Home & Garden, Events & More! Consider The Garden


SANTA ROSA, CA. ~ Slices of warm sunlight fill the once cold, dormant garden. Earliest spring crocuses have faded into the lawn, bulbs quietly multiplying beneath the earth to bloom again next year. Now colorful poppies with their frilly petticoats blossom and my showy, red American Legion (Papaver rhoeas) pop- pies fill the tree square in the sidewalk. For many, spring is a long


awaited burst of, colorful blossoms, green onions and big salads of crunchy butter lettuce, sidewalks full of fall- en flower petals and usually, rain?


May flowers. . .right. . .???? I hope you're growing


Micro Greens now that Ron Skaar has shown you 'how to' in the last issue. They are incredibly nutritious and so easy to grow.


This perhaps


will change your concept of live and fresh! Roses are budding and their


vivid colors are peeking out. Heirloom and Modern, I have probably planted more than I


should have. April showers bring


UPBEAT TIMES • April 2013 • 11


by Kimberly Childers • kimberlychilders@att.net moon.


ordered two tea rose plants; Francis Dubreuil (also called Barcelona).


I planted them in huge Italian terra cotta pots and every year they are a true delight with the deepest red, intensely fragrant blooms.


JOKES & Humor # 5 The Mind of Steven Wright


There are butterfly


and bee gardens with their sweet nectar and luring flow- ers. Fresh herb gardens full of tastes to experiment with and stimulate the palate.


They are a smaller Hard to resist


those fragrant blooms lasting through spring, into summer and continuing in fall. Repeat bloomers are the ones to plant since they bloom almost con- tinually. Rose petals are won- derful on salads, confections and rosewater for delicate skin. Grown for thousands of years, roses themselves are an heirloom! Our own Vintage Gardens in Sebastopol, although mail order now, has oodles of varieties. A few years ago I


rose (2-3 feet tall) perfect for large pots right outside the back door. Organic products for black spot, powdery mil- dew and other fungus make it much easier to battle their unrelenting pests. Healthy soil makes stronger, disease resistant plants. Toss a handful or two of Epsom salts around each rose (for magnesium) and gently stir it in. Discover what coffee grounds can do for your acid loving


plants, like roses.


Coffee shops are happy to give them to you if you ask. What a resource for the gar- dener, composter and worm bin enthusiast. The results are totally amazing. Trust me. There are moon gardens


with their grey foliage, plant- ings and pathways bright under the light of the full


The Upbeat Times


welcomes new guest writer Kimberly Childers. She will be contributing stories and thoughts about gardening and tasty recipes from time to time. You can e-mail her with any


questions you may have at kimberlychilders@att.net


I broke a mirror in my house. I'm supposed to get seven years of bad luck, but my lawyer thinks he can get me five.


If toast always lands butter-side down, and cats always land on their feet, what happen if you strap toast on the back of a cat and drop it?


TIME TO GET YOUR SEEDS & LIVE SPRING GARDEN PLANTS!!


A Sonoma County Dining Destination Since 1977!


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150 Windsor River Rd • Windsor 707-838-6920 for TAKE-OUTS


Open 7 Days a Week! Santa Rosa


112 4th St • Santa Rosa 707-525-1690 for TAKE-OUTS


We have a large selection of bulk & packaged seeds in stock. Our new plants are in as well as a


variety of organic potting soils!!


Since 1967 we’ve been the Favorite Place to shop for pets & farm animals!


Vaccination clinics every Sunday from 9:30am to 11:30 am


Western Farm Center (707) 545-0721


21 West 7th Street • Santa Rosa www.westernfarmcenter.com Open Mon-Sat 8am-5:30pm • Sun 9:30am-4pm


Integrity is what we do, what we say, and what we say we do. ~ Don Galer UPBEAT TIMES • April 2013 • 11


Good drainage is essen- tial, unless you are growing bog plants (which can be cool too) so remember that adding cured compost, crushed egg and oyster shells is essential. Visit the Farmers Markets


for your garden starts, fresh flowers, coffee, crepes and friendly faces. The new sea- son is alive with possibilities. Take a chance, experiment, and play! It's up to you to make it happen and enrich your life. Be in the planet, not just on the planet.


All of the people in my building are insane. The guy above me designs synthetic hair-balls for ceramic cats. The lady across the hall tried to rob a department store...with a pricing gun...She said, "Give me all of the money in the vault, or I'm marking down everything in the store."


A friend of mine once sent me a post card with a picture of the entire planet Earth taken from space. On the back it said, "Wish you were here."


For my birthday I got a humidifier and a de-humidifier...I put them in the same room and let them fight it out.


I bought some powdered water, but I don't know what to add to it.


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