Remember when I told you all about mulch? Mulch is your garden-friend and can really help you in the heat of summer to aid in water retention and weed supression. However, mulch in the spring is another issue entirely. As I stood in line at my coffee shop and read the encouraging sign "Free Garden Mulch - Take Some Grounds Home!" on a pile of bagged and spend coffee beans, I thought of some issues mulch may actually create.

When you use decaying 'greens' for mulch (coffee grinds, grass clippings, etc), not only are you inviting crucial microorganisms to your garden, you're inviting pests. That decaying mass of green or hay or torn paper strips is also an uber-hospitable environment for snails and slugs. If there is anything I truly despise of in my gardens, it's slugs. They have the ability to mow down entire rows of lettuce and chew off entire fennel bulb starts in the course of an evening. Breaks my heart to see.

So.............should you mulch in the spring time? It's really up to you. Try experimenting and mulching only half of your garden and see what happens. Or mulch when it's dry, but turn it in when it's gray and rainy for days on end. Whatever you decide, just be on the lookout for snails and keep in mind gardening is a delicate balance between benefit and detriment at times.

I am teaching at a groovy little shop this weekend, The Field House, in Ballard. Part general store and part boutique, The Field House stocks basic pantry items like chocolate and local honey and sells groovy I-know-I'm-a-dirty-farmer-but-damn-I-look-sexy-in-this-getup clothing. I covet so many things in here, it's too much to list.

Come attend a casual How-To class this weekend at their shop. I'll be kickin' it in the back on their tre' comfy furniture & you should too! I'll have snacks, tea & copies of the book, ta'boot!

It is always absolultely shocking when someone highlights my work or gives me kudos for a project I'm involved in. Last month, I was featured in Seattle Magazine as part of a GET IT DONE guide. For a company named "gogo", this seems fitting!

This awesome pic was taken by Hayley Young - a brilliant and fun girl who made me laugh, put up with my antics and loves what she does! Check out her work and go see one of her shows.

For anyone starting a garden at home for the first time, there are many variables to consider. Sun exposure, access to water and soil are three absolute requirments for a successful growing season. It's true that here in the Pacific NW we can dig in a bit earlier than other areas of the country. Our soil stays fairly temperate due to our mild winters.  BUT.......our soil also tends to be pretty soggy. Winter rains saturate the soil, and as a rule of thumb you should not work the soil when it's wet.

Why? Because wet soil aids in packing particles close together. This condenses the space needed for air and water drainage within the soil - crucial for plants in any garden. You do not want to deal with compacted soil, either. Total drag that takes much much longer to remedy then waiting a week for your soil to dry out.

So, how do you tell if your soil it 'too' wet? A learned this handy DIY-trick from my dear farmer-friends at organic Oxbow Farm who grow food on a few acres in the Carnation Valley. Dig down a shovel-lengths deep and grab a handful of soil. Using, your fist, squeeze a portion into a ball and toss that ball in the air letting it fall onto your opened palm. If the soil-ball breaks apart easily your ground is a-ok to work. If it stays clumped together (even a small nucleous) it's a bit too wet and you're better off waiting another week or so and checking again. Need a tip for how to speed up drying out your soil? Drop me a This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

I am super stoked to announce this upcoming dinner at one of my favorite restaurants in the city, Tilikum Place Cafe. Tilikum is one of those places that I bring up in conversation and more often than not someone will say "Oh yea...........I've heard of that place."  Well, "that place" is the cutest little nook of a restaurant in Belltown. Far enough away from downtown so that parking is no problem, but close enough that it still feels metropolitan. The interior is at once cozy, but cool and the food is phenomonal. My perfect kind of place.

With that, they are hosting a cookbook dinner along with me and Katie - a winemaker at Snoqualmie Vineyards - a mere 5 days after the book comes out!  Here are the deets: April 20th, 6:30pm, 5 courses, $90, and a signed copy of the book.

The kitchen at Tilikum is chock full of woman turning out fantastic food. Now, I may be chauvinistic, but I think the ladies have it on lock down! They make delicate (yet hardy) food that is never too rich. I always leave perfectly satiatied and craving my next visit. Check out this menu they just wrote (all inspired from the pages of Urban Pantry).........

Minted-yogurt soup with feta and honey

Warm salad of curly endive, polenta, fried quail egg and roasted tomato

Angolotti stuffed with milk braised wild boar, chard and sage

Roasted organic chicken with barley and sweet potato salad, blood orange marmalade

Fresh cheese with whey crepes and rhubarb jam

The whey crepes sold me, for sure. 

Hope to see you there! Tell your friends! And RSVP directly with the Cafe at 206.282.4830.