Fall is here… the nights are definitely cooler now and that means that the great fall harvest festivals are starting up in full swing this weekend. We will start the month with one of the biggest in the state! This week we visit Bauman’s for the Giant Pumpkin Weigh-off, check it out to see these freaks of the garden! This is also a great time to stock up on the best of the harvest! Visit any of the local festivals for the best tastes of the year. Make it a day and visit a couple of them and build some memories!
This week we featured...
Bauman’s Giant Pumpkin Weigh-off
The giants have returned! It is the first weekend of October and that means it is Bauman’s Giant Pumpkin Weigh-off time. This year the people at Bauman’s Farm and Garden (503-792-3524) are celebrating their 2nd year of hosting the event and have really blown the doors off the weekend! There are tons of events centered around the Weigh-off including the inclusion of other ‘giant’ vegetables like tomatoes, watermelons and sunflowers. The big event is the giant pumpkin drop at 1pm on Saturday. A 500 pound pumpkin will be dropped by a helicopter into a pool of water. In the water are ducks that represent donations to the Make a Wish foundation. The duck that flies the farthest will win its owner a prize basket from Bauman’s. After the big drop you can enjoy all of the outstanding harvest activities that Bauman’s has become famous for. There are hay mazes, zip lines, petal carts, slides, a hay castle, the jumping pillow and so much more! You can also enjoy some of their great baked goods, wonderful plants and all kinds of fresh garden produce.
Of course the stars of the show will be the giant pumpkins. These giants can get as big as 1,500 pounds and larger! With this year’s record prize purse of $20,000 we are sure to see a ton (sorry for the pun) of pumpkins entered. Even though the weigh-off is over on Saturday, the pumpkins will be on display for the whole weekend. Come and walk among the giants!
Portland Rain Garden
Rain, we do get a lot of it in the Northwest, but the runoff from our houses and walkways can create some real environmental problems. Building a garden that can handle this runoff has become a hot topic for gardeners and landscapers. We caught up with an expert to check out one of his installations. Alfred Dinsdale from Dinsdale Landscape Contractors (503-925-9292) took us to north Portland to walk us through the steps he took to build this beautiful garden. First he figured out the amount of rainwater produced by figuring the square footage of the roof and other hard surfaces in the landscape. Then he did a survey of the entire lot to find the lowest spot in the landscape. From there he worked with a designer to figure out ways of getting the water to the catch basin and plant material that would help clean and absorb the rain water. Alfred also told us about the Portland Bureau of Environmental Services who has programs to help homeowners manage and contain storm water runoff. If you have any questions about creating one of these beautiful and functional garden you can contact Dinsdale Landscape Contractors.
Grande Valley Winter Iron
As your plants start to die back from the cold, now is a good time to check out the structures in your garden to see how they are doing in preparation of the coming cold and rainy months ahead. We stopped by Grande Valley Ornamental Iron (503-981-6923) to get some tips from Jan Viska, the owner at Grande Valley. Jan recommended that you secure your structure to make sure it can handle the winds of winter. Cement your structure in if you can. At Grande Valley they supply iron bars that you can drive into the ground for extra stability (always a great idea). Also, you may want to trim back your plants if they have grown tall on the structure. The added height of the plant material in addition to the volume of leaves can create a top-heavy wind sail that will catch the wind and blow over your structure. Another thing to check is your paint job. If your structure is painted now is the time to do some touch-up before the bare metal gets rusty, unless you like that rusty look.
We also went inside their store to check out some of the ‘outdoor’ structures that look just as good indoors too! Stop by if you have questions and check out some of their garden structures.
Fall Equipment Maintenance
It is the time of year that we are putting away our power tools for the season and to keep them in the best condition for the next year is to give them a tune-up for the winter. Matt from Stark Street Lawn and Garden (503-625-2967) in Sherwood showed us how to prepare your mower, blower, chain saw and other equipment for the cold months ahead! The benefit of doing it now keeps your tools in the best condition so you have less maintenance in the future. A couple of pointers… add a fuel stabilizer to all your machines now. Without, old gas becomes weak gas and can foul your engine. Check air filters and spark plugs. Sharpen blades/chains and clean all surfaces. If it sounds like too much to tackle, you can always take it to your local Stark Street dealership. They have 5 locations in Oregon.
Tool Shed – Broad Fork
Our trip to the Tool Shed took us to Boring Oregon again to chat with Bob Denman from Red Pig Tools (503-663-9404). Bob pulled out an old tool that is finding favor with new organic gardeners. The Broad Fork is a great tool for breaking up the soil without ruining the soil profile. This tool works to loosen the soil and keeps it intact. Sometimes by using a tiller you are breaking up the structure of the soil and actually causing damage to the structure and beneficial animals that you are trying to create. You use this tool by first creating a row along one end of your garden. Then you slowly work backwards from that row and break up the soil by using that negative space. This is a great tool if you are trying to get the job done without a lot of negative impact on the soil.
Winterizing Containers
This past winter the extended snow and freezing temperatures really did some damage to our pots and containers on our deck! When the weather warmed up we had pieces of containers all over or patio as the containers slowly fell apart. To learn how we could avoid that in the future we stopped by Little Baja (503-432-8959) to get some expert advice from Wayne at the Tigard store. The biggest problem with broken pots is water. A lot of times the hole in the bottom of the container is plugged and it causes the pot to retain water, which expands when frozen and breaks the pot. There are ways to avoid that. First make sure you have a quality pot. A lot of discount stores are carrying cheap, poorly made containers with bad materials and fillers. Little Baja carries the best in containers. Then you need to make sure that you have good drainage. Use a plant stand or riser to keep the container off the deck or patio. Also make sure that the hole at the bottom is clear and un-plugged. We then moved to the statuary area where we learned about sealers. Wayne recommends that you use a sealer on your fountains, statues, and birdbaths. The one that they carry is safe and easy to use. This sealer helps keep water from penetrating into the cement where it can do some real damage and ruin your investment. Little Baja also does maintenance of fountains and water features as well. So if you have any questions, give them a call. Right now Little Baja is selling their statuary for 30% off and pottery for 50% off.
