The scene at Titlow Park in Tacoma attracts a few curious glances. Eleven women are spread out across the lawn, fly rods in hand, practicing their roll casts, false casts and presentation casts. The instruction this day is provided by Judy Graham, an energetic, patient tutor and expert casting instructor, who periodically calls the group […]
outdoors
Posted inFood & Entertainment
Local Foodies Dish About Picnics
AMY IGLOI Amy Igloi is a well-known figure in the Port Orchard community. For the past seven years, she’s owned and managed Amy’s on the Bay, just steps from the waterfront in Port Orchard. What are your three favorite places for picnics on the Kitsap Peninsula? Belfair State Park, Scenic Beach State Park and Manchester […]
Posted inFood & Entertainment
An Outdoor Kitchen Paradise: For the King of The Grill
It’s perhaps the most lavish setup ever designed for a smoker banished from the house. Oh sure, Carl likes to barbecue any time of year on his deluxe stainless-steel gas grill and to entertain guests seated on swivel stools at the black-granite countertops flanking the grill. But the genesis for creating the covered patio and […]
Posted inPeople & Places
Heronswood — Springing Back to Life
Heronswood Gardens in Kingston is springing back to life like the Phoenix rising from the ashes. In 2012, the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe purchased the former 15-acre Heronswood Garden and Nursery site in auction from W. Atlee Burpee. In November 2012 a small band of former Heronistas (the name for the much-loved employees of the […]
Posted inGarden
By the Light of the Silvery Moon
A garden can be a magical place after dark. As the sun wanes in the sky, subtle evening light begins to illuminate the garden in a completely new way. Flowers and foliage add a new dimension to a garden when caught by the light of a full moon. Moonlight gardens are not meant to do […]
Posted inGarden
Western Bluebirds and Your Fall Chores
Fall migration of most Pacific Northwest birds has completed — from the huge shorebird population, to the area warblers and many other migrants from Oregon, Washington, British Columbia to Alaska. They have raised successful broods and are now heading south to winter over in Central and South America until January or February, when they will […]
Posted inGarden
Get The Dirt — On Home Gardening
Red Foxes In England, foxes are an integral part of an English garden, except if the garden includes chickens — and then foxes are definitely not wanted. Here in West Sound, we could go for years without glimpsing a fox, or we may see them several times a year. If you live in a region […]
Posted inGarden
How to Care for Your Garden’s Asset — Trees
Between the time when we rake the last of autumn’s confetti from our lawns and the day we first glimpse the bright petals on the bare branches of the cherry, most of us never give a single thought to trees. Meanwhile, arborists, professional maintenance crews and gardeners in the know are concentrating more on trees […]
Posted inGarden
Orchard House — An English Cottage Garden
Journey with us back to sunnier days for a tour of an English cottage garden at the home of Deb and Jim Howard. Their charming English country-style property called Orchard House was named for the old fruit trees inherited with the property. “We’re right near the center of Port Orchard but it’s our little mini […]