Orange and Yellow October
I do love the orange and yellow leaves of fall but I still can not get over that summer 2011 was nearly a total bust. That's it. Cool and wet.
Thankfully, a few of the carefully planned and planted crops survived including three varieties of green beans, cucumbers(pickling), strawberries, Swiss chard, snow peas, herbs and thanks to Georges tomato shelter-tomatoes!!! Well, the tomatoes that really did well were the sun-golds as usual. The rest had to be brought inside as soon as they had any bit of color at all, then placed into a cardboard box, covered with a blanket and tucked away in a dark, warm closet. Miraculously, they did ripen and we are still at picking a few out of the box every few days...just like off the vine.
Literally, everything else never made it past a few wet blossoms. Depressing.
The big news is now I have a proper greenhouse, George has finished the summer project just in time to move the remaining peppers and other tender plants out of the cool night air(now into the 30's). I moved the fig tree, and two new citrus trees into it as well. I will post the photos on my facebook page for Native Growth if you want to see them. http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Native-Growth-Education/280360345066
The walls are old wood framed glass windows from a really old greenhouse, that were stored in on of my clients barns for over 40 years at least! My nephew Jake Short helped George build the foundation and my sister Marianne and I assisted in cleaning the glass windows, moving stuff, holding things and generally looking busy and interested while George worked away. I plan on using this space to do more propagating of native plants to use here on the property as well as for clients.
Our son Ryan is attending the Alderleaf Wilderness College which is just two miles from our house. He is taking the wilderness certification programm, an in-depth training in nature, sustainability, wilderness survival skills, and more. So Exciting! http://www.wildernesscollege.com/
The chantrelles have been outstanding this fall. We have picked over 15lbs already! I have been busy drying them out and George has been busy incorporating them into many fabulous meals-YUM. We found a new spot this year which is several miles of hiking to get to, but soooo worth it. On our way in, we came upon a hunter in full on camo and carrying a large gun. He was not so talkative and most likely not so happy to see our energetic Labradoodle and our merry crew headed into the woods to forage. There were several other foragers out that day, all with big smiles on their faces and sharing info. on prime spots...which is really unheard of in the mushrooming community.
No much on the wildlife spotting this summer/fall, however our neighbors said that there were baby mountain lions on their driveway in the early summer. Where there are baby lions, there will be big daddy and mommy lions!!! We have seen cat prints around, but assumed that they were big bobcat prints. In fact, there were several muddy paw prints on the walls of the chicken coup, clearly trying to see any way in-NOT!
That bit of news pretty much freaked me out, so now I am headed into the woods with better protection...big bear spray, heavier clothing, and my mobile phone!
I am almost positive that we have a coyote den out back. Maggie(the Labradoodle), has been back there confronting it/them. When it first starts responding to Maggie, it sounds like a dog, but then it starts with the unmistakeable high pitched yip, yip, yip. So far, no problems, but it does make me nervous. I don' t want a pack luring her out there for an attack. I am certain that it/they are the same ones that have been picking off the chickens when I let the gals out to free range.
Everyone says that this year is going to be really cold. The same people say this every year, however they seem to have the scientists with them this time. I like to have some nice dry snow around for a few weeks, especially to ski and snowshoe, but spare me the ice and slush thank you.
Time to get that firewood stacked near the house and the cow in the freezer.
Flooded In...Again
March 31st, 2011
Out like a lamb? Hardly! Two inches of rain Tuesday, an inch on Wednesday, and who knows how much today. The Skykomish River has started to flood so it is only a matter of hours now before both ends of our main access road will be closed for a few days. The Sheriff sits right by the closure sign and pulls over anyone even looking like they will attempt a crossing and warns them that the fine is $400 if they try it, the result could be even more expensive. And they do see that the road says it is closed right? Each time it floods in Western WA, some fool decides to "go for it" and ends up standing on the roof of their car and getting videoed by one of the local news helicopter photographers, waving their arms around as if they can't already see them. Right down our main access road, named after Ben Howard, someone decided to drive through a closed section that was getting pretty deep and saw a salmon swim by his car. That was also a news item that evening.
The Skykomish River is a popular for fishing, it is the habitat of several salmon species as well as steelhead and trout. This year is a "pink" year, which is every odd year. That means lots of pink salmon to catch that are good mostly for smoking. George does a mean smoked salmon which we enjoy year-round.
I made a grocery run yesterday along with everyone else. Buying up food like we were going to be starving if we could not make it off the hill for a few days! Drama.
This year’s garden is all planned out, the beds prepared and now we wait for some sun!
