Wild Mountain Berries

For our birthdays we usually go for a ride in the Mountains, it just so 

happens to be the perfect time at the end of October.
The color in the Mountains at this time of year is stunning and as 

an added bonus the communities on the other side of Stevens Pass

have a lot of orchards which means I get apples and pears
(which means he gets pie!). All in all a nice day trip.

rose hips

wild rose covered in hips

snowberry

elderberry

honeysuckle

Happy Faces

These cute little flowers always make me smile.

They come up all over the yard and a group of them has taken

over one of my garden beds. Yeah I left them!
They need to move so veggies can grow there

but honestly I enjoy them too much!

I am contemplating not posting on the weekends,
while I enjoy the blog I am always late

on the weekends. 

Mountain Mint

Pycnanthemum virginium

I've been growing mountain mint for a few years, mainly because
it is a native plant and well it smells like mint.
It's main use is as an insect repellent, just rub it on ya!

If you have irritated skin, mountain mint can prove soothing
to it, as well as it can soothe a toothache.

Mountain mint has many other medicinal uses actually,
check out this link for more information.

There's still sushine blooms coming from the garden

The recent sunshine allowed me the time to get out
there and see the sunshine blooms.

Calendula

Mexican Sunflower

Calendula

Black Eyed Susan

Black Eyed Susan and Callicarpa

And last but not least, a weed.



A little bit of sunshine in the garden

It's amazing how a little bit of sunshine can make me feel,

even if I only spend a few minutes out there.

I've been trying to finish some indoor chores (yuck)

and then there is the groceries and cooking

and I've been recipe testing for my other blog.

I try to spend a half hour outside in the sunshine,

it makes me feel healthy - here are some

photos from the garden this week.

I'm not sure what this plant it, a mustard leafy type of plant.

There are still a few squash blossoms out there, they

almost look frosty in the sunshine!

These beauties still turn my head, (amaranth).

My mission fig has a few little fruits on it, I assume this is

the figs second fruiting of the season - I doubt they will

ripen before a full frost but then again you never know.

I want to say thank you to everyone that keeps stopping by,

I hope to be able to spend some time soon

visiting everyones blog -

I miss seeing all your beautiful flowers.

Lots of Smells Going On

I swear the weather is teasing me, today my plan was to get chores

in the house done - it was sunny out!!!

The fennel is loaded with seeds, while I do harvest some for 

cooking I honestly don't use 1/4 of what there is.

While the fennel may be covered with seeds, blooms

can still be found. 

Under the fennel grows blue borage.
I am obsessed with borage, I take way too many photos of it.

Did you know borage is edible, the flowers can be used

in salads or candied for desserts. The plant smells like

cucumber but be careful the stems and leaves are covered 

in hairs that can irritate the skin.
Boarge seed oil is another common use of the plant.

Botanical.com is one of my favorite places

to read up on herbal usage. 

Golden Raspberries and Recent Bloomers

The Golden Raspberries seem to like our fall weather, I think

it's all the rain it gets as I don't water them.

Not sure what that bug is, friend or foe - I just don't know.

The nasturtium is still going strong and blooming away.
I like that the flowers are beautiful in the summer and the
colors allow it to fit the fall theme also.

It will keep blooming until we get a hard frost ,
which could come anytime in the next month.

Interesting fact; the word nasturtium literally means

nose-twister or  nose-tweaker!
I learn something new all the time.

Pumpkin will you ever be a Pumpkin

Our rainy season is upon us, October is almost over, ahem

little pumpkin you don't have any time left to ripen.

It's beautiful anyways!!!
I still wish it would turn orange or even gray

cause the green has got to go! 

What's Blooming Now

We had a couple of days of sunshine at the beginning of the week so I ran out

and took some photos of what was flowering right then.

The pineapple sage finally started blooming. A typical problem for cooler

summers is hoping the cold doesn't come early and ruin the flowers.

Both the flowers and leaves are edible.
I dried the leaves off of half of the plant earlier this month,
only because the wind broke the stems off.
I love these flowers and I hope the hummingbird gets to enjoy it also.

The African  Daisy still has a few tricks up it's sleeve! Love that color.

I finally read up on growing cilantro; it goes to seed quickly and self sows easily.
Now that the cilantro has gone to see I can harvest the seeds 

as they are now coriander. 

The white marigold has been disappointing.

While the plant grew well in the small container I gave it

and it is loaded in buds and covered in flowers,

they only looked good briefly and as soon

as the rains came this happened.
I am thinking if it's a sunny~dry summer the white

marigold will be stunning, I will try again.

Have you grown the white ones and if so what do you think?

Fall colors are coming

This is a blueberry we planted this spring, I'm really enjoying the color.

This redtwig dogwood has been in the ground for a few years now,

it's filling in it's space nicely and I am loving the colors.

