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.
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.
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.
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.
Seed Saving Tips for Local Adaptability and Less Cost
There are a few types of seeds I always choose to save for next year’s plantings.
Make a Difference— Composting for a Healthier Island
Can you imagine a substance that is beneficial to nature, helps reduce climate change and is abundant and free?
Conservation Biocontrol, or The Love of Insects
My interest in biocontrol started with slugs. I was looking for a way to attract ground beetles and other slug predators to my garden.
Starting Your Winter Gardens
Here we are in mid-summer, the garden bounty is arriving—but wait—we have to plan for our winter crops also.
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.
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.
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.
The Case for Biochar
The honeycomb structure of char benefits the soil biology by encouraging and retaining fungi, bacteria and moisture in the soil.
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?
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?