4 minute read
GROWING a GREEN THUMB
Photo courtesy Adobe Stock
Gardening In The Intermountain West
Words By Mary Ann Newcomer
Why do we garden?
There are so many reasons: to provide beauty, food, shade; to improve living circumstances, increase property values, experiment with the newest, biggest, and prettiest plants; for exercise, or to spend time in nature. Whatever the reason, if you are new here, welcome to the club. You’re in good company.
We love to garden in Idaho. We’re surrounded by stunning vistas and natural beauty. But, newcomers, take note: majesty and grandeur go hand in hand with Basin and Range topography and crazy-making weather. We must cope with lean and mean soils, serious water issues, avalanches, hail the size of golf balls, high altitudes, smokin' hot deserts, and many grazing creatures. Gardening here is not for the faint of heart, but it has been done successfully for generations.
Many great gardeners came before us, great-grandparents (mine), grandparents and parents, pioneers and homesteaders across the Intermountain West. These people survived and flourished here, feeding themselves and their families from their gardens and orchards with nary a watt of air conditioning or pressurized irrigation, and certainly no combustion engines to lift heavy loads.
In the 1860s, Chinese immigrants came to work in Idaho’s famous gold and silver mines. Historically, they tended incredibly productive vegetable gardens (located in what is now Garden City), fed many miners and, later, the citizens of Boise. The legacy of their gardens lives on in the name of Garden City’s Chinden Boulevard, a shorthand version of 'Chinese garden.' There are stories of famous gardens in the mountains and along the Salmon River: Polly Bemis, Shepp Ranch, and Buckskin Bill, to name just a few. They grew food for sustenance but were prosperous as produce suppliers, too. Now, across the state, the remnants of their old fruit orchards are being revisited to determine which historical varieties of apples might merit reintroduction to the agricultural trade.
Inspiration abounds, fellow gardeners. The Boise Farmers Market and the Capital City Public Market are excellent showcases of what can be grown here. Both markets celebrate our local food system with great style and variety. Many farms also have roadside stands offering their best local produce. Or level up your garden game by taking a gardening class, offered at many local nurseries. Extension offices, which are part of the state’s agriculture programs, offer Master Gardener programs across the state for home gardeners.
Gardening here is not for the faint of heart, but it has been done successfully for generations.
A visit to the Idaho Botanical Garden will inspire you to try all kinds of gardening at home! Celebrating forty fabulous years of growing, the garden sits on thirty-some acres of land at the base of the Tablerock. Showcasing native and domestic plantings, fifteen acres of different types of gardens have been created for your pleasure and education. Roam across Outlaw Field–an historical baseball field from the days of the old Idaho Penitentiary–and follow the pathway through the modern Tango Border for a stroll through the contemporary English Garden. The garden showcases native and adapted plants, featuring varieties from Plant Select™ (a Rocky Mountain plant development program) and a terrific Firewise installation.
Firewise plantings are essential, depending on where you live in Idaho. The organization teaches homeowners how to create defensible space around homes, as well as how to implement fire-resistant landscaping practices. The Idaho Botanical Garden also provides gardening classes and workshops, as well as food and drink events and concerts, making it a must-visit destination for any gardening enthusiast.
No yard? No problem! You don’t need acreage–a city lot or a small patio or balcony will do. And don’t forget houseplants: ferns and monstera plants are wildly popular and easy to grow inside. A fern in the dining room makes you a gardener. A flower pot of petunias on the patio makes you a gardener. And with enough light, you can grow tomatoes, raspberries, lettuce and strawberries on the patio.
Gardening is immensely rewarding. Nothing compares to growing your own salad, slicing your still-warm, homegrown tomatoes, eating the raspberries and strawberries you so carefully planted and tended, or digging up your potatoes at the end of the growing season.
Gardening friend, you can do this. I’ll see you in the pumpkin field.