Eat Your Veggies aka Raw Beet and Carrot Salad

Some different views of the veggies.
Honestly the veggie garden suffered this year.

Have I mentioned our cooler than normal weather?
Maybe I mentioned I thought I burned the garden up with 

the addition of composted horse manure that was full of sawdust?
Some seeds sprouted, some didn't, some grew slowly

and some grew fine. 

Those carrots were all planted at the same time but the 

actual carrots don't look the same age.

Next year will be better.

For some time now I've been wanting to try a raw beet salad.

This bowl of veggies became a raw carrot and beet salad.

Washed well and away we go...

In a small bowl mix 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar or lemon or orange juice
 2 Tbsp olive oil

some grated ginger - I don't know how much I used and 

I would use dry next time, probably just a pinch -

 salt and pepper to taste
 1 tsp honey

1 tsp mustard - grainy or yellow or whatever you like-

Grated the carrots and beets (peeled) separately, mix about a TBSP

of dressing onto the carrots and beets - keeping them separate still.

Put the washed and spun dry greens in the bottom of a salad bowl.

Drizzle the greens with about a TBSP of the dressing.

Place the carrots and beets on top of the greens arranging them

how you like. Drizzle any remaining dressing on the salad and 

chop some chives over the top if you like.

I based my recipe loosely on the one from the New York Times. 

What's in there?!

The dogs swear to me that something is living in the garden!!!

Seriously though now that the season is almost at an end

and they are free to trample about they sure act

like something is in there.

This is Piglet aka Pigs
He loves to sit on my little wooden table which 

consists of 2 pieces of wood, he is always

looking for the warmest spot.

Oh and Piglet's ears are down as he isn't happy about me

taking his picture, he normally turns his head away from me.
I am certain it's the flash that bothers him - too bad

he doesn't understand the flash doesn't go off all the time!!!

This is Monster aka Monty and his name Monster suits him!
Monster has never been camera shy!

They are Chinese Cresteds and are naturally hairless.

What was blooming in May!

Money plant looks great, looks like spring!

I thought it would be nice to see what was flowering

in May, not what's going on outside now.

Hanging Basket Flowers

We have this 1 big ole tree in our yard, it's THE shade in 

summertime and it's a great place for hanging baskets.
I usually go for a fuchsia but this year wanted to try

something different. 

When I first found this Fiesta Double Impatient at the store

it was rather small so I sprinkled some pansy seeds

around it figuring they would fill in the space.

Silly me, another case of crowded plants!

Oh this bewitched pansy is perfect for this time of year!
I will be growing more of these, the flowers should be orange

or black as this one is.  Pretty cool huh!

Mt. Ash Fruit

We took an impromptu Mt drive yesterday, it was good for

my soul. My Dad's birthday would have been this week

and I've been struggling with the reality of not being able

to call him and hear his voice.

The Mountain Ash is looking rather beautiful don't you think?
I was wondering if I should harvest some and make jelly,

have you ever used it for anything? I've never tried it

but I like to use what the land gives us.

When I looked up information on the Mt Ash I find it is 

a fruit not a berry, only called a berry because of how it looks!

The berries err fruit has been used for a slightly

bitter jelly and accompanies meats usually.

According to Wikipedia the fruit has been used as a substitute

for coffee beans and also flavors liqueurs.
The article suggest harvesting after the first frost

as it mellows the bitterness.

I am undecided as to whether or not I will harvest the fruit

next time we go up there. What do you think?

Little Red Rose

During the dry heat of summer this little rose loses all of it's leaves and

waits and waits. I try to water it a bit and then the weather cooled off 

and here she is budding up nicely, oh and her leaves are back and

they are a beautiful green.

2 weeks after the first photo I took these 2 photos.

Maybe next year I will start spraying this rose with neem

to help keep the leaves healthy, oh and I suppose

while I am at it she should get some water more often.

What I should do and I've said it before, clean up the

flower bed, expand it, amend it and mulch it.
I bet all the flowers would be happier. 

Chamomile and a Weed

I was outside the other day taking photos and this one

came out rather decent just by chance.
I kind of like it, it makes me laugh!

You've seen the chamomile here before and yet

here it is again. I really like it, how about you?

This weed, what ever it may be, shows up

in 1 or 2 spots in the yard. No idea what it is and

honestly I haven't looked it up as it hasn't bothered me.

It isn't a bully but it does come back every year

in the same space (not place but space).

I will pull it out when I do some more garden work, probably.

What would you do with this weed?



The Autumn Rudbeckias

Someone commented recently that the wildflowers put on
their best show in the fall and these really do!
It is quite gloomy here, all rainy and cloudy.
The rudbeckia stands out no matter how gloomy it is out,
I am quite thankful for how sunny these flowers are
and how many of them there are.