The summer is coming. I know that you can’t tell by recent weather, but the calendar is showing a return to summer in the next week or so. We can only hope that the temperatures will follow. Those summer vegetables will be grateful to see the heat again. In fact, you can still get some of those vegetables in the ground for a late summer, early fall harvest.

We would like to thank all the viewers who came out and saw us at Heirloom Roses last weekend. We were able to give away a bunch of boxes of Black Gold fertilizer to over 200 lucky viewers and a couple of people walked away with some cool tools from Dramm! If you have never been out to Heirloom Roses you really should stop by. The display gardens are free and open to the public from dawn to dusk every day.

This week we featured...

Parr Raised Beds

We have learned over time that the best way to grow a vegetable garden is by using a raised bed. Sometimes, though, it seems like a daunting task to build one. Really it isn’t if you get help from the right people. We found the right people at Parr Lumber (866-214-7277). Amber joined us once again to show us two options for building a raised bed. The first option was a kit. These were called ‘Quick Corners for Raised Beds’ by Gardener’s Gadgets. The kit included 4 decorative brackets that you can use to build the bed. You just pick up a couple of #3 cedar boards and slide them into the corner frames and you are done.

The second raised bed was a Do It Yourself project. It also used a 12x2 foot, #3 cedar board which is naturally bug and rot resistant and is totally organic so nothing leaches out of the board and into your garden. Amber had cut 2 six foot pieces and 2 four foot pieces. Then she also cut 4 ten inch corner posts out of 4x4 cedar as well. The sides also had some pre-drilled holes so the pieces went together easily. You just build the box shape you want, put the corner posts on the inside, line up the pre-drilled holes and screw them all together. It is just that easy. Plus you don’t have to worry about how to cut the boards. Your local Parr Lumber can cut the boards to size for you! If you ever get stuck and need a hand, just stop by your local Parr Location.

Seeding Our Future Garden Tour

Schools are in trouble, but you can help. A couple of years ago we were really impressed with the ‘Seeding Our Future’ event. This garden tour benefits the Foundation for Tigard Tualatin Schools. Normally we don’t do garden tours on the Garden Time TV show. It is hard to show people gardens that they can’t normally see everyday, but we decided to revisit this tour because of the great gardens we saw. We stopped by one of the featured gardens on this year’s tour. This garden belonged to Janet Zeider. Her garden just started 15 years ago with a bare lot and now it is a forest! Janet has been constantly changing her garden as the conditions changed over time. She also has a lot of fun with her garden with certain areas devoted to flamingos, gnomes, teddy bears, bushes sculpted to look like heads and small Asian figurines. She also had ‘garden rooms’ scattered throughout the yard. These rooms were cute little spaces where you could really get lost in the garden and just enjoy the beauty. It showed us the power of plants and planning in a small space. This garden is part of the Seeding Our Future Garden Tour and Art Show. It is one of 7 gardens that you can tour this Saturday in the Tigard, and Tualatin areas.

The garden tour is on Saturday, the 16th of June, and tickets are $20 each, but the Art Show and Garden Market are free at Durham Elementary near Tigard High School. You can get tickets at Durham Elementary and many of the local nurseries, garden centers and local businesses in the Tigard/Tualatin area. For more information, check out the ‘Seeding our Future’ website.

Tuesday Morning Outdoor Design

The summer can be short so you want to enjoy it as much as possible. To help you do that we enlisted the help of Sissy Biggers of Tuesday Morning to build an outdoor living space with items they carry at Tuesday Morning (800-457-0099). Tuesday Morning is a chain of high value, discount priced items. These items are name brand items that they get on overstocks and close outs from manufacturers. It is amazing what they carry! Sissy is a lifestyle consultant and designer and she was loaded with ideas. She started with seating. This is the centerpiece of your whole living space. You should be looking for these large comfort items first when shopping. She had brought out a glider loveseat. Under that she included an indoor/outdoor rug that she ordered from Tuesday Morning on-line. Then she moved to accent items. These were the ‘dressing up’ items for your space. This included some re-purposed birdhouses that had plants and candles in them and she even added a couple of all-weather silk plants to the tableau. Next we brought in some small tables that could be moved and used at various places around the space and then we finished it off with a large tub filled with ice for cold drinks and some heavy duty, but colorful, melamine dinnerware. This was all pulled together with items you can find at Tuesday Morning and TuesdayMorning.com. Items change all the time so stop by your local store and see what treasures you can find.

Garden Corner Earthpots

Last year we stopped by The Garden Corner (503-885-1934) and visited with Jonn Karsseboom and heard an interesting story from him about plastic garden pots. He had made a trip to the Pacific Science Center in Seattle and visited their display on whales. In the display was a pile of garbage that had been found in the stomach of a beached whale. The garbage included a plastic garden pot and a plastic plant tag. That is when he decided to start carrying the Earthpot at his garden center. The Earthpot is a completely bio-degradable container that you just put in the ground when you plant. There is no plastic garbage to get rid of! These pots are great at giving your plant a head start as well. Since you don’t disturb the roots the plants get going faster and are healthier. The Earthpot is used on all types of plants including vegetables, so you can still get your garden in the ground and not miss a beat this season. Look for the Earthpot at The Garden Corner and other fine garden centers.

Gartner’s Father’s Day Kabobs

It is time to relax. And the best way to do that is to have a nice grilled meal on your deck or patio. Jerry Yost, from Gartner’s Meats (503-252-7801) has the perfect meal for this for Father’s Day weekend. He grilled up a bunch of chicken and beef ka-bobs from the store. Gartner’s has been in business for over 50 years and they can really liven up your grill with some of the meats they offer. Jerry’s choice of ka-bobs was great for 2 reasons, first, they are cheap and, second, they are easy! He paired them with some of the unique salads you can find at Gartner’s. They also carry rice, garlic bread and even dessert! If you have 15 minutes, you have a great meal!