Come see me at Barnes and Noble Saturday, Dec. 9, noon til 3 p.m. I’ll be signing copies of my books, “Cheyenne Birds by the Month” and “Cheyenne Garden Gossip,” and talking about birds and gardening with anyone who stops by.
If you haven’t been to the new store yet, 5116 Frontier Mall Drive (the old Natural Grocers location), this is your excuse!
Gardeners’ Christmas wish lists include tools, vinegar and manure
Published Dec. 15, 2023, in the Wyoming Tribune Eagle.
By Barb Gorges
I asked Laramie County Master Gardeners what they want for Christmas and received a variety of replies, from tools to greenhouses to sheep manure.
Manure?!
Donna Woitaszewski wrote, “My biggest garden wish this year is to have some sheep do-do tilled into my garden spot. I’d take basically any good organic soil-builder but that one comes to mind first. I don’t have a truck, a tiller, or any help to do it, so Santa would need to include that, too.”
Equally basic, Peggy Zdenek wants wooden posts for installing a fence. Fencing can be so important. Not only does it separate animals and people from tender plants, but solid fences can throw a little shade and act as a windbreak out on the prairie.
Tools are a popular category. Christine and Steve Johnson garden on a larger scale than many of us, so I’m not surprised by the larger tools in their long list. It’s actually from last year, but now that they’ve tried these items, they highly recommend:
–Raised garden boxes with hoop tops that can be removed
–Automatic timer for the outside faucet
–Drip system
–Tree spade, (flatter than a shovel)
–Hoss wheel hoe plow and attachments (you push the wheeled plow)
–Scythe or brush cutter with curved steel blade and two wooden handles from vidaXL.
Power tools are on the lists of two women. Kathy Juniker says she wants a ‘girl-sized’ garden tiller. “I need to get rid of more turf grass and build more flower beds full of pollinator friendly plants. Digging out that sod by hand is back-breaking! There is a Black and Decker electric tiller that we had at the Boys and Girls Club this spring that I could handle. It’s not that expensive.”
Rosalind Schliske wrote, “Earlier this year, Keren Meister-Emerich wouldn’t stop raving about her new battery-operated DeWalt pruner. She was so excited that she had filled her husband’s truck so many times with branches to take to the city compost facility.
“Then in June, the Prairie Garden Club held its cleanup of the grounds at the Historic Governors’ Mansion. Members Jutta Arkan and Martha Mullikin were using their DeWalt pruners to cut back the numerous white roses and other out-of-control bushes around the building. They, too, raved about the pruner, and seeing it in action, I could understand why.
“However, I didn’t wait until Christmas to buy my own. In addition to cutting the usual suspects like lilacs and cotoneaster, it was amazing during fall cleanup on thick-stemmed goldenrods and hollyhocks and even thinner perennials. The lightweight pruner is wonderful for those who us without a lot of hand strength. I think we all would highly recommend the 20v MAX cordless battery-powered pruner (DCPR320).”
Sabine McClintock hopes her Santa hears her wish for a way to store very long, heavy-duty hoses. And maybe make her a simple board with large nails for holding tools. And find some 30% horticultural vinegar for killing weeds.
I don’t know if it will work for Sabine, but Suzy Sauls told me about her dream hose from Hoselink. A hundred-foot hose retracts itself into a tidy container the homeowner mounts on a post next to the outside faucet. And the company has fittings for hose ends so they easily snap together, instead of being difficult to twist and then they still leak.
A greenhouse always makes this list—well, not made of glass in our climate. Marla Smith said, “The only thing on my Santa list is a high tunnel. The ability to extend the season for my flowers and vegetables would give an additional support to everything I enjoy about gardening in these high altitudes!”
Having heard of at least two high tunnels self-destructing in our wind, I asked Marla if she had heard about the stronger, geodesic dome types. Yes, she had, even helping erect one during last spring’s Bee College at Laramie County Community College. She hasn’t been able to choose between them yet.
Jutta Arkan, on the other hand, thinks the Master Gardeners could play Santa by contributing a garden-themed bronze to the collection on downtown street corners. She’s even picked out Loveland, Colorado, artist Julie Jones’s “Sweet Moment.”
If you are tasked with finding a gift for a gardener, consider gardening magazines like “The American Gardener.” Or, a Cheyenne Botanic Gardens membership which gets members into 300 other gardens across the country for free or special rates.
Or, maybe a gift certificate for an appropriate seed catalog like Pinetree Garden Seeds from Maine. They specialize in vegetables for short growing seasons like ours.
