Posted at 05:05 PM in plants and gardens | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Got out in the yard on Sunday and harvested what must surely be the last of the late summer/early fall fruit and veg. A glut of little tomatoes ready to eat and some big 'uns needing to ripen on the windowsill. Oh, and a whopping cabbage which I thought I'd use as the base of colcannon. I washed all the leaves pretty carefully (having had more than a few 'organic' experiences with resident insect populations in the past), but obviously didn't do it as well as I thought - we now have a shoebox containing a handful of sleepy caterpillars. They're munching on the choicest leaves from the cabbage, of course, courtesy of the kids.
And the leaves are finally beginning to fall from the trees whilst the air is constantly chilly. Makes for an invigorating run. There's a great shot of the angry clouds over Green Lake this afternoon here.
Posted at 09:25 PM in family, Food and Drink, plants and gardens | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
That was an unintentional blog break but lots to write about! I'll put up a few photos of some of the events these past couple of months:
Posted at 06:08 PM in plants and gardens | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
We had an unexpected day off on Thursday and it wasn't raining for a change, so we opted to get out of the city for a few hours. The islands are always a number one choice, and I'd never been to Bainbridge. Not wanting to drive, I did a bit of research and came up with a public transportation plan which proved to be cheap and convenient. I was skeptical about travel from the ferry terminal on the island north to the Bloedel Reserve and convinced we'd have to wait around for hours - then I found the Dial-a-Ride service which is AMAZING! For $1.50 each way, we were picked up from the terminal then driven up to Bloedel, and then we chose a time to be at the bus stop for the return trip. I'm sure it's one of those little pockets in the transportation system which has been overlooked by the bean counters (I'm not sure how it's profitable...) - but we were impressed and very thankful!
Posted at 10:59 AM in mosaic monday, plants and gardens | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Yesterday was another glorious Seattle day - the sunshine this last week has done wonders for blowing the winter cobwebs away. At one point the greyness felt all-consuming and just getting up in the dark every morning was a trial. The kids have all been off school this week, and yesterday I took my two girls off to the Northwest Flower and Garden Show at the Convention Center in downtown Seattle. There was only a bit of foot-dragging on their part and a lot of insistent questioning from #4 about what precisely we would be doing there. I managed to jolly them both along with some enthusiastic arm-waving. They were deeply skeptical so I promised them cake and cocoa. That worked.
Our favorite, hands down, was the section containing the display gardens. They were all, uniformly, AMAZING - doubly so, because they had been created indoors! We were particularly taken by The Backyard Farm, created by Seattle Urban Farm Company.
We love chickens. We lived in the countryside for a time in Devon, UK (which is my favorite place on earth) and came within inches of taking in a bevvy of rescued battery hens. But our move to Seattle intervened, and our yard is a little too small for urban chickens at the moment. But I dream. The omlet would be the way to go, of course, for the true funky chicken.
There were also lots of veggies and the like in containers, which is a particularly attractive option for us because space is at a premium and we do love homegrown fare. I learned the hard way last year not to plant hundreds of lettuce seeds all at once - we were chewing like rabbits for weeks on end, with only minimal nutritional reward!
container chard, originally uploaded by kit and caboodle.
We escaped from the show after a couple of hours of contented wandering, and I managed not to buy any of those oh-so-useful gardening tools which were omnipresent. We did buy a small succulent because they're so beautiful. And most critically of all - easy to care for.
container gardening, originally uploaded by kit and caboodle.Posted at 07:55 PM in plants and gardens | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
A grey and mild Saturday seemed the ideal day to tackle the Pea Patch jungle - soft soil, and all those weeds came up so easily.
Before we started - oh the guilt. Amidst the pristine patches lurked mine, neglected for just two weeks yet overrun with nasties.
Afterwards? Well, it's amazing what determination can achieve when aided by three kids and a dog who likes lettuce.
We came away grubby-fingered and happy.
Posted at 08:58 PM in plants and gardens | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)