Marigold and Mint

Join Us Halloween Weekend.....

2011-10-13T20:01:00.000-07:00

Sweet Peas and Peonies

2011-07-19T21:44:00.000-07:00

Peonies first, then sweet peas.

These are what stand out in summer on the farm from June to July.
Read our columns on each in Garden Design. Peonies. Sweet Peas.

Morning in the living room

2011-06-27T07:34:00.003-07:00

I love these poppies from my friend Erin's farm. I've got to grow them next year!

Paris Flowers

2011-06-15T06:55:00.001-07:00

I just back from Paris (and Morocco) hunting for inspiration for the shop. There was a lot more than I can fit in one post, but here's a first pass, in my latest blog for Garden Design. Take a look:

Paris Fleurs

Mother's Day

2011-04-29T18:08:00.000-07:00

Seattle Magazine article

2011-04-27T10:36:00.000-07:00

This is a lovely article in Seattle Magazine about the foraging we do in the woods.

Easter Charm

2011-04-16T19:44:00.000-07:00

I love everything about Easter: the lamb, the girls in pretty dresses, the golden eggs.
If you do too, stop in at the shop which is full of goodies from the farm (daffodils, a few early herbs, the prettiest tulips) as well as Maison Bouche Easter chocolate and Kata Golda's adorable bunny puppets, eggs, and little cups. Or call the shop at 206-682-3111 to order Easter arrangements.

Oh, and I've got two more Garden Design posts up:

One on yellow arrangements and another on designing with succulents. These are so much fun to write and photograph.

Finally there's a great story in the May issue of Food and Wine magazine about the Melrose Market. Definitely worth a read if you are interested in the market.

A Passion for Purple Flowers

2011-03-16T07:08:00.001-07:00

Take a look at our latest blog for Garden Design. Love those purple blooms!

Felt and Flower Classes

2011-03-07T16:54:00.000-08:00

We are thrilled to announce that local artist Kata Golda is coming to Marigold and Mint to teach a felt class on Wednesday, March 16th. The class will be making stuffed bunnies; materials and tools are included, no experience is necessary, and of course you get to take your Easter bunny home. From 6 - 9:30pm in the shop; limit 6 students. A week later, on Wednesday, March 23rd, we will be teaching a spring flower arranging class. Also in the evening. Limit 8.

To save your spot call the shop (206-682-3111) or email us (info@marigoldandmint.com). Each class costs $100.

Anemones in the Hoophouse

2011-02-13T22:31:00.001-08:00

This is my first season growing anemones, and my first season using a hoophouse. I am in love with their ethereal beauty!

Valentine Posies

2011-02-10T18:53:00.000-08:00

Just a quick note to say that I have started a regular online column for Garden Design magazine.

Here's the first blog post. Do-it-yourself valentines!

Valentine Flowers

2011-02-06T16:55:00.000-08:00

Time to place your orders for Valentine's Day! Arrangements for delivery start at $50.
Consider including some Maison Bouche or Cocoa chocolates too. We can be reached at the shop (206-682-3111) during the day between 10 and 7 or email us (info@marigoldandmint.com) anytime.

Underwater

2011-01-19T19:27:00.000-08:00

Mid-January has brought the flood. My stellar farm employee Shondell tried to get out to the farm on Monday to check on things, but said she couldn't get there, having forgotten her arc. What you are seeing in the above photo is the view from the high road, looking down onto the submerged farm road and the edge of the flower field.

My daughter and I ventured out today, two days later, to see how or if things had settled. The bridge we normally take over the river and across the valley was still underwater so we forged on, driving north and across the valley at a higher road, and then back down through Duvall to get to the farm.

Like Shondell, we still couldn't drive into the farm, the first section of the entry road being rutted and torn apart by the water. Luckily there were 6 guys working on fixing that. Slipping on our boots (which would prove to fail at least one of us), Vivian and I walked the fields. The beds were scoured, with silt and gravel washed through them. The good news is that the vast number of our bulbs didn't seem to have moved significantly. The bad news is that the top layer of soil was washed away on these beds and so Shondell and I will need to move in and start covering things back up and pressing them down in. We lost a few precious peonies, and maybe three dozen new perennials. But it could have been a lot worse.

As long as we get the bulbs and perennials settled, what I am most worried about are some roses standing in water.

