The importance of a heavily planted yard can’t be emphasized too much when it comes to attracting birds. All of the plants do not have to provide food for them. Food is just one of four needs for sustaining bird populations. Like all wild creatures, birds need food, water, nesting habitat and protective cover. We […]
wildlife
Posted inThe Garden
Name that Warbler — Heralding the Arrival of Spring
Warbler watching in West Sound country can’t compete with what the eastern portion of North America enjoys, but we do have several special warbler species. Not only do warblers move into the Northwest with spring’s arrival, some have been brightening the winter landscape. Winter visits from the Townsend’s warbler appear more frequent than they did […]
Posted inPeople & Places
A Spa for Your Wild Soul
A chance meeting more than a decade ago was the unlikely beginning of a relationship that today builds confidence and begins transformation for women in an unlikely way. A Spa for Your Wild Soul, women’s kayak journeys, is the creation of Spring Courtright and Maria Cook, two local women on a mission to challenge other […]
Posted inThe Outdoors
Storms impact more just people — Puget Sound suffers, too
Storms have been hitting the South Puget Sound hard over the past few months. We have gotten used to the inclement weather, keeping a rain jacket close at all times and putting on tough faces when rain threatens to cancel plans. We have learned to shrug our shoulders when our glasses get splattered with dewy […]
Posted inPeople & Places
Harbor Family Park — Land Saved for Future Generations
Through efforts led by Gig Harbor citizen-activist Vern Young and a few other community visionaries, a 19-acre forested site was saved from becoming a housing development so that the community, as well as future generations, will have a wonderful park. Young, who died in 2014, was taking a walk in the wooded area in 2005 […]
Posted inThe Outdoors
West Puget Sound Island Could Be Our Own ‘Panama Canal’
What if we could create a West Puget Sound Island, bigger than Whidbey, bigger than either Bainbridge or Vashon — an island that would become a true Mecca for recreational boaters? And what if we could save the ecosystem of Hood Canal in the bargain? Forget “Big Bertha” and the ill-fated (so far) tunnel under […]
Posted inThe Garden
Get The Dirt — On Home Gardening
Let the official gardening season begin. At least for hardcore gardeners. It’s time to plant potatoes; put in peas and sow some lettuce seeds, bok choy, chard, kale and a host of other cooler season veggies. Get ready to plant fruit trees, raspberries, asparagus and other wonderful edibles found at many local nurseries this time […]
Posted inThe Garden
Tales From the Coop
This is not Chickenology 101 nor a “how-to” but a “why to” article. All the technical and educational information about raising chickens can be found anywhere. However, the sources seem to lack the back story about the experience of raising chickens. I have always loved birds and held a secret desire to someday raise chickens. […]
Posted inFeatured, The Garden
A ‘Forever’ Home and Garden
Lana and Bob Decker live on a secluded hilltop above Wildcat Lake. They’ve created their “forever” home and garden on an idyllic 5-acre piece of land. Bob Decker was a lifelong Alaskan and Lana moved to Alaska in 1981. They married in 1989, bought a fixer-upper and further honed their gardening skills since both were […]
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