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Mainly clear. Low 61F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph..
Mainly clear. Low 61F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph.
Oregon State University Extension Service – Columbia County may be reached by calling 503-397-3462.
If you have a gardener on your gift list this holiday season, you’re in luck. Garden accessories are popular items in many stores and nurseries.
Oregon State University Extension Service – Columbia County may be reached by calling 503-397-3462.
Here are some last-minute gift suggestions for your green-thumbed family and friends. And to all my Garden Plots and Clatskanie Grows readers, may you have the happiest of holidays.
• A gift certificate for plants or tools from a favorite nursery, garden center, hardware, and/or feed and seed store. With only days left, this is quick and practical. Also, a gift certificate from a favorite seed or fruit tree company.
• Gardener’s journal to record planting dates, varieties, successes (and failures) from year to year.
• Leather gardening gloves to prevent injury and chapped, rough skin.
• Flexible, rubberized cotton gloves that keep fingernails clean and hands dry.
• A soil thermometer is very useful. So are moisture meters with ~12-inch probes. Both are inexpensive gifts.
• Q Knot reusable cable ties are handy for staking tomatoes or trellises. Get them from a local hardware store.
• Rolls of re-useable Velcro tape cut-to-length that can also hold tomatoes, apple shoots, or other garden plant parts onto structures.
• Manual or electric water hose timer. This device can be attached to any faucet, and automatically shuts off water after a set amount of time. Get a single or dual model from a hardware store.
• Water bubbler with flow control or other interesting sprinklers.
• High-quality pruning loppers or hand pruners to make winter pruning a pleas-ure; Folding pruning saws are great for pruning but also handy for camping or backpacking. Fiskers, Barnel, or Corona are good brands.
• Corona Quick Tool Sharpener. A pocket-sized tool for sharpening pruners, shears and blades.
• Well-made spading fork (a personal favorite) or specialized hoes and shovels;
• Floating row covers are lightweight blankets to put over vegetables that help capture warmth and protect plants. May be available from the Extension office in February/March. Call us.
• Heavier row covers for pot protection from cold winter weather: We have some now at the Extension office at a sale price.
• A Hori Hori Knife is a transplant knife from Japan, that’s part trowel and part knife. Also, good for dispatching slugs. It is a great tool.
• LED headlamp is handy tool for gardening or locating slugs at night (if you are so inclined). If you have close neighbors, warn them of your new hobby. Also good for looking for carpenter ant evidence under your house.
• Lithium battery-powered chain saws, pole pruners, and weed whackers. There are a number of new types and the quality is greatly improved over the ones sold even a few years ago. For casual users of these tools, they work well and do not have the maintenance challenges of gas–fueled versions.
• Insect, Mushroom, Weed, or Native Plant identification book.
• Easy grip hand tools for gardeners with arthritis.
• Long spouted watering container for easy house-plant care.
• Ever-sharp garden scissors for snipping herbs and flowers.
• Large sturdy garden cart to carry tools and soil amendments to the garden in one trip.
• Knee-pads or gardening stool to make weeding and low work less of a strain.
• A heavy apron with pockets to keep gardening tools handy or a caddy with pockets for your garden bucket.
• Aluminum plant tags (write on them with a pencil) to hang or attach to woody plants.
• The OSU Extension Office is fully reopened. Masks are still required inside.
• Donate produce and/or money to the food bank, senior centers, or community meals programs. It is greatly appreciated.
• The Extension Service offers its programs and materials equally to all people.
If you have questions on any of these topics or other home garden and/or farm questions, please contact Chip Bubl, Oregon State University Extension office in St. Helens at 503-397-3462 or at chip.bubl@oregonstate.edu. The office is open from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
The Oregon State University Extension office in Colum-bia County publishes a monthly newsletter on gardening and farming topics (called County Living) written/edited by yours truly. All you need to do is ask for it and it will be mailed or emailed to you. Call 503-397-3462 to be put on the list. Alternatively, you can find it on the web at http://extension.oregonstate.edu/columbia/ and click on newsletters.
Many Extension publications available online
Are you putting up salsa, saving seeds, or thinking about planting grapes? OSU has a large number of its publications available for free download. Just go to https://catalog.extension.oregonstate.edu. Click on publications and start exploring.
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