Northwest Flower and Garden Show

I went down to the Seattle Flower and Garden show today.  My first visit ever.  It was a bit overwhelming -- and a major distraction.  But in a good way....

My first distraction was epimediums.  You can't eat epimediums -- but there were the bulbs being sold by Olympic Pennisula growers, and I have been thinking about underplanting the rhodies I inherited with the house with epimediums.  Suddenly, I was buying bulbs, looking for ways to engage my kids in the outdoors, marveling over uses of water, discussing bamboos....

In between, there was some good info on edibles too.  I got tips on my fruit trees, was inspired by chickens, saw a working worm bin, and picked up info on upcoming sales, workshops, and harvest festivals.  I saw Lorene Edwards Forkner speak on Ten Secrets to Great Veggie Gardens.  She had a couple good bumpersticker quotes like "eat your zipcode" and "growing isn't just for gardners, growing is for eaters."  Plus a nice handout that emphasized planting for the local climate, using organic practices, make the most of small spaces, plant successions, etc.  (I am already a convert.)  And she reminded us to start, even start small, there will always be next year.

I made up some cards for my blog before heading out to the Northwest Garden Show.  They just had my blog address on them.  Totally the wrong info (should have been name and email.)  I passed out two -- for the chance to keep in touch with others who are tackling their own veggie gardens.  Maybe it was the wrong venue -- I will have to try Seattle Tilth's Edible Plant sales -- but I thought there would somehow be an easy way to connect with more people swept up in the edible movement. 

So if you are blogging about growing food, let me know so I can check you out.