Ice damage and what to do

January 21, 2012 in Pruning

The ice and snow is finally starting to melt and people are stepping outside to assess the damage caused by this week’s storm. Personally we’ve suffered the loss of 1 Thundercloud Plum, damage to another and our already dead Sumac fell over onto the vegetable garden. (Now my husband has to actually do something about the eyesore.)

I counted 19 street trees that were damaged or destroyed from the ice and the large Atlas Cedar at Mason Middle School suffered heavy damage. It is tree carnage out there people.

When events like this happen people looking to make a buck come out of the woodwork. They will go house to house claiming to be tree pruners when in reality it’s just joe blow with a chainsaw. If not repaired properly trees can suffer more damage in the long run. If you are one of the many homeowners in the Northwest with damaged or destroyed trees or shrubs there is hope.

Here are some steps to take to save your plants.

  • If the damage is minor take lots of photos (cell phone photos are just fine) of the damage and take that to your local garden center. Might I suggest GardenSphere in Tacoma (yes, a shameless plug). A garden center professional typically can make a quick assessment of the damage and let you know if it is something you can prune yourself, and how to do it, or if it something that might require the services of a professional.
  • If the damage is moderate to severe the assistance of a certified arborist or a tree removal company is the way to go. It is always recommended that you hire an ISA certified arborist. Tree service companies are required to be registered with the state, but they don’t always adhere to proper pruning practices. ISA certification ensures that your tree person has been trained and can demonstrate proper tree care techniques. In order to find an arborist in your area the Department of Natural Resources has a website where you can search for a certified arborist in your area.
  • You have your list of arborists to call, now what? Ask for references. Even if the person is a certified arborist you want to make sure their aesthetic is the same as yours. There is proper pruning technique and there is aesthetic. Make sure to ask for those references and follow up with them. Drive by the happy customer’s trees. In a word, do your homework.

Taking just a little extra time will help save your trees in the long run.

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The child’s garden

January 14, 2012 in Garden Planning, The Child's Garden

I’ve always been a big proponent of gardening with your children. The more children know about their food and where their food comes from the better. Last year we decided to raise our own broiler chickens. We already had 4 laying hens (that my son is very attached to) so adding 9 broilers wasn’t that big of a deal. I brought the birds home with the caveat that my child was not to name them or get attached to them in any way. We called them “the peeps” and kept them separated from the layers. My son did not actually participate in their care. I did the majority of the work myself. When it came time to have them butchered we were frank with him and explained how it would be done. He stayed at a friend’s house while we drove the hens to the butcher since we didn’t have room in the car. They came back ready to eat and when we cooked the first one he sat at the table and said “Dinner #1 you are delicious.” Our friends worried about how he would react to eating something that grew in the back yard. It is no different than that carrot or tomato you grew. We knew what we fed them. We knew where they lived. We decided how to end their lives. These were all very candid conversations we had with our son. Did I mention he’s only 7.

Our son came to us when he was 2. Our homecoming was in the Fall so there wasn’t much going on by way of the garden. When Spring arrived I taught my son to play in the dirt and to plant seeds. He has always worked in the garden. As the years have passed his interest in gardening only grows. He loves vegetables, he loves digging, he loves watching things grow. If you read his journal from school you will notice that most of the entries have to do with the garden somehow.

Last Fall he asked if he could have his own garden. He wanted to grow his own plants, do his own weeding and planning. Now I am under strict orders that I’m not to plow under any more of the front lawn. That means I had to give up a portion of my own garden to accomodate my son’s request. With a 3200 sq. ft. garden it isn’t terribly difficult. However, the big garden isn’t exactly laid out to cater to the needs of new gardeners. I decided to give my son the two beds in the chicken yard. This was our original garden and has become the “just throw it in there” space. There are 2 5′x10′ beds and 1 5′x5′ bed. My son will get the 2 large ones.

Friday afternoon I sat down with him to come up with a plan. Since he’s a new gardener I thought I would start simple. I drew a picture of his garden beds and broke it up according the principles of square foot gardening. I told him that since the beds were 5′ wide that we might want to make a path down the middle since he’s small and may not be able to reach the middle. Then I made him make a list of the vegetables he would like to grow. I informed him that only so many plants will fit in each square and asked how many squares he wanted of broccoli, how many of tomatoes and so on. As we picked the number of squares we looked through our seed catalogs and he selected varieties he wanted to grow. His is a 7 year old boy after all so he picked things like Atomic Red carrots and Cheddar Cheese Cauliflower.

Our next step is to protect the beds from the chickens and to mark out the squares. He is responsible for all aspects of the garden. Of course he’ll get a little help with tilling from his dad, but planting, fertilizing and watering are all up to him. I also told him that if he elected to grow cucumbers that he had to assist with making pickles.

He is so cute and so proud of his little garden plan. I’m just proud that he loves to garden. What more could a mom ask for.

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A new year, A new way to garden

January 13, 2012 in Garden Planning, The Sprouting Off Garden, Vegetables

2012 is upon us and it’s time to start thinking about the garden again.  Currently, all of my previous post have vanished.  I do apologize about that.  Last Fall all of my websites were infiltrated by a hacker and I’ve been slowly bringing them back to life.  The trouble is that I did the last one in November and I’ve forgotten how to fix this one.  With any luck I can restore them, but it may take some time.

Each year I try out a “new” gardening technique. One year I used the square foot gardening method. Another year I followed Vegetable Gardening West of the Cascades by Steve Solomon. Last year I used Week-by-Week Vegetable Gardener’s Handbook by Ron & Jennifer Kujawski. It is always an excuse to purchase a new gardening book. However, these days people are tightening their belts and purchasing a new book may not be in the budget. This year I am following the good ol’ Farmer’s Almanac. I realize that, yes, this is a book that can be purchased. The important information is located right on the website.

The first thing I did is to pull out a good old fashioned calender. It just so happens that my husband’s aunt sends us one every year. I use this as my planting calender. I also pulled out blue and black ball point pens. See how frugal I’m being!

I marked on the calender the average last frost date according to the website. The date is April 21. Then I used the chart to write down what seeds needed to be started inside (blue) and which outside (black) according to the moon favorable column. March looks like this:


Ignore the fact that it’s blurry ok.

Again, this is a family calender so you now now that my sister-in-law’s birthday is March 3rd. I also marked 2 important dates on this calender. February 8 and March 21. I happen to be having surgery in February and will have a 10 pound weight restriction until March 21. I have to plan my garden around those dates.

So now that I have my indoor and outdoor crop outlines I can start planning.

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