Anyone who loves gardening will often tell you it’s a game of trial and error – especially in the Snoqualmie Valley. If a plant tag says it will grow in Bellevue’s climate, there’s a chance it may not make it through the colder, windier valley winters.
Snoqualmie resident, Gretchen Korf, is a busy lady. She homeschools her three children, is a photographer and has been gardening for the past 16 years – the past 5 years spent creating her Snoqualmie garden. Her love of gardening started with a tomato plant and one tiny bleeding heart plant. The tomatoes were a success, producing 30 plants that all bore armfuls of tomatoes. The bleeding heart, though, seemed to have died – only to come back to life the following spring. 16 years later that bleeding heart plant is still in Gretchen’s yard.
The wonder of that bleeding heart plant returning from the dead created Gretchen’s passion for gardening. She has spent years reading gardening books, talking with Master Gardeners at farmers markets and learning through basic hands-on, trial and error gardening in the Snoqualmie Valley micro-climate.
She is now taking her love of gardening and knowledge of our unique climate to a new level by offering a gardening class about building and growing a raised-bed vegetable garden; a class especially for kids aged 11 – 18.
The seven week class starts April 9th and ends June 25th at Gretchen’s home on Snoqualmie Ridge. Along the way kids will learn to pick seeds for their vegetable garden, build their own 4×4 raised bed that will be transported to their home, plant and sow their seeds, learn about weeds and garden pests – and to control them naturally; and finally harvest and tell when vegetables are ready to eat.
If you are interested in learning how to successfully grow your own vegetables in your own raised bed, you can download the information/registration packet here. Sign ups end this week!
Great idea and good luck Gretchen!
