Category: Uncategorized

By Sean Fleming, Master Gardener Volunteer

What are water quality and water conservation, and why do they matter?

Water conservation is using water efficiently, so less needs to be drawn from rivers, lakes, reservoirs, and aquifers.  Water quality is about keeping pollutants out of all those major water sources, as well as smaller water bodies like backyard creeks and ponds. 

If we use water efficiently, your water bill is lower, there’s less need to build additional water supply infrastructure, and more water is left in lakes and rivers for the ecosystems that need it and for people to enjoy recreationally.  And for groundwater, it reduces the likelihood of drawing down your well to the point that you and your neighbors run out of water.  More broadly, lack of abundant clean water deeply affects not only fish, but also birds, mammals, forests, and beneficial insects – and of course people and pets.  We all live downstream, and someone else’s pollution can wind up coming out of your kitchen faucet.

How can gardeners contribute?

Gardeners interact with, and affect, the landscape and the water cycle more than many folks do.  Here are some important general steps you can take:

• Use water-wise plants and natural landscaping.  Native plants are usually a good bet, because they generally don’t require irrigation.  Many non-native plants work too, if you pick the right ones.  Mulching and composting help by retaining water and decreasing evaporation.  Landscape design is important too – rain gardens are one example that helps water quality.
• Water efficiently.  Providing gardens with more water than they need is wasteful and expensive, of course, but it also triggers erosion and runoff of sediment and chemicals.  It can even wash fertilizer out of the root zone of your crops.  Use drip irrigation or water plants directly instead of sprinklers where possible, and optimize your sprinkler system so it evenly distributes the right amount of water.  It usually gives you a better garden too!
• Be judicious with your selection and use of fertilizers, pesticides, and other natural and non-natural chemicals.  Many of these things will wind up in natural water bodies.  Even overuse of organic fertilizers can be a huge water quality problem, contributing to algal blooms in lakes and oceans for example.
• Be mindful of your non-gardening choices too.  Get rid of pharmaceuticals, paint, and other household chemicals by disposing them at the appropriate recycling and disposal center, for example, and use water-efficient fixtures and appliances.

Does this really make a difference?

Yes!  These may seem like small things, and individually they are – but when you add them up across the whole country and over the years, they really add up.

In fact, water quality and conservation is, overall, an environmental success story.  Some estimates suggest that total national water use has remained at about 1970s levels due to efficiency improvements.  And in many industrial areas, water quality is much better now than it was a few decades ago.  The days of rivers literally catching fire – this actually happened to the Cuyahoga River in Ohio, which was polluted with flammable chemicals – are thankfully over. 

That said, there are major challenges looming, especially in the West, where a combination of relatively dry climate and tremendous population growth are severely pressuring our water resources, natural ecosystems, and water supply infrastructure.  Even here in Benton County with our soggy winters, the natural summer drought period requires careful water management, especially as the regional population and economy grow, increasing water demand.  Plus, more people generally means more pollution.  Each of us can do our part to mitigate those impacts going forward.

How does the water cycle work?

But how does your garden plot fit into the big scheme of things?  How can your choices contribute to – or contribute to solving – water conservation or quality problems?  The answer lies with the water cycle.

The world’s water is all connected in a big loop.  Water evaporates from crops, forests, lakes, seas, and oceans; it’s transported hundreds or thousands of miles in the atmosphere, through storm systems and the jet stream for example; it falls as rain or snow, contributing in turn to glaciers, groundwater aquifers, lakes, and ultimately rivers; and it then flows back to the ocean. 

Your garden is a step in that journey, and the water passing through kind of “remembers” what it saw there.  As rain falls on your vegetable patch, chemicals you’ve added will dissolve and then be transported as runoff, or downward to aquifers, and either way can wind up in a creek, which flows into a bigger stream, which joins with a big river, and so forth. 

Plus, withdrawals from rivers and reservoirs for water supplies, like watering your vegetable garden, collectively add up to a huge modification of that natural cycle.  The change is often destructive.  For example, dams on the Columbia River for water supplies, flood control, and hydropower generation have destroyed salmon migration patterns and habitat availability.  In extreme cases, like the Colorado River, so much water is taken out for human use that the river no longer makes it to the sea.

