The other day, I noticed that my corn looked a bit on the yellow side. Being a good farm girl, I remembered that yellow plants sometimes indicate a Nitrogen deficiency.

But it could also be a zillion other things, so I called the expert: Brian Sullivan, also known as my dad.

I described the situation: Yellow corn, miniscule plants that look malnourished and my desire to use only organic material (in other words, Miracle Grow can't come to the rescue).

Diagnosis: Nitrogen deficiency could be the problem. He gently hinted that, had I taken his advice and tested my soil at the beginning of the season, I would know what my soil needed for sure. Yeah, yeah.

So, this weekend I'm in the market for organic Nitrogen, otherwise known as cow manure. Are there any other options? What's your favorite fertilizer?

As I was leaving the garden last night, I met a fellow gardener who told me I was the reason she was gardening in the first place!

Her friend had seen the article about community gardens that ran a couple of months ago and they decided that, if that girl (moi) could do it, so could they.

And they are so great at it! Their zucchini and squash plants make mine look like bonsai veggies, and their soil looked like something out of a magazine.

So, while I could be credited with inspiring them to start gardening, they have inspired me to get some organic fertilizer and take advantage of the long days.

One thing I'm also going to start doing: Saving my coffee grounds. She said they've been spreading grounds on their garden frequently and it seems to be helping, to say the least.

Growing things brings back a lot of memories of my childhood, one of which I write about below. If you have a favorite memory, please send it to me!

Here's my lone strawberry, which I might eat tonight!

I have a story about strawberries, but I have to save it for when I have an old picture ... sorry to keep you waiting!

Here's my squash, with my little helper in the background.

I don't really have any memories about garden gnomes, but this is cute: When I went back to the farm a few weeks ago, one of the first things my 2-year-old niece said to me was, "You know that man on your page? He's funny."
That's right -- a 2-year-old keeps tabs on this very blog.

Here's the corn:

One summer, we grew field corn in the field in front of the house. One especially hot day after work, my dad and I decided to ride the horses bareback down to the irrigation pond so they could swim. A quick dip later and we were ambushed by bugs, so we got back up the hill as fast as we could, which, you can imagine on a wet horse without a saddle, was interesting.

When we got back up to the shop, the irrigation circle was just getting there, too, so we walked out into above-the-head corn and were showered by river water.

Maybe I can't walk out in the middle of my two rows of corn and get lost, but I do fondly remember that little adventure every time I water my corn.

And yes, I realize that's cheesy.

Don't worry, I wasn't drinking! For the first time, I brought my iPod to the garden, so I was weeding and watering under the influence of music ... and I think I've found my calling.

One hour and a half-marathon playlist behind me, I had taken out all the wilty lettuce and spinach, moved a squash plant to take their place, watered, weeded and took some pictures, which I will post as soon as my computer can load them.

Also, changing the hose setting from mist to regular was key. Misting takes too long! And with the normal setting, I feel like I'm power-washing weeds away whilst watering. Wow.

My friend, Kelly, and I stopped by the garden last night to do some brief watering and weeding. The weather was so beautiful! If I hadn't semi-injured myself over the weekend, I would have stuck around longer to bask in the setting sun and do some weeding (Reminder: Always wear tried and tested shoes when running!).

The tomatoes are coming along, the corn is growing quickly and the tomatillos are still babies. My carrots and turnips look pretty good, too. Things are shaping up! I think this heat will help. Oh! And there's one strawberry that's almost ready to eat!

The bad news: My large tomato plant is a dud.

I'll try to take some pictures tonight -- although I tend to brutalize my poor digital camera when I use it with dirt all over my hands!

"So you're the reporter."

I turned around to find two fellow community gardeners approaching. We chatted for a while and, when I asked one if he had any advice for me, he laughed.

His repsonse: Put something in the ground, water it and see if it grows.

I like it! We have too much other stuff to worry about to fret over whether we're fertilizing just right or if our tomatoes are keeping up with the Jones'.

