Frogs can be fun and help your garden
September 7, 2010
This frog was photographed on a peony in Sammamish. Frogs can be helpful in keeping a garden healthy and pest free. By Jeanine Bracco
They can be cute, slimy, freak people out, loud when you’re trying to sleep and children sometimes love to catch them.
Don’t be alarmed if frogs are in your yard — these amphibians mean that you have a healthy environment, free of pesticides and other harmful products.
“They eat insects and a lot of other smaller things that may be harmful to your garden,” said Michael Aguilar, certified professional horticulturalist and lawn and garden specialist at The Grange.
Attracting frogs into your yard can be easy; there are a few things that need to be done in order to do it. Read more
Looks like it’s time for fall fever
September 7, 2010
It looks like fall is here. It smells and feels like it as well. I didn’t want it to arrive so soon, but there is something very reassuring about it.
After all, the economy and climate change are unknowns right now, and the return of fall stabilizes our psyches with memories of back to school, harvest, crisp air and turning leaves. But it’s hard to enjoy full-blown fall fever when we are worrying about the underlying conditions.
Wouldn’t it be great if we could earn money and enjoy fall at the same time? Last March, I wrote about starting a landscape design career by doing garden maintenance. The economy is still bad, and many people are out of work. New construction is at a standstill, but maintenance is not and garden care is still a viable business. People must keep up their homes, and maintaining them could be the path to a more fulfilling career. Fall is the perfect time to start. Read more
Can, freeze and donate bounty from your summer gardens
August 10, 2010
A garden bed at the city’s Pickering Barn demonstration garden displays cauliflower, celery, beets, carrots, green onions, herbs, beans, cucumbers, turnips and radishes. By Greg Farrar
Summer gardens are a treasure trove of tasty treats. Ripe strawberries abound, string beans spring up faster than you can pick them, and the raspberries and blackberries multiply exponentially.
While it’s nice to bite into a succulent ripe apple that fell to the ground, the apple tree you inherited from your home’s previous owners can sometimes produce more fruit than you can possibly find time to store. You’d bake another pie for the neighbor, but she threatened you with bodily harm should you bring another and derail her triathlon training.
So, what do you do with your garden’s bounty when there’s just too much?
Share it.
It’s the most logical thing to do with an abundance of food. After all, people clean out pantries and donate canned food to community meal programs. But donating your fresh produce to the Issaquah Food and Clothing Bank can be even better. Read more
Savor the month of August
August 10, 2010
Most people think August is the time to take a vacation, have a good time or just kick back. It’s usually the best month weather-wise, and the kids are still out of school, so it seems that we deserve to be rather lethargic now.
Plants do not agree. They are very busy this month.
August is the time when most plants are finished growing and are “hardening off” to prepare for winter. That means it is a bad time to fertilize them. Stop fertilizing by Aug. 1. You don’t want to force your plants to put out new growth this month, because they may not have time to “harden off” before winter.
The next general guideline for August is don’t prune. There are some plants that don’t care when you prune, but it’s hard to remember each one’s preferences. So, as a rule, don’t prune between Aug. 1 and frost. That way you won’t get a burst of tender new growth sprouting up just before the deadly nor’easter hits. Read more
If you build it, they will come
July 13, 2010
Issaquah Flatland Community Garden proves to be a popular, helpful, healthy addition to the city
Andrew Merges (left) and his wife Angela tend to their personal bed in the Issaquah Flatland Community Garden. By Tim Pfarr
For someone who lives in an apartment or condominium, it may seem the only way to have a personal garden is to dump a bunch of soil in the bathtub, buy an ultraviolet lamp and install some tomato plants. Well, it’s time these people got word there is such a thing as a community garden, and that bathing can once again ensue.
Just a couple of blocks north of Issaquah Valley Elementary School, one can find the Issaquah Flatland Community Garden. The project came to life in May 2009 thanks to many volunteers and a partnership between Sustainable Issaquah and the company AtWork!, which helps people with disabilities be productive, integrated and contributing members of their communities.