Or, a big, fat, garden-filled coffee table book to sink into when winter is at its worst.
I’ll be at the Local Author Celebration at the Laramie County Library Saturday, Nov. 25, 2023, from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. I’ll have copies of all three of my books for sale (cash, check or Zelle),:
— “Cheyenne Birds by the Month – 104 Species of Southeastern Wyoming’s Resident and Visiting Birds” – $23
–“Cheyenne Garden Gossip – Locals Share Secrets for High Plains Gardening Success” – $25
–“Quilt Care, Construction and Use Advice – How to Help Your Quilt Live to 100” – $10
–“Dear Book – The 1916-1920 Diary of Gertrude Oehler Witte” – orders, $23
Signing special: All prices include sales tax.
If you only have a credit card, pick up books at one of these Cheyenne locations and bring them by for signing: 307 Made, Barnes & Noble, Bonsai Books, Cheyenne Botanic Gardens, Cheyenne Depot Museum, Cheyenne Honey, Curt Gowdy State Park, the Hawthorn Tree, JAX, Riverbend Nursery, Sunshine Plant Company, Wyoming Game and Fish Department Headquarters, Wyoming State Museum.
See more about my books at https://yuccaroadpress.com/.
Thank you, Prairie Garden Club, for inviting me to speak about and sign copies of my book, “Cheyenne Garden Gossip.”
For information about the next book talk/signing and to see the book preview, go here: https://yuccaroadpress.com/books/.
WTE garden columns collected in new book: “Cheyenne Garden Gossip”
Published Aug. 7, 2021, in the Wyoming Tribune Eagle.
By Barb Gorges
Would you be interested in a collection of my Wyoming Tribune Eagle gardening columns? The book, “Cheyenne Garden Gossip: Locals Share Secrets for High Plains Gardening Success,” is available, so far, at the Cheyenne Botanic Gardens, Cheyenne Depot Museum, Wyoming Game and Fish Department and Wyoming State Museum gift shops.
You can see a preview at https://yuccaroadpress.com/books/.
The book is a collaboration with more than 100 people—those I interviewed, plus people such as Chris Hoffmeister, the book designer; content reviewers Jessica Friis, Susan Carlson and Jane Dorn; and many Laramie County Master Gardeners. In the seven pages of acknowledgements, you might find gardeners you know and what chapters they contributed to.
The book’s advice aims to minimize expense, time, water and chemicals, and maximize the time you enjoy strolling in your garden. It includes 64 updated columns, a plant list, plant and garden photo galleries, a garden book list, lists of other resources and a key word index.
Becoming a gardener changes your perspective. Mowing the lawn becomes a way to harvest green stuff for your compost. Raking leaves is gathering winter mulch to protect spring-blooming bulbs.
Giving up rototilling the vegetable patch every year means preserving soil microbes you need for a better harvest. Not mowing your patch of prairie out in the county more than every couple years means more bird song.
I can’t review my own book so instead, I’m giving you the foreword written by Shane Smith, the founder and director emeritus of the Cheyenne Botanic Gardens, who explains why we need our own gardening book around here.
Foreword by Shane Smith
“This is a book that speaks to you directly, by not only the author, Barb Gorges, but many accomplished gardeners on the High Plains in Southeast Wyoming. To be a successful gardener here is no easy task. In fact, I believe it is the most challenging garden climate in the lower 48 states.
“Why is gardening here such a challenge? Let’s look at Cheyenne, which is indicative of much of the High Plains. It has the highest average number of hailstorms per year in the nation, between 8 and 11. Cheyenne is the fourth windiest city in the nation with a daily average wind speed of 13 miles per hour. This means for every calm day you must have a 26-miles-per-hour day to make that average work.
“Cheyenne also has unpredictable spring and fall frosts. This kills fruit blossoms in spring and can turn a garden brown even in early September.
“Plants grow at night. The warmer it is at night, the faster they grow. Because of Cheyenne’s 6,000-foot elevation, it has cool summer nights, staying mostly in the 40s and 50s. Gardens grow much faster when most of the nights are in the upper 50s to mid-60s. This is why that 65-day tomato still takes 80 days to produce.
“Finally, Cheyenne often has many winter days with little or no snow cover. There are years when Cheyenne has fewer days with snow on the ground than other lower altitude Front Range towns. This lack of snow cover combined with the relentless wind desiccates plants. That is why you often must drag out the hose in winter to water your trees, shrubs and perennials to keep them alive and in maximum health. Whew! Gardeners on the High Plains deserve a medal for their harvests and beautiful flowers.
