Garden club meeting warning

we will assemble in camden grange and community center (7 camden road, elk) at 7 p.m. this coming tuesday, the 10th of may.  i received many requests during the last two meetings, for a class on companion planting, but i have yet to discover someone who knows a lot about the topic.  i may have to arrange another speaker/topic for the evening, so please arrive with an open mind, LOL.

we'll have plenty of time to socialize, snack on delicious food (courtesy of our friendly co-members, hint, hint), answer garden-related questions, and Barbara Midtbo is bringing her prized tomatoe plants for delivery to the lucky ones who pre-ordered, and will have lots of other tomatoe plants for sale as well.

if you have some garden stuff (seeds, plants, catalogs, tools, etc.) you wish to place on the "freebie" table, please bring them along.

see you there, jim.

509-292-0326

Weeding between the lines

​By Jim McGinty

 

By golly, it’s time to plant some of those cool-weather compliant vegetable friends outside in the garden, finally!

Here at Rancho McGinty, the cabbage starts (Stonehead, Late Flat Dutch, and Emerald Cross varieties) just went into their raised beds, planted through weed fabric (‘cuz I don’t want to weed more than I gotta!), and covered with floating row cover (Ree-may brand, available from Northwest Seed and Pet, in Spokane) to protect the little guys from those spoiling late frosts.  We have pushed our luck here with plants protected by Ree-May and it’s competitor, Agribon, down to plus 26 degrees Fahrenheit – the plants seemed happy the day after.

The garlic, planted last September through (again) weed fabric, is up and about ten inches tall – dark green stalks, and they already have that appetizing fragrance.

Potatoes, onions, and leeks are the next to be transplanted – they can all stand a “little” bit of frost, though I will cover them all with floating row cover.

Based on our recent shopping experiences, long-time wife Pat and I agree that this will be a great year to start or continue/expand a food garden – prices on even the mundane veggies seem to increase every week.  Remember that having the ability to grow your own food is a lot like having the ability to print your own money, though without having the whole Secret Service organization tramp through your garden, LOL.

In the fruit tree orchard, now is a great time to prune out all those unnecessary “suckers”, or water sprouts, or (officially) epicormic sprouts – you will know them by their long, lanky, sky-high growth habit – they can be pruned out at any time.

Here at Rancho McGinty, we are still seeing overnight below freezing temperatures, so we (and I hope, YOU) are holding off on planting those heat-loving, whiney-baby plant starts like tomatoes, peppers, Styrofoam ® brand eggplants, cucumbers, and others.  The “old-timer” gardeners in the area recommend waiting until all the snow has melted off the North side of Mount Spokane, before planting anything remotely frost-intolerant – that said, if you want some ripe corn, green beans, or even ornamental (though still poisonous) squash, you will have to push your luck:  black plastic mulch, drip irrigation, floating row cover, and maybe a comfy overnight electric blanket on the raised bed.

GARDEN CALENDAR:

On the 10^th of May, our local garden club will meet in Camden Grange and Community Center (7 Camden Road, Elk, WA 99009) for our last (we hope!) indoor meeting from 7-9 P.M.

We gardeners will be in high gear, garden season-wise, as it’s past time for planning – it’s time to plant, and weed, and water, and fun things like that. Cubicle workers know that a bad day in the garden is better than the best day in the office.

We plan our indoor meetings built around lots of socializing, trading of tips and tricks, learning (a class on companion planting is scheduled), and eating delicious snacks provided by our club members.

Our 14 June meeting is scheduled as an outdoor evening tour of a local garden, weather permitting, of course.

You can keep up on our garden club doings by checking out our webpage (www.elk-camdengardenkeepers.blogspot.com), or by looking for our Facebook page, “Elk-Camden Garden Keepers”.

On the 21^st of May, I will be teaching a class on garden drip irrigation systems, from 1-3 P.M. in the aforementioned Camden Grange and Community Center.  We will talk about how to make your garden more productive, reduce your dependence on expensive water, and maybe help with that bad back after a day of moving garden hoses and sprinklers. 

That’s it for this month – please remember to plant a couple of pumpkin seeds out there for the October Elk Park Committee’s Halloween party – free pumpkins for all the local kidlings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

April garden club meeting notes

We had a great (!) meeting on 12 April 2022, with more than 42 folks (I tried counting heads twice, and, each time some more folks came in the door, so I gave up that thought!) in attendance.

