Rebekah “Bekah” Marten likes to bring her worm bin to school for her lesson on composting.
Elementary students have the option to hold a worm or two, or just watch the worms to see what they do.
Same goes for roly-polies, or potato or pill bugs, formally known asarmadillidiidaeor woodlice, terrestrial crustaceans that resemble pill millipedes, oroniscomorpha, which also have the ability to roll up into little balls.
“There were kids who had never seen one before, never held one before,” Marten says.
She’s carried moss-covered logs to school, so children can easily hunt for insects within the partially decomposed wood and small, flowerless plants. … » More …
Master Gardeners started at Washington State University 50 years ago.
Watch videos from Master Gardeners and WSU commemorating this anniversary of the volunteer gardening program with such an impact. (Videos produced by the WSU College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences)
In the early 1990s, when he was going through treatment for cancer, Tim Kohlhauff found the time he felt “the best and connected or healthiest and most relief” was when he was in the garden—specifically the Japanese Garden at Washington Park Arboretum at the University of Washington.
“I was not as worried when I was there and that had a sort of longtime effect,” he says. “I recovered, but I found I wanted to spend more and more time in the garden.”
Cancer brought him to gardening. Gardening brought him to Washington State University Extension » More …
Nancy Hindes often finds wild creeping raspberries while walking along the road in front of her home south of Coupeville on Washington’s Whidbey Island.
“It grows along the ground. It’s not a very dominant plant, but I think it really likes gravelly soil, and that’s why it grows right next to the road,” she says, cautioning those unfamiliar with the wild plant to take care. “It will trip you.”
In summer, she keeps an eye out for its bright red fruit. “It’s one of the best raspberries I’ve ever eaten. It’s very sweet and very flavorful. When I see it, I’ll stop and have a … » More …
All Ray de Vries asks is that we enjoy leeks three times a day. The Skagit Valley farmer known as the Leek King is not being selfish, though. He’ll also tell you how to grow leeks so you can eat them all year round—and that everyone in the Pacific Northwest should grow them. “We’ve got the perfect climate,” he says.
The de Vries family got into leeks after Ray’s dad, Ralph, retired from dairy farming and planted a large produce garden. Ralph went to Seattle’s Produce Row and asked sellers what they needed. “We need leeks! As big as you can grow ’em!”