The garden on the site of the AtWork! Issaquah office turned out to be hotter than jalapeños when it opened, its 24 beds filling almost instantly.
“The community garden kind of rose to the top as a low-hanging fruit,” said Chantal Stevens, Sustainable Issaquah co-founder. “Everybody wanted one.”
Dennis Wajda, AtWork! employment consultant and community liaison, agreed.
“We never had to go door to door or hang anything,” he said. “People just came.”
He said volunteers worked expediently in ripping out part of the AtWork! lawn, installing the garden and building a fence around it.
“Literally, in one month, it went from looking like that grass to this,” Wajda said, motioning to the garden and the grass that still surrounds it.
Each 4-by-15 bed costs $40 per year, and the cost covers watering. Gardeners must also bring their own plants. Of the garden’s 24 beds, six are designated “community impact beds,” and the produce they yield goes directly to the Issaquah Food and Clothing Bank. Read more
PSE offers home-improvement safety tips for summer
July 13, 2010
Puget Sound Energy reminds residents to watch for underground and overhead utility lines when building a new fence or deck, working on the roof, planting trees and shrubs, or even flying a kite.
Follow these safety tips during summer and the rest of the year:
- When getting ready to landscape a garden, pull a tree stump, build a fence or undertake any other digging activity, call 811 — the free, call-before-you-dig-hotline — to avoid potential hazards associated with striking or digging up underground utilities.
- Place new trees away from overhead power lines. Do not build playhouses or platforms in trees with nearby power lines.
- Never climb trees near power lines — even if the power lines are not touching the tree.
- Avoid flying kites, metallic balloons and radio-controlled toys near power lines. If a kite or Mylar balloon drifts near a power line, let it go. Never try to retrieve anything caught in a power line or from a tree located near a power line.
- Never install hot tubs, swimming or wading pools underneath or near power lines.
PSE advises anyone who damages a natural gas line, or who smells the odor, to quickly move a safe distance from the damaged line, call 911 and report the damage to PSE by calling 888-225-5773 toll free.
Heirlooms in attic could be worth a pretty penny
June 8, 2010
The tough economy has prompted many wannabe treasure hunters to clean out the attic and dig in the jewelry box in search of hidden loot.
Treasure Hunters Roadshow, a traveling treasure hunt, rolled into Issaquah last week and offered locals a chance to discuss antiques and collectibles with experts.
Clint Crook, a roadshow representative, said some of the more unusual pieces to reach the roadshow included a bed believed to once belong to Johnny Cash. Everyday fare included smaller items pulled from closets, dressers and jewelry boxes.
Bob Steiner (left), a buyer with Treasure Hunters Roadshow, looks at the silver coins and jewelry of former Tiger Mountain resident Freda Stranack, 91 (center), who came with daughter Patty Parker to the Hilton Garden Inn in Issaquah. Photos by Greg Farrar
Crook said although collectors curtailed purchases because of the recession, some items remain hot. Early Barbie dolls attract attention. The vintage toys can fetch thousands of dollars from high-end collectors.
Other surefire sellers: old-school guitars and Winchester firearms. Crook said the Treasure Hunters Roadshow team had purchased a vintage guitar for $60,000 before the Issaquah stop. The guns, manufactured in the late 1800s, recall the rough-and-tumble days of the Old West — and demand a pretty penny from gun collectors. Crook said roadshow buyers secured $40,000 for a vintage pistol before the Issaquah stop.
The pieces carted to the Treasure Hunters Roadshow offered hints about how to spot potential valuables amid antiques.
Hundreds of people from Issaquah, the Eastside and the region unpacked antique lamps, hand-painted vases and porcelain figurines from bubble wrap in a hotel conference room last week. Organizers estimated the five-day event could draw as many as 1,200 people.