Practical information resources for gardeners

Here are some great places to look for information about specific things you can do to improve water quality and conservation in your own garden:

• General tips about water conservation in dry western Oregon summers.
• 7 basic steps for creating and maintaining water-efficient landscapes.
• How to build a rain garden.
• Quick guide to 10 low-water perennials that thrive in dry situations.
• How to design and maintain a water-efficient landscape.
• A gardener’s guide to protecting water quality.
• Irrigation, groundwater quality, and crop production.
• Detailed guide to water-efficient plants for the Willamette Valley.

Are you curious about the Master Gardener volunteer program but not sure what to expect? Read on for Master Gardener mythbusting!

This story originally appeared in Growing.

Myth: to be a Master Gardener volunteer you need to have a huge, perfect garden.

Fact: Master Gardener volunteers grow everything from balcony tomato plants to formal gardens to urban farmlets to tiny bonsai trees. They grow in community plots, containers on windowsills and home gardens.

Myth: to be an OSU Extension Master Gardener volunteer you need to know all the answers.

Fact: Master Gardener volunteers learn how to research plant problems and where to seek well-researched solutions. Knowing what to look for and where to look is the key skill.

Myth: to be an OSU Extension Master Gardener volunteer you need to have endless free time or be retired.

Fact: Working people, including parents and caregivers, are Master Gardener volunteers.  The 2020 in-person course offers increased flexibility. And the Master Gardeners online course offers a highly flexible program that connects you with your local community for volunteer service.

Myth: to be an OSU Extension Master Gardener volunteer you need to spend a lot of money.

Fact: OSU Extension and our non-profit Master Gardener association partners offer a limited number of partial scholarships. For information please contact Elizabeth Records.

You can help grow knowledge, gardens and communities. Applications for 2020 Volunteer Program open October 1st. Learn more and join us.

Pashalle Johnson joined OSU Extension Master Gardeners of Benton County in 2017. She has a degree in Sustainable Horticulture from Oregon State University and works as a horticulturalist. Pashalle often volunteers at Master Gardener Plant Clinics where she welcomes all gardeners to learn something new. She shared her story (complete with delicious recipes) in August, 2019.

Tell us about your hometown.

I am from the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, an archipelago of some 700 plus islands and cays which lies 50 miles south of the Florida Keys.  The Bahamas is a small island nation with a population of around 370,000 citizens, most of whom live on the New Providence Island.  Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas, is located on New Providence and is home to  the majority of Bahamians, some 270,000 primarily because it is the economic centre of the country.  As a member of the Commonwealth of nations,  Queen Elizabeth II,  is recognized as monarch  and both our educational and governmental systems are based upon the United Kingdom’s.

My family and I moved from Portland so that I could complete a degree in sustainable horticulture and have remained.  While living in Portland I became immersed in community gardens, and garden volunteering. I volunteered with a number of  non-profit agro-businesses, like Growing Gardens, The Urban Farm Collective based in north east Portland works to both build community and reduce food insecurity in poor neighbourhoods; Produce for People which fights food insecurity by enlisting community gardeners to donate directly from their individual garden plots to  and Zenger Farms a teaching farm with summer camps,  urban farming instruction and programmes that introduce urban kids to life on a farm. 

What does being a Master Gardener volunteer mean to you?

 Becoming a certified  Master Gardener allows me to realize one of my values, community activism, which is built into the programme.  The title, Master Gardener, indicates that my knowledge and experience goes well beyond that of the  novice gardener and lets people know that I am passionate about gardening.  Being a volunteer allows me to interact with the public in a meaningful way; helping resolve gardening issues, to give advice that is backed by the research and science-based information provided by OSU Extension. 

 What’s a favorite garden memory—a sound, sensation, smell or taste associated with a favorite garden in your life?

Harvesting and shelling peas with friends on weekends at my grandmother’s home is a fond memory.  My sister and I spent weekends at our my  grandmother’s Ivy’s home.  Ivy’s home was a boisterous and lively place constantly abuzz with activity; her garden surrounded the house. Vining plants like Malabar spinach and Noni, vegetable beds, fruit trees; tamarind, plums, avocado and my aunt Nita’s prized roses.  Dinner preparation usually began with harvesting and shelling Pigeon peas.  Pigeon peas, Cajanus cajun, are a perennial legume, typically a shrub that grows to about six feet . Harvesting and shelling these are typically a job for children. As there were always many hands and lots of giggling, the time passed quickly.  Pigeon peas are a great source of protein and an important food crop in many African, latin American, Caribbean, Indian and Asian cultures. The peas are consumed both as a green (fresh) or dried. Peas and Rice is served as a side dish with both lunch and dinner.

