One down and two to go… I’m talking about holidays left this fall. Halloween was pretty mellow, but we are now looking at some blustery weather for a few weeks. The winter has a lot to offer the gardener. There are the holiday decorations, the outdoor interest plants and the gear up for holiday events yet to attend. Enjoy this breather between events with a new Garden Time show. You can also catch up with William’s fall and winter prep of his garden on the Garden Time Blog.

One note… we are 3 weeks away for the end of this season of Garden Time. Our last show for this year is the 28th of November. Don’t worry, we will return again in the spring with new shows in March of 2010. There are a couple of ways to keep up with the show while we are gone. One way is to subscribe to the Garden Time On-line magazine, a free monthly magazine that is e-mailed to you, and by checking the Garden Time website for weekly up-dates.

For now you can enjoy this new episode of Garden Time.

This week we featured...

Poinsettia Tips

Believe it or not, it is time for poinsettias. They are starting to make their appearance at local garden centers and other stores. The big push will be in a couple of weeks but you can get some nice plants right now. The big question that we hear is ‘how do I pick a good one’ and ‘how can I make it last’. To find out the answer to these questions we stopped by the growing operation for Al’s Garden Center (503-491-0771) and talked to head grower, Jill. She gave us some tips on how to pick a good plant. First look for good branching. A single branch plant will not give you the bunches of blooms that you want. And speaking of blooms, the bright colors you see are not the flowers of the poinsettia. The flower is the small center buds that are usually yellow. The bright colors are modified leaves. As for the blooms you will want small tight buds that are not yellow yet, that means they are early in their bloom cycle. Also look for good healthy green leaves under the brightly colored ones.

Now that you have picked out a good one, how can you make it last? Jill recommends that you treat your plant with tender loving care. Make sure that is doesn’t get placed in too hot of a spot, that it doesn’t get in too many drafts and keep it in bright non-direct sunlight. You will also want to water it regularly without over watering or having it set in water. Remember to remove the decorative foil sleeve when you are watering it. If you follow these tips it will be around for a couple of months if not longer!

Jill also pointed out some of her favorite varieties. She likes the ‘Cortez Electric Fire’ and the ‘Winter Rose Red’. Of course with over 40 different varieties at Al’s you can find your own favorite. Especially this weekend at the Gresham store you can enjoy a tour of the poinsettia growing area on Saturday and Sunday at noon, and all of the Al’s will be celebrating ‘Holiday Happenings’ with special events happening at all 3 locations through Sunday.

Echinacea Harvest

H1N1 is in the news and people are looking for ways to stay healthy. One of the traditional natural remedies for boosting your immune system is echinacea. This age-old herb has been used by Native American tribes to help them stay healthy and western medicine is just learning some of the benefits of this plant. We paid a visit to the Oregon’s Wild Harvest (800-316-6869) to see how they grow, harvest and package this herb. We met up with Randy, the owner and he gave us a tour of the growing operation. Randy started by showing us the greenhouse where they are drying the seeds pods that they will use to grow future crops. These seeds are planted and grown in a greenhouse and then transplanted in the fields to let them mature for a couple of years. The way that they are grown is unique. Oregon’s Wild Harvest is not just an organic farm; it is a Bio-dynamic certified farm. What that means is that they treat the farm as a huge living organism. Instead of addressing plant needs as they arise, they see the entire interaction of soil, plants, animals and humans working together to treat the farm as a whole. It is way beyond organic! In the field we saw how they use cover crops and other means to grow the best plants. From the field we moved into the packaging and shipping area to see how they create up to 16 different products from the whole echinacea plant. Nothing is wasted from the root to the flower! You can find the Oregon’s Wild Harvest products at many of your local grocery and health stores, or you can order on-line too.

Chestnut Roast

"Chestnuts roasting on an open fire…."  We have all heard the old holiday carol, but few of us have ever tasted a roasted chestnut, even though they grow in our area. We heard about a chestnut farm near Hood River so we decided to pay a visit and learn more about these traditional, but underused nuts. Bernardo is the new owner of Nella Chestnut Farms (1-800-400-3658), formerly called Nutquacker Farms. Bernardo is Italian and his experiences with this nut have a deep rooted tradition. Even Judy, who is also Italian, has had chestnuts with her family for meals and snacks. First of all Bernardo told us that many cultures from Italian, to French to Asian, use this nut in their cooking. In Europe you can find vendors on the street corners during the fall, roasting these for shoppers. To harvest them you have to make sure that you are not using the Horse Chestnut (these can make you sick), the correct ones are like a big sharp, fuzzy looking pod. Once the pod falls from the tree you can step on the pod to have the nut pop out. Then take the biggest ones and cut them with an ‘x’ on the outside (to prevent them from bursting in the oven) and then roast them for 25 minutes at 400 degrees, you can then eat the yellow meat inside. You can even cook them in the microwave! There are lots of other ways to enjoy these naturally delicious nuts and you can find more recipes on the Nella/Nutquacker farms website. You can even order them on-line.

Hood River Park

A park is a magnet. It can draw people, wildlife and even business to an area. We found a new park that is doing all that in Hood River. The new Hood River Waterfront Park on the Columbia River in Hood River is becoming a magnet of its own. Recently we visited with a couple of people that were instrumental in the organizing of the park. Ann Frodel and John Ritter met us at the park to tell us how it all came about. This industrial area was given to the city of Hood River and when funds for developing it were short, a coalition of groups joined together to create a true jewel for the area. There is a wonderful children’s play area, a family beach, a windsurfing launch and a fishing platform. Soon they will also add an amphitheater. Another important part of the park is the choice of plants for the landscape. The groups also had the park planted with native plants with signage that educates the visitors with plant information and growing conditions. If you are in the community of Hood River you should stop by and see what a group of people can do to create something really beautiful.

Winter Berry Plants

The leaves are falling off your garden trees and shrubs, and you are thinking that there isn’t much interest in the garden, right? Well we found some great plants with winter berries at Larsen Farm Nursery (503-638-8600) that serve 2 functions, they help feed our local wildlife and they look great in your garden. Ryan from Larsen Farm showed us a huge variety of plants that you can find at your local garden center. Some of the plants we saw included the Porcelain Vine ‘Elegans’, Snowberry ‘Scarlet Pearl’, Pyracantha ‘Victory’ and ‘Yukon Belle’, Arbutus also called Strawberry Tree, Beautyberry ‘Profusion’, Holly ‘Ebony Magic’ and Holly Veriegata. If you are looking for more winter interest in your garden or a plant that will help feed the local wildlife then check out the selection of winter berry plants at Larsen Farm.

Kindergarden – Seed Mosaics

Our kindergarden segment this week plants the seed of creativity. The kids at Al’s Garden Center (503-981-1245) created seed mosaics. Amy Bigej printed some pictures off the internet, but you could also use pictures from coloring books, and then the kids glued seeds to them. The seeds included different varieties of beans, peas and even wild bird feed. They turned out fantastic and are a good project for those rainy winter days!