For many people, inclement weather can be frightening — especially when the wind is blowing hard, the rain is pouring and the trees are rustling. To weather a storm safely, it’s important to remember certain safety tips and proper use of tools. Portable generators can serve many purposes after severe weather strikes, including providing power […]
Blog
The West Sound Magazine blog is your destination for information and tips about living in West Sound — home, gardening, outdoor recreation, things to do and more.
Millennials to Baby Boomers, Gifts that Grow are All the Rage
It’s a jungle in there. Every window, surface and brightly lit corner is filled with decorative or edible greenery. There is no doubt what to gift this person for the holidays. More of the same. A lack of outdoor growing space, limited growing seasons and time constraints have many people filling their apartments and homes with […]
The Art of Watering Your Garden
Editor’s note: This is an excerpt adapted from Byron Smith’s book, “Slow Down and Grow Something: The Urban Grower’s Recipe for Good Life,” recently published by Murdoch Books. Plants have naturally adapted to the climate in which they have evolved — that’s why the plants in your local national park aren’t expecting you to appear […]
How to Make Your Own Small-Batch Sauerkraut
When thinking of food preservation, many people have visions of some big-production, time-consuming project with dozens of jars to fill with pounds and pounds of produce. But that doesn’t have to be the case. The first thing most people say to me, after expressing a desire to learn to ferment or preserve something, is, “But […]
Endangered Orca Recovery Focus of Regionwide Day of Action
Ten of Puget Sound’s conservation districts have teamed up for a first-ever region-wide day of action to connect people to Puget Sound, the critically endangered southern resident killer whales and the work that needs to be done to save them. The conservation districts will host events focusing on this most-iconic species of the Pacific Northwest […]
Seven Projects You Can Do with Leftover Tile
Have you recently renovated your kitchen walls or tiled your shower or your bathroom floor? If you did, then you must have a lot of leftover tiles. Don’t throw them in the trash — you can put them to good use. Here are some great ideas for things you can do with leftover tile. Tile […]
It’s Pear Time Again!
Passing through Ellensburg in pear season, one is compelled to stop at a fruit stand and be enraptured by the presence of firm, ripe, voluptuous pears. Pears can be red, green and yellow in color, and they grow in sizes from prune-sized seckels to anjous as big as a fist. Pears do not ripen on […]
Fall Is the Time to Plant Your Early-Blooming Bulbs
For local gardeners, fall is the time to clean out garden beds and get bulbs in the ground. The mild climate of West Sound makes it ideal for growing a wide range of spring-blooming bulbs, with crocuses, hellebores, cyclamen, daffodils, tulips and grape hyacinth being among the most popular. Since early-blooming bulbs need a cold […]
Polenta with Sercial-Spiked Lobster Mushrooms and Collard Greens Makes for Perfect October Meal
Editor’s note: This is an adapted excerpt from “36 Bottles of Wine,” by Paul Zitarelli, recently released by Sasquatch Books. There you are, casually negotiating pizza toppings with your friends. Someone blithely mentions mushrooms. Heads nod around the room. Universal approval. Does a single member of the party stop and think this through? Is there […]

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