Key Peninsula News

Key Peninsula resident Sharron Dean shared this photo of the composting bins her husband built for their home garden.

Embrace the Compost — Your Garden Will Thank You and So Will Your Food Waste

When we built our vegetable garden more than a decade ago, complete with raised beds and an 8-foot tall fence, it included three compost bins. We hailed from Seattle with a small yard. The only thing … more

Sara Thompson, KP News | 5/31/23

Jim Watts of Watts Solitary Bees places wooden blocks with predrilled holes inside totes for female mason bees to lay eggs.

Keeping the Bees

For Jim Watts, spring means time on the road with hundreds of thousands of bees in his truck. One by one he visits an ever-growing list of home orchards, hobby farms, clearcuts and gardens. At each, … more

Chris Rurik, KP News | 4/27/23

Getting Hazed and Being Humbled by Your Garden

The month of May is when the garden finally starts to look like a garden. The seeds I sowed two to four weeks before the last frost date have finally sprouted and the transplants of lettuce and kale … more

Kamryn Minch | 4/27/23

A lawn laced with clover is low maintenance and good for the bugs.

Save Your Lawn By Removing Your Grass and Helping the Bugs

This time of year, the morning sun enters the house at the perfect angle to shine light on how much dust and cobwebs have accumulated in the living room, signaling that spring is almost … more

Kamryn Minch | 3/1/23

My garden last year during the middle of winter prep.

Easy Winter Garden Prep Will Bring a Bountiful Spring

For residents of the PNW, the transition between hot and windbreaker weather is as welcome as the resurrection of pumpkin spice lattes. more

Kamryn Minch | 9/28/22

“There’s so many factors that come into play. Maybe the native bees have been killed off by backyard folks spraying the previous summer for yellow jackets.”

Soggy Spring and Low Pollination Lead to Low Fall Fruit

The fruit harvest will be low in home orchards across the Key Peninsula this year. more

Chris Rurik, KP News | 9/28/22

KP Gardens: A Community That Grows Together, Blooms Together

Longbranch is ready to welcome a new community garden. What began as piece of land riddled with blackberry bushes, shrubs and trash has been developed into a budding garden for the community to … more

Lauren Trench, KP News | 7/27/22

Don’t have space for your own garden? The KP does.

Keep Calm and Garden On! Yes, You Can Do It!

Before I started my garden, I was constantly daydreaming about starting my garden. I don’t know what sparked this mild obsession, but I assume one Pinterest post led to another and after a … more

Kamryn Minch, KP News | 6/29/22

The traffic island at SR-302 and KP Highway became a colorful oasis.

The Beautification of the Key Peninsula in Full Bloom

When driving along the Key Peninsula Highway through Key Center, pay attention to the litter-free roadside and notice the hanging baskets, large flower-filled pots and weeded beds along the road. The … more

Carolyn Wiley, KP News | 6/29/22

Flower Stand Woes and Rewards

Most people who drive the section of Key Peninsula Highway between Home and Whiteman Road get a lift from seeing the white picket fence, the blossom-filled yard and the little flower stand on the … more

Carolyn Wiley, KP News | 4/26/22

To Mulch or Not to Mulch

I was out working in the garden the other day (what else is new?), crawling under some rhododendrons, thankful it’s not yet spider web season, and gently scraping my hand rake along the top … more

Kamryn Minch | 4/26/22

Mushroom Cabin Brings Never-Never Land to Lakebay

In the woods near Penrose Point State Park, Rod Collen and his fiancée Shannon Garrett have spent the last two years building a 900-square-foot mushroom-shaped cabin. They purchased a … more

Krisa Bruemmer, KP News | 1/27/22

Seed Saver

Diane Grant, who lives in Lakebay, harvested a tomato this year that she had never seen before. She loved the flavor and was afraid she might never find it again. Could she save the seeds and rest … more

Sara Thompson, KP News | 10/28/21

Tales of Key Peninsula Orchards

People of the Key Peninsula love their orchards, as evidenced by the apple trees growing everywhere. Historically, most apples on the Key Peninsula were grown for private use. Tim Kezele grew up … more

Sara Thompson, KP News | 9/29/21

The Drought Garden

Drought is the natural summer state on the Key Peninsula. The Pacific Northwest has a Mediterranean climate, with most rain falling in the winter when plants don’t necessarily need it, and dry … more

Sara Thompson, KP News | 8/28/21

All About Fuchsias

There is something about fuchsias, especially the upright hardy varieties. more

Sara Thompson, KP News | 6/30/21

Berries on the KP

It’s summertime and berry season is upon us. Strawberries, raspberries, blueberries. more

Sara Thompson, KP News | 5/26/21

All About Tomatoes

Tomatoes. For some, the memory of the first bite of a garden-grown vine-ripened tomato ranks right up there with a first kiss. Or the birth of a child. more

Sara Thompson, KP News | 4/28/21

Perennially Yours

For many a practical Key Peninsula gardener, this is the time to focus on the vegetable garden —planting seeds, nurturing starts — but this is also a time when the more fanciful aspects … more

Sara Thompson, KP News | 3/31/21

A Few Thoughts on Weeds

In these times of polarization, when it comes to weeds, Key Peninsula gardeners exhibit a refreshingly cheerful agree-to-disagree attitude. Weeds are the bane of many a gardener’s existence. … more

Sara Thompson, KP News | 2/24/21