COMMON SENSE GARDENSSINCE 2004

Summer is winding down. We are staying busy with new clients and our on-going landscapes. This summer a few of our long-time landscape projects have sold to new owners. We will miss these places that we spent many seasons planting, tending and transforming the landscape.This time of year we see many transitions in the garden communities. The vegetables and fruits are ripening on the vine preparing us for fall harvest. Now is the time to pick tomatillos, squashes, beans and tomatoes. Fall blooms – asters, Japanese anemones and chrysanthemums are everywhere. The rains have arrived early bringing an early autumn feeling (actually, we had a fairly wet summer).

We have several new interns working with Common Sense Gardens, Shiloh, Bryce and Athena. The big news this season, is that I have started the process to retire from teaching the Portland State University Learning Gardens capstone course. This past summer I co-taught the course with Felipe Ferreira. Felipe plans to teach the course next year at Oregon Food Bank and the Wombyn’s Wellness Garden. Our new interns – Shiloh Ayala, Bryce Belenski and Athena have devoted the summer and fall to maintenance, new landscape designs and keeping properties irrigated and weeded. This summer we focused on habitats for bees, slope renovations and integrating more native plants into our landscapes. We also focused on sustainable irrigation systems and drought resistant designs.

We are focusing on autumn plantings and early winterization projects. The website has a new online intake system, and we have new yardage signs to display while we transform your landscapes.

Bring on the rains – we are ready for winter reading and garden planning!-Denissia

Sweet Blanca, our Chief Feline Officer (CFO) welcomes you to read more from Denissia and the rest of the mossy crew at Common Sense Gardens

Summer/Fall 2019

Newsletter!

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“Ancient poetry and mythology suggest, at least, that husbandry was once a sacred art; but it is pursued with irreverent haste and heedlessness by us, our object being to have large farms and large crops merely. We have no festival, nor procession, nor ceremony, not excepting our Cattle-shows and so call Thanksgivings, by which the farmer expresses a sense of sacredness of his calling, or is reminded of its sacred origin.” – Henry David Thoreau, Walden, 1854**(I would add “midwifery” to Thoreau’s quote citing “husbandry” as sacred art. )

“The thankful receiver bears a plentiful harvest.”— William Blake

“Now is the accepted time, not tomorrow, not some more convenient season. It is today that our best work can be done and not some future or future year. It is today that we fit ourselves for the greater usefulness of tomorrow. Today is the seed time, now are the hours of work, and tomorrow comes the harvest.” —W.E.B Du Bois

SHILOH AYALA

HELLO! MY NAME IS SHILOH AND I HAVE BEEN A TEAM MEMBER WITH COMMONSENSE GARDENS SINCE JUNE OF THIS YEAR.

MY INTEREST IN GARDENS BEGAN AS A HOLISTIC HERBALISM PRACTICE THAT HAS SINCE BLOSSOMED INTO A GENERAL LOVE FOR OUTDOOR WORK OF ALL KINDS; I'VE BEEN A HOME VEGETABLE GARDENER NOW FOR THREE YEARS, AND WORKED MY FIRST FARM SEASON LAST YEAR AT ECLECTIC INSTITUTE IN SANDY, OREGON. WHEN I'M NOT BEAUTIFYING YARDS, I PLAY GUITAR, BIKE AROUND MY CITY, OR SNUGGLE MY CAT, MATI. WORKING AT COMMON SENSE GARDENS, MY FAVORITE PARTS OF THE DAY ARE MAKING YARDS LOOK BEAUTIFUL WITH MULCH, AND SIPPING ON HOT TEA DURING MY BREAK, LOOKING AT ALL I'VE ACCOMPLISHED. IT'S BEEN A BLESSING TO WORK OUTSIDE IN THE FRESH AIR WITH THE INSPIRING LITTLE COMMUNITY THAT MAKES UP OUR COMPANY!

PEOPLE THAT MAKE IT HAPPEN

PEOPLE THAT MAKE IT HAPPEN

RHESA HAS BEEN ENJOYING THE GORGEOUS SUMMER IN A NICE BALANCE OF WORKING WITH THE PLANTS OUTDOORS AT CSG, AND HELPING WITH BLOG ARTICLES AND NEWSLETTERS LIKE THIS :)

HIGHLIGHTS OF HER SUMMER: AN INSPIRING WILDFLOWER HIKE TO SILVER STAR MOUNTAIN AND GOING SOLO CAMPING FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER THIS SUMMER, ALONG THE SALMON RIVER. ITS BEEN REALLY INTERESTING SEEING HOW THE LANDSCAPES CHANGE THROUGH THE EARLY SPRING THRU SUMMER AND NOW, FALL BOTH IN THE WILD AND IN YOUR BEAUTIFUL GARDENS.

