September Successes: planned and serendipitous

I've admitted already that this year my garden adventures have been more misadventures; moments here and there with little time, budget or frankly incentive as other priorities took center stage. Thank goodness nature – and serendipity often make up for my lackluster attempts! I went out into the garden with my camera just now to…

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Posies of Memories

Endless rain and grey skies had me scurrying outside a few days ago during a rare lull in the storms to see if I even had a garden left or if it had all washed away! As it turned out I discovered far more than just flowers. Not only were the hellebores in full bloom…

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Sunflowers & Superstars

While the large island border is always a reliable kaleidoscope of color and texture at this time of year (see photo above), I have a smaller planting bed next to our main patio that is rather more fickle. It receives blazing sun all day, has terrible, sticky, clay soil, is a magnet for rabbits and…

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Homegrown Heirlooms: 2 chefs share their passion from seed to plate

Heirloom seeds

The most creative chefs aren't afraid to try new flavors or to give familiar recipes a fresh twist. "When you experiment, you learn," commented University of Washington chef Dustin Selner; except he is taking about growing food not just developing new recipes. Dustin met Colby Crouch at culinary school in Seattle many years ago, where…

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Seed Selection Made Easy

It's still a bit early to start sowing seeds here in Seattle – but it's not too early to order them! Looking out of my office at the still snow-covered garden, I need a promise of spring, and poring over seed catalogs with tempting images of juicy vegetables and a rainbow of flowers gives me…

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