“Because of the challenging climate, Cheyenne and High Plains gardeners must do things differently. To have a successful garden in this climate you often need different scheduling and different varieties, and you must develop creative hail-protection strategies. On top of all that, it helps to become an accomplished weather watcher.
“In this book, Barb has put together a diverse and experienced group of expert gardeners, who first appeared in her regular writings for the Wyoming Tribune Eagle in her excellent Cheyenne Garden Gossip column and blog. Barb also offers up her own great tips from her extensive gardening experiences.
“This book has a wide breadth of gardening and landscaping subjects. Besides the traditional flowers and vegetables, Barb discusses how to successfully grow habitat gardens, rain gardens, xeriscapes, ground covers, fruit trees, worm farms, hoop house gardens, straw bale gardens and more. Both newbies and experienced gardeners are sure to find enlightening information.
“While the High Plains are an exceptional challenge, this book will help you even the odds in your garden’s favor. Go get your hands dirty!
“Best Regardens!”
Shane Smith, Founder and Director Emeritus of the Cheyenne Botanic Gardens
Have you seen the garden alongside the Laramie County Library parking lot? Find out more about it Thursday evening, August 12 at 6 p.m.
P.S. The Laramie County Conservation District plans to give away five copies of my new gardening book (https://cheyennegardengossip.wordpress.com/2021/08/02/cheyenne-garden-gossip-review/)!
“WTE garden columns collected in new book: ‘Cheyenne Garden Gossip'” was published in the Wyoming Tribune Eagle Aug. 7, 2021.
By Barb Gorges
Would you be interested in a collection of my Wyoming Tribune Eagle gardening columns? The book, “Cheyenne Garden Gossip: Locals Share Secrets for High Plains Gardening Success,” is available, so far, at the Cheyenne Botanic Gardens, Cheyenne Depot Museum, Wyoming Game and Fish Department and Wyoming State Museum gift shops.
You can see a preview at https://yuccaroadpress.com/books/. [For those of you outside Cheyenne, the book will eventually be available on Amazon. If you can’t wait, contact me at bgorges2 @ gmail.com.]
The book is a collaboration with more than 100 people–those I interviewed, plus people such as Chris Hoffmeister, the book designer; content reviewers Jessica Friis, Susan Carlson and Jane Dorn; and many Laramie County Master Gardeners. In the seven pages of acknowledgements, you might find gardeners you know and what chapters they contributed to.
The book’s advice aims to minimize expense, time, water and chemicals, and maximize the time you enjoy strolling in your garden. It includes 64 updated columns, a plant list, plant and garden photo galleries, a garden book list, lists of other resources and a key word index.
Becoming a gardener changes your perspective. Mowing the lawn becomes a way to harvest green stuff for your compost. Raking leaves is gathering winter mulch to protect spring-blooming bulbs.
Giving up rototilling the vegetable patch every year means preserving soil microbes you need for a better harvest. Not mowing your patch of prairie out in the county more than every couple years means more bird song.
I can’t review my own book so instead, I’m giving you the foreword written by Shane Smith, the founder and director emeritus of the Cheyenne Botanic Gardens, who explains why we need our own gardening book around here.
Foreword by Shane Smith
“This is a book that speaks to you directly, by not only the author, Barb Gorges, but many accomplished gardeners on the High Plains in Southeast Wyoming. To be a successful gardener here is no easy task. In fact, I believe it is the most challenging garden climate in the lower 48 states.
“Why is gardening here such a challenge? Let’s look at Cheyenne, which is indicative of much of the High Plains. It has the highest average number of hailstorms per year in the nation, between 8 and 11. Cheyenne is the fourth windiest city in the nation with a daily average wind speed of 13 miles per hour. This means for every calm day you must have a 26-miles-per-hour day to make that average work.
“Cheyenne also has unpredictable spring and fall frosts. This kills fruit blossoms in spring and can turn a garden brown even in early September.
“Plants grow at night. The warmer it is at night, the faster they grow. Because of Cheyenne’s 6,000-foot elevation, it has cool summer nights, staying mostly in the 40s and 50s. Gardens grow much faster when most of the nights are in the upper 50s to mid-60s. This is why that 65-day tomato still takes 80 days to produce.
“Finally, Cheyenne often has many winter days with little or no snow cover. There are years when Cheyenne has fewer days with snow on the ground than other lower altitude Front Range towns. This lack of snow cover combined with the relentless wind desiccates plants. That is why you often must drag out the hose in winter to water your trees, shrubs and perennials to keep them alive and in maximum health. Whew! Gardeners on the High Plains deserve a medal for their harvests and beautiful flowers.
