It’s December 20, winter solstice eve, and it is appropriately grey and misty, typical Seattle weather for the season. Winter is good for projects that take too much time for the busy growing season; I’m trying to use up all of our supply of 2x4s to replace the rotting borders around the 140 garden beds. None of the borders have exactly the same dimensions so they all need to be measured and cut to order. And, of course, with shifting, uneven settling and the pressure of tree roots, they’re rarely at right angles anymore. It’s always a challenge to work on something old and worn. Replacing a part often involves accidentally breaking something else or discovering that the work planned is just the beginning of the work that needs to be done. It’s worth keeping that in mind when the bill comes in for repairs on whatever object or structure you hold dear. If you feel sticker shock, try doing the repair work yourself and you’ll gain a new appreciation for the unpredictable effects of entropy and the time it takes to fix them.
Rotting old boards are ready for the dumpster. Large tree root at lower left of the picture is pushing up the wooden borders in parts of sections D and E. It’s hard to argue with the root system of a giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum). The inconvenience is a small price to pay for having such a glorious tree in the garden.
This mighty sequoia on the east edge of section D is only a little more than a century old. It’s big…really, really big.
Freshly cut 2x4s I’ve transported by bicycle trailer from behind the greenhouse up to the Medicinal Herb Garden shed. The excellent cargo trailer was made by Colin Stevens of Haulin’ Colin and Cyclefab, two local manufacturing businesses. I can’t recommend them enough. http://www.seattlebikeblog.com/2014/11/19/the-bicycle-story-colin-stevens-is-seattles-bicycling-mad-scientist/
If the design of the Medicinal Herb Garden were a little less formal, it would be a relief to be rid of the wooden borders altogether, but a complete redesign of the garden isn’t likely, so….it’s better to have solid borders than decayed, broken borders.
Some of the new borders in section E. If you visit the garden, please do me a huge favor and walk on the gravel paths, not on the wooden borders, tempting though it may be to practice your balance beam skills.
We got a little snow and some cold weather beginning on December 1 but it wasn’t much and it didn’t last long. The waters of the Puget Sound and the Pacific Ocean warm our winters. When we do get bitter cold air slipping down over the Cascades from British Columbia and Alberta, it usually fades away within a week or two.
Section A beds dusted with snow.
Snowy scene in Cascara Circle.
Olive trees (Olea europea) wrapped for the cold. Nighttime temperatures got down to about 23 F. Olives can handle that, uncovered, with just a little damage to the newest leaves, but wrapping them is easy and it’s better to be safe than sorry. I want to harvest some olives next fall!
Canada wild rye (Elymus canadensis) seed heads. Where would we be without the grasses? If you’re seeking new pleasures, try lying down in a field of prairie grasses on a dry, sunny winter day. It’s relaxing just thinking of it.
Prairie mimosa (Desmanthus illinoensis) is as striking in winter as when flowering in summer. Such strange infructescences, I haven’t noticed birds picking the seeds from them. Maybe the juncos (Junco hyemalis) eat them after they’ve fallen to the ground.
This picture was taken on December 19. Tea (Camellia sinensis) plants flower from late fall into winter around here.
Cones from the giant sequoia. They blew down in a recent storm. Though green now, as they dry they will turn brown and the scales will shrink, allowing the small, flat, winged seeds to drop out of the cone. Ideally for the tree, this happens when the cone is still attached to the branch and the seeds can be dispersed widely by the wind.
faint mist at first light
shortest day greets longest night
by the Salish Sea
See you in the garden.