As for our walk through the fields? It ended with our boots stuck in the mud, Vivian pulling her feet out and stepping silver sparkling stockinged feet into the earth, falling forward, falling backward, and getting mud on her nose. And then she had to head to singing club!

Before leaving we checked on the hoophouse and discovered that January has brought something lovely, too: our first anemone blooms.

Snow for Thanksgiving

2010-11-22T22:31:00.001-08:00

The wind is rattling the windows at my house. It's dark and snowy in Seattle and I am sitting here thinking about the fields. The wind must be whipping though the frosty grasses. The dirt must be frozen clods. How is that young cover crop surviving? I am so glad that Shondell and I finished planting all 8,800 bulbs earlier this month. This time last year, we hadn't even started digging the trenches (we were really behind). We still need to mulch the peonies and roses, but for now the snow can keep weeds at bay. And the cold keeps the flood risk down -- for now. I hope the ranunculus and anemones in the hoop house are ok. This is my first year planting them and I'm not sure if I am supposed to be running out there in freezing weather to coddle them. They looked beautiful last week:

With all this weather, I am especially grateful that Adam and Megan at Oxbow got ahead of things and got produce out of the fields and to the shop today. We will have carrots, parsnips, potatoes, cabbage, parsley and shallots, among other Thanksgiving vegetables for Tuesday and Wednesday before the holiday. Whew.

On Saturday Josh and the kids and I visited another kind of garden, the Conservatory in Volunteer Park. The chrysanthemums on display will forever change your mind about the flower. And they even had a few cut ones for sale, which I had to buy because it was my birthday and I knew no one would buy a flower farmer flowers.

Poem for a Melancholy Day

2010-11-01T17:12:00.000-07:00

YOUNG MAN PICKING FLOWERS

All at once he is no longer
young with his handful of flowers
in the bright morning of their fragrance
rising from them as though they were
still on the stalk where they opened
only this morning to the light
in which somewhere unseen the thrush
goes on singing in perfect song
into the day of the flowers
and while he stands there holding them
the cool dew runs from them onto
his hand at this hour of their lives
it it the hand of the young man
who found them only this morning

-- W.S. Merwin

In a Halloween State of Mind

2010-10-19T13:52:00.001-07:00

On Sunday I took a trip to the Skagit Valley with my daughter and aunt and we piled the trunk as full as we could with heirloom pumpkins and squash: blue hubbard, cinderella, New Zealand blue, Queensland blue, Australian butter, jarrahdale, acorn..... We have ones for both eating and decorating. I am in love with the ghostly gray greens.

We've also recently received our first shipment from Rifle Paper Co. and the cards are perfect. Check out the Halloween ones we have in stock:

Happy Halloween!

Fully settled into fall

2010-09-28T18:39:00.000-07:00

The colors of autumn have fully descended on the shop: deep maroons and oranges from the field, earthy browns in our new pottery from Akiko, the deep hues of fall vegetables. But first, one last glimpse of a late summer wedding bouquet, simply garden roses:

At this time last fall, the fields had shut down. This year, the marigolds keep going and going, and the bees are are pleased as bees can be.

As I mentioned we are now carrying pottery made by Akiko, whose gorgeous hand-built slab and wheel works are made in Seattle. We also have a slew of neat new greeting cards (none too saccharine), a first shipment from Fog Linen from Japan and heirloom pumpkins galore.

And here's a recent arrangement made in the shop.... with my cappucino from Sitka and Spruce in the corner.

Fall Flowers

2010-09-17T20:55:00.000-07:00

Who knows when the rain will stop or how soon the first frost will come. In the meantime I'm harvesting as fast as I can, before marigolds get mushy and zinnias mold. For now, they are bright and bold as fall flowers tend to be. The fields and shop are full of strong yellows and fuschia pinks -- a shot of intensity even as the mellow greys and soft greens start to settle in for awhile.

Wedding Flowers

2010-08-14T11:20:00.000-07:00

Brides have discovered Marigold and Mint and we love it! Some buy buckets of flowers and do all the arranging themselves; some create their own centerpieces but the leave the bouquets and boutonnieres to us, and some hand it all over. It all works for us. Here area few pictures of wedding flowers we've done this summer with flowers from our farm and from Erin at Floret.

Veggies are In!

