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June

June 17, 2014
Tags: june, vegetables, garden, Bainbridge Island, sustainable, gardening, organic, ravens
I thought rhubarb leaves were poisonous, but not to every creature, it seems.
As the season progresses, the community garden is bursting with life. A neighbor kept my plants watered while we traveled for two weeks, and I returned to kale, mixed greens, and more kale! We have enjoyed it many ways – stir fried, as salads, as a soup with white beans, and in a frittata. We are almost caught up now.

The carrots are well-established, and my yellow tomato plant survived its baptism of copper sulfate and sideways planting – la jefa of the garden, Anita Rockefeller, had me lay the gangly plant on its side and bury it, only allowing about eighteen inches at the top to curve out into the air. It seems to be working.

It rained intensely over the weekend, so there is no need to water. As I harvest and weed, two ravens greet each other overhead,  Read More 
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Gardening with Frog and Toad

April 20, 2014
Tags: Bainbridge Island, sustainable, seed library, garden, community garden, Rock Farm
Using the Seed Library at Kitsap Regional Library
This year, I will apply my mad skills in gardening to a 10x10’ plot at The Rock Farm, a community garden on the west side of the island. This lacks the convenience of walking next door to garden in Hilary and Neil’s yard, but affords a larger space with more sun and a Master Gardener to crack the whip if I get too lazy.

In addition, I will be able to  Read More 
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Hope for Trees

March 10, 2014
Tags: trees, Bainbridge Island, sustainability, development, tree ordinance, future
A tree was saved today.
A miracle might have occurred today. People who have worked in opposition for years were smiling and agreeing on something. Solutions were suggested and accepted. A tree was saved.

After years of e-mails, public meetings, and tense confrontations on the street, and a final sit-down meeting at City Hall, the city agreed to spare the lone tree on Cave Avenue that straddles the edge of the city right-of-way for a sidewalk. The sidewalk will bump out four inches into the street to maintain the four-foot width required in order to meet ADA standards.

What’s more, as the work began, the developer asked for his arch-nemesis, renowned arborist Olaf Ribeiro, to come out and consult on how to handle boles found at the base of the tree. They can be safely flattened, he said, using a diamond saw for a smooth cut. The one-hundred year old tree probably formed the boles in reaction to the street first being paved sometime in the 1970s.

Four inches of gravel now wind along a path between  Read More 
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Happy Vegetarian New Year!

January 24, 2014
Tags: vegetarian, pescetarian, Molly Katzen, The Heart of the Plate, Japanese American, Woody Allen, Kokon Taiko, rice, cholesterol, sustainability, Bainbridge, Mochi Tsuki, Lunar New Year
Shoichi Sugiyama, on right, leads volunteers in pounding the rice.
I’ve been meaning to write a New Year’s entry! I guess I haven’t missed the lunar New Year, which is Friday, January 31. Each year Mochi Tsuki, held at Islandwood, an environmental education center, attracts more visitors. This year it was held on January 5.

Sweet rice was steamed over a hot fire  Read More 
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The Rock Farm

August 29, 2013
Tags: Bainbridge Island, local food, sustainability, farming, Rockefeller, community, garden
In July, Phil and Anita Rockefeller invited me (okay, I begged) to see The Rock Farm, a portion of their property that has been turned into community gardens.

When I arrived Sunday at 10:30 am, Phil and Anita were hanging what looked like prayer flags along the eight-foot high deer fence. Up close, I could  Read More 
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A Walk in the Park

July 10, 2013
Tags: Bloedel Reserve, trees, nature, Bloedel, gardens, timber barons, Bainbridge
The Bloedels saw nature as something too strong and rough to be experienced without the filter of a human sensibility
In the cool of a day predicted to get very hot, we walked through a gentle forest. Birds called and squirrels chittered at the small groups of visitors strolling carefully groomed paths.

The Bloedel Reserve was started in 1950 by Prentice Bloedel, son of timber baron Julius Harold Bloedel. Julius made a fortune harvesting  Read More 
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Some Trees

June 5, 2013
Tags: Turkey, trees, Bainbridge, protest, standing there, woman in red, E.B. White, Charlotte's Web
A Douglas Fir in my neighborhood.
It all started with a few trees, a very few trees, but some of the last in the heart of the city. Protesters tried to block demolition of the little park, only to be met with violence.

These are not tree-huggers in California, or other occupants of the “landof the free,” who might seem to have too much time on their hands. These are people who live in Turkey,  Read More 
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The Next Big Thing

May 22, 2013
Tags: Bainbridge Island, local food, sustainability, sailing, why I write, Wendy Hinman
Apple harvest
I first met Wendy Hinman at the Seattle7 Novel Live! Event, where a number of us wrote a group novel, The Hotel Angeline, as a fundraiser for literacy. We each got up and flailed away at an unfamiliar computer on a stage with a camera pointed at us. The result is still pulling in  Read More 
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What to wear to a Street Riot

May 1, 2013
Tags: Seattle, downtown, street smarts
You can climb a wire fence if you must.
These are things I learned in high school that might be handy in downtown Seattle, whether participating, or just passing through. In the past, we were able to stand in solidarity with undocumented workers who support our economy, but this has changed. On May 1, be dressed for anything.

1. Wear shoes you can run in, or climb a wire fence. Read More 
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Walking the Food Forest

April 22, 2013
Tags: food forest, Bainbridge Island, sustainability, food, Friends of the Farms, land use, Todmorden, Beacon Hill Food Forest
The philosophy behind a food forest is that of abundance, rather than scarcity.
Last week, I took a sunny day to walk land designated for a Food Forest on Bainbridge Island. What is a food forest? It is land on which edible plants will grow using the fewest artificial resources, while attracting and supporting insects, animals, and people to enhance its well-being.

I first heard of the idea from  Read More 
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