tall clover farm

 What friends won’t tell you, tensile strength and gravity will. When the universe speaks, it’s good to listen. Should you ignore the headsup, you may find yourself bottoms up, doused in your favorite beverage. (Truth be told, I managed to keep my sweet tea upright both times.) I could say these motel chairs are old and the metal weak, [...]

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Raspberries beat the pants off just about anything I grow. Strawberries are whiners; peaches beyond picky;  apples moonlight as pest magnets; and grapes grouse to be pruned. I love them all, but the raspberry is the most effortless of the bunch. If you fear there’s  little green in your thumb, the raspberry may be a good [...]

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Boz looks concerned. I promise Boz, your dinner time will never be fashionably late.  My pal Annette over at Sustainable Eats (along with a couple of her blogging compadres) started Simple Lives Thursday, a blog hop that shares what others are doing in the realm of agriculture, real food, producing more and consuming less. And since [...]

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When it comes toVashon’s Strawberry Festival (going strong since 1909), islanders reside in two camps: those who love it and those who hate it. My tent is tethered to the first camp. (I have my suspicions that the other camp may also prefer handshakes to hugs, avoid puppies and Popsicles, and be quick to profess they never watch TV. Just a theory.) Sure we [...]

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Mt. Rainier tops the view of Tramp Harbor and Maury Island. Summer showed up yesterday with a hearty and heated hello. With temperatures on the island reaching 95 degrees, Boz hit the pool, Gracie found some shade and I pondered taking a plunge in Puget Sound. My only complaint about Vashon Island is the absence of Lake Washington, undeniably Seattle’s best place to [...]

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Boz, British Bulldog and expat, says “All is forgiven, Happy Fourth!” The Fourth of July comes abruptly to Vashon Island. Anyone on the island with an open window and who’s not on life support cannot escape the approaching drone of the hydroplanes circumnavigating the island like furious wasps. It’s a Vashon tradition I love–if nothing else, but for [...]

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In my world of skills you need to know, making homemade ice cream is right up there with CPR, changing a flat tire and treading water.  And since I love to grow and eat fruit, I extend that need-to-know requisite to the making of sherbets as well. I think it may be the best use of a berry this [...]

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