By Rachel Anderson, Certified Professional Horticulturalist Well gardening friends, I have good news and I have bad news. Let’s dispense with the bad news first. I am leaving Christianson’s Nursery after 13 years. I like gardening so much that I’ve decided to do it for a living! Just to give you an idea of…
By Rachel Anderson, Certified Professional Horticulturalist I don’t know about you, but when it comes to tent caterpillars, I’ve had just about enough. They’re everywhere-in my boots, crawling up the side of the house, swimming in the dog’s water bowl and oh yeah, munching triumphantly on nearly every leafy plant in my garden! I’ve stepped…
By Rachel Anderson, Certified Professional Horticulturalist When I was growing up, my Mom was always spending her free time in the garden. How she managed to have free time as a single working mother of two I’ll never understand. But, she did. Now I understand that spending time in the garden was the best way…
April is such an industrious month! Birds are busy building nests, bees are out and about pollinating and building up their colonies, and slugs are on the warpath once again. It’s all happening in tune with the drone of the gardener’s lawn mowers and the creak of sore backs bent low over the garden beds. …
By Rachel Anderson, Certified Professional Horticulturalist Over the winter I took advantage of the “off” season by taking a few classes (actually, a lot of classes!) in hopes of honing my skills as a gardener and exposing myself to new ideas. They ranged from raising goats to keeping honey bees, and from identifying garden pests…
By Rachel Anderson, Certified Professional Horticulturalist In February, I am all optimism! Spring is not far off, and I look forward to it as though I am anticipating a long awaited party. (Or for the Seahawks to win the Super Bowl-GO HAWKS!) I see spring in the green tips of daffodils pushing up from…
By Rachel Anderson, Certified Professional Horticulturalist Most people try pretty hard to not go outside in the winter around here. I can’t blame them too much; after all, it’s usually wet, cold, dark, blustery, or any combination of said winter weather (sometimes it’s all at the same time and then some!) However, I’ve really…
By Rachel Anderson, Certified Professional Horticulturalist It seems to me that the sunrise in winter is so much more beautiful than at other times of the year. Maybe it’s because the sun is so seldom seen here in December, that when the clouds part and I am able see the peach and rose hues of…
By Rachel Anderson, Certified Professional Horticulturalist We’ve entered into the blustery wet month of November. I don’t know about you, but I always feel energized and uplifted when the wind is blowing and the leaves are flying like spinning dervishes all around. The wildness of it makes me want to smile and get silly…
1 1/3 cup butter 2 cups sugar 2 eggs 1/2 cup molasses (dark) 4 cups flour 4 tsp baking soda 1 tsp salt 2 tsps cinnamon 2 tsps ginger Beat butter until soft and add sugar; add one egg at a time, then molasses. Combine all dry ingredients together and sift. Add several tablespoons…
By Rachel Anderson, Certified Professional Horticulturalist October in the garden is so quintessentially autumnal for me. Mornings are cool and drippy with dew (if not down right soggy from the rain the night before) and spider webs are draped artfully from shrub to tree, each strand beaded with moisture. Colors stand out vividly despite being…
By Rachel Anderson, Certified Professional Horticulturalist We have been blessed this year with one of the very best summers that I can remember. At my house, you know it’s a good summer when: The house hasn’t been cleaned in months. Seriously, if we have guests, we just reroute them through the garden gate and onto…