Get Kids Growing! Regional Plant and Gardening Events for Families

While there is no regular “In a North State Garden” radio program this weekend, this week’s feature essay is the follow-up to the special one-hour Call-In Edition of “In a North State Garden” that was aired on Thursday March 25th. The resources list was compiled with the help of my panel of guest experts and…

Teaching Children a Love of Gardening

Do you remember when you first realized you were a plant lover? Do you remember when you first became a ‘gardener?’ If you are reading this, chances are you became a lover of plants at some fairly definable point: an interaction, a moment, a relationship, a summer, a winter - whether as a child or as an adult.

I remember this about…

Oh Deer! Deer Resistant Gardening Strategies with Karen McGrath, Landscape Designer

Let’s face it - I am all about habitat and environmentally friendly and responsible gardening. I am. I love birds, bees, butterflies and the like. But, let’s also face the fact that we live in deer country. And Oh Deer! (%^&*^%$*!!), this can be a harsh reality for a gardener. What to do? Throw in the gardening towel? Set up a t…

Jennifer Jewell Hosts Special Garden Show

Spring is around the corner!

To help you get ready, on Monday, Feb. 15, from 8 - 9 p.m., I will host a special edition of Northstate Public Radio’s I-5 LIVE! specifically to discuss and answer questions about your spring vegetable/edible garden.

My guests will include David Grau, owner of Valley Oak Tool, former market gardener and or…

February 2010 in the Garden & Monthly Calendar of Regional Gardening Events

Wow – How about that rain and snow? And more is on the way. Which is wonderful for our plants, soils and watersheds, but when it comes in long stretches of gray days, it can play havoc with my mood (and the power in much of our region). Even a few minutes of fresh air and weak sunshine does me a world of good. You don’t want to walk on planted ground when…

Raising Expectations: Raised Bed Gardening with Denise Kelly & The Plant Barn

This epic wet weather in the North State over the past few weeks has me holed up and dreaming about my spring planting of seeds. I am working on expanding my raised beds for vegetables from the existing two to a productive six beds - each about 3 feet wide, 12 feet long and 2 feet deep. Photo: Raised beds framed in cedar in an enclosed and formal home…

Simplicity: January in the Garden & The Monthly Calendar of Regional Gardening Events

What is January without resolutions? Getting to the far side of the holidays in and out of the garden often leaves me feeling overwhelmed, overdone and over the top. Perhaps this is why so many of my resolutions are variations of cutting back, cutting down and clearing out. January in its essence is simplicity. Photo: The full moon falls on th…

Saving up From a Rainy Day: Rainwater Harvesting with Phyllis Clark-Kirkman, Redding

The (blessed) rains (and snows) have come again to the North State and my garden rain gauge has measured 4.2 inches of rain this month. My rain barrels are full to overflowing, and this harvest gives me a small but happy sense of self-sufficiency. We’re only talking three barrels at this point, but still, their harvest provides me with…

Queen of Winter Flowers: Camellias in the Garden with Jerry Mendon

Camellias - also known as the Queen of Winter Flowers because almost all varieties of the genus bloom from late fall through late spring - are for many gardeners synonymous with history, beauty and refinement. These flowering evergreen shrubs or small trees, idealized in Chinese and Japanese art and literature for centuries, are indigen…

Looking Up: Vertical Gardening with Eileen Barry of Wild Thyme Gifts & Gardens, Redding

Vertical gardening is any gardening that goes up and makes use of vertical space rather than using just the flat surface of the landscape. Vines growing up a nearby tree or ferns growing out of a rocky embankment are natural forms of vertical gardening. As a gardening technique, vertical gardening dates back to antiquity – the Hanging Garde…