2010-05-13T16:06:00.001-07:00

Fresh from the fields this morning: organic easter egg radishes, japanese turnips, arugula and rapini. Hopefully we will have them all weekend, but the turnips are moving fast! I picked this all up from the Oxbow Farm team this morning, after spending the morning building a trellis for the sweet peas and planting Miss Wilmott zinnias. I saw a snake sliding through the grass, and a cougar ran along the edge of my fields. I think we spooked each other equally. In addition to the vegetables, the shop is filled with gorgeous giant purple alliums, sweet frilly columbine and buttercups -- just for fun.

Love Your Mother

2010-05-06T18:49:00.000-07:00

There is perhaps no spring flower that smells as sweet as Lily-of-the-Valley. Also called Mary's Tears and Our Lady's Tears -- after the Virgin Mary, the little flower often makes moms nostalgic. They either had a patch in their childhood backyard, or wore the scent as a first perfume in high school. So stop in and buy your mom -- or the mother to your children, or your sister, or your grandmother -- a bunch for Mother's Day. You can also buy Muguet-flavored Maison Bouche chocolate, or scoop up some of the other fragrant and delightful flowers that we have in the shop right now: heirloom daffodils, gigantic scilla in mauve and blue, bleeding heart, garden roses.... If your mother prefers to dig in the dirt, we have 9 varieties of tomato starts from Oxbow farmers Luke and Adam. Breathe it in.

Hope to see you at Marigold and Mint! Or call to place an order for delivery. 206-682-3111.

Katherine

bacon, cheese and tomato...

2010-04-20T11:29:00.000-07:00

In anticipation of Rain Shadow Meats and the Calf and Kid opening very very soon, we are starting to think about food here at Marigold and Mint. I'm still waiting for produce to come off the farm -- radishes in May! -- but this week we are going to start selling tomato plants. My brother Carson has been growning them in his greenhouse. Roma and a handful of heirloom varieties. Take a look:

shop opens!

2010-04-04T09:16:00.000-07:00

Even with the saws still buzzing, we moved into the Melrose Market last week! Our tiny flower shop is the first to open in the market, soon to be followed by Rainshadow Meats, the Calf and Kid, Sitka and Spruce and Homegrown. It was a little dusty, a littly noisy, but with all of the hyacinth and heirloom daffodils, it was a lot fragrant. More pictures soon!

Valentine's Day

2010-02-09T16:54:00.000-08:00

Marigold and Mint has a little something pink, a little something sweet and a little something gorgeous for you.

A BOUQUET of BLOOMING CHERRY BRANCHES $45
From our organic orchard, in pink and white. Wrapped in craft paper and tied with a silk ribbon.

A BOX of COCOA ABSOLUTE CHOCOLATES $45

Single origin dark chocolate squares. Handmade by Cocoa Absolute in Northern California; dark and delicious; with three flavors to choose from: natural, bergamot or brulee.

A Limited-Edition LES YEUX D'EXTASE CARD $15 A hand-screened art print masquerading as a meticulously designed greeting card. Each of the 100 editions is signed and numbered by the artist, Izzie Klingels (Marigold and Mint's house illustrator), and is ready to be framed, hung and cherished for years to come. The picture doesn't do it justice. These are GORGEOUS.

Orders can be for 1, 2 or 3 items, in any combination. We will make deliveries on the 12th, 13th and 14th. To place an order, email info@marigoldandmint.com or call 206-419-1222.

Janury Flowers

2010-01-27T10:19:00.001-08:00

It is nice to be reminded that there actually are local flowers that grow in January. I cut these yesterday.

Pigeon Toe Ceramics

2010-01-09T22:00:00.000-08:00

I am delighted to have discovered Pigeon Toe Ceramics, based in Portland, Oregon, and even more delighted to have received my first shipment from them. These hand-thrown porcelain pieces are at once witty and lovely. Here are a few close ups:

These pieces will be in the shop when we open, filled with flowers, but if you must have something RIGHT NOW, don't hesitate to contact us at info@marigoldandmint.com.

Shop News and Shopping Now

2009-12-08T09:20:00.000-08:00

Have I mentioned yet that we will be opening a shop in 2010? I don't think so, but I am so excited! It will be on Capitol Hill, at 1531 Melrose Avenue, between Pike and Pine. My new neighbors include Sonic Boom, Velouria, Sitka & Spruce, a butcher, and a cheese shop. Watch here for updates.

