January

Word of the Month – Covert: a dens thicket suitable for wildlife

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It’s raining today.

It always rains in Seattle, you might say.

Well… no. Not all the time. That’s something I learned this month while I worked in my garden. I might check out the window in the morning and think, ah, raining, well I guess I won’t get out today. I would dress in a cute or comfortable outfit suitable for “indoor” work and go about my day. But then, around noon, I’d notice that the rain had stopped. Sometimes there was even a little sun. So I run back upstairs and change into gardening clothes and abandon all plans for the day in favor of building a pea tent or pruning the apple trees.

Eventually I learned to always wear gardening clothes.

In times of stress or boredom, I turn to plants. But I’ve NEVER had so much time on my hands as I do right now during the COVID pandemic. So, oh boy, do I have plans.

I built myself a giant pea frame, big enough to sit inside. I’m going to take zoom calls in there this spring. Because there will still be zoom calls this spring, and probably this summer, maybe even into the fall again. I know, that idea puts a knot of dread in my stomach, too. So, I built a pea tent. I’ll let you know if it helps.

I made friends with my neighbor, a novel concept in the Eastside culture. She lives down the road and has miniate donkeys and a llama that she lets me visit whenever I want. She also showed me the basics of pruning when I caught her trimming her grape vine. Now pruning the wild apple trees has become my passion project. I finished one (the smallest) and only have about 10 more to go. But heaven knows I’m not going anywhere and neither are they so I’m sure I’ll get around to them.

Last, but certainly not the least, of my projects is a butterfly garden. It looks good on paper. I want to fill it with native plants and wildflowers, and big rocks for the butterflies to sunbath on. But will the deer eat all my plants? Will the butterflies even come? I have no idea. Stay tuned. If I don’t fall out of an apple tree or get lost in my pea-tent-zoom-call paradise, I’ll post a new update in a month.