Wednesday Words - It takes courage...

It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.
~e.e. cummings

I couldn't help but think of this quote when I saw
this slug sliming its way along on the second story deck...
it took courage and a little luck!

I have sort of 'live and let live' approach here,
probably because there are more than enough plants to share.
Although I must say I'm not happy
when the slugs try and decimate new or special plants.
If I see that happening before the plant is destroyed,
I have been known to get out the Sluggo or Escar-go.

Click on the pictures to enlarge them, and
to check out the textures, colors, and patterns of this little creature.
How can they do so much damage in such short order?

For more Wednesday Words, check out Muddy Boot Dreams!

~Aerie-el

Double Dip - Skywatch Friday and belated GBBD

Skywatch Friday Photo.

Today I'd also like to share some of the photos
I took this past week in my gardens.
(Shhh, don't tell! They were meant for a
Garden Bloggers Bloom Day post,
but August 15th came and went, oh my!)

So, please enjoy a little stroll through some of the mid-August blooms today...
(As always, you can click on a photo to see it bigger.)

Fall colors


Wish you could smell these chocolate cosmos!


Scarlet runner beans blooms. The hummingbirds seem to love these.


The mountain ash is heavy with berries (they were blooms not long ago:).


Phlox from a friend

Sedum in bloom

Dwarf hollyhock

Hope all your skies are pleasing and
your August continues to bloom.

~Aerie-el

Wednesday Words - Nature and Harmony

"But let the children walk with Nature,
let them see the beautiful blendings
and communions of death and life,
their joyous inseparable unity,
as taught in woods and meadows, plains
and mountains and streams of our blessed star,
and they will learn that death is stingless indeed
and as beautiful as life,
and that the grave has no victory, for it never fights.
All is divine harmony."

~John Muir

Visit more Wednesday Words with Jen at Muddy Boot Dreams.

SAGBUTT on Tiger Mountain

Seattle Area Garden Bloggers United To Talk met
this past Saturday
at Molly's of Life on Tiger Mountain.
Before I knew it, POOF, the afternoon was gone. Could it be? My first SAGBUTT meeting was ending already?
Here's the afternoon via my lens...

As we each arrived, we were welcomed by the
gorgeous and bountiful vegetable gardens,
quaint setting, and energetic pup.
Click on the picture above (or any of them) to enlarge it,
and see the pumpkins hanging in the center.
It was like art in the garden.

We admired the veggie gardens and continued on to see
the chickens, rooster, and ducks.

This pair seemed as though they were thinking...
just stand really still and we'll blend in.

Look, they don't even see us!

Unlike the ducks, the rooster made no effort to hide.
He was quite the center of attention and
eyed us all as he struck a Mick Jagger-like pose.

We continued through the wooded area
where the Weed Wackin' Wenches captured a photo of 'Sasquatch'
which they posted on their blog!
Nothing near as exciting as that, I (sort of?) caught a face
in the rings of this fresh tree stump, shown above.

Tucked in amongst the plants and boulders is
another ever-so-tranquil spot on our garden walk.
What a lovely place to grab a peach, relax, and enjoy nature.

The hydrangea Molly had near the house was in full fantastic bloom. Gorgeous blooms.
We moved into the house to begin the next part of our meeting.

Above is a sampling of the offerings of the day.
Aren't those little cucumbers the cutest?
They tasted just as good as they look too.
Karen at Greenwalks has the names of many of the foods.
One even has a French name--oo-lah-lah.

It was time to sample tomatoes.
Although at first glance I thought the name of this one above
was Gnarly Goliath. Early Goliath was anything but gnarly.
It was a yummy-tasting tomato.
Garden Muse posted a great overview shot of
most of the tomatoes we sampled, and lots of other great photos too.

I think that next to 'Sungold', this 'San Marzano' was the best-tasting to me.
Paula at Petunia's Garden wrote up some great information about some of the tomatoes and their structure, and so forth.
She has a far more developed palette than I.
My comments included things like:
I like it, I like this one better, this one isn't as sweet.