In the meantime, these dark days (as in the winter solstice is just around the corner) find me working through the design of the shop, ordering seeds to plant in the spring, and hunting down special things to carry at 1531 Melrose -- in addition, of course, to blooms and branches and produce from the farm. I've acquired all kinds of vintage glass jars, mid-century Scandinavian ceramic vases, and antique garden tools.

Two things that I'm selling now are treasures from a recent trip to San Francisco. First, I discovered Cocoa Absolute, rare single origin chocolates handmade in San Francisco. For the holidays, I am carrying their natural, bergamot and brulee boxes. Sometime before Valentine's Day I will provide in-depth descriptions of these, but in the meantime, their website has wonderful information about how special these boxes of chocolates are. If you are interested in a box, please contact me (info@marigoldandmint.com). $40 per box.

While in San Francisco, I drove down to Palo Alto and visited my friend Gretl. She has been collecting rare and out-of-print garden books since at least the early 1070s, buying them on her travels to Europe and elsewhere in the world. Below you'll see photos of the covers of some of these amazing books. Please contact me if you would like to know more about a title and its price.

And of course I am always happy to deliver a winter arrangement for you. The hellebores are just starting to poke out of the ground.

Happy Holidays!

Katherine

The Secret Garden. Frances Hodgson Burnett. Illustrated by Colin Twinn.

London.

and

Gardening for Children. Joan Gwyn.

With wood engravings and plans. London.

and

Lucy and Arthur, and Willie Merrill. A Book for Children.

About their little black pony, the little gardens, etc.

Colored Frontispiece. 1900s. London.

Grey and Silver Plants. Mrs. Desmond Underwood.
Signed copy. London.
and

Midsummer Silver. Lys de Bray.

1980. First Edition. UK. Hardcover. With illustrations.

Garden Design. A Quarterly Journal of Horticulture and Garden Architecture.

No. 23 Autumn 1935 and No. 24 Winter 1935

A Book of Roses With Sixteen Color Plates after the Originals in Redoute’s ‘Roses’.
J. Ramsbottom. 1939. UK.
and
Compliments of the Season. L.D. Ettlinger and R.G. Holloway.

and

Tulipomania. Wilfrid Blunt. With sixteen plates from 17th-century water colors by Alexander Marshall.

1950. UK.

The Glory of the Garden. An Exhibition Catalog in Association with the Royal Horticultural Society. Sothebys.

1987. London.

and

Handmade Houses. A Guide to the Woodbutcher’s Art. Art Boericke and Barry Shapiro.

San Francisco.

Flowers of the Field. Rev. C.A. Johns.

With coloured plates and text illustrations.

1949 edition.

A New Orchard and Fruit Garden: or, The Best Way for Plalnting, Grafting, and to Make any Ground good for a Rich Orchard. WIth the Country House-wifes Garden for Herbs of Common Use and Also The Husbandry of Bees, with their several Uses and Annoyances. William Lawson. Limited Edition. #584/600 copies. London.

Market Gardening. Ronald Webber.

The History of Commercial Flower, Fruit and Vegetable Growing.

1972. U.K.

and

The Scented Garden. By Eleanour Sinclair Rohde.

1948. Revised and Enlarged Edition. With black and white photographs and garden plans.

London.

American Gardens in the Eighteenth Century. For Use or Delight. Ann Leighton.

1976. Boston.

and

Who Loves A Garden. Louise Seymour Jones.

1934. London.

Pleasant Talk about Fruit, Flowers and Farming. H.W. Beecher.

1859. 2nd Edition.

and

According to Seasons. Mrs. William Starr Dana.

Talks about the flowers in the order of their appearance, in the woods and fields.

1894. First Edition. New York.

A Treasury of Flowers. Frank J. Anderson.

Rare Illustrations from the Collection of the New York Botanical Garden.

First Edition. 1990. Out of print.

The Strawberry. History, Breeding, and Physiology. George Darrow.

Still the definitive monograph. Beautiful color plates and color photographs.

New York. 1966.

and

The Book of the Peach. H.M. Ward, F.R.H.S.

Being a Practical Handbook on the Cultivation of the Peach Under Glass and Out-of-Doors.

British Herbs and Vegetables. George M. Taylor.

1957. First Edition. Color Plates.

and

Wild Flowers in Britain. Geoffrey Grigson.

With color plates.

1947. London.

Solitude. A Poem. V. Sackville-West.

1939. 2nd Impression. The Hogarth Press.

and

Some Flowers. V. Sackville-West.

First Edition. London.

