Deb Babcock, 51, has been writing the weekly gardening column for the newspaper as a volunteer master gardener since May 2000. Master gardeners are volunteers who have completed a course of study through the Colorado State University Cooperative Extension office and provide research-based advice and assistance to local home gardeners. Prior to moving to Steamboat Springs, Deb was a market researcher in Ann Arbor, Mich., and now spends her time gardening, hiking, skiing and creating pottery at her studio, Blue Sky Pottery, in the Pine Grove Center.
Recent Stories
Deb Babcock: Use tough native plants for tough conditions
When choosing plants for your garden here in Routt County, you’ll have the best luck if you choose plants that already are comfortable with our soil, climate and short growing season.
Deb Babcock: Stop by the community garden
More work is being done this spring and summer to improve the Community Roots Garden site. A garden cleanup project is from 4 to 6 p.m. Thursday and volunteers are being sought to help out for a couple of hours.
Deb Babcock: Cherry fruit fly update
Two years ago, some gardeners reported that they had bugs in their cherry harvest. So master gardeners looked into the problem last year to spread the word about how you can help prevent the cherry fruit fly from infecting your tree.
Deb Babcock: Protect your home from wildfires
Recent restrictions on agricultural burns in the Yampa Valley have a lot of us thinking about the potentially hazardous season ahead of us because lack of moisture from this winter’s low amount of snowfall.
Deb Babcock: Building a raised vegetable garden
Many of us gardeners start out with flowers and shrubs in our gardens and then think that maybe some vegetables would be a nice addition.
Deb Babcock: Help track down rare plants
You can make a real difference in helping to keep some of our rarest plants in the Yampa Valley from becoming endangered or extinct.
Deb Babcock: Anatomy of a flower
One of the hardest parts of trying to help someone with a gardening problem is identifying the plant with the issues.
Deb Babcock: Plants will filter the air in your home or office
Feng shui is a popular and very old Chinese concept of being in harmony with your environment.Indoor plants in your environment can add to this positive energy flow in a number of ways.
Deb Babcock: Caring for your cactus
You’d think that with our very dry environment here in the Steamboat area that desert cactus would thrive in our homes, where it is protected from the brutal cold of winter.
Deb Babcock: Find your garden’s zone
The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently updated its map of the country’s planting zones — the first update since 1990.
