SHOW ARCHIVE

Episode 307 • November 30, 2013

VIDEO ARCHIVE

Welcome to our last show of 2013. It is hard to believe that we have just finished our 8th season of the Garden Time TV show. We have had a great year bringing you all the best and most topical garden information available. We were also proud to be able to expand our program to an hour for 13 weeks this past spring. We would like to take the time to thank our broadcast partners, KOIN, KWVT and KEVU. Once again they have helped us bring you all the show every week. They could have easily played cartoons or other paid programs each weekend, but they have worked with us to bring you a fresh show each week.

We would also like to thank our advertisers. Without their support we would not even have a show to begin with. That is why it is sooo important that you thank them for supporting Garden Time whenever you shop at their establishments. (and shop them often!)

Finally, we would like to thank all of you. Your growing support is what keeps us going! We will miss you all during our hiatus.

We will be returning in March of 2014 for our 9th season. You can still follow us on Facebook and through our website. We will post new videos and some of our favorite stories while we are away. In the meantime, enjoy this last episode for 2013.

This week we featured...

Homemade Suet

Homemade Suet

It is hard for the birds in the winter. Their normal food sources are gone and the weather is not making it any easier. To learn how to keep them healthy and happy we stopped by Lonesomeville Pottery (503-774-5387). Yeah, we know that Lonesomeville is known for their great ceramic art, but they also have a ‘killer’ garden and over time they have perfected a homemade suet recipe that keeps their birds coming back for more. We met with the ever entertaining Wayne to walk through the steps for making their suet. First we assembled all the ingredients and then in a large bowl we mixed them all together. What you get is a thick paste. This is too soft to just hang outside so you will need a form to hold it together. Wayne recommends a cookie cutter. You just slap that lard into the mold and then put a simple wire hanger on one edge and you are good to go! The birds love it so much that they will actually eat it out of the ornament while you are holding it. Wayne also showed us how they use a plastic bowl as a protector to keep the starlings and squirrels out of it.

Homemade suet:
½ pound of lard
1 ½ cups of bird seed
¾ cup whole wheat flour
1 cup of oatmeal
½ cup of peanut butter

Now if you want a treat just for you (and not the birds) check out their website and Facebook page for some special holiday hours at the studio. You can stop by during these hours and pick up some really unique gifts for family and friends.

Simple Holiday Appetizers

Simple Holiday Appetizers

The holidays are really stressful as it is. With all the parties, dinners and get-togethers, it is hard to come up with unique appetizers that are fun and simple. We met with local chef, Barb Randall, to learn 2 quick and easy recipes for this holiday season. The first recipe uses local goat cheese. Chef Barb cut the cheese into 8 identical pieces. Then rolled them into little balls. She then used paprika, curry powder and chopped dill to make little Christmas ornaments! Some were just 2 dots on a cheese ball, some were a line of spices and others were completely covered. They were then drizzled with olive oil. What a quick recipe.

Next we did little pomegranate boats. First we got the tasty seeds from a ripe pomegranate. You do this by cutting a small part of the outer shell off. Then you immerse the whole pomegranate in a basin of water and peel away the outer shell. The little, tasty seeds will sink to the bottom and the skins and membranes will float to the surface and then you can just skim them off. While the seeds are draining, take some endive; clean and cut the leaves into little boats. When you have the seeds drained you can scoop them into the little ‘boats’ and serve. These were simple and incredible!

If you would like to learn more about Chef Barb and places where she is holding classes you can contact her at 503-887-3949. You can also find her ‘Lifting the Fork’ articles in the Lake Oswego Review and the West Linn Tidings every week!