RHESA ALSO ENJOYS HELPING TO COORDINATE GARDENING WORKSHOPS WHERE SHE WORKS AT EAST MULTNOMAH SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION DISTRICT (EMSWCD).

SHAMELESS PLUG: THE WORKSHOPS ARE AWESOME AND FREE!! CHECK THEM OUT AT EMSWCD.ORG

BRYCE BELINSKI COMES TO COMMON SENSE GARDENS AS A RECENT GRADUATE OF THE LEADERSHIP FOR SUSTAINABILITY EDUCATION MASTERS PROGRAM AT PSU. SHE IS PASSIONATE ABOUT SUSTAINABLE FOOD SYSTEMS, LAND CONNECTION, ART, AND WELLNESS. BRYCE HAS A HISTORY OF OUTDOOR AND GARDEN EDUCATION, WHICH SHE WILL BE CONTINUING IN HER NEW POSITION AS A GARDEN EDUCATOR WITH LOCAL NON-PROFIT "GROW PORTLAND"! AS A LANDSCAPER WITH COMMON SENSE GARDENS, BRYCE ENJOYS TENDING TO PLANTS AND LEARNING NEW WAYS TO SUSTAINABLY MAINTAIN BEAUTIFUL GARDENS.

BRYCE

RHESA

Book Review

The Xerces Society. 2016100 Plants That Feed The Bees WORKMAN PUBLISHING CO INC:

A topic on the mind of greater numbers of caring gardeners is the health and success of our pollinator insects, especially the bees. This beautifully curated list of plants native to various regions of North America, including distribution maps is a very useful resource for any pollinator friendly planning.

Written by a collection of knowledgeable folks at the Xerces Society, this book gives an overview of pollinator needs and how to meet them with a variety of native plants. It also includes helpful tips such as each plant’s uses in a landscape, features that promote its use by our helpful pollinator friends and specific varietals that are particularly attractive to various bees.

The layout of the book also gives readers a quick reference of information to help the gardener plan well, including pictures of each plant, sun/shade/moisture requirements, flower bloom time, flower color and maximum height of plant.

If you are anything like me, you will want to plant all of these gorgeous plants featured in your garden, but remember that native plants provide the best habitat for native bees and other pollinators. So be sure to consider the helpful distribution maps to help you plant what is ideal for your own region.Learn more about our pollinators at https://xerces.org/

Our summers keep getting hotter every year and just like us humans, most creatures need to stay hydrated to stay alive. If you already put out a bowl of water for your pets, birds or other wildlife, its easy to adapt these to accommodate our tinier friends who do so much every day that keeps our plants pollinated and us fed.

Bee Watering Stations- A simple way to create pollinator habitatIt’s really quick and easy to create watering stations for the pollinators in your life. All you need are rocks and a container that can hold water.

Any size glass bowl, a clay or ceramic plant saucer, or a bird bath would all work great. Avoid using metal or plastic as it can get pretty heated up on a warm day.

The rocks act as landing spots for pollinators that would otherwise drown in a deep bowl of water. And this is a great use of all the pocket rocks you or the kiddos in your life seem to accumulate. I don’t know about you, but I tend to pick up certain particularly appealing rocks anywhere I go, only to find them in my pockets when I do my laundry and I hear them banging around in the machine!

Let your creativity run wild, this is something you can’t do wrong. You can use any type of rocks, marbles or even crystals and gemstones. It can be useful and pretty garden feature whether you use a variety of sizes and colors of rocks, or if you prefer, a bowl of marbles or one color of glass pebbles. Or, try doing an image search for “Pollinator watering station” or “bee bath” for a lovely variety of options.

Some tips I’ve learnt:It’s a good idea to site your watering stations somewhere that it would be easy for you to frequently refill them with fresh water. This helps to reduce the water from getting too mucky and keeps your bowls full and ready for visitors, while also discouraging mosquitoes, who lay their eggs in stagnant water. Place your station in a place where it would get some direct sunlight part of the day as the light reflecting off the surface helps to signal to pollinators that water is available.Once your station has had water consistently for some time, the pollinators will get to know that water is available in those spots and it gets pretty busy. It can be fun to have it somewhere that you get to enjoy the sights. While not necessary, it can be a quite stunning aesthetic to add a few fresh flowers into your bowl, letting them float around your bowl. The colors and fragrances of the flowers likely help to attract pollinators as well.

Help the bees stay hydrated!

This special shell was gifted to Denissia by a dear friend. The bees asked us to share its beauty with the utility of making it into a pollinator hydration station and we complied! We love those bugs!

