gardening

  • Garlic Lovers – Ready, Set, Sow!

    In Puget Sound gardens, it is time to reap. Even if many of the tomatoes on the vine are still green. For garlic-loving gardeners, it’s time to sow.    Garlic is not about immediate gratification. Garlic is sown now (October ideally), and then harvested in July or early August. Some sources recommend planting garlic in… Continue reading

  • Master Gardeners

    With my innate brown thumb, I have been helped many a time by Master Gardeners – or more specifically, the Washington State University Extension Master Gardeners of King County.  When I killed shrubs with liberal applications of nitrogen fertilizer (too much of a good thing) or hacked away at my rose bushes too enthusiastically (only… Continue reading

  • What I Made: A Sustainable Landscape

    Seattle is home to a thriving DIY ethic and culture.  As part of an occasional series of posts, we feature hand-made items created by staff at The Seattle Public Library and the library books, CDs, and DVDs that showed them how to do it themselves. We hope you’ll draw inspiration from their creations and check… Continue reading

  • Plant a Seed Day at The Seattle Public Library

    Are you looking for a way to celebrate the joy of spring weather with your child? Are your green thumbs beginning to itch? With the weather getting warmer and spring blossoms popping all around us, it’s time to start planning your vegetable gardens and flower beds.  Gardening with children can be especially rewarding. The Seattle… Continue reading

  • December Question of the Month – an irregular series

    The reference librarians at Seattle Public Library are pretty darn amazing. They don’t know everything, instead they know where to find everything. As part of an irregular series of posts we salute the talented and dedicated reference staff at your local library. Names and other identifying information have been removed from the questions we showcase.… Continue reading

  • Vegetables at the White House: Tradition or travesty?

    As Librarians we are often called upon to decide a debate. Here is a timely one: Some people are upset that the Obamas planted a garden on the White House grounds, but isn’t it true that the White House used to have a fully functional farm, with livestock and crops, and they’re just reviving this… Continue reading

  • Nightstand Reading: Amy Stewart on plant books, and planting books.

    Most authors who write about plants are only of interest to the green thumbed, but Amy Stewart’s books are for everyone. Her latest – Wicked Plants: The Weed that killed Lincoln’s mother, & other botanical attrocities – might even save your life, or your pets’. Amy will be appearing around the area next week, including an evening… Continue reading

  • Farmers Markets

    With the sun beginning to peek out of the sky a bit more lately, it’s now the time for the seasonal farmer’s markets to be opening. The Neighborhood Farmers Market Alliance’s calendar lists Magnolia opening this Saturday, May 23, followed by Phinney on Friday, May 29, and Lake City on Thursday, June 4. The Columbia City Farmers Market… Continue reading

  • Imagining The Garden

    Imagine a garden wherein an eye does fly from a leaf’s invitation into a petal’s inspiration. Whether you prefer painting a garden or gardening with an artistic eye is not Spring the perfect time to begin such imaginings?  “To create a little flower is the labour of ages,” said William Blake.  Before you begin your… Continue reading

  • Northwest Flower & Garden Show, 2009

    It’s that time of year again. Like thousands of other gardeners, I have eagerly awaited the Northwest Flower & Garden Show.  This huge annual February event at the Convention Center is always a welcome chance to experience the joys of gardening while the ground outside is still frozen.  This year’s theme is “Sustainable Spaces. Beautiful… Continue reading

  • A shed of one’s own

    My husband and I have decided we need separate rooms. For more than a decade, we’ve shared a home “office” that hasn’t worked well for either of us. There’s no room for flat files for him, nor is there the quiet retreat I crave for writing. I look longingly at our friend John’s backyard music… Continue reading

  • Before Autumn Leaves

    Before autumn leaves, settle down into a bounty of words, sights and sounds that crackle with the color and energy of the season.  Then, take a few moments to take in an eclectic array of books and CDs that’ll bring an extra spark to warm the chill heading up that frosty hill. Let’s start with some… Continue reading

  • Spending the afternoon in a Japanese Garden

    Seattle is a city of garden aficionados, so it is fitting that we have one of the best Japanese gardens outside of Japan. With sweeping vistas and decades-old plantings tended with exquisite care, the Seattle Japanese Garden is a spot of meditative beauty. It is also host to a variety of festive events. If you… Continue reading

  • Book Review: Real Food (and more)

     Now I know that my mom really meant well on our family’s liver dinner night after reading Nina Planck’s guide to why she eats lard, raw milk, and organ meats in Real Food: what to eat and why. An intelligent gathering of research on good eating, this book emphasizes traditional foods: whole foods, animal fats,… Continue reading

  • Celebrate Seattle’s Farmers Markets!

    Seattle has long been famous for the Pike Place Market, which will be 101 years old this August. The Seattle Public Library has some fantastic books to help the average shopper explore both the Pike Place and neighborhood farmers markets, such as The Farm to Table Cookbook: The Art of Eating Locally by Ivy Manning… Continue reading

  • Gardeners, Start Your Engines

    It’s Spring, and a young (or not so young) gardener’s fancy naturally turns to PLANT SALES! Of course we’ll all run off to our favorite members of the Washington State Nursery & Landscape Association and the Specialty Nursery Association of Western Washington. But don’t stop there. There are dozens of local plant sales every year… Continue reading