winter wonderland

contemplating whether i owe an apology to the lack of late fall posts. i don't know, if you live in the pacific northwest, you may be able to forgive me. you see, we've been hit by a cold blast, or as our lovely local newscasters like to call it, "winter storm 2008!" it's rather funny how we in the seattle area respond to snow.

but really, our home got hit with at least 14 inches at the height of the storm. it's just now beginning to melt away. just a few days before this began, i spent a couple hours in the yard, cleaning up old beds, checking in on some budding rainbow chard, and the garlic was just starting to push through the soil. we were also just about to finally pick the brussel sprouts. and then, the snowfall.

lesson learned: consider listening to the weather forecast when it could potentially have disastrous affects on the garden.

brussel sprouts just before the snow. we'll be sure to pick them sooner next year so we don't miss out. so good when parboiled and sauteed with shallots and a touch of butter.


ok, back to this big storm. now that i have a few days off, i'm finally able to share some photos and thoughts. the garden is completely covered, and i'm a bit worried about whether anything will survive...given that we didn't cover anything. we're thinking the strawberries and rosemary will pull through. there was some lettuce still going, but there's certainly no hope for that. crossing our fingers that the chard might be ok.


i took this photo before the really massive snow fall. at one point, gus' little red had was just about entirely covered. it provided a nice gauge. and yes, that is our dilapidated fence in the back. the snow really points out its flaws.

anyway. garden time is a bit dormant now, but we built five new beds to fill next planting season and are plotting out what might go where. we're also still searching for free wood chips to fill the spaces between the beds and to create some perennial planting beds in the front yard. we're a bit anti-grass, or maybe a better way to put it is pro-best use of space.