SHOW ARCHIVE

Episode 367 • August 1, 2015

VIDEO ARCHIVE

Wow, the heat has returned with a vengeance! We really want to emphasize that you need to make sure you take care of yourself during these hot days. If you do get out to water your plants, do it in the morning and drink some water while you are doing it. If your lawn is getting toasted, check out our story this week on summer watering tips. It might be better to just stop watering your grass at this point!

If you are thinking of cooler places right now, so are we! We are thinking of Ireland! We just received some pictures of the private gardens we will be visiting and they are tremendous! We will try to get some of the pictures up on the Garden Time website in the next few weeks. If you would like to join us next June, there is more information on the Tours page of our website. The price right now is less than $5,000 for the trip and that includes your flights, hotels, admission fees to the gardens and other attractions, and some of your meals. A few people who have signed up are extending their stay and seeing other sights in Europe while they are there. You can too! We hope to see you there!

This week we featured...

Street of Dreams Landscape

Street of Dreams Landscape

The NW Natural Street of Dreams is here again! This is a showcase event that features 9 homes with all the latest bells and whistles. We were here, though, for the landscape. We met with Chris Merten of Merten and Sons Landscaping and talked to him about their design on the Atterbury house on the Street. Chris told us that his company is known for their water features and they have 2 of them on this property. They worked hard on incorporating the design into the landscape using the hill and slope of the property to make the features appear to be natural and not overpowering. In fact they have won awards for their designs in 5 of the last 6 events. He also talked to Judy about the use of the rain catchments on the site. These (there are 2) features are designed to capture all the rain water from the roof and property and to filter and disperse the water; allowing it to naturally percolate back into the soil. These were well designed and seemed to be a natural part of the landscape. The plants made them unobtrusive and when the plants grow they will look even better.

This is just one of the outstanding homes, and landscapes, on the tour this year. If you would like to come up and see these great homes you can through the end of the month. Check out their website for directions, prices, and events that are happening during the event.

Summer Water Tips

Summer Water Tips

How is your lawn? If your lawn and garden are taking a beating during this heat, maybe you need to set priorities! We met with Christine Hollenbeck from the Regional Water Providers Consortium to talk about mid-summer watering. Christine has a great yard, but she will be the first to tell you that it is not looking the best at this time. She has quit watering the grass and focused on the beds and vegetables around her home. Her grass is pretty brown in some areas. Not to worry she told us. The grass is just dormant. If she were to try and bring it back to life (and a healthy green color), it would cost her a lot of money on her water bills. It is best to let it stay brown until the fall rains return. The only problem with a dormant lawn is that the weeds can survive on a lot less water and they will pop up since the lawn is weak right now. The areas around the beds were a little green, but that was from the residual water that Christine had used in the beds. The lawn was green in another part of her garden, in the shade of her home. We also looked in her backyard and saw that her raised beds were looking great too! She made sure that she kept these plants watered and that she paired plants with similar water requirements around the rest of her garden.
If you would like to get some tips to help your lawn and garden through this hot spell, check out the www.conserveh2o.org website.

Jacobsen Salt

Jacobsen Salt

One of the rising stars of the foodie movement in the Northwest is Jacobsen Salt. We were surprised to find out that this wonderful taste enhancer is made right here in Oregon. To find out how it is made we met up with Ben Jacobsen in Netarts where he has his production facility. Ben started this venture when he returned from Europe and realized that we didn’t have any locally produced salt available for diners and chefs. He started to experiment with salt making and finding the right kind of salt water to use. He traveled the west coast and found the best water was right in his backyard near Tillamook. He started by filling large barrels of salt water and driving them back to Portland to make salt at his home. Eventually he found funding and opened up his production facility on the coast. He started with just a plain sea salt but now they make dozens of specialty salts, plus other products as well.

The process is simple yet difficult. They take water from the ocean and let it sit and rest for a little bit. Then they boil the water to remove minerals they don’t want. The remaining water goes into evaporation pans and the salt crystals form slowly and sink to the bottom of the pan. This is harvested and then dried even more. The finished salt is almost sweet in flavor. Ben likes to say that his salt will make any dish better. We think he’s right! If you would like to try Jacobsen Salt you can find it at a lot of local stores or on-line at their website.

Smith Berry Tart

Smith Berry Tart

There is nothing like baking with fresh ingredients and especially fresh fruit! To get a taste of both we stopped by Smith Berry Barn (503-628-2172) and met up with Joelle in the kitchen. She had a fresh berry/peach tart to share with us. Judy joined her to lend a helping hand but that wasn’t really necessary, this is an easy recipe. First she made a rustic dough. This was a simple dough that you chill when it is done. Then you roll it out on a flat cookie sheet. You don’t need any special baking pan for this recipe. Once you roll it out into a 14-16 inch circle you place it back in the fridge and mix your fruit. For this recipe we peeled and sliced 5 medium sized peaches and added a pint of raspberries to the bowl. Then a sugar and flour mixture went in the bowl along with some lime zest and the juice from ½ a lime. That was then mixed together. We poured the fruit mixture into the center of the dough and added a couple of small cubes of butter then folded the edges up and over the fruit mixture. The edge of the tart was brushed with melted butter and sprinkled with sugar. This went into the oven for about 40 minutes at 400 degrees. The finished product was WONDERFUL!

If you would like to try this recipe you can find it on the Smith Berry Barn website. If you would like to try some of their great fresh fruits be sure to stop by. Also, you can check their website to see what they are picking fresh from the farm every day!

Tip of the Week – Pool Plants

Pool Plants

The heat makes us all thirsty! Our garden tip of the week helps quench the thirst of your hanging baskets and small container gardens. We found a small ‘kiddie’ pool, filled it ½ full of water and set our driest plants in the water. During those days that have excessive heat, the plants really like the extra water and we don’t have to worry about constant watering. There are a couple of precautions you have to follow. Don’t leave them in there for more than a day or two; they can get too much of a good thing and that may create mold, fungus or disease problems. And don’t over fill the pool. Allowing the plant to take what it needs from the pool is good, drowning it is not!
 

 
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