I love spring! Not only do we get to witness the most dramatic changing of seasons, we get to renew our gardens as well. Renewing your garden takes a lot of time, effort and information. This week is one of our milestones for Garden Time. This week we get to extend our program to one hour. That means we can give you lots more gardening information to help make that job easier. Every year we take the show to a one hour long program for 3 months which means we are able to deliver more of the best gardening information to you. We will wrap up these hour long shows at the end of June, until then sit back and enjoy.

Another rite of spring is the annual GardenPalooza event. This year we are celebrating our 13th annual affair. Next weekend at Fir Point Farms in Aurora you can stop by and visit nearly 50 different vendors. It is a great place to get all those plants you need for the spring. It is also a great place to win stuff. We will have drawings every 15 minutes!! We will be giving away gift cards, books from Timber Press, KPTV gear, Dramm watering tools, seeds and more. Our big prizes include a $500 ‘build a better garden’ cash award from Black Gold, a potting bench constructed by Judy with wood donated by Parr Lumber and the huge prize of a Visualscaping from French Prairie Perennials valued up to $2,500. Even if you don’t win anything you can still download money saving coupons at the GardenPalooza website.

See you next weekend at GardenPalooza!

This week we featured...

Tsugawa Small Fruits

Gardens are getting smaller and as they get smaller a lot of people think that they can’t grow some of their favorite fruits. But we found out that you don’t need a lot of space to grow tasty fruits. We found this out at Tsugawa Nursery (360-225-8750). Brian Tsugawa walked Judy through a selection of plants that would work well in a small garden or even a container. We started with Yerba Mate which can be used in teas. This is a little tender so protect it when the temps get down to freezing. Another plant for teas is a the Korean Tea Seedling. This is a form of camellia and you use the new tender leaves to make tea. It is very popular and a little more hardy than the Yerba Mate. We moved to blueberries next. Some of these are quite unique like the ‘Pink Icing’, which has ‘pink’ blueberries. Sunshine Blue, and Peach Sorbet are two other varieties that are popular for smaller gardens. Our next plant has a familiar name but is not as well known in the garden, the lingonberry. This one has great little berries that are used in sauces and jams. It is well known in Scandinavian countries. Next was a short compact version of a raspberry called ‘Raspberry Shortcake’. Normally raspberries can take over a garden, these stay about 2 feet tall and can be contained in a pot on your deck. Another berry that seems to be making a comeback is the gooseberry. This berry is not one that you can just eat off the plant. These berries never get incredibly sweet. They will always have a little tartness to them. However they are very flavorful and are great in jams, jellies and pies. Finally, we saw a couple of varieties of honeyberries. These are also used in cooking and are very high in antioxidants and vitamin C. So, if you think you don’t have enough room for berries in your garden, think again! Stop by Tsugawa’s in Woodland or your local independent garden center and see what flavorful addition you can add to your garden this year.

Removing Lawn Weeds

The return of the spring warmth also means the return of the dreaded lawn weeds. Broadleaf weeds and weedy grasses can easily take over your turf grass and take your yard from a thing of beauty to a weedy mess in no time! To get some help we stopped and talked to Tom Combs from Bonide. Bonide makes a lot of the garden products that you have come to trust in your yard. Today Tom brought out the product ‘Weed Beater Plus’ and then showed us how to use it. The 2 different bottles we saw were a RTU (Ready to Use) which you could use if you had a small patch of a few weeds and the other product which was a hose end sprayer. Hose end means that you attach it to the end of your hose and then just turn on the water. This bottle delivers the spray in a premeasured amount over a large area very quickly. Tom told us that you have to follow a few rules when you spray. First of all this product needs warmth to work. Average temperatures need to be above 65 for the product to work the best and be careful not to apply it when the temperature get above 80. Try to spray on a day when there is no wind and be sure to not let it drift into your flower beds since it will damage your ornamental plants if you hit them. One more tip, walk backwards. By going to the farthest area first and walking backwards you are sure to not walk through the product and then transfer it to your flower beds if you walk through them. For more information on the complete line of Bonide products be sure to check out their website and while you are there you can download their Problem Solver’ app for your iPhone or Droid.

