I was walking home along a gravel road, houses on the left side, and a steep embankment on the right. Heavy with rain, the salmonberry bushes and young mountain ash trees arched over the roadbed like miniature lampposts
Q: How to get rid of chickweed? A: Don’t try to beat it, EAT IT! On most Tuesdays, I teach an online class called the Compost Academy. Students, mostly women, from Alabama to Australia, meet in lively Zoom meetings. It’s not just about composting either, especially on Fridays, which have become “let’s stump Marion” Q&A
If you compost, you might find this question interesting. If you don’t compost, I’ll be upfront: You and your garden are missing out. Big time. Anyway, here’s the
Last week’s span of warm, clear days found island gardeners scrambling outside, perched on bended knee pulling weeds, transplanting seedlings, and slaying slugs. It was a flurry of activity that reminded me of a children’s story
What can be better than the smell of cinnamon and a bowl of hot fruit topped with just the right amount of crunch?
With the return of sunshine, comes the return of dandelions, raising their yellow heads above your lush, green lawn. Against all odds, this is my annual plea to NOT
I built my first compost pile around 1986. Over the years (decades, yikes!) I consider myself to be on intimate terms with dozens of materials, from toilet paper rolls to pineapple rinds (not recommended
If you were a bald eagle spending the winter in Kodiak, Alaska, you’d find that meals were easy to come by. If you like fish scraps, that is. From December to April, hundreds of eagles are
Who’s that goofy gal wearing a cucumber smile? It was a cool day in March when I donned a warm jacket and walked up Ole Johnson Street to the Kodiak Daily Mirror office for my appointment with then-publisher Nancy Freeman. We sat in the conference room, sipped coffee, and talked about my new idea, a
Not sure what to plant this year? New to gardening in Kodiak’s coastal climate? Then this column’s for you. I decided to approach today’s article from the perspective of a Beginner’s Mind during this weekend’s Spring Women’s Show. When I signed up to attend, my goal was simple: Answer gardening questions. Here’s a sampler: “We
Jim Pearson has lived, worked, and gardened in Kodiak for 70 years. On a recent foggy day, he reflected on the weather. “This is the coolest spring I can remember,” he said. So, dear readers, how’re you holding up? Spring is dragging her feet, isn’t she? Which means lawns around town are slow to green,
In the 1980s my brother Alby was the manager for the Robert Cray Band, the Grammy-award-winning blues ensemble that started in 1974 in Eugene, Oregon. Over the years, Robert…
For the first time in a few weeks, the temperature in Kodiak, Alaska climbed above 40 degrees. Woohoo! I don’t know about you, but my spirits…
When spring arrives, gardeners take on a different posture: A slight bend at the waist and leaning forward as if hurrying away from winter. Eventually, they’ll…
With the equinox behind us, I like to think that spring can’t be far behind. The sun tells us so, what with it rising more to the north each day. And then you have crocus blossoms tentatively
In case you missed last week’s column, I covered the basics of starting your own seedlings, beginning with containers, soil, and temperature. This week, we’ll continue with more tips and tools for starting your own seedlings because seedlings CAN talk; we just need to improve our listening skills. Now once seeds germinate and sprout their
It’s March. Now it’s time to get down to business, the business of starting seeds. Seed-starting is not only a timely topic—as people plan ahead for the growing season— but it’s