So have a good weekend! It's supposed to be warm, so don't forget step 2 of my neighbor's advice! I'll be out of town, but I can't wait to return to my garden Sunday to see how everyone's doing -- I'll have an update ready on Monday.

Yesterday really was the longest day of the year... So it was relaxing to cap it off by spending 30 minutes at dusk weeding, planting (I had some onion starts left) and watering.

My tomatoes, carrots, squash, zucchini, onions and corn are coming along quite well. And my new plants seem to like their new homes, too. My peppers, however, have seen better days. They're still alive, but they stopped growing a while back. Such is life!

What plants are doing best in your gardens this year? I hear I missed out on planting potatoes. Do anything exciting for solstice?

I told you in my previous post that I'd share my other wonderful gardening realization, so here it is:
Gardening, like running, is something that I'm not great at. Shocked, right? But an overpacked schedule and allergies (let's leave lack of commitment out of this) lead to mediocrity in both.

But here's the catch -- I enjoy them. And, for that and other reasons, I think they help me be great at other things in my life.

The message: Pursue mediocrity with reckless abandon!

Last night, I went to the garden, brand-new hoe in hand, to do some weeding. As I was chopping away at the dry soil and thriving weeds, I started to think I needed to buy even more starts to fill in places where nothing sprouted (thanks, basil) or something had passed it's prime (I'm looking directly at you, broccoli and lettuce). I believed that, with my newfound commitment to the garden, I could give the plants the care they deserve.

Then I looked up -- and this is a true story -- to see a woman carrying a tray full of starts. She had grown too much, so she decided to find her extras a good home at the community garden. And I was the first one who looked up to notice her.

We talked gardening for a bit, then she handed over the tray -- with corn, onions, eggplant, squash and leeks, I believe. I planted some last night, then returned to plant more this morning.

This morning, among other things that I'll blog about later, I realized I need tomato cages badly.

And, what do you know, when I got into work, I had an e-mail from a woman with some extra cages. She couldn't bear to throw them away, so she offered to give them to me. True story.

So thank you, world, for taking care of me. I'll try to repay the favor.

This is ... interesting news: A seed vault to ensure biodiversity in the instance of oh, say, a nuclear war that wipes a good number of plants off the face of the earth.

Question: If such a thing were to happen, and I hope it doesn't, who exactly is supposed to plant these seeds?

Ah, well. Nice idea.

My editor sent me an e-mail the other day with what I thought was a joke: It said Epsom salt is good for your garden.

Maybe everyone else on earth knew this, but it was news to me. I just checked online here and found that the salt can be used for everything from trees to tomatoes (but not sage).

It's also good for sore muscles, so I think I'll buy some today and kill two birds with one stone.

Got any other cheap or nontraditional fertilizer tips?

Only a couple of hours until I head out to the garden! I'm planning on getting a hoe on my way there so I can do some major work. (Yeah, I still don't have a hoe.)

Anyway, if you hadn't seen this article, I wanted to share it. It's about an LA-area garden whose residents were recently evicted.

I've got a really busy weekend planned, but I'll try to give an update. Happy gardening!

Here's the cucumber plant:

Here's my lovely Romas:

These little guys will be tomatillos soon:

The bad news: I've got some more weeding to do and my broccoli flowered before I could pick it all.

The good news: I've got some fine Romas coming and my tomatillo plants and carrots look to be thriving.

Lately, I've been going to the garden one or two days a week and doing damage control in bigger chunks of time. But that's no way to treat a garden! Plus, I lovelovelove getting my hands dirty.

So I devised a plan this morning to solve my gardening inadeqacy. It's more of a goal, really, to commit 15 minutes every day to my garden. That might sound like a ridiculously inconsequential amount of time, but we all know what it's like to be busy. In my case if I don't schedule something -- anything -- it might not get done.

Also, I took some pictures this morning that I'll post after my deadline -- right now I'm off to write!

I heard about this organic gardening site this morning. It's got all kinds of interesting discussions about heirloom plants, gardening tips and, of course, organic gardening methods.