Club member Carol Wood presented an excellent two-fer class on both improving garden soil AND on using drip irrigation tape.  

We also ate a LOT of really delicious snacks (and BROWNIES!), and we all spent time just talking, and a bunch of us took home garlic bulbs, seed potatoes, seed packets, tomatoe starts, and gardening magazines from the freebie table.  I tell everyone to bring their trucks to the garden club meetin’s, ‘cuz we have stuff to take home!

 

GARDEN CALENDAR:

On 23 April, I will teach a class on home garden composting at Camden Grange and Community Center (7 Camden Road, Elk, WA) from 1-3 P.M.  We will talk about the why, when, and how of easy (?) composting.  The class costs $5 per person, and you can register for the class at the grange website:  camdengrange.org

On 28 April, local garden guru Dawn Trammell will present a class on gardening in our short season region of the world.  If you have dreams of ripe, fresh food in our seventy day growing season, Dawn’s class is a must:  5 P.M.at the Priest River Library (118 Main St., Priest River), and it’s free.

On 22 May, the aforementioned Dawn also will take us on a wild edibles (I call them “weeds”) walk in Scotia Valley, 2-4 P.M.  If you want to know how to safely identify and harvest our local wild edibles and medicinals, Dawn is the go-to person for more education and fun.

I’ll post more information on this free class when Dawn firms up the details.

Be sure to check out our blogsite, www.elk-camdengardenkeepers.blogspot.com, and/or our Facebook page for pictures (courtesy of club videographer Geoff Carson) of the meeting  - and all that excellent food.

 

That’s it for now – hope to see you at the next garden club meeting on 10 May 2022.

 

Jim.

 

April 12 garden club meeting warning

​We will assemble in Camden Grange and Community Center (7 Camden Road, Elk) at 7 p.m. on 12 April for an evening of garden-related fun and education.  Local gardeners will socialize with their like-minded veterans of vegetable venturing, and we will also eat potluck snacks and goodies, and we will also also learn how to improve our garden soil for Spring planting, from veggie and fruit maven Carol Wood.

Club members are asked to bring some of their favorites snacks and/or drinks, and if you have unwanted but useful garden seeds, plants, or books, please bring them along as well, for our “freebie table.”

If you have not paid your 2022 club dues (and if you want the special code that allows you to receive a 15% discount at Northwest Seed and Pet!), please see club treasurer/secretary Jane Bolz at the meeting:  member dues are $5 per person, or $10 per family, for the entire year.

See you there, Jim.

 

Weeding between the lines

By Jim McGinty

Once our ice pockets melt, and our dirt dries, we MAY be able to get out into our gardens and access what last winter did to us.  Here at Rancho McGinty, our garden dirt is still kinda treacherous underfoot, but there are some semi-solid spots, which offer hope for the coming gardening season.

Now is a great time to finally decide on what to grow, and how much of it – I hope you will order or buy your seeds and plant starts soon – the commercial seed companies are already reporting some shortages, and the prices on commercially-produced fertilizer have recently spiked upwards (can prices “spike” downwards?).

When you plan your 2022 garden, please remember to grow a couple of extra pumpkin plants for October’s Elk Park Fall Festival – the park committee hopes to have enough pumpkin donations to send home a Halloween inedible squash with each attending child.

If the soil in your raised beds has sufficiently warmed, and if you can protect the contents of the beds with floating row cover (”Ree-may” or “Agri-bon” are the two brands we use – Northwest Seed and Pet in Spokane usually carries one or the other), you can semi-safely plant some starts and/or seeds of the cool weather crops:  cabbage, kale, lettuce, spinach, beets, turnips, carrots, etc.  No guarantees here, but the baby plants may be okay with a few “minor” overnight frosts – and the “heavy” grade of floating row cover will allegedly save the plants down to 26 degrees Fahrenheit.

If you can safely walk into the orchard, now is a great time to prune your fruit trees – once the buds swell, you will want to wait a month or so for additional trimming and training.

If you have not applied dormant spray or horticultural oil to your fruit trees, now is the time, before the leaf buds open:  the spray will control/suffocate an assortment of evil-doers like aphids, mealy bugs, scale insects, whiteflies, etc.

If you have woodstove ashes saved for the purpose, now is a great time to spread a line of them around the trees at the “drip line”(the outer circumference of the branches or canopy).  Fruit trees LOVE wood ashes (it’s the potassium!), and will appropriately reward you with more and better fruit.

