Baker Creek Gray Zucchini

I tried a new heirloom variety of zucchini this year, and the Gray Zucchini is wonderful! From seeds to large squash in 49 days, it is a great tasting, high quality zucchini. Yields are very good; flesh is firm, mild and very tasty. I just picked the six squash below, and will spend the weekend making zucchini bread, chocolate cake, and sauteed zucchini with sour cream.

One small 'bunch' of butter lettuce was hiding beneath the purple beans, so I picked it, also, and will add to my spinach salad tonight.

 

William Shakespeare Roses (2000)

Developed in 2000, without doubt, this is the best crimson English Rose to date. It is a truly superb variety with exquisite blooms of the richest velvety crimson, gradually changing to an equally rich purple. Deeply cupped at first, the flower soon opens out to a shallow quartered cup. The growth is neat and upright, with each stem bearing a number of flowers. 

This rose has the strong, warm Old Rose fragrance that we expect, but do not always find, in deep red roses. This roses is extremely disease resistant.

Here is a bouquet of these lovely roses I picked tonight, a gift of late Summer here in the Pacific Northwest. 

Vegetables from the Garden--August

I picked my peas, purple beans, and sweet yellow tomatoes last evening.  The peas are young and sweet, and the tomatoes will be great in a salad tonight.  The purple beans will be steamed and tossed lightly with butter for a grilled salmon dinner later in the week.

Summer Produce

Here is a picture of our own plums, and organic rainbow carrots, zucchini and pluots (plum and apricot hybrid).  I'll be making a plum galette this afternoon, and using the carrots in a chicken pot pie. The zucchini will make some great zucchini bread, and the pluots will be a sweet afternoon snack!

One More Rhubarb Pie for the Summer

I truly believe that this is finally the last of our rhubarb this year.  I baked this pie this morning and took it over to my Mom, who taught me everything I know about baking and cooking. My childhood was filled with rhubarb in all  its incarnations.  Enjoy, Mom!

The Last Day of Vacation

I went out in the pasture early this morning to pick one last bowl of raspberries for my morning cereal.  Tomorrow morning at this time, I'll be on my way to work again.  I had a perfect week in the sun and the garden, enjoying this lovely place I call home.  The Slow Life is a healing balm in a demanding world.

New Waxy Begonia

This lovely begonia was on the close-out table at Home Depot this week, so I grabbed it and paid my ten dollars!  It's absolutely gorgeous!

It keeps my 50's motel chair company in my backyard summer reading corner.  The pillow is one from my Mom's former home in Kirkland, and I love the colors and pattern of it.  It makes my corner complete.

New Flower Bed

This new bed adds interest in this long-neglected corner of the back yard.  The space was overgrown with rhodies, which I removed.  I amended the soil, added the Empress Wu hostas and the Bee Balm, and laid down mulch this last week.

Weigela, aka Cardinal's Shrub

Arching stems covered in bell-shape flowers in late spring to early summer make weigela a traditional favorite for mixed shrub borders and backgrounds. But there's a bevy of new varieties that also flaunt flashy foliage in shades of gold, green, white, and rose for a season-long spectacle. Sizes range from vigorous 6-foot shrubs to very compact varieties well suited to mingling with perennials. Weigela likes a fertile, well-drained soil in full sun with adequate water, but it will also tolerate drier soils and partial shade.

This is our newest Weigela, and hopefully its new location will not be too shady.  Our other two Weigela currently reside in our shade garden in the pasture.

Italian Plums

Here is our first crop of Italian Plums from our two-year-old tree.  They are beautiful, sweet, and great for eating or baking.  I'm going to make jam and a pie this weekend.

Raised Bed #4

Here is my Three Sisters Garden this year, from left to right:  three varieties of squash, purple beans, and corn.

Raised Bed #2

Here is Raised Bed #2 in August, with pumpkins and green peas in profusion.  In the front left, a tiny geranium that was transplanted a few weeks ago is shaping up and reaching toward the sun.  It was in a much too shady area previously.

William Shakespeare Roses--August

With the cold winter last year, I thought that I lost this beautiful, burgundy-colored rose.  It came to life in late Spring, and seems hardier than ever.  It's twice as tall  as last year, and there is a profusion of blooms.

This is the second bloom of the year.

Shade Garden II

Here is my newest shade garden, which has really sprung to life this year.  All of the plants have at least doubled, and the succulents love the raised bed they are in.  The hostas are doing well (thanks to the beer traps that take care of the slugs), and this previously bare spot in the pasture looks very nice at this time of the summer.

A Walk in the Park with a Good Dog

Nala loves to go to Maltby Park, and we've been able to take her there almost every day in the last week.  Today was no exception--we were out doing errands in Snohomish, and she was ready to get out of the house.  Here she is, resting for a moment in the lush, green grass at the park.

Ahhh, Vacation!

I picked a great week to take a vacation--Friday, August 10 through Wednesday, August 15.  The weather has been absolutely perfect!  Every so often, I get it right!

I started out Friday slowly, savoring the warm weather and the beauty of my yard. You can see my Starbucks coffee cup on the arm of my Adirondack chair on the deck in this picture.  I've spent many happy hours reading there and soaking up the sun.  Last weekend was filled with working in the yard and garden, taking walks and rides through Snohomish, and spending quality time with my dog.

Ah, Summer!

Bee Balm Flower

I bought a couple of Bee Balm plants at the Snohomish Garden Club sale early in the summer, and this beautiful red flower just opened up this weekend.  It's spiky and dramatic, and is winding its way among the Empress Wu hostas.

Flower Baskets on an Arbor

This lovely arbor, made by a local artisan, has a new location this year with the building of the new fence between the back yard and the pasture.  My new Weigela can be seen in the lower left of the picture.  I think it will expand and fill in the triangular space where the two fences converge.

The fuschia basket and begonia basket co-exist nicely, and bring spots of color to a formerly bleak portion of the back yard.

Flowers on Vine in Basket

I'm going to have to look up this lovely, delicate yellow flower that just came out on one of the vines in a basket by the cabin.  The color and shape is beautiful, and behind the flower is a green pod.  The flower originates from the pod.

Basket from the Yakima Market

This lovely basket containing several varieties of coleus has done so well this year, and the lovely leaves are almost touching the ground! 

Apples!

My newest apple tree (bought last year) has an abundant crop of fruit already this year!  The apples are a lovely dark red, and so perfect they hardly look real.  I'm curious to see how large they get--the branches are still pretty thin and are already having trouble supporting the fruit.

Yellowware Bowls

I've been looking for a Yellowware bowl for over a year now, and finally turned to e-Bay for my newest search.  I found exactly what I was looking for, bid on it, and won!  Here's a little history:

Cherished for their charm and durable utility, Yellowware bowls were staples in 19th- and early-20th-century­ kitchens. They remain useful and affordable today.

Potteries throughout the United States produced pressed, molded, or thrown mixing and serving bowls. These 3" to 18" diameter nesting bowls were clear-glazed to emphasize the natural pale yellow to dark mustard clay. Bowls were often decorated with bands.

Here's a picture of my newest acquisition, which joins a Yellowware pie plate I found several years ago, and my collection of yellow and gold Pyrex bowls.

Trip to Hawaii

My son and granddaughter just returned from a week on Kauai.  My granddaughter visited her three cousins, and my son hiked and took in the sights and sounds.  They both came back with a great tan, which is hard to get in the Pacific Northwest!  The Slow Life exists in Hawaii, too!