: Virtual - Register Here
How to Control Pests without Harming the Earth Dealing with garden pests can seem like a never-ending chore, and the best known solutions are chemical pesticides and herbicides that are potentially detrimental to both the planet and our health. Join Master GardenerTM Kris LaMar to discuss some creative and more environmentally friendly ways to control insects, weeds, and disease-causing agents in your garden. When: Monday, April 13, 6 - 7pm Where: Hoyt Community Room, Sandy Public Library
Adopt a Crop Project As featured in last month's newsletter, registration is open until April 15! If you are interested in contributing to the development of locally adapted vegetables, consider becoming a crop parent to one or all of the following: Winter Squash - Clackamas Maxima, Butternut Squash - Clackamas Moschata, or Runner Bean Mix! Register with this Google Form. For more information, email: seedsforsharing@gmail.com
SOLVE It - In Sandy Celebrate Earth Day through service. Join the City of Sandy and SOLVE Oregon to clean up parks, trails, and public spaces. When: Saturday, April 18, 9am - 1pm Where: Register
National Native Plant Month Celebration with Bee City, USA Learn about northwest native plants and the pollinators that they attract with Amy Campion. Co-author of Gardening in the Pacific Northwest: the Complete Homeowner's Guide, Amy is passionate about helping others make their own gardens more biodiverse. When: Tuesday, April 21, 6 - 7pm Where: Sandy Community and Senior Center (38348 Pioneer Blvd, Sandy)
Arbor Day Tree Planting Event at Tupper Park Help the City of Sandy plant trees at Tupper Park for Arbor Day! For more information, please call 503-668-5569. When: Friday, April 24, 2pm Where: 17815 Tupper Rd, Sandy, OR 97055
Edible Gardening Group Gardening with Less Water - Lessons from Dry Farming. Guest speaker Cathy McQueeney is a Board member of The Dry Farming Institute and Education and Outreach Specialist with the Clackamas Soil and Water Conservation District in Oregon. When: Monday, April 27, 6:30 - 8pm Where: Hoyt Community Room, Sandy Public Library
Clackamas County Spring Garden Fair! If you have been reading my newsletters over the last couple of years, you might recall that I look forward to this event every year. A close friend of mine and I just love spending the day checking out all the vendors, eating lunch in their food court, and checking the raffle boards to see if we have won anything.
"Come shop everything garden with over 125 vendors and local nurseries. This is a fundraising event for the Clackamas County Master Gardener Association, admission is $7 for folks 16 and older. Not only are there educational opportunities but you can bring in up to 5 soil samples from your garden to have the pH tested for free."
In celebration of Poetry Month, Rick has picked a poem for us to enjoy:
The Garden The kale’s puckered sleeve, the pepper’s hollow bell, the lacquered onion. Beets, borage, tomatoes. Green beans. I came in and I put everything on the counter: chives, parsley, dill, the squash like a pale moon, peas in their silky shoes, the dazzling rain-drenched corn.
-Mary Oliver, “New and Selected Poems”
Highlights from our Garden of Eatin' Program Last Month:
We kicked the growing season off with a wonderful event put on by Master Gardener, Cindy Manselle! Here are my highlights for those who could not make it: - A 10 x 10 garden bed takes about 40 minutes of work a week
- A 30 x 30 garden bed will take about 2-3 hours a week
- Manure as fertilizer needs to be composted at least 6 months to a year because it will burn the roots of your plants if used "fresh."
- When starting a garden bed, fertilize it 2 weeks before planting, as this gives time for the weed seeds to germinate and you can pull them out before your intended plants go in. Fertilize again and plant!
What I've Been Reading
Grow Food for Free by Huw Richards
With a lot of us feeling the pain of prices rising, it is nice to have some helpful tips on reducing the cost of gardening. Many of us know that getting into gardening can easily become an expensive endeavor with all the fancy equipment and the multiple seeds packets you buy for all the varieties you’re looking to grow.
Richards not only demonstrates how many things can be done for free, from repurposing items to be used as containers, to making your own liquid plant fertilizer, he even mentions attending seed swaps as a way to source free seeds. If you missed ours in January, not to worry because our seed cabinet is very full with so many varieties that I needed to reorganize the drawers a little bit!
The Self-Sufficiency Garden by Huw Richards and Sam Cooper
Can you tell that I have been on a Huw Richards kick? The first thing that struck me about this book would be the bird's-eye view of the demonstration garden. It really helps when visualizing what a space can look like with everything implemented. Not only do you get to see elements within a garden space, but they provide instructions on how to build your own (hoop beds, hot beds, poly tunnels, etc.).
Next, you get the growing year month by month with the original garden plan displayed in a diagram form with a key to where the monthly veggies will be planted. And, I absolutely love that they continue to give you bird's-eye views of the garden at the end of the big growing transitions.
And if all that was not wonderful enough, you have an "In the Kitchen" section that gives you recipes utilizing your harvest! What I've Been Reading Children's Edition:
Aimed at ages 4-8, both of these books are from the same publisher and are formatted wonderfully. They are fully illustrated with step-by-step instructions and activities! |
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