Volume 3, Issue 2
Natural Sampling
Patty Haller's oil paintings
In the library February 18 through March 30

“Every artist adopts and discards ideas until arriving at a personal artistic process that has traction. I’m an analyst. I study ideas and techniques of visual expression and recombine them, using my Pacific Northwest surroundings as a source for visual experiments. I’m constantly organizing the wildness of nature into different coherent designs. This freedom to investigate is the core of why I create art.”

The artist invites you to an opening reception at the Library on Thursday, February 18, from 5 to 7 pm.

Sustainable design resources featured

What are the hallmarks of sustainable design? What's being done locally and around the world to promote and advance green design? How can you get involved? Whether you're a home gardener, a professional landscape architect, a birder, or all of the above, you'll find something to surprise and interest you in the display area near the library's north windows. Our current display gives you the chance to get up to date on the latest trends and go deeper with research into the roots of this important field.

One you'll want to check out is pictured at right: Alice Bowe's 2011 book, High-Impact, Low-Carbon Gardening: 1001 Ways to Garden Sustainably.

Ask the Plant Answer Line:
How can I grow my own pine nuts?
Researched by Rebecca Alexander

This is an excerpt. Read the full question and answer on our website.

Q: Which pine species are the best for edible nuts? Do any of the pine trees that grow here in the Pacific Northwest produce edible nuts?

A: According to The New Oxford Book of Food Plants by J.G. Vaughan and C. Geissler (Oxford University, 1997), different species around the world have seed kernels which are used for edible purposes. ...

You might try growing a tree of your own, selecting one of the species known to thrive here. The tree would have to be 10-15 years old in order to produce usable seed kernels. This permaculture website has information on growing pine trees for their edible kernels. You will need some patience and dexterity; it takes time for pine nuts to mature, and it takes skill to harvest them.

New to the Library January 2016

Potential organic fungicides for the control of powdery mildew on Chrysanthemum x morifolium : a thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science / Michael Bradshaw. THESIS BRADSHAW 2015