Bauman’s at Fir Point Farms

A lot of people love the plants at Bauman’s Farm and Garden (503-792-3524) but the drive to Woodburn sometimes seems too long (though it is really pretty close). To remedy that, Bauman’s along with our friends at Fir Point Farms have teamed up to bring you the best of both worlds. Bauman’s will be selling plants at Fir Point Farms starting this weekend through the 4th of July. They have some cool new plants that are available to the public for the spring. The first is a new strawberry called the Hula Berry. This is a white berry that tastes like pineapple! It needs a regular berry to pollinate it so Bauman’s actually has a container that has both, red and white berries. They are also carrying a new type of heirloom tomato. This one is called Big Brandy. It is a cross between an old heirloom variety and a new hybridized variety, that means that you get all the great flavor of the heirloom and the huge production of a newer variety. They have a large selection of color plants as well. Stop by and see them this weekend, then come back and see them at GardenPalooza next weekend. Plus mark your calendar for their great grand opening on the 18th of this month. If you want to get a treat you can eat, don’t forget to stop by the Fir Point Farms bakery.

Leach Botanical Gardens

One of the hidden gems of the Portland public gardens is the Leach Botanical Garden (503-823-9503) in SE Portland. This jewel is tucked away just off Foster Road in the Johnson Creek canyon and it has a long history behind it. We met with a couple of the drivers behind this wonderful garden recently. First we took a little walk with Scott Hoelscher, who is the head gardener at Leach. He took us to a little bed that was just starting to burst with spring color. We saw some trilliums, viola sempervivum, and Erythronium revolutum and oregonum. Then we moved to another part of the garden to talk with David Porter who is the Executive Director of Leach. He told us a little history about the Leach’s. They were very involved in their community for years and when they passed away they left this wonderful garden to the city of Portland (they had no children). Their legacy lives on in this little piece of heaven. David also told us about the annual spring plant sale that is happening this weekend. This sale takes place from 9:30 to 2pm at Floyd Light Middle School (10800 SE Washington St, Portland) and is a major fundraiser for the garden. This year the funds are going to help in the redevelopment of the upper garden. The garden has been working with some wonderful partners including Land Morphology and Olsen-Kundig landscape architects to come up with a plan for the design, but you can be a part of it too. If you go to the Leach website you can look at the plan and give your input of the final design. It’s just one more way we all can become involved with this great Portland garden.

Judy’s Potting Bench

A lot of gardeners would like a potting bench, but they can be expensive to buy. How about building one on your own. Judy found a plan on the internet and made a few changes. She then came up with a material list and headed to Parr Lumber (866-214-7277). We met with Amber at Parr and she had everything cut to the right length for Judy according to her material list and plans. Most of the Parr locations will precut your wood for you if you have the correct measurements and you give them plenty of time. She also gave us some screws and some Penofin oil finish to preserve the wood and we were off.

First Judy built both of the shelves. Then she attached the short front legs. All the holes were predrilled so there was no danger of splitting the wood when she put in the screws. Once the front legs were attached she flipped it over (with Williams help) and attached the taller back legs. Additional bracing was added to give the bench a little more stability. Then the top shelf was added and also a few decorative pieces on that shelf. It was pretty much done! If you would like to see the plans and materials list to try and build it yourself, click on this link. If you would like to try and WIN this potting bench, you can come to GardenPalooza next weekend, April 11th.

Medicinal Plants

Gardening is very healthy for you in more ways than one. It is well known that working in your garden can help you relax and promote good overall mental health, but did you know that there are lot of beneficial properties from plants for your physical wellbeing? One of our local experts in medicinal plants is Laura Altvater at Portland Nursery (503-231-5050) on Stark. She joined us in the greenhouse with just a few of the plants that have known health benefits. We started with a Rosa rugosa. This is a species rose that has many beneficial parts to it. You can use the rose petals in teas which is good for your heart. The rose hips can be used in making jams and jellies. Rose hips are very high in vitamin C which is great for your immune system. Next we looked at a mahonia also known as Oregon Grape. The roots of this plant can be used in a tea as well to help you deal with phlegm and getting over a cold. Laura then had a bag of yarrow that she had dried. This plant is good for stopping bleeding. You just chew a small piece of the plant and apply it to small cuts and scrapes to stop the flow of blood. It can also be used in teas for fevers and colds. Elderberries were next and they have a couple of uses. The flowers can be used in teas for colds and the berries can be made into a syrup which will strengthen your immune system. Calendula was next. Laura harvested the bright yellow flowers to use in oils and salves. This is used for its antimicrobial properties so it is great for scrapes and wounds. This was just a small sampling of the plants that you will find in our area that have medicinal uses. If you are interested in more information she recommended a few books including ‘Medicinal Plants of the Pacific West’ by Michael Moore. You can also stop by either location of Portland Nursery to get some tips. Portland Nursery is also having a class on Cooking with Medicinals on April 18th at the Division Street location. Call to preregister for this informative class.

