Gardening can be such a delightful and rewarding pastime. If you’ve been pursuing this activity for a long time, don’t forget to take care of yourself. The aging process and injuries can take the fun out of the gardening activities we’ve always enjoyed. You may find that you have less strength in your hands.
My husband and I are moving to a house with a complicated room, a room that requires a vision. We had selected a color for the space in question, a den-like, narrow family room with a feature fireplace: Benjamin Moore’s Bavarian Forest, a deep shade in the blue-green family.
Do you have a love affair with power tools? If so, my guess is you may have succumbed to the sirens’ songs luring you into the Sea of Cordless Tools. Before you become mesmerized by the nymphs’ sweet voices, I suggest you check your heading and go hard to starboard before dashing your boat on the rocks.
Wow, in the 40 years I’ve lived here, I don’t remember having as cold a spring like this. Here it is the middle of May and the only thing really up and going in my garden are the daffodils and hellebores. The sweet potato slips I got last week are shivering in a holding pot until the ground warms up a bit. The upside to the cool weather is that the weeds are up but they aren’t going crazy yet so there is time to catch them.
A good friend who lives in the Chicago suburbs reached out to me a few weeks ago. He asked me to help him navigate the treacherous waters of replacement windows. He was afraid of making a grave financial error. One of the first questions I asked was about his motivation.
I don’t remember the first refrigerator my family owned, but I distinctly recall the one my mother bought when she renovated our Massachusetts home in 1988. It was a sleek black glass unit, a contrast to the kitchen’s luxurious cherry wood cabinets and white tile floors and countertops.
Now that we’re off and running with a new garden season, it’s a good time to be thinking of ways to conserve water. I have written about this important topic in the past, but I believe that we all need reminders to develop good habits. We’re so used to turning on the faucet and being instantly rewarded with water.
As I write this in the first week of May, we are celebrating National Wildflower Week, a time to celebrate the spring abundance of colorful yet ephemeral blazes of color throughout the region.
Gardeners, rejoice! One of the Inland Northwest’s most highly anticipated events is back after a two-year, pandemic-induced hiatus. I’m referring to none other than the Garden Expo, which is hosted by the hardworking, community-minded members of the Inland Empire Gardeners.
If you’ve witnessed hundreds and hundreds of full moons in your lifetime and make frequent use of your critical-thinking skills, you know the sun is constantly at work ruining things inside and outside your home. One of these might be the expensive stamped-concrete patio, driveway or sidewalk you had installed.
Denim is a classic material ready to reuse over and over again. Put worn out jeans to work by reusing the pockets for an organizer. Cut the pockets off worn out jeans around the outside edge of the pocket – leaving the seat of the pants behind the pocket. Alternatively, use two matching denim pockets.
When you work with honeybees, you are on their time and temperament. The worker bees are always on guard to protect the hive from whatever threats they perceive, be it a marauding yellow jacket or a bear or a human being that rips off the roof of their hive box to do something “useful” for the hive. They can be calm or grumpy depending on the temperature, the beekeeper’s movements and the amount of stress the colony is under. Stress occurs when food or water is in short supply which for the last few hot summers has been an issue.
It seems like every week I get at least one email or a question on my livestream sessions about inflation. I’m by no means an economist, but I’ve seen enough full moons to know that inflation is raging, and it’s going to get much worse. I do the grocery shopping in my household.
Are you in the market for some great plants for your garden? Two in-person plant sales will take place Friday through May 8, and each will offer a wonderful assortment to meet your needs. The Garden Fair & Plant Sale, which is organized by the Master Gardeners of Spokane County, will offer in-person shopping.
Texture and tactile materials can help infuse an often ignored sensory element: touch. How often have you enjoyed how something felt – a furry pillow, textured throw or area rug? Regardless, the decor element of incorporating texture into your space can help elevate your home and please the senses.
There is a lot of advice out there about how to organize your home, with strategies for dealing with individual spaces or categories of items that are frequent clutter culprits. If you haven’t worn a piece of clothing in more than a year, donate it. Every time you bring home a book, give one away.
Eating corn on the cob is one of my favorite summertime treats. It’s pretty hard to beat a sweet, freshly picked ear cooked and topped with melting butter. Sweetcorn has been a mainstay in my vegetable garden for as long as I can remember. As a warm-season crop, corn should be planted after frost has passed.
Deck collapses happen all the time, and many of them never make the news. Several years ago, I attended an all-day training session hosted by a leading manufacturer of metal structural connectors. They estimated at the time that more than 80% of decks in the U.S. are structurally deficient.
This spring is starting out as a challenge for gardeners. Last week’s low temperatures frosted even hardy plants and has slowed tree leaf-out and blooming. Even the weeds are growing more slowly than usual. This week’s weather is a little warmer, but we need to stay prepared to protect plants for several more weeks.
All gardens should be a celebration of the five senses. For example, colorful blossoms catch our attention and bring a smile to our faces. Ornamental grasses rustling in a breeze or the sound of a splashing water feature are music to our ears. Soft, fuzzy leaves invite us to touch them.