Articles

This learning section contains articles and educational support including topics related to growing, seed saving, native plants, agriculture, pollinators, soil, carbon, climate and food systems.

Our newsletters have many articles on these topics and more, check out the Newsletter Archive.

Paula Richards Paula Richards

Winter Garden Care

As you finish your fall harvesting and your garden beds become emptier, consider the ways to feed your soil and prep for the coming years.

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Paula Richards Paula Richards

Birds in the Garden

It turns out this is an ideal place for birds to nest and feed. Sitting on our deck anytime from an hour before sunrise till after sunset, we can hear scores of birds singing.

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Paula Richards Paula Richards

Buying Regenerative

If you don’t grow your own food, the best way to support regenerative farming is to buy from a farmer whose growing practices you are familiar with.

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Paula Richards Paula Richards

Salmonberries, My Favorite Shrub

The salmonberry is the first flowering native plant, blooming out in early spring; its pink flowers feed our native bumblebees and hummingbirds.

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Paula Richards Paula Richards

Red Alder, The Forest’s Caregivers

An open and sunlit forest floor is the perfect opportunity for red alder (Alnus rubra), known as a pioneer species that needs sunlight to germinate its seeds and to grow.

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Paula Richards Paula Richards

Time to Plant Tomatoes

Getting a good home-grown tomato can be a challenge with our cool summer evenings, so here are some suggestions to help you.

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Paula Richards Paula Richards

The Case for Biochar

The honeycomb structure of char benefits the soil biology by encouraging and retaining fungi, bacteria and moisture in the soil.

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Paula Richards Paula Richards

Nettles, Nettles, Everywhere

The Pacific Northwest is particularly suited to nettles
because they grow in temperate climates where it is wet. Is
this a curse, or are we lucky?

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Paula Richards Paula Richards

What’s That Vegetable? Mangles

Here is a Tilth riddle for you.
Question: What is beautifully colored with swirls of dark pink and snowy white, can appear to be smaller than it is, and has long, green hair in the summer?

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