**Cancelled for 2020 Here’s the link for online sales to support the vendors: https://downtowncamas.com/plant-fair-vendor-online-salesand here’s the link to 2019 vendors: http://cwplantfair.org/vendors Downtown Camas Saturday, May 9th, 9 am to 4 pm Everything for your yard &garden! Held the day before Mother’s Day each year, the plant fair draws in thousands of people to enjoy and explore the amazing selection of plants, trees, garden art and supplies, and much more provided by our dedicated local growers and vendors. Kids’ activities, live music, entertainment, fresh food, and the shops and restaurants in Downtown Camas all add to the community experience. Come make a day of it! For More Info: www.cwplantfair.org
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HOW TO EAT HEALTHY
Especially During Holidays Let’s face it, once the Holiday eating season is upon us, who can resist the seasonal delights? All year long we yearn for mouthwatering holiday foods. My sister’s Figgie pudding (with hard sauce) is my real weakness. It actually hijacks my brain cells to indulge. Going into the Holiday Eating Season, I practice Conscious Eating by being aware of my blood sugar fluctuations, and not “starving-to-binge” by missing meals just to take on more calories later. Approaching a big feast with an empty stomach just makes me heap my first plate full and (fill my dessert stomach too early) before the second plate arrives. Finally, it’s how…
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Make a Change
An untidy garden can benefit birds and insects It’s that time of year when plants are turning brown as they complete their time with us after providing tasty food, medicine, and beauty throughout the summer months. Final harvests are being completed and thoughts turn to all the garden and yard clean-up we need to do, including herb beds. Often, we are eager to put the pruners and rake to work while we can still get out without getting completely soaked by the rain here in the Pacific Northwest. After all, preparing tidy herb beds and garden spaces for spring is what we’re supposed to do in the fall, right? Last…
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Herbal Plant Companions
Herbs are typically hardy and resilient. In these times of unpredictable weather, herbs provide beauty, flavor, medicine and food for people and pets. One additional benefit of herbs is serving as good companions for your flower and veggie gardens. When certain herbs are planted near or among other plants, they help those plants be resilient, too. Companion planting with herbs attracts beneficial insects or draw unwanted pests away from more vulnerable plants. Here are a few examples of our favorite companion herbs. Calendula This cheery, sunny, fragrant flower (also known as pot marigold) pairs well with eggplant and tomatoes. It attracts a wide variety of pollinators, including striped bees and…
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How I Upgraded My Electric Mower
My introduction to cordless mowing was a Black and Decker “ factory reconditioned” CMM 1000, which I babied well past its expected lifetime. I had promised myself that if I could get it through until the end of its last summer, the long winter would give me plenty of time to research a replacement. A very helpful article in Green Living Journal (*) came just in time to greatly aid me in my search. I know that lawns and mowing are not appropriate in many places. Here, where we live in a pine forest, we keep a circle of mowed lawn around our modest home as a fire-break. We also…
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Worms:
A Solution for Improving Garden Soil & Saving the Planet Are you seeking a way to keep your garden plants healthy without harming the environment? Conventional fertilizers aren’t going to cut it, as they pollute the planet and don’t provide long-term benefits. A better option is to create fertilizer at home with worms by setting up a personal vermicompost that turns your wasted food scraps in plant energy. Why is homemade worm compost so beneficial? It adds essential nutrients back into the soil, plus worms have the potential to make it easier to reduce your household trash. And, as you’ll learn next, that’s no small matter. Compost: Reducing Waste One…
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Unsavory Truth
How the Food Companies Skew the Science of What We Eat. BY MARION NESTLE REVIEWED BY KEN CONDLIFF If you are interested in learning more about our commercial food chain, the Unsavory Truth will be of interest to you. If you want to know more about who is attempting to influence the commercial food chain, this book is a must-read. Too many consumers take for granted that food just appears on a store shelf, has some claims on the front of the packaging (natural, healthy, simple, etc.), and so appears to be healthy – but don’t really understand the backstory behind the product claims. In the book, Marion Nestle has…
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Top 5 Organic Gardening Tips
THE ORGANIC CENTER 1. Choose organic seeds Organic seeds are harvested from certified organic crops and therefore are not treated with fungicides like most conventional seeds. Without the application of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers, organic plants rely more on their own defense systems when battling pests and diseases and grow deep roots to extract nutrients from the soil. Plants grown from organic seed are typically stronger and more adapted to thrive and grow under organic gardening practices. 2. Fertilize your soil by using organic compost and manure Common non-organic garden fertilizers, found at your local garden and home store, may contain ammonium phosphate and other synthetic chemicals. These synthetic fertilizers…
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The Delightful Flexibility of Container Gardening
Container gardening offers a remarkable degree of flexibility and mobility, making it an ideal gardening option for renters and individuals who frequently move. With container gardening, you can create a beautiful garden that can be relocated and taken with you wherever you go.
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The JUNK FOOD Effect
A new and important strain of research on CO2 and plant nutrition is now coming out of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