I have Brandywine Tomatoes started inside and I have managed to keep several pepper plants thriving as well as a few Green Zebra tomatoes and a few mystery types under a very bright grow light set up in my basement. I am sure that those peppers and tomatoes have cost us a pretty penny in wattage, but it has been a great experiment and pretty swell to eat fresh tomatoes and peppers during the fall and winter. I am going to keep them cut back until June and then slowly move them outside. I have no idea if they will continue to produce fruit.
We are growing eight types of beans this year, pole, bush and dry shelling. We had great success last year canning and pickling them and love opening a new can to snack on them anytime. Other crops planned are: cucumbers, three types of squash, four types of potatoes, broccoli, carrots, lettuces, bok choi, beets, brussels sprouts(yes, I am going to try them again), strawberries, huckleberries, peas and herbs. We also are very hopeful for some plums from our four year old tree and maybe a few apples from our new transplant which has three varieties grafted on.
Other news here is that we found out that George is allergic to eggs! and dairy! and wheat protein! He is a being a real trooper, finding alternatives for many of our main "go to" foods. We have found coconut milk and coconut bliss(like ice cream) are life savers! Rice pastas too! Dave’s Killer Bread, the Spelt one is very good.
I cannot eat the three eggs a day that our chickens pop out every day, so our neighbors and friends are enjoying them.
Let's hope for a beautiful April and lots of great mushrooms to forage.
Summers Over and more about Bears and Chickens
It is only the 8th of September and it is cold outside. My tomato bushes are full of green fruit, even while covered to protect from all of the rain this year, I don't think they are going to get ripe arrhhhh! The squash are growing like mad, but many are rotting on the vine and get thrown to the chickens...speaking of chickens, I have had one of the babes in my bathroom for over a week now. I found it laying on the coup floor one morning, and it was not getting up. I moved it away from the others and started feeding it electrolytes and food. She started to look better after a few days, but still not getting up. I could not feel any breaks and she did not appreciate my checking. Next, I started putting an anti-biotic in her water, which is what the feed store recommended. Each day she seems to improve, but I am wondering if she is ever going to recover. She is just the sweetest ever, so tame and loves to chat when I go check on her.Already done so far are pickled green beans, and tomato sauce(had to buy a box) that George canned up. We froze peaches in simple syrup and put them in freezer bags. They are soooo good that way. I just quick thaw them and mix them with yogurt or make a fruit smoothie for breakfast.
The onions are mostly picked and we have been eating lots and lots of peas, swiss chard, and zucchini.
All of the herbs are doing really well, I am drying them to use year round.
The other day as I was typing away on my laptop, I glanced out the window and saw a very large bear in my driveway. I ran around closing all of the doors and rounded up the cat, who was looking pretty wild at that point. I grabbed him off the roof of my car(in garage) and ran inside. With the garage door down, we were all safe inside, but my heart did not stop pounding for a good half hour. I am sure that it is the same bear we have caught on the wildlife cam and the other neighbors have seen around here for years. He does not seem to be a problem, as long as you keep your garbage cans locked down or kept in the garage/shed. There are loads of ripe blackberries in the vacant lot next door and on the trails behind the house, so I am sure he is getting plenty of food and does not care about us...but still, it is pretty weird to be sitting here working and see a 300lb or better just outside the window.
And,
I have a new listing, a 38 plus acre farm with views in Monroe, WA. It is level and cleared and full of all day light(when the sun makes it through). I am hopeful that someone who wants to farm will purchase it, it is a very special property. See my other website http://www.moriarty-homes.com for photos and more information.
Spotting Orcas
Sometimes my job offers experiences that I would not otherwise have.Last week, my client Carol and I were looking at a beautiful cottage on San Juan Island. It was a typical sunny summer day on the island and we drove down the lane to the private community beach and right out in front of us were two Orca whales coming up for air! It was amazing. A pair of women in kyaks were pulling out at the beach and told us that they have been out for a few hours with the whales all around them...pretty scary for me, but they seemed elated. Apparently, this is one of the best places in the Pacific Northwest to spot them as it is a good fishing spot on their route. Several whale watching boats were nearby, most keeping the required distance thank goodness.
You just can't beat taking the ferry boats to the San Juans on a beautiful day but even better is on the way home with the sun setting behind them. Ahhh, the Northwest in the summer just can not be missed. Vacations away for people who live here for the most part are in the winter when it is cold and grey with about 7 hours of daylight. Hawaii is a common destination as is Palm Desert and Mexico, pretty much where there will be guaranteed sunshine and solar heat gain.
We have four new chickens that are about 3 months old, so they won't be laying for a few more months but they are sure cute! Now we have 6 hens in all , and the two older hens have been on strike since the new ones showed up(about a week ago). We are hoping this is temporary as we had to actually purchase organic eggs at the grocery and they were nearly 5 dollars.
