tall clover farm

I’d have to say the periwinkle Vinca major saves me about a bazillion hours of weeding each summer, smothering out just about any weed bold enough to insist on staking a claim. If periwinkle can easily engulf a pot topping 30 inches (above), dandelions don’t stand a chance of permanent residency. While the individual  flowers are real lookers, like little blue polka dots floating [...]

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As far as salads go, my favorites are the ones with little or no lettuce. (Hear me out.) I think I’ve had one too many plates of wild greens dressed with good intentions and Calendula petals. I need more. Give me a warm German potato salad or a wilted spinach swimming in bacon drippings and cider vinegar. [...]

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My back stoop covers just about enough space to provide resting and reading room for one husky guy and two beefy bulldogs (given the pups opt to hold court on the lower step). A maple mantled in moss shades our eyes and a feeble rail triumphs as shelving for a cup of cooling coffee and a couple Milk Bones.  The newspaper remains folded [...]

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In late winter, drifts of daffodils punctuate my property like streams of sunshine. They are a welcomed sight and a needed reminder that better weather is on the way (which is a good thing since that’s about the time I start to resemble Jack Nicholson in The Shining). As flower bulbs go, they are pretty effortless and naturalize on their [...]

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As I coasted down the steep hill to the Pt. Defiance ferry dock, actively praying that I would make the boat, the security gate which separates running vehicles from bone-chilling Puget Sound teetered like a failing flag pole. With gravity (and a punctually-minded ferry worker) now in charge, the striped barricade fell back to earth, corraling me on the dock while the sweet little M/V [...]

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Dinah’s Cheese plates up a delicious debut My friend (and neighbor) Kurt of Kurtwood Farms is a man of many talents. My sister calls his place a fancy farm. Considering he has a hand-built pizza oven, 4-star kitchen and a barn I’d be happy to live in, I can see her point. Having known Kurt for over twenty years, I can also recognize [...]

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