The Legends of Flowers: Or, ‘Tis Love that Makes the World Go Round. Translated from the Italian of Paolo Mantegazza by Mrs. J. Alexander Kennedy. With colored frontispiece. 1908.

and

The Amateur’s Flower Garden. Shirley Hibberd. A Handy Guide to the Formation and Management of the Flower Garden and the Cultivation of Garden Flowers. Preface by Anthony Huxley.

Illustrated with color plates and wood engravings.

First published 1871. London. Reprint 1986.

The Vegetable World: Being a History of Plants, with their Structure and Peculiar Properties. Louis Figuier.

With 473 illustrations.

1982. Paris.

and

Uncommon Vegetables. How to Grow and How to Cook. Eleanor Sinclair Rohde.

First Edition. London.

December

2009-12-08T09:11:00.000-08:00

I've been waiting all year to post this lovely poem by Gail Mazur. Along with an apple tree in December from our farm.

Young Apple Tree, December

What you want for it you’d want
for a child: that she take hold;
that her roots find home in stony

winter soil; that she take seasons
in stride, seasons that shape and
reshape her; that like a dancer’s,
her limbs grow pliant, graceful
and surprising; that she know,
in her branchings, to seek balance;

that she know when to flower; when
to wait for the returns; that she turn
to a giving sun; that she know

fruit as it ripens; that what’s lost
to her will be replaced; that early
summer afternoons, a full blossoming

tree, she cast lacy shadows, that change
not frighten her. rather that change
meet her embrace; that remembering

her small history, she find her place
in an orchard; that she be her own
orchard; that she outlast you;

that she prepare for the hungry world
(the fallen world, the loony world)
something shapely, useful, new, delicious.

Just in time

2009-12-07T21:40:00.000-08:00

Last week, Shondell, David and I planted 7,000 bulbs. Of course we should have done it weeks earlier, but I kept waiting for the rain to stop. I've got a new plan for next year. In any case, the ground is now frozen solid and so I am breathing a big sigh of relief that we got them all in last week. Thank you David and Shondell. I never could have done it without out you.

November 20th

2009-11-20T17:28:00.000-08:00

Birthday breakfast with my friend Jill.

Some things really do taste better than flowers.

In the Arboretum

2009-11-19T09:05:00.000-08:00

Stuck in traffic in the pouring rain yesterday, I finally was able to take a picture of these larch in their awesome glory (at least I am pretty sure they are larch). I drive by them while taking my son to school, and they form a mesmerizing blaze of gold and black above the green grass that makes the traffic disappear for me. One of these days I'll have to get out and stand underneath them.

In any case, the sighting inspired this arrangement of camellia, sarcococca, and japanese maple. The color doesn't quite come through in the photo, but trust me, it is a warm wintery combination, where the gold maple picks up the yellow center on the fragile camellias. Come to think of it, it is the color of the November birthstone, isn't it? I think I like it better on a tree than on my finger.

Craftwork

2009-10-20T22:38:00.000-07:00

I recently read an interview with Richard Sennett in American Craft (October/November 2009) magazine. The subject is craftwork, which, if you are interested, he explores at length in his book The Craftsman (2008). At one point in the interview, he says the following:

“Our modern economy privileges pure profit, momentary transactions and rapid fluidity. Part of craft’s anchoring role is that it helps to objectify experience and also to slow down labor. It is not about quick transactions or easy victories. The slow tempo of craftwork, of taking the time you need to do something well, is profoundly stabilizing to individuals.”

I don’t know if he would count farming as craftwork, but what he writes puts me in mind of the work of farming, of the repetitive tasks that you need to do well in order to produce the quality that you want. You can’t successfully rush a harvest or rush weeding. Of course on some level when you are in the field, or have workers in the field, you want things to get done as quickly as possible -- be it to get the flowers out of the sun, or to spend the minimum possible on labor. But in truth, the work can only go so fast, and, BEST of all, you can’t do anything else while you are doing it. You can’t send email, you can’t read a report, you can’t (at least not very easily) talk on the phone. You are forced to focus on the task at hand and, hopefully, you have the ethic to do it well. I write this all in part to remind myself that there is value in spending ten straight hours harvesting and weeding, what can sometimes feel like menial work. But even though I sometimes worry in the field that it might be trivial -- cutting one stem after another, the truch is that doing this work really does open up space inside you to think and create, or at least it does for me.

