A Gift For Gardening
Joy Bittner can’t imagine life without a garden. So much so that during the winter, when she hibernates in her little cabin pressed up against the steep forested sides of Bee Top Mountain, she writes the North Idaho Herb and Gardening Calender.
Begun in 1987 as a simple handwritten compendium of her longtime gardening experience, the calendar now has 14 pages of helpful hints and down-home wisdom.
Each year the calendar varies but “there’s none of this fancy landscaping,” Bittner said. For the winter months, there is information on house plants, North Idaho Christmas presents, and natural flu remedies.
Basically, though, “pulling together the calendar is a work of love for the garden, for the herbs that sustain us, my clients, and those new to the rigors of North Idaho soil, weather and timing,” she said.
She follows a creative approach to the garden, using as many native plants as possible. She loves herbs, and in addition to her calendar, also sells herbal tinctures and ointments under the label Joyful Gardens. These products are prepared under approval and inspection by the Food and Drug Administration.
As much as possible, she uses raised beds in growing her herbs, flowers and vegetables. She says they add weeks to the short North Idaho growing season. While she’s big on composting, that aspect of gardening has been well covered in other calendars. This year she made more space for information that will help the reader “survive whatever’s coming ahead.”
Bittner doesn’t put a specific date on when seedlings should go into the ground, but “I watch the plants around me, and they usually tell me when it’s time.” For example, when the lilacs bloom, then, she said, “it’s usually safe to put out the warm-weather plants that have already been started indoors.” She added a caution however: “Nothing is ever definite about the weather in North Idaho.”
Generous with her knowledge, Bittner willingly answers questions and will chat with anyone who stops by her outdoor table. On sunny days, between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., she can be seen in Sandpoint next to Joel’s Mexican Food Stand across from Farmin Park. When the Farmer’s Market starts in Hope at the end of May, she spends Fridays on the gentle lawn at the Memorial Community Center in Hope rather than in the bustling metropolis of Sandpoint.
On Sundays, she treks out to the flea market in Sagle, where she also has loyal clientele. In addition to the calendar, tinctures and ointments, Bittner also sells “sleep pillows,” “spice samplers,” and various other products she handcrafts during the long winters.
“I enjoy the winter months when I get to stay home and make things,” she said, indicating that all seasons are special to this free-spirited and gentle gardener.
Reminiscent of a Russian village woman in her ample flowing dresses and colorful bandanas, Bittner goes barefoot whenever possible and especially in the garden where “I feel my connection with Mother Earth,” she said. “I work with Mother Nature to give me the bountiful harvest that I get.”
Her calendar sells for $3.50 and is available directly from her, at (208) 266-1564, from Truby’s in Sandpoint, or from River Valley Farm and Garden in Clark Fork.