Silverware — the real stuff — and pre-1965 coins — comprised mostly of silver — also landed on buyers’ tables at the Treasure Hunters Roadshow. The most common item unloaded by attendees: gold jewelry. The price of gold has risen as investors sought a more stable investment in a roiling market.
The event bore similarities to the roving “Antiques Roadshow” broadcast on PBS. Though the “Antiques Roadshow” and Treasure Hunters Roadshow teams both appraise pieces, employees for the latter buy pieces outright.
“If you want to guarantee that I’m going to hand over a check, bring in your precious metals,” Crook said June 3, the third day of the Issaquah stop.
On the Web
Find the next Treasure Hunters Roadshow stop. Determine the value of heirlooms and oddities with a tips-of-the-trade guide and experts’ library on the website for PBS series “Antiques Roadshow” here.
Warren Kagarise: 392-6434, ext. 234, or wkagarise@isspress.com. Comment at www.issaquahpress.com.
Time for sprucing up
June 8, 2010
June always makes yards look overgrown and messy. The dark days and all the spring rain make plants reach for the sky.
We don’t like to work in the yard when it rains, so we end up with yards that really need hair cuts. Look at it as an opportunity. Even if you don’t have a good landscape design, it can be simple to make it look so much better.
Trees, shrubs and groundcovers have different basic forms. The trick is to enhance each plant with pruning to fit its own character, and keep each of the three — shrubs, groundcover and trees — visually separated from one another.
Columnar shrubs: Clip off floppy side branches and top them if too tall.
Mounding shrubs: Trim to nearly flat, or rounded with even tops, not ragged. Allow them to grow together if they are close enough. One mass often looks nicer than individual lumps, but it may be difficult to reach across the next time you prune. Read more
New season means new choices for new mowers
May 11, 2010
Go gas or electric, front-wheel or rear-wheel drive
Now that winter has finally relinquished its grasp on local weather, allowing a transition to spring, many homeowners have probably noticed the grass in the yard has grown out of control since last fall.
This leaves them to answer the question — is their mower up to the task or is it time for a new one?
Homeowners in the market for a new mower have myriad choices when it comes to lawn maintenance. Randy Byrd, floor associate at The Home Depot, lends his years of expertise to help steer potential buyers toward the right mower for the right yard.
The first question Byrd asks is the size of the yard, to help determine whether the homeowner needs a riding lawn mower or a push model.
“It matters if the yard is hilly or flat and if it’s just a 20-square foot patch in the suburbs,” Byrd said.
The general standard, unless you’re looking for extra exercise, is steer toward a push mower if it would take less than an hour. For those with large lawns, riding mowers come in the standard 42-inch deck (the width of the area blades cut) all the way up to 52 inches.
Five simple steps to prepare your mower for its first run of the season
May 11, 2010
Clean the mower deck
It’s important to clean the grass and debris buildup from under the mower deck and on the cutting blades at frequent intervals in order to prevent clogging and to improve cutting performance. Do not use sharp instruments to clean the deck. Always wear safety glasses, and make sure the spark plug wire is removed from the spark plug before performing any maintenance.
Change the air filter and oil
In order for your mower to run at its optimum level, you must change the oil and air filter once a year.
Replace or clean spark plugs
Your spark plugs should be replaced when you notice rust forming around them; however, it’s important to clean them on a regular basis. If you don’t replace or clean the spark plugs, the mower will not function properly.
Sharpen or replace mower blades
In order to get the best cut possible, sharpen or replace the blades. You can use a metal file to sharpen blades, but if you’re uncomfortable doing it yourself, take it to your local hardware store.
Use fresh gas and fuel stabilizer
Old gas can clog the engine, which can cause major system damage to your mower. Be sure to use up or empty gas at the end of the season and start with a fresh tank every 30 days. Always use a minimum of 87-octane gas with no more than 10 percent ethanol and add fuel stabilizer to your gas can at every refill to protect your mower from problems that can be caused by today’s ethanol-blended fuels.
Source: MTD Products Inc.