I am including photos from a post-harvest repetitive task. These are dried poppy pods, that my brother cut, and I emptied out the seeds onto a plate, and then moved them into a glass jar, to save the seed for later use. Again, a seemingly mundane task, but this in the end is what it takes to make -- and to grow -- something. And I do, as Sennett suggests, find it profoundly stabilizing.

transition

2009-10-02T20:03:00.000-07:00

August and September were so busy on the harvesting front that I barely found time to post pictures of the extravagance in the field. So, you'll have to imagine 600 linear feet of marigolds, 200 feet of sunflowers, 100 feet of zinnias, 200 feet of roses, thousands of ornamental cucumbers hiding beneath the vine... all in the late summer sun. And now, at once, the wind has picked up and the fog lingers later in the valley. Soon, I will start to pull everything down and till it in, making way for the planting of cover crops, tulips, and peonies. In anticipation of all that, I've spent the past few weeks trying to make use of the flowers in every way imaginable before they are gone.

To that end, I spent last Monday in two high school Spanish classrooms, making garlands of marigolds, which are an important part of Day of the Dead celebrations. The teacher, my dear friend Jill, explained that the marigold is often called the flower of death -- la flor de la muerte. One hispanic girl in the class already knew this, as she commented while working on her garland, "it smells like a cemetery in here." That is what is so compelling to me about flowers is that they are associated with some of the biggest events in our lives: birth, marriage, death. Jill showed amazing images of skeleton figures surrounded by marigolds.

I think this Caterina is so cool:

And here is one of the garlands in the classroom.

Ecstatic Marigolds

2009-09-02T12:44:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago the Vedic Cultural Center used thousands of my French marigolds in a weekend long celebration. How I love communities that revere flowers, especially marigolds! Take a look at the amazing garlands and dresses the women of this temple made, out of FRUIT and all kids of FLOWERS.

First, a view of the stage in the temple:

Doesn't he look real? He certainly startled me!

And a few African marigolds coming out of the field:

in bloom for week of August 24

2009-08-21T09:56:00.000-07:00

My first batch of apricot dahlias is coming out of the field. Why didn't I grow these last year??? I bought the tubers from a 5th generation Dutch bulb grower and he has taken good care of them. I can't wait for the pink and black varieties to bloom!

This is one of my favorite color combinations -- mustard and orchid zinnias.

Creamy vanilla marigolds are new to Marigold and Mint this year. Aren't they pretty when combined with yellow marigolds?

And finally a few of the heirloom roses. I can't wait for these to be great big rose bushes next year!

Mary rose on the left (planted for my daughter, mother and mother-in-law) and Lexi on the right

Louise Odier

weekend update

2009-08-07T16:11:00.001-07:00

I finally figured out that my pansies can work as a cut flower as well as an edible. There are so many kinds of purples in the field -- here are some with a yellow center, along with lambs ear. A very soft arrangement.

My friend Rachael loves sunset colors, so I put these together for her:

What to do about cosmos? Nobody really buys them, but they are so happy and so easy to grow that I can't help myself. And I grew them in my first grown up garden on our roof in Brooklyn and so they remind me of that. But now I have a house and a field full of cosmos. I need a troop of school children to come out and pick and enjoy them!

Isn't there something just right about sunflowers in a yellow pitcher? Here are some valentine suns in my kitchen window.

I'm reading a memoir right now in which the author's mother, as a bride, carried a book of prayers rather than a bouquet down the aisle (even though her betrothed was a florist!). Thank goodness for business that most brides don't make this choice.

I'm going to harvest the weld and indigo this weekend in an attempt to make some dye. Wish me luck!

in bloom week of 8.3.09

2009-08-05T12:27:00.000-07:00

The fields are about to be in control of me, instead of the other way around. Here's part of the plenty that I've been harvesting:

CHOCOLATE SUNFLOWERS

BRIGHT ZINNIAS

ANGEL'S HALO SUNFLOWER

PERSIAN CARPET ZINNIAS

these last forever!

FRENCH MARIGOLDS

WOOLY BEAR ORNAMENTAL CUCUMBERS

A WHEAT WHOSE NAME I CAN'T REMEMBER!

