Butterfly bush is in full bloom and the butterflies are loving it. I guess we know why they call it butterfly bush although the pollinators love it too.
Read moreGardening Resource – Pacific Northwest
For those of us in Zone 8b we have a great resource of information through Pierce County in the Edible Gardens Workshop Series. If you haven't checked this out, I would encourage you to do so. Although they are currently having to host these via Zoom meetings instead of in person there is still a..
Read moreChanging Seasons
This year it seems like we went from Summer to Winter fairly quickly. Autumn is quickly ending with the trees rushing to shed their leaves and prepare for the cold weather to come. We have returned to the wet and windy weather that comes to those of us in the Pacific Northwest. We will "enjoy"..
Read moreGarden 2020 – Beginnings
With about 4 weeks left before last frost date, I can actually start to plant some things outside. So we start with Peas. First ones are Spring Magnolia Tendril and Springs Blush Tendril, both from Baker Creek (www.rareseeds.com). This year I decided to try to be more formal with the garden layout instead of making..
Read moreSourdough Experiment
Sourdough has long seemed like an unobtainable goal for me on the bread front. It seemed like a lot of work from babysitting the starter, the long rises and the scoring of the dough, etc. Decided to try it and see if we could be successful. The starter for the first loaf came from a..
Read moreBread!
With the shorter, colder days ahead, here's some Ciabatta bread we made today! I was intrigued and challenged with the article by William Rubel in the most recent edition of Mother Earth News (December 2019/January 2020). I had always wanted to try making Ciabatta but was always a little intimidated by the end product. After..
Read moreSpider Season!
It's that time of year again! The spiders are out in full force. I managed to get a couple of shots of one right outside the window!
Read moreBusy Summer Continues
The busy summer continues here in the Pacific Northwest. As other parts of the US are winding down in the garden department we are just now going strong with harvesting. Things have been crazy here this summer with more varieties of plants to try but more pest pressure than we have had in years past...
Read moreMid July in the Garden
The last month in the garden has been eventful with everything really starting to grow and put on fruit. Really excited about all of the different varieties of tomatoes and peppers we are growing. There will be some surprises since we have no idea what the volunteer tomatoes actually are and some look really exotic..
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