Tonight, I'll brave the weather (if necessary, although it looks harmless now) to weed and kill slugs, if necessary.

Here's a great story from Seattle Weekly on donating food from your garden, CSA or farmer's market to help feed the hungry.

In Tacoma, I hear you can donate to Pierce County Food Bank. Any others you know of?

If you haven't already read it, check out this story, written by our own Joseph Montes, about Jim Senko, a Lakewood gardener.

Not just a gardener, but one who has more than 3 acres of plants -- about 10,000 species in all. His garden includes just about every plant native to the Northwest.

Inspiring, to say the least.

I ended up visiting my family in Eastern Oregon this weekend, and checked out their gardens with my 2-year-old niece.

At grandma and grandpa's (my parents), she could correctly identify lots of the plants that she and my dad are growing. She could also misidentify several. The point is, I saw what actual summer heat can do for a plant, and it's humbling. The sunflowers looked like something out of Little Shop of Horrors, and brougth back good memories of gardening with my dad when I was a kid.

At my sister's house, their garden looked a bit more like mine, only with fewer weeds. I'm pretty sure this is her first year gardening, too. Plus, she has Grace and Sandy, their new puppy, to "help." When I was there, that meant a lot of tromping and overwatering, but it was so fun!

Two things:

1. I found out that I get dirtier while gardening than a toddler. This is something I really can't explain or apologize for.

2. I noticed my sister pulled the same trick I did -- buying way too many onions and not planting them correctly (in big clumps -- sorry for outing you, Ali). Why can't they print instructions on those little tags that come with plants? Not everyone's a pro, people!

Happy gardening!

I have a three-day weekend coming my way! Starting tomorrow morning, I'll either be visiting my niece in Eastern Oregon or fishing and lounging at the coast.

The problem is that Tara, my garden helper, is also out of town. That means I'm leaving the garden to tend itself until Sunday.

I imagine that I'll come home early to find that the slugs and weeds have collaborated to throw a wild party, just like on a sitcom.

I'll give you the full update on Monday. Until then, I hope you have a nice weekend!

I finally took my camera out to the garden last night and took some more pictures. I also picked some broccoli, weeded and planted two rows of purple carrots, two rows of basil and two rows of those golden beets I had heard about from a co-worker. Yum!

Here's my precious Roma tomatoes:

The zucchini lives!

Here's the broccoli I picked. As you can see, it's already flowering. Oops.

I'd love to see how your gardens are doing. If you get a chance, break out the digital camera and send me some photos! I'll post them here (if it's ok with you).

I am, slowly but surely, getting rid of the weeds.

I'm about ready to get rid of the lettuce, too. It's way too much for me to eat. Plus, I don't have a salad spinner, which makes cleaning difficult.

So tonight I'll head to the store to scout out starts and seeds, then do some weeding and planting -- there's still space in the herb garden area (and will be more when I take out the lettuce).

Also on the shopping list: a hoe, although I'm not sure I'll actually use it. I've found one of my favorite parts about gardening is getting my hands in the dirt.

Oh, one more thing: My broccoli seems to be ready (some are even flowering), but the heads aren't compact like grocery store broccoli. What's wrong?

I just got an e-mail from my co-worker, Bill, about a new Internet show coming to HGTV. Here are some exerpts:

HGTV’s popular I Want That! series “franchise” is expanding again with another creative new spinoff: I Want That! Gardening. Debuting on HGTV.com on June 19, it is the network’s first-ever broadband series. Each of the two minute-long episodes will premiere every Monday throughout the summer.

... I Want That! Gardening will dig up the freshest new lawn care products, and dish all the dirt on what’s new in gardening and landscaping.

...Here are just a few examples of the cutting edge products that will be featured:

- Robomower – This robotic lawnmower does all the hard work for you! It even recycles clippings into mulch for healthier grass.
- Garden Groom – A state of the art hedge trimmer, this tool has concealed blades for added safety. It also collects the clippings for you, reducing the volume by 10:1.
- Solar Roto Basket – To prevent hanging plants from getting too much or too little sun on one side, this gizmo rotates the basket evenly and slowly so that sunlight reaches all sides of the plant.

