A couple of the wonderful women I get to work with at Oregon State University and I have formed a little support and information group around home gardening. Besides being fun (and giving us an excuse for extra coffee runs), it has been a great way to share ideas, troubleshoot, and generally share a love for semi-urban homesteading (love ya Stephanie and Kristi!). Recently our little crew too a field trip to a session on organic gardening put of by Corvallis gardening center Shonnards.
I will say that Shonnards is not a business that solely focuses on organic gardening, but they do provide products and advice that allow even the greenest (no pun intended) organic gardener to get started. The session was informative, and covered topics such as making raised beds, soil maintenance, what and when to plant, watering, pest control, and other general gardening topics. Even I, who have been playing with organic gardening on and off throughout my life, found that it was a great resource - especially topics that pertained to the local soils and ecology of the Willamette Valley. I was reminded that just as one needs to learn the culture into which he or she moves, one also has to relearn some gardening techniques.
I am not going to review Shonnards here - I did not go into the store because the event was held in a nearby conference room - but I did want to say thank you for putting on a great event that was free to the public. I will also say thanks for bringing my attention to an idea that I'd not thought about much - wall gardening. I know that this has been a common practice of late, but I had not seen much about it until the speaker brought in a planter box that can be mounted on the wall. I was inspired. With my interest in avoiding purchasing things I can make, I am resolute in trying this out some time over the summer. I will keep you posted.
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