Out in the berry patch, now is a super time to prune out last year’s brown or yellow canes (the ones that produced last year’s fruit) – just be sure to leave the green or purple canes, as they will produce this year’s luscious harvest (and yes, berry plants LOVE woodstove ashes as well).

And this is NOT the time to fertilize the strawberry plants:  wait until blossoms appear, and even then, apply the fertilizer with a light hand.

GARDENING CALENDAR:

On 09 April, I will be teaching another beginning gardening class at Camden Grange and Community Center (located at 7 Camden Road, Elk, 99009), from 1-3 P.M.  We’ll talk about what you need to establish and maintain a great veggie garden.  Lots of tips and ideas, and a killer handout – all for $5 per person.  You can register for this class at the Grange’s website:  camdengrange.org

On 12 April, our local gardening club will meet in the aforementioned Camden Grange and Community Center at 7 P.M.  Lots of gardeners socializing and/or exaggerating their 2021 garden successes, some free stuff available from our club’s “freebie” table (seed packets, plant starts, magazines and seed catalogs, etc.), and club member and gardening virtuoso Carol Wood will offer a class on how to prepare our garden soil for a great 2022 veggie harvest.  I almost forgot to mention our traditional meeting snacks and drinks – see you there!

You can check out our club’s doings by looking here or at our Facebook page.

On 23 April, I will be teaching a class on garden composting, from 1-3 P.M., in the already mentioned Camden Grange and Community Center (what a popular place it must be, with all of you showing up for various events and classes!).

We will discuss the why, when, and how of easy composting for your home garden – remember that compost is a soil amendment, NOT a fertilizer, and that it is VERY important to use in your garden soil.  Did I mention that homemade compost is cheap and easy to make?

You can register for this $5 per person class at the Grange’s website: camdengrange.org

That’s it for this month – plan now, plant soon, and plead for a plethora of produce. 

Elk-Camden Garden Club first meeting of 2022

Our first meeting of the new gardening season was held on March 8 in Camden Grange and Community Center.

A LARGE crowd of seasoned and beginning gardeners showed up to socialize with friends, meet new club members, and learn all about garden-seed starting techniques from club members Marlene and Stephanie – we managed to make a mini-mess with their amazing “soil blocker” machine.  

We all grabbed up some free (!!) veggie and/or flower seed packets, courtesy of club member Norman (we are hoping he will return to the April meeting with more leftover seed packets), and we all thoroughly enjoyed a banquet of assorted snacks, biscotti and scones (courtesy of club member Russ) and not-enough chocolate delights.

Our next meeting is scheduled for 12 April, at 7 p.m. in the aforementioned Camden Grange and Community Center, 7 Camden Road, Elk.

 

Here are a few pictures of the meeting-in-progress, and a photocopy of the “soil blocker” instruction sheets, just in case you want to try/buy one yourself.

 

Garden club meeting warning

we will assemble at 7 P.M. in camden grange and community center (7 camden road, elk, wa 99009) for our first meeting of 2022, on tuesday, 08 march.  unless we have a monster heat wave (and subsequent monster flooding from all the snow and icecrete melt), we probably won't be gardening any time soon, BUT, we can plan, dream, and prevaricate about our best ever 2022 garden at our meeting.  we will socialize and reacquaint ourselves with other members also emerging from hibernation, and generally have fun.  club members marlene and pam will present a in-depth class on garden seed starting, and there will be freebie goodies on the club's give away table.

speaking of which, club members are asked to bring along any unwanted, viable seed packets or plants, and maybe a few of those unwanted, current, lying-through-their-teeth-with-all-those-beautiful-and-unlikely-veggie-photos-and-descriptions seed catalogs.  if you have unwanted, gardening-related books, or useful garden tools (is there a gardener who does not have too many tomatoe cages??!!), please bring them to the meeting to be re-homed.

club members are asked to bring some of their favorite snacks to share.

some folks have asked about local gardening classes:

march 13 - general for everyone gardening class by dawn trammel, 2 P.M., at the Diamond Lake Seventh-day Aventist Church (326002 Highway 2, Diamond Lake).  this class is free.

March 19 - fruit tree pruning class by yours truly, 1-3 P.M. at the aforementioned camden grange and community center.  Cost is $5, and you can register for this class at events_classes@camdengrange.org

see you at the meeting, jim.