I'll try to remember to tune in so I can check out products to make my shoddy gardening habit even easier. (I know -- it doesn't get easier than neglect, right?)

Speaking of garden envy, how was the flower & garden show this weekend at Point Defiance? I went early to beat the crowds (and write the story) and was wowed.

Phil and I had a busy weekend. That's my official excuse.

So busy, in fact, that we almost didn't weed the garden like I've been promising I'd do for days. OK, weeks.

We had just finished a beer tasting (for work -- rough job, right?) in Steilacoom and were looking forward to getting home and taste-testing some fancy Belgian Trippel-style beer that Phil bought. As we were driving by the garden, Phil wondered whether he'd be able to see the weeds from the road.

Surprise! We both could. Without much trouble.

So we turned around and made an emergency trip to the garden for some feverish weeding. Maybe 20 minutes later and we had pulled enough weeds to fill a 5-gallon bucket. Twice. And then some.

A lot of weeds -- and my garden still looks horrible! Don't worry, I'm an optimist.

Pictures soon!

I got an e-mail this morning from Sue Goetz of The Creative Gardener.

Sue created one of the grand display gardens at the Point Defiance Flower & Garden Show, which she titled "Sensory Alchemy." The garden has a small greenhouse and uses vegetable and herbs as both decoration and food.

(So I stand corrected from the previous post: there are some veggies at the flower show.)

Here's what she writes:

I created a veggie garden in the design "Sensory Alchemy" and wanted to inspire that veggie gardens really can be beautiful as well as tasty....who says you can't line a walkway with lettuce. Easy to pick and pretty all the same.

Indeed. And it reminds me of The Edible Estates Project that I've seen mention of recently. (Warning: I'm a far cry from a web designer, but the orange and strangely organized Edible Estates page takes a little patience and a lot of scrolling to get to the good stuff.)

The project is all about planting edibles in your yard as a way to buck the system. Allthough I'm not sure you could play soccer on a backyard full of lettuce, it does make you consider planting a few rows in your flower bed.

I just got back from the Point Defiance Flower & Garden Show, which officially opens tomorrow. All I can say is wow.

The place has been transformed. Gorgeous gardens with custom-cut stone everywhere, vendors galore, beautiful plants and flowers (not much in the way of veggies, just to warn you) and activities for husbands (beer garden) and kids (a children's exhibit -- but don't just leave 'em there).

Look for an article in Saturday's SoundLife section -- or check it out for yourself tomorrow. Yeah, it's supposed to rain, but it's worth it.

On the bright side, here are some pictures:

"Someday soon, I will be a strawberry."

Yes, the garden gnome is miniature. But the broccoli looks good, no? Is that a little slug under that leaf? Enjoy it while it lasts, buddy...

Baby tomatillos and poor photography:

I also have a picture of the weed forest that my garden has become... but I'll save it for a side-by-side before and after, maybe Monday. If the "after" doesn't materialize, I'll burn my camera's memory card and start over. I think I'm kidding.

Let's just say it's a good thing I'm neither a parent nor a pet owner right now.

Leaving for Portland the past two weekends, rain, training for a half-marathon and, of course, work have left little time for sleeping and gardening.

But don't worry. The slugs and the weeds have taken care of things quite well. This morning, I found the former had gnawed about 10 radishes to oblivion while the latter had grown to forest-like proportions.

Anyway, I had a nice chat with a fellow gardener, Annie (forgive me if I'm spelling your name wrong). She was there when I got to the garden, and she was there when I sulked off.

Time between my arrival and departure: About 11 minutes.

"Leaving already?" she asked, smiling.

Mmm hmmm.

But, weeds and slugs, I'll be back. Tonight, tomorrow and all weekend. In combat gear (or at least not work clothes). And I will kill you.