GREEN WINE GRAPES

CHARTREUSE ZINNIA
i can't get enough of these...

in bloom for week of June 22, 2009

2009-06-19T09:35:00.001-07:00

First fruit are appearing in the orchard. Small plums, green blueberries, and both all green and blushing red apples. Our first Joan Fontaine rose bloomed. The beauty of the bloom makes the headache of these roses worth it.

in bloom for week of June 15, 2009

2009-06-12T16:47:00.001-07:00

We have green pie cherries on the branch, sweet peas, huckleberry branches, buttercream and dusky rose California poppies and LOTS of edible flowers coming off the farm this week. A few snapshots:

pie cherry

(with leaves stripped off)

pansies in the field

blackberry blossoms

buttercream and rose poppies

nasturtium

in bloom for the week of June 7

2009-06-09T21:00:00.000-07:00

A few of the things coming out of the woods and field this week -- including our first sweet peas!

salmonberry

huckleberry

early blueberry

from the field week of June 1

2009-06-02T23:03:00.000-07:00

With no sign of rain on the horizon, I am scrambling to set up my drip irrigation as well as weed, weed -- and weed some more. Meanwhile, my edible pansies keep popping up, tilting their faces to the sky. Here are some from today's harvest:

In Bloom for Week of May 24, 2009

2009-05-24T22:17:00.001-07:00

As I was headed into my grandfather's woods the other day an older man named Paul stopped me. Turns out he wanted to make sure I wasn't trespassing. Once we got that straightened out, we had a conversation that was very helpful to me. He's been living in the valley for over 40 years, and now I know these delicate white blossoms are thimbleberry blossoms.

And these pink ones are salmonberry.

While the thimbleberry blooms only last about 4 days, the blooms keep opening up on the branch. They'd be really special for the right event, but I love them just on my kitchen windowsill.

And here's a shot of where these and the ferns come from. A pretty enchanted forest if you ask me!

from the field for week of May 18, 2009

2009-05-17T21:14:00.000-07:00

In addition to last week's line up, the the rose hip branches are coming out of the woods this week. I think they look pretty all by themselves right now.

a few firsts

2009-05-15T19:17:00.000-07:00

Marigold and Mint had a few firsts this week. On Thursday, I harvested our first dozen organic roses. Here are some of them (with the Lawrence Welk-esque names of Sunset Celebration and Enchanted Evening), arranged with lavender lilacs. It's too bad the computer cannot capture the heady fragrance.

Our first organic edible flower bloomed in the field this week, too. I picked it, shook off the dirt and ate it! So she's long gone, but here's a picture of the veins of purple coursing through pale yellow petals.

From the Field for week of May 11, 2009

2009-05-10T21:43:00.000-07:00

Here is some of what we are cutting this week:

white flowering currant

euyonymous

deep purple lilac

peony greens

From the Field for week of May 3, 2009

2009-05-02T09:44:00.000-07:00

Here are a few of the things coming out of the field this week:

Apple blossoms:

Twisty kiwi vine:

Chartreuse hellebore:

Fragrant viburnum:

Tulips and Roses

2009-04-27T22:12:00.000-07:00

Today I spent the afternoon digging holes for 40 new heirloom rose plants. I also brought Queen of the Night and Angelique tulips out of the field. They are spending the night in the cooler, ready for delivery tomorrow and the next day. The crab apple is also bursting and ready to come out of the orchard, along with all those unfurling ferns in the woods.

The Queen:

The lovely Angelique:

Grape Hyacinth and Moss

2009-04-23T12:24:00.000-07:00

In October I planted hundreds of purple and white grape hyacinth. Most of them are too short to sell to the florists, but they are sweet as can be. The purple is perfect in a white ceramic vase in my daughter's room. I think I'll use the white for my friend's baby shower this weekend. Insipired by a little Japanese home and garden book, I also combined some with moss collected from the farm. Here you have it:

Pale green ferns are starting to unfurl in the woods. What a thrill of to find a delicate curl of chartreuse at your feet.

Happy Hyancinth

2009-04-13T23:18:00.000-07:00

I am just back from Florida where it was so warm and sunny and I was sure I'd have such a hard time coming back to Seattle's still cool spring. But out in the field today, a burst of color greeted me and I discovered that the hyacinth are ready for harvesting. A bright yet deep purple, they smell delicious. I'll harvest them tomorrow morning and they'll be on doorsteps (for my flower subscribers) and in shops by tomorrow afternoon.

Growing in the Greenhouse

2009-04-06T16:45:00.001-07:00

Sarah's been hard at work getting things going in the greenhouse.......

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2009-04-06T16:37:00.000-07:00

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