Making a Holiday Wreath

Making a Holiday Wreath

One of the signature decorations of the Christmas season is a holiday wreath. These decorations are one of the first things that people see when coming to your home, and they are easy to make. We stopped by Portland Nursery on Stark Street (503-231-5050) to meet with Sara to learn how to make one of these. You first start with a wreath ring (this gives you something to build your wreath on), some holiday greens and some florists wire. Start by taking a few small bracts from the greens, then tie together with the florist wire. Do this at least 8-9 times to create similar bunches of greens. Take your large wreath ring and, starting on one side, tie the bunches on the ring, one after another, in a circular pattern with the florist wire. Once you have completed the circle you can embellish with pine cones, dried flowers, decorative bows or other accents. If this seems like a lot of work to you, you can stop by either location of Portland Nursery and pick up a premade wreath. If you would still like to tackle making one yourself, you can contact Portland Nursery for a schedule of classes. These classes include bow making and building a terrarium. If you can’t make it to one of the scheduled classes, you can have a special one just for yourself. Get a group of 5 to 10 friends together and call the nursery and they will put on a class just for you!

One of the best times to come to Portland Nursery is this weekend. They are having their annual Holiday Open House. There are specials, classes and tons of fun for any garden lover! Stop by and get your home ready for the holidays.

Flocked Christmas Trees

Flocked Christmas Trees

It is the season of Christmas trees, but what type of tree person are you? Are you a live tree person, a cut tree person or a flocked tree person? We had always wondered about flocked trees, so to learn more we stopped by Lee Farms (503-638-1869) to chat with Annie about Christmas trees. Lee Farms is one of the best growers of trees in our area. They carry lots of varieties of trees to choose from. She showed us a Grand fir to start with. The Grand fir is one of the most fragrant trees around. This one will make your house smell like Christmas! She also had a Noble fir for us to look at. These are known for their strong branches and ‘shelves’, these are layered branches that allow for a better display of ornaments. One of the trends for this year is the ‘wild’ look. Instead of the cone-shaped trees that we have become used to, they now have non-sheared wild trees. These look more like the trees in the wild. Either way, shaped or wild, your tree will need water. You can figure about a gallon per foot, per tree, with most of the water consumption in the first few days after cutting. You will need to make sure that the tree is getting plenty of water without drying out. Once a tree runs out of water the base will seal up and then the tree will dry out faster. The way around that is with the David Tree Stand. Lee’s sells these stands and they are great since they are easy to level the tree and they have a large bucket under them to hold lots of water!

But what if you are forgetful or you just don’t want to water every day! Then a flocked tree might be right for you. The flocked tree is completely sealed with the flocking material which means it won’t dry out. The material is bio-degradable and non-toxic. You do have to wait for an entire day for the flocking to dry, but after that it is maintenance free! Be sure to stop by Lee’s this holiday season to pick up your tree or get something out of their bakeshop!

Black Gold Makeover Winners

Black Gold Makeover Winners

Last year we partnered up with Black Gold and Sungro to give away a $500 garden makeover. Things went so well in the spring that Black Gold decided to give away another makeover this fall. Our winners were Sheri and Robert of Portland. They met with us on a cold morning to talk about what they would like to accomplish for their makeover. They are looking at replacing some of their older mature shrubs with small plants and lots of color. They will be working with the garden designers at the Portland Nursery on Division to come up with a plan and then get it into place. We look forward to seeing how it turns out.
We want to thank Black Gold/Sungro for putting this contest together. For more information on any of the quality Black Gold products, check out their website at www.BlackGold.bz.

Gartner’s and Season Wrap

Gartner’s and Season Wrap

We end every season at Jerry and Deb Yost’s house. Jerry is from Gartner’s Meats (503-252-7801) and they always have something delicious to share. This year we close out with a combination ham. This is a pre-cooked ham that is one half peppered and one half sugar cured. It is pre-sliced and then tied together again. This is one of the special things that they carry and was put together just for our Garden Time fans, but I’m sure they have a few extra for those non-gardeners as well. Whether you are looking for a turkey, a crown roast, a prime rib, a ham or even some homemade pepperoni, Gartner’s can help you out.
We want to thank you once again for watching Garden Time this past year and we look forward to seeing you again in March of 2014.
 

 
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