One more week until Summer... OK, not technically. The Memorial Day weekend
is always considered the un-official start to the summer season even though
the calendar says otherwise. So, before you crank-up the grill we have a
few things for you to do around the garden. It is also a good time to get
your lawn equipment ready for the season, so check out the story below!
Have a great weekend getting ready for summer!
This week we featured...
Dipping Strawberries
Spring is here and that means the strawberries are looking ripe and ready for picking. You may enjoy strawberry shortcake and slicing strawberries over ice cream, but there are so many more ways to enjoy them. William and Judy thought up some interesting combinations for dipping sauces for you to enjoy. We featured 'night and day' which had strawberries in half white chocolate and half dark chocolate. We also had 'Coco-berry' which was a dip into frosting with coconut flakes and 'Crazy for Caramel' which was just a dip into caramel. All of them were delicious! If you are looking for more ideas, check out this month's Garden Time On-line magazine. It is a free subscription and it
comes to you in your e-mail box each month.
Mole Traps
One of the most common pests in the NW garden is the mole. They can really tear up your flower bed and lawn. There are lots of products out there to deter them. Don Sprague of Don Sprague Sales (1-800-423-0158) has found that most of them don't work too well. The products that don't seem to work include the vibrators, the home remedies, and the gases and bombs. And with some of these products you may be doing more harm to your garden than the moles. The problem with getting rid of moles, if you don't remove them, they will just leave and return later. The best way of getting
rid of moles is to trap them. Don showed us how to use the Cinch Trap. The
Cinch Trap is VERY effective. This product will trap them and remove them
forever.
Stihl - KombiSystem
We are always on the look out for new tools on the market that
will make gardening easier. We found a great new system from STIHL called the KombiSystem. The
Stihl KombiSystem is a complete family of multi-task tools comprised of
different power heads and numerous attachments. The split shaft design lets
you quickly change attachments. It also comes with the new Easy2Start
engine which takes no effort to start! Wayne Sutton from STIHL demonstrated
how easy it is to operate. Check out the STIHL website to find a dealer
near you.
Spring Equipment Maintenance
Now is the time to take care of those lawn equipment service
problems so you can head into spring with 'working' equipment. Tim from
Stark Street Lawn and Garden (503-625-2967) walked us through some of the
issues you may be dealing with and how to fix them. If your mower is acting
up you can take care of the problem by changing the fuel and oil filters,
changing the oil, spark plug and sharpening the blade. We recommend you get
a professional to sharpen and balance your blade though. The same is true
for all your lawn and garden equipment. Filters and fuel can be the 2
leading causes of problems when you fire stuff up in the spring. Old fuel is
weak and will cause your equipment to sputter and not start and filters may
become clogged after setting all winter. If you have a job you don't think
you can handle, give the guys at Stark Street a call or find a reputable
repair shop. Always remember to have your model number and brand written
down for the technician when you call so they can have the parts you need
available. Stark Street is also starting to carry a full line of electric
powered lawn and garden equipment so you can cut down the amount of exhaust
you create in the garden. Check out the new equipment at any of their 5
locations!
Asian Vegetables in Containers
The push the past few years has been to grow your own
vegetables. You may feel that you are left out in the dark if you don't
have the room to garden. But it is easy if you bring your gardening up to
your deck or patio in containers. Almost everything can be grown in a
container. To show us how easy it is we traveled up to Woodland Washington
to talk to Brian Tsugawa at Tsugawa Nursery (360-225-8750). Brian showed us a couple of
containers that had been planted with an assortment of Asian style vegetable
starts. If you are looking to get a different taste from your gardening you
should try these different styles of some old favorites. Eggplants, bok
choy, mustard greens and many other varieties are really becoming popular
and can now be picked up at Tsugawa's or other local garden centers. You
can also pick a printed handout at Tsugawa's that will help you pick out
Asian vegetables. This season bring your gardening up close and try out
some new varieties at the same time!