Nesting Green Home & Garden Special Issue
Seasonal Salads What to plant for tasty greens year-round
Small Space, Big Tastes Ten herbs you can grow in your apartment
Not a Yolk Backyard chickens produce
Eco-Paint the Town Environmentally friendly options
On the Wing Plants that attract birds and butterflies
Conserving Water,
Anticipating Surprises
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Deborah Brady has been gardening for more than 20 years. She started out working on organic farms and then did a gardening internship with master gardener and permaculturalist, Ianto Evans. Talking about her current garden in Eugene’s River Road area, Brady says: “I am blessed with rich clay loam soil that I have been working for 16 years. For my spring and summer garden nowadays I avoid disturbing the soil whenever I can by doing spot fluffing for transplants or seeding. I then mark paths by scuffing along in the dirt. I don’t do full-on raised beds in the hot season in order to avoid the water loss that happens along the edges of the bed. I like to conserve water as much as possible and also favor deep infrequent watering. That said, when we have a really hot spell I give my lettuce a quick spray in the afternoon to help keep it cool.
“No matter what I sow in my garden, I never know what the final bed will look like because I let many plants go to seed. This is part of the magic and joy of my garden. Plants come back true to form or cross breed with a close relative — you never know what you’ll get or where you’ll get it.” Brady adds: “My back yard is like a bird sanctuary because of all the forage I leave for them. It never fails to amaze me that people can revere nature when they go hiking and somehow think they’ve left it behind the minute they get home.” — Rachel Foster