(Water is Life.)Now this beautiful bird bath can double

as a bee “bath" too!

Articles reposted from our blog at commonsensegardens..com

Calendula: A Gift That

Keeps On Giving

Beautiful Calendula: A prolific, cheery, yet humble plant, beloved by herbalists and gardeners alike. The root of the name calendula is the same as the word calendar, perhaps because it is a flower that brings joy almost year round. In the Pacific Northwest, calendula can usually be seen blooming, even through the winter. And so easy to grow! I remember sprinkling a few seeds of calendula in my garden one year and ever since, I’ve been blessed by her perpetual presence.

Gardeners love Calendula Calendula has numerous uses to gardeners, including utilizing its prolific nature and weather tolerance as a winter or spring cover crop to protect your soil. Plant seeds in late summer for a winter crop and in late fall for a spring cover crop. Even if some of the plant dies back in a colder winter, the soil will benefit from the nutrients of the leaves.

Calendula also makes a great border plant or planted interspersed amongst other ornamentals or edibles. I always let calendula reseed in my vegetable garden patch, so it becomes naturally interspersed throughout. In the past few years, I have seen cutworms on them but they have never affected my vegetable plants. This is because it acts as a “trap crop,” in that it will attract pests such as aphids and caterpillars, which keeps them away from other plants you’d like to protect. Calendula also attracts many beneficial insects, some of which, like ladybugs, come to feast at the aphid party. Additionally, calendula is quite beloved by butterflies, bees and other pollinators.

Herbalists love Calendula Calendula is widely used for its medicinal benefits. Many people have likely seen calendula salves in even mainstream stores, used for everything skin related, including diaper rash, acne, dry skin and wound healing. This isn’t just hype. Calendula is a go to herb for promoting healthy healing of skin conditions. It is very useful for aiding in wound healing, especially with deeper cuts. Calendula is known by herbalists to heal deep wounds from the inside out. Compare this to comfrey which can cause a wound to close up so quickly that any deeper infection has no way out.

Less known, however, is calendula’s uses as internal medicine. It works well as a simple tea on its own but I especially enjoy the way it enhances the flavor of black tea. I have seen it described as bitter by some, but this has not been my experience, perhaps because black tea is also somewhat bitter when you think of it. For this reason I like having it with a splash of cream but honey or any non-dairy creamer would probably suit the taste buds of others.

Traditionally, calendula is harvested during a hot day to maximize its sticky resins and then dried for later use, especially for those winter months, where it can be used as tea or added to soups. Keep in mind that it is important to use the whole flower head and not just the petals for maximum benefits.

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Calendula has a wide range of medicinal uses, but I want to point out its particular utility for residents of the Pacific Northwest. Some of the components of calendula are helpful in moving that dampness that can settle deep in our bodies through our long wet winters. This doesn’t mean it can’t be partaken of in the summer. On the contrary, particularly for those of us with a damp constitution, our short PNW summers may not adequately warm us to the interior, resulting in an

accumulation of that dampness. This can present itself as sluggishness, bloating, and a variety of inflammatory disorders.

Calendula helps to move the circulatory system by its action on the lymphatic system, especially when there is congestion in the lymph nodes. This helps the immune system as a healthy lymphatic system reduces the formation of toxic byproducts that can slow down our immune function.

It’s bitter component indicates its usefulness in moving the digestive system and supporting the liver to aid in overall detoxification too.

Calendula is also high in antioxidants such as carotenoids (the orange/red pigments of carrots and red bell peppers) and flavonoids, which are important to healthy blood vessels.

Calendula Sunshine in your hands

And, calendula is considered as an herb that lifts melancholic moods. Not only is it bright and cheery in color, but its stimulating effects can help shift a low mood in the same way that it helps to move a sluggish circulatory system.

All in all, perfect for us in the Pacific Northwest! So harvest your calendula all summer, it will keep producing more flowers all through the season so harvest them about once per week and you’ll be well supplied when winter comes.

Stay Calm and drink tea! In the meantime, enjoy a delicious iced tea, using some fresh Calendula. The notes from the sticky resins will delight your taste buds. I would recommend using about 10 fresh blooms per cup, which then gets diluted when you add ice. Pour hot water over the blooms, cover and let it steep for 15 mins, then strain and cool before use. Add honey to your taste, cream if you like and mix with black, green or rooibos tea as desired. You can even get fancy by putting a few brightly colored petals to freeze in your ice cubes as well!

Bring the Summer Sunshine into Fall and

Winter with Calendula

We now have Garden Signs!! These are a lovely addition to your yard, showcasing your natural and sustainable landscape, while helping us to reach the

clients who stop to admire your front yard!

Contact Denissia if

you’d like to add one to

your garden.