Peas ‘n’ Rice

2 tablespoons vegetable or olive oil                                1/2 cup tomato paste

1 small onion, diced finely                                   3 slices thick bacon, diced

1/2 green bell pepper diced                                               1 stalk celery, diced

3 c water                                                                                      fresh ground black pepper to taste

3/4 cup cooked pigeon peas                                              2 cups uncooked white rice

2 teaspoons fresh thyme

 1.   In a Dutch oven, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp, stirring occasionally. Remove with a slotted spoon; drain on paper towels. Reserve 1 tablespoon of bacon drippings, set aside or discard the remaining.

2.    Add the onion, celery and green pepper to drippings; cook and stir over medium-high heat for 5-7 minutes or until tender. Stir in the pigeon peas,  tomato paste, thyme, salt and pepper.

3.    Add the water,  and cooked bacon; bring to a boil. Stir in rice. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 45-50 minutes or until rice is tender. Remove thyme sprigs.

Tell us about your current garden

Currently, my garden, Camas Corner, (because of the beautiful clump of common camas that appeared my second year) is a 400 square foot perennial plot  in the Dunawi Creek Community Garden, part of the Bruce Starker Arts Park.  It is home to about 90 annual and perennial garden plots.  I have gardened here since 2013.  My garden style is that of the French potager or French kitchen garden which focuses on both beauty and production.  I grow vegetables, berries, herbs and flowers; the flowers adds splashes of colour but also attract beneficial insects to my garden which of course aids in good pollination. I practice a four-year crop rotation, intercropping and some successional gardening.  Because my space is small, gardening vertically allows me to grow much more food. This means I incorporate a fair number of vining plants and those vegetables that lend themselves to trellising.

Describe one plant that you grow which reminds you of home.

One of the greatest pleasures of my current garden has been successfully growing Bitter Melon (Momordia charantia). This vining plant, grows wild  in the Bahamas, similar to Wild Cucumber (Echinocystis lobata) found here in Oregon. It is a tropical and subtropical vining fruit grown from Africa, to Asian and the Caribbean. The leaves are served as a tea for curing the common cold or flu and are also cooked and eaten like spinach. The melon which grows to 6-8 inches, is eaten as a vegetable when immature and when fully mature becomes  sweet and changes from bright green to a beautiful bright orange-red that bursts open to expose  sweet red sticky gelatinous seeds. Served raw or prepared in desserts!

What’s a favorite garden memory—a sound, sensation, smell or taste associated with a favorite garden in your life?

The wonderfully pungent, spicy  scent of basil is something I look forward to each year.  Growing Basil, Ocimum basilicum, a member of the lamiaceae family, is one of the highlights of my summer garden, the delicious smell of pesto: pungent basil, toasted pine nuts or walnuts, drizzles of olive oil, fresh cracked pepper,  a few turns of salt and a little lemon makes me happy. I add basil in my dried herb mixture for grilling vegetables or meat on pasta and chicken.  I grow a bed of basil which provides enough to make a few gallons of pesto. My go to recipe appears in The Joy of Cooking:

Pesto from The Joy of Cooking

Enough for one pound of pasta

Process to a rough paste in a food processor:

    2 cups loosely packed basil leaves

    1⁄2 cup grated Parmesan

    1⁄3 cup pine nuts or walnuts, toasted

    2 medium garlic cloves, peeled

    With the machine running, slowly add:

    1⁄2 cup olive oil, or as needed

   Salt and pepper to taste

Use immediately or store in a covered glass jar in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

  What’s one thing people might be surprised to know about you and/or your garden?  