I will post photos on the nativegrowth facebook page if yo want to see them.
Cool and Bears
Well, good riddance to June! It was surely a wet, cool one. Luckily, I waited until mid month to put my tomatoes in the ground...so far so good. This I have learned to be a prudent move, because a few years ago when we had another bought of cool, wet weather...they did not make it. I may even cover them if it looks like this wet continues...I must have my homegrown tomatoes and basil!
The upside of the weather is that our grass is nice and green and all of the trees and shrubs are growing like mad. George and I were out last evening cutting back one of our trails and in the middle of the path is another pile of fresh bear dung. Yep, about 200 yards from our door and it was full of berries! I knew that they would come around for the massive amounts of salmon berries and huckleberries hanging everywhere, what bear could resist?
Next up are the thimble berries, which look like a major haul. Not for us, they are too seedy, but the bears and birds love them. Looks like we can expect to have our visitor around a bit more until the berries dry up...well, one can hope. I will try to get a picture of the bear on our wild life cam, which is constantly running out of power...lots of pictures of us and our dog Maggie however, none flattering. I will post if I get any.
Maggie, Lester(our one year old kitten) and our three hens are all playing nicely together...well mostly. Lester still tries to stalk the girls and then once they get tired of him sneaking up on them, they turn and rush him. It is always a good laugh to watch him run away, sometimes climbing trees so that he looks like a Koala bear hanging on for a minute then has to figure out how to get back down. They don't even flinch when Maggie rushes by them running for a ball or running after something she smells in the woods. She has her hands full taking care of Lester and the hens. The eggs are outstanding and we are letting the girls free range during the day, and I sweat the mosquito count is way less then it would have been without them.
Off to Eastern Washington for some magic sunshine and totally different scenery. May do a bit of wine tasting, some fishing, or wildflower and mushroom hunting again. We will not miss the annual Sultan area private displays of fireworks however, most of the other small towns around us ban them and we never buy any, but it is fun to watch all of the other people blow them off. We can just kick back on our deck with cocktails and enjoy the show. I hope it's clear this year!
Have a safe and happy 4th.
Full of Blooms
I have lived "out here" for over three years now and this year there are so many more blooms on the thimble-berry bushes, salmon berry bushes and native blackberries since we moved here. I don't know if it is because of favorable weather, a stress crop or just that we have been beating back the invasive growth and allowing the native plants to multiply or not.I do know that the returning bird population is also thriving in our area, so far we have seen many more eagles, osprey, hawks, barred owls, grosbeaks, robins, cedar waxwings and hummingbirds! They are everywhere and are always singing!
Fortunately, we have created a chicken Fort Knox for our little egg layers, nothing could get in there at night. Any daytime foraging for bugs & greens is done within a contained enclosure with a top netting as well as under the watchful eye of our ever reliable Labradoodle Maggie and our wild kitty Lester.
We have also noticed that the black bear that are common in our area are coming quite a bit closer to our property on a regular basis, and that keeps me out of the woods when I am alone now. Even with bear spray, I just can't bring myself to deal with it alone or with Maggie.
If any of you are also noticing an increase in flowering berry plants, or more birds(especially raptors), send me a message, I am curious to know if this is an anomaly or not.
Best,
Patty
Toxic Cocktail
The Problem Starts Here “Here” is where each of us live. It’s our backyard. It’s our driveway. It’s our house. It’s our neighborhood. Here is everywhere in the Puget Sound region. But what we do here is having a serious impact on our local waterways and ultimately on Puget Sound. Our actions on land pollute the Sound with yard chemicals, oil, grease, soap, and bacteria from pet waste and septic systems that are in disrepair. No matter where we live – from Bellingham to Olympia, Bremerton to Snoqualmie Pass, Seattle to Shelton – our daily actions are contaminating stormwater runoff with pollution. This untreated stormwater flows over roads and yards and into storm drains and ditches. It empties directly into streams, rivers and lakes and winds its way into Puget Sound – where it stays. Toxic Cocktail On the surface, Puget Sound is a watery wonderland and a source of great enjoyment. It’s a gem we are proud to claim as our own. Yet we are damaging our national treasure. Throughout the 12 counties that border Puget Sound there are thousands of storm drains and streams pouring polluted water into the Sound’s delicate ecosystem. While it might look pristine on the surface, Puget Sound has unhealthy levels of many different toxic chemicals. Signs that we are killing Puget Sound are becoming harder and harder to ignore. The problem will only become worse as our population continues to grow.
From the Puget Sound Partnerships website "Puget Sound Starts Here" campaign