“Because of the challenging climate, Cheyenne and High Plains gardeners must do things differently. To have a successful garden in this climate you often need different scheduling and different varieties, and you must develop creative hail-protection strategies. On top of all that, it helps to become an accomplished weather watcher.
“In this book, Barb has put together a diverse and experienced group of expert gardeners, who first appeared in her regular writings for the Wyoming Tribune Eagle in her excellent Cheyenne Garden Gossip column and blog. Barb also offers up her own great tips from her extensive gardening experiences.
“This book has a wide breadth of gardening and landscaping subjects. Besides the traditional flowers and vegetables, Barb discusses how to successfully grow habitat gardens, rain gardens, xeriscapes, ground covers, fruit trees, worm farms, hoop house gardens, straw bale gardens and more. Both newbies and experienced gardeners are sure to find enlightening information.
“While the High Plains are an exceptional challenge, this book will help you even the odds in your garden’s favor. Go get your hands dirty!
“Best Regardens!
Shane Smith
Founder and Director Emeritus of the Cheyenne Botanic Gardens
“Cheyenne Garden Gossip,” my new book, is now available at the Cheyenne Botanic Gardens giftshop and will soon be available in other shops. Preview: https://yuccaroadpresscom.files.wordpress.com/2021/07/cheyennegardengossippreview-1.pdf.
Published Dec. 12, 2020, in the Wyoming Tribune Eagle, “Gardening gift ideas: books, shovels, orchids”
By Barb Gorges
Thinking about ways to treat yourself or a gardening friend this holiday season? See what you think of these ideas.
“A Way to Garden: A Hands-on Primer for Every Season” by Margaret Roach Margaret’s garden blog posts show up every Sunday morning in my email. They are transcripts of her radio interviews with all kinds of people in the garden world. Their chats are always inspiring and informative.
This book of gardening information is an updated edition of her first book from 21 years before. Margaret, like us, is in Zone 5, but in New York State so some of the advice may need to be adapted a bit for here. I enjoyed the luscious photos and her generous gardening philosophy.
The Earth in Her Hands: 75 Extraordinary Women Working in the World of Plants by Jennifer Jewell
Sometimes, on the way to gender equity, we isolate the underdogs to bring them to the public’s attention. I hope in years to come we won’t need to separate by gender anymore for projects like this.
I found this book to be a fascinating read, not just because it highlights the accomplishments of women from around the world, but because it showcases the enormous variety of their plant-related careers and how they found them.
Margaret Roach, garden journalist (mentioned above), is in here and so is Lauren Springer, garden designer in Ft. Collins, Colorado.
Here are some of the many other careers included: nursery owner, flower farm owner, floral designer, landscape architecture firm owner, horticulturist, public garden leader (various titles from CEO to director), landscape architect photographer, seed education program founder, garden historian, garden artist, garden magazine editor, herbalist, professor, scientist, horticultural therapist, botanist, botanical photographer, botanical artist, ancestral plant medicine educator and advocate, garden writer, biodynamic farmer, seed keeper, plant pathologist, plantswoman, gardener.
HERShovel, Green Heron Tools
I asked for a shovel last Christmas, one in the style a gardening friend enjoys using. But it wasn’t the same shovel—hers may be out of production. It was heavy, the handle was too thick for my short fingers, the step at the top of the blade was too narrow, and it wasn’t good at scooping.
Two women came up with a shovel a few years ago designed specifically for women—it’s “hergonomic.” Some men find it more comfortable to use too. For one thing, it comes in different sizes: small for people under 5-foot-2 and large for people over 5-foot-7 and medium in between.
It has a large “D” handle, wide enough to grip with both hands and it is light. I’m anxious to try one. Then maybe I won’t be asking my husband, Mark, to help me dig as often.
Even if you don’t get a HERShovel, or the HERSpadingfork, check out Green Heron Tools, https://www.greenherontools.com/, for advice on proper shoveling technique and maintenance.
Because the two business owners originally trained in health care, they have illustrated physical health tips for gardeners. The best one is to change activities every 20 minutes or so. For instance, change off between weeding, pruning and digging to give a break to the different muscle groups used in each.
Orchids
Last spring, I took advantage of Fantasy Orchid’s pandemic mail order sale. It coincided with a couple of warm days and the box arrived from Louisville, Colorado, having been in transit only two days.