One surprising thing about my community garden plot is the sheer number of flowers, vegetables, and herbs I grow in my small slice of paradise!  I love to experiment with new foods, new flavors and to learn new things!  I have tried to grow a little bit of everything.  You name it, I have most likely grown it at one time and each year I attempt to grow one new variety or new vegetable.  My 400 square foot plot has over the years provided me with a great abundance of produce: purple sweet potatoes, quinoa, okra, bitter melon, oca, gourds: basket and luffa, red corn ( this year), dwarf blue corn (last year), cucumbers, parsnips, four varieties of potatoes, five different varieties of winter squash, summer squash: zucchini and crookneck, snow peas, snap peas, eight different types of tomatoes, basil, watermelon, cantaloupe, raspberries: black, gold, red, blueberries, Marion berry, Aronia, Swiss chard, spinach and a beautiful new variety of red kale, two kinds of pole beans and peppers. Somehow I make room for flowers and herbs such as common camas, echinacea, shasta daisy, sunflowers, chocolate cosmos, cape fuchsia, black-eyed Susan, dahlia, marigolds, alyssum, carnations, bee balm and lemon verbena for tea, borage, salvia and purple sage and more.

You can help grow knowledge, gardens and communities. Applications for 2020 Volunteer Program open October 1st. Learn more and join us.

Raspberries, Blackberries, and their Hybrids

Raspberries, blackberries and their hybrids (boysenberries, tayberries, and loganberries) are members of the Rose family.  They are often called caneberries, as they produce berries on whip-like structures known as canes.

Caneberries have perennial roots but produce canes that live only two years. In their first year of growth the new canes are called primocanes; they produce leaves but not berries. In their second year of growth, the canes are call floricanes and will produce berries before they die in the fall. The first summer after planting there will be no berry harvest as all of the canes will be primocanes; the second year, a new set of primocanes will appear and the floricanes will produce berries.  With proper care, caneberries will produce crops for 15 to 20 years.

Tips for Growing Caneberries

Choose a site that is in full sun for best yield. The site should also have well-drained, fertile, loam soil. Blackberries are somewhat tolerant of heavy soils, but raspberries are sensitive to wet soils and if planted in heavy soil they may die from lack of oxygen in the soil or from root rot or other root diseases.

Avoid planting caneberries where potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, strawberries, or other caneberries have grown in the last 3 years, as these crops may have been infected with the same insect pests and diseases that can damage caneberries.

Begin preparing the soil in the year before you plant by eliminating all perennial weeds and keeping remaining weeds from going to seed. Add organic matter to the soil in the summer or fall to improve soil aeration and drainage. Check soil pH about 6 months before you plant, and amend soil as needed. Raspberries require a pH between 5.5 and 6.5, blackberries between 5.5 and 7.

Select a cultivar. Caneberries come in a variety of cultivars which differ in growth habit and disease resistance, as well as color and flavor. Buy certified disease-free plants from a nursery for best results. Whenever possible, choose plants that are resistant to at least some pests and viruses.  For more information on cultivars that grow well in the Northwest, see:

• Raspberry Cultivars for the Pacific Northwest
• Blackberry Cultivars for Oregon

Plant caneberries in the spring as early as you can work the soil. You will need to supply trellises for all cultivars of blackberries and for most raspberries. For detailed information on planting styles (hill vs. hedgerow) and trellising styles, see the publications at the bottom of this page.

Fertilize caneberries with a well-balanced fertilizer (such as 16-16-16) three times per year: early in the spring, and at one and two months later.

Water requirements for newly planted caneberries are ~1 inch per week from planting until late summer. Established plants will require 1 – 1½ inches per week from mid-June through late summer.  Drip or under-canopy sprinklers are recommended as they reduce the chance of disease in the crown and canes.

Manage weeds by cultivating no deeper than 1-2 inches to avoid damaging the caneberry’s roots. Mulch may also be used to control weeds.

Prune only the floricanes and any damaged canes after the plants stop producing berries in the fall.  See the publication(s) below for additional information about special pruning needs for plants with various growth habits.

Caneberries are sensitive to cold damage, heat damage, and a variety of insect and plant diseases. In general, blackberries are less susceptible than raspberries to these problems. See the publications below for more information.

• Growing Raspberries in Your Home Garden
• Growing Blackberries in Your Home Garden

Do you want to find more berry and fruit resources for your garden? CLICK HERE to check out this collection of resources from OSU Extension.