Mary Deaton
I have two passions in life - gardening and usable design. Gardening consumes my time from Spring to Fall. Until recently, I worked at helping people create Web sites and Web applications that reflected a deep knowledge of the people who used the sites and applications and were designed to make the sites highly effective, efficient, and engaging for those people. That is called usability.
On Suite 101, I hope to write about both of these passions, and to make my articles both useful and usable to those who find and read them.
I live in the Pacific Northwest, on the US side of the border. I was born in Eastern Washington and went to college and have spent most of my adult life in Western Washington. My husband and I recently moved from a condo in Seattle to a house in the Cascade Mountains where we spent weekends over the past ten years and now live full-time.
My garden is in the mountains . It is a challenge to maintain a quarter-acre of organic vegetables and flowers when summers can range from cool and drizzly to hot a dry. Winters can be one long shower at their best or, like the last two, all of that moisture coming down as snow and piling up to 6, 10, or 12 feet. In 2008 and 2009, I did not even see my gardens until early June.
Latest Articles
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Create a Garden Library Without Book Shelves
Create your personal gardening library of books old and new, including out-of-print books, first editions of classics, and full, online copies of current books.
Feb 24, 2010
- Mary Deaton
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Clean Up the Garden to Control Pests and Disease
A dry winter day is a day to get into the garden and clear debris where overwintering pests and disease are waiting for warm weather to attack your garden.
Feb 4, 2010
- Mary Deaton
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Prune in Winter for Better Growth Come Spring
The next time the sky is clear and temperatures are near or above freezing, get out your secateurs and loppers to prepare trees and shrubs for spring growth.
Feb 4, 2010
- Mary Deaton
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Use Plant Cuttings to Grow Free Plants
Given the right conditions, a small section of a plant's branch or stem can result in an identical twin of the parent plant.
Dec 20, 2009
- Mary Deaton
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Mulch Your Organic Garden with Falling Leaves
Losing leaves helps a tree go dormant and survive winter. These same leaves can help your plants survive winter and improve the garden soil.
Oct 1, 2009
- Mary Deaton
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Lettuce All Winter in the Organic Garden
With fall planting and some frost protection, you can have fresh lettuce and other greens even though winter has arrived.
Sep 13, 2009
- Mary Deaton
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Protecting Harvest from Frost in Organic Gardens
Early Fall frosts can decimate crops such as tomatoes and peppers. Use row covers to create a warm micro-climate.
Sep 5, 2009
- Mary Deaton
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Protecting Plants from Winter's Hazards
Winters with snow, ice, freezing, ice storms, and all of the other calamities of the Northern climate and ruin a garden. Learn some simple methods for protecting plants.
Sep 1, 2009
- Mary Deaton
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Prepare the Organic Garden for Winter
Organic gardeners in Northern climates, high elevations, or a locale with cold temperatures, frost, or snow can minimize Winter damage to plants with some preparation.
Sep 1, 2009
- Mary Deaton
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Weather Basics for Organic Gardeners
There are two things that determine your success as an organic gardener - soil and weather. You can change soil; you cannot change weather.
Aug 26, 2009
- Mary Deaton
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