I ordered a Phalaenopsis since I already had one and know that it is cat-proof. It arrived with big buds ready to open within a week, by mid-April.
The last two of those 15 flowers are still hanging on. The miracle is that now, in early December, the first two flowers of the next wave have opened. There are at least another 10 buds developing that should last well into spring or even summer.
This orchid has been a wonderful pandemic companion. We have it on our kitchen table and enjoy it every day. Having it 3 or 4 feet from our southeast-facing window means the blooms will last longer in the dimmer light. When it quits blooming, we will give it more sunshine. For more on how easy orchids are to grow, see https://cheyennegardengossip.wordpress.com/2016/01/18/orchid-adventure/.
Published Nov. 14, 2020 in the Wyoming Tribune Eagle
By Barb Gorges
“You are what you eat,” is a phrase first attributed to a Frenchman in 1826, then a German in 1863. In 1942 it was the title of a book by American Victor Lindlahr. Plants are what they eat, too.
A multitude of sources today tell us we are healthier eating less fat, sugar, and salt. We are also healthier without the chemicals of conventional farming and food processing, as are farmworkers and ecosystems. The enormous growth of the organic food industry in the last decade shows consumers are listening. Even Cheyenne has an all-organic grocery store now.
Back in the 1970s, the organic food co-op I shopped off-campus expected me to bring my own containers and measure out my selections. Today, organic food may come in bulk quantities, but it is often packaged for convenience, even as frozen dinners.
Organic convenience food costs more than what people may be willing to pay to switch to organic. But there are three ways to make eating organic more affordable.
1) Buy basics
And buy a freezer or take up canning if you buy in bulk. But even if you don’t do food preservation, buying already frozen produce is fine. Simple protein-vegetable-fruit meals from scratch don’t take that long to cook if you plan a bit (observes the woman who lets her husband do much of the cooking).
2) Plan for leftovers
Get them in the fridge or freezer asap so they don’t become part of the 40 percent of food thrown out in this country. Soup I make from last night’s leftovers is my favorite lunch and dinner is often creative casseroles.
Cooking mostly from scratch and not wasting food goes a long way to making organic food affordable.
3) Grow your own food.
But not all home-grown produce is created equal.
Your tomato is what it eats—the nutrition it gets from the soil. To get nutritious soil, skip conventional farming and gardening methods, and conventional commercial fruit and vegetable varieties.
Donald Davis, University of Texas at Austin, was the lead on a 2004 study titled, “Changes in USDA Food Composition Data for 43 Garden Crops, 1950 to 1999.” It reported that many nutritional elements are lower in today’s varieties because they have been developed to grow fast.
“Uptake of nutrients has not kept pace with their rapid growth,” Davis said.
Other studies also show a drop in nutrient values over the decades is due to fewer nutrients available in the soil. The more synthetic fertilizers and pesticides are poured on, the less nutritious the soil becomes because beneficial microbes are starved or killed.
And the more you need to keep pouring on. The for-profit chemical companies have had great marketing campaigns since the 1940s to make you think theirs is the only way to grow.
The alternative is to encourage soil microbes to grow in your garden. What do they eat? Compost and mulch, plant and animal materials. And then they feed your plants. See my column, https://cheyennegardengossip.wordpress.com/2017/05/07/soil-microbes-better-than-rototilling/.
J. I. Rodale was one of the early proponents of organic growing, and even the inventor of the term, “organic” to refer to the method. He started the magazine, “Organic Farming and Gardening” in 1942.
Now the Rodale Institute is focused on regenerative organic agriculture. Not just sustainable agriculture but methods that improve ag land. It includes techniques such as permaculture, agroforestry and no-till farming. And organic gardening.
My favorite find at a used bookstore is any book by a garden writer pre-World War II, or even WWI, to find out how they gardened before the age of pesticides and synthetic fertilizers.
Most are not how-to books, however one written in 1961 by Connecticut gardener Ruth Stout is: “Gardening Without Work: For the Aging, the Busy & the Indolent.” The cartoon-like cover also says, “no plowing, no hoeing, no cultivating, no weeding, no watering, no spraying.” That describes organic.
A more available book better suited for us is Jane Shellenberger’s “Organic Gardener’s Companion: Growing Vegetables in the West,” published in 2012. She is the publisher and editor of “Colorado Gardener” magazine. Read all issues free online at https://www.coloradogardener.com/.
See my past columns for how to start your new vegetable garden and smother the grass over the winter where you want it to be. Also, Google “organic vegetable seed companies.” You deserve to eat well and be well.
Cheyenne Garden Gossip 