It was a blur of walking, talking, eating, and enjoying the company
of other garden bloggers and friends, face-to-face.
Til next time, Happy gardening and Garden Blogging!

~Aerie-el

The Escape to SAGBUTT

Sorry I haven't been posting or visiting blogs
or even logging on to Blotanical regularly.

I'm hoping for a light at the end of the tunnel soon though,
so we can get back to just our regularly scheduled lives.

We're still dealing with the cleanup and other repercussions
of the electrical fire that occurred about a month ago.
Click here for that post.
It's been almost worse than moving--
it reminds me of moving, with more stress thrown in.

Eventually we'll get to the root of the problem,
and then it will all be behind us...we hope.

In the meantime, my escape from these trials and tribulations is to attend the SAGBUTT (Seattle Area Garden Bloggers United To Talk) meeting this weekend. I'm really looking forward to visiting for my first time in person (!) with blogging buddies, as well as to the tomato-tasting, and seeing the entries for the largest ripe tomato, smallest ripe tomato, and most anthropomorphic tomato (resembling a face or ??). If you live in the PNW and want to join in the fun, you're welcome to leave me a comment or email for more information,
or just click on 'Greenwalks' for details.

Also, here are links to just some of the blogs
of the other SAGBUTT members (alphabetically listed):
A Gardener in Progress, Garden Muse,
Daniel Mount Gardens, Greenwalks,
Life on Tiger Mountain (hosting the August meeting),
Petunia's Garden
and Weed Whackin' Wenches.

~Kit 'Aerie-el'

Wednesday Words

(click on the picture to see it bigger)

For more Wednesday Words, please visit Muddy Boot Dreams.

~Aerie-el

Tomatoes!

Oh, bestill my heart.
The tomato season is upon us.
This summer has been one of record-setting heat
that tomatoes relish!
No rain and all sun is a recipe for long-lived tomato vines,
producing copious quantities of the globular nuggets that the passer-by can't help but pick and pop into one's mouth to savor the sweet succulence.

I thought since it is the season for 'maters', that I'd take a few photos of the tomato plants that I've grown since May, purchased as starts at the annual King County Master Gardener Plant Sale in Seattle. Please excuse the brightness of the photos, but the sun has been blindingly sunny anytime I seem to snap shots lately. This morning was no exception.

Let me introduce you to 'Tumbler'. This one is a nice compact determinate plant, specially bred for hanging baskets. This is the first year I've grown it. It wasn't in a basket, but you can see it is heavy with fruit, tumbling toward the ground. There are seriously more tomatoes than leaves on this baby;
my neighbor has one and it is the same. The tomatoes are some of the first to ripen (45-55 days) and are delicious.
I give this a four out of four-splat rating; a definite 'must' for next year.

Here's a favorite of mine, 'Sungold'. This indeterminate amazon of a disease-resistant plant produces plenty of juicy, deep orange-gold, bite size tomatoes. It is one that I've grown the past 5 years and it hasn't disappointed me yet. It also gets a four-splat rating and will be a staple tomato every year.
(This one sells out quickly at the MG Sale too,
so you- or a friend :) - have to snag one of these early.)

Above is 'Northern Exposure'. A determinate, disease-resistant, tomato plant bred for our short, cooler summer season in the PNW. It is a compact plant and has quite a few fruits on it this year. Last year it did too, but was very disappointing--although it is supposed to ripen in 67 days, they never really ripened for me, even by the end of the summer last year. They seem stuck in green limbo again this year, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed I won't be using these in recipes calling for green tomatoes.
So while I give the show 'Northern Exposure' two thumbs up,
I'm withholding final judgment on this tomato until the end of the season.

And the final tomato of the season...'Italian Ice'. This beauty is indeterminate and claims to yield "uniquely sweet tomatoes that ripen from green to ivory white" in 65 days. I can see hints of white on many of them now and am getting anxious to taste them! But until I can, I have to withhold my wildly-anticipated splat-rating. So I'll have to say 'ciao' for now, and inquire...

Do you have any favorite tomatoes you grow for your climate?

~Aerie-el