Miller Grade School Seed Planting

Spring is the time for planting and for kids it is a time to play in the dirt. We did a little of both at Miller Elementary School in East Salem. We met a great group of second grade kids in Ms. Sarah’s classroom and we were joined by Donna Wright of Black Gold. Donna brought with her some sweet pea seeds from Ed Hume seeds, some Natural and Organic soil from Black Gold and some peat pots donated by Capitol Subaru of Salem. The kids were then walked through the process of filling their pots with soil and planting the seed. The soil from Black Gold has the new ‘Resilience’ additive which helps plants grow strong. Once they were done planting the kids got to put the pots in a little baggie to take home. These seeds will grow into a short version of sweet pea plants which will have fragrant and colorful flowers!

Now this was not a planting party that is limited to one classroom. Black Gold, Garden Time and Capitol Subaru would like to offer the planting kit to kindergarten, first and second grade classrooms in the Salem Keizer School District. Each kit will contain, soil, seeds, pots and a teaching guide to cover 30 students. All teachers have to do is to contact us at Garden Time through our webpage (GardenTime@comcast.net) and we will get them on a list. Kits will be sent out at the beginning of May. Sorry but we can only accommodate these classes in the Salem-Keizer district for now.

Donna also shared some other great news with us. Black Gold will be at GardenPalooza next weekend and she will be giving out individual seed packets from Capitol Subaru. Also Donna will be signing up people for a drawing in the ‘Build a Better Garden with Black Gold’ contest. One lucky winner will be drawn and will receive a $500 check to help them ‘build a better garden’. Also, Portland Nursery on Division is donating a landscape consultation to the winner. So you can not only get the money, they will help you decide how to spent it wisely! Stop by and see Donna at GardenPalooza to sign up!

Roasting Spring Vegetables

If you have been to your local grocery store you may have noticed the huge selection of fresh garden vegetables that are now showing up. It is so exciting to see all these new veggies, but most of us just seem to cook the same vegetables over and over again. To get a different take on cooking these vegetables we stopped by World Foods Portland (503-802-0755) at their new Everett Street location and talked with Chef Mirna Attar. Mirna is the chef at Ya Hala (http://www.yahalarestaurant.com, 503-256-4484) and supervises the cooking staffs at both grocery stores. She loves this time of year because of all the great fresh fruits and vegetables that are showing up. Judy joined her in the vegetable section of the store to pick some fresh vegetables for her simple dish. Mirna started with Fava beans and then picked up okra, broccolini, asparagus, mint, sugar snap peas, shallots and garlic. Then we moved to the kitchen. On 2 large trays she cut up the vegetables. One the first tray she sliced the fava beans down the middle. She can use the fava beans with the pods early in the spring while they are soft. If it were later in the season she would only use the beans themselves. She then sliced the okra down the middle as well. Sliced shallots and garlic cloves were sprinkled on the top and then she covered it all with olive oil, salt and pepper. This went into the oven first since these are larger and harder vegetables and need a little longer to cook. The oven was set at 450 degrees and these need to stay in the oven around 15 minutes.

Next came the second tray and this had the asparagus spears, the broccolini and the sugar snap peas once again covered with sliced shallots and garlic cloves, plus the usual olive oil, salt and pepper. This just needed to cook for about 10 minutes. Once the trays came out they were combined in one bowl and then dressed with parsley, mint leaves, feta cheese and drizzled with olive oil again. It was fantastic and so easy to do!

If you are looking for a great grocery store that carries a lot of what you need and things you have to try, then stop by either World Foods locations, on Everett and on Barbur. They have a huge selection of wines at both locations, full deli’s and some of the best ethnic food selections from the Mediterranean region in the area.