SINGING OUT THE MONTH OF MAY

"Keep a green tree in your heart and perhaps  

a singing bird will come."

Chinese Proverb

These 26 birds sang at the Gatehouse woodland garden on 31 May 2022.

American Robin, Black-headed Grosbeak, Cedar Waxwing, 

Wilson's Warbler, Bewick's Wren, Spotted Towhee, Pine Siskin, 

Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Hairy Woodpecker, Swainson's Thrush, White-crowned Sparrow, Orange-crowned Warbler, Warbling Vireo, Song Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, Purple Finch, Cassin's Vireo, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Red-breasted Nuthatch, American Kestrel, Pacific-slope Flycatcher, Brown-headed Cowbird, Stellar's Jay, Western Tanager, Rufous Hummingbird, 

and the Common Yellowthroat. 

Native Crabapple 
(Malus fusca) 
A sweet specimen for pollinators
and people in early spring; 
Photographed on Shaw Island,
San Juan Archipelago, WA.
Two thousand and twenty-two.

 

NATIVE CRABAPPLE
(Malus fusca)
One tree in an unmolested row of 
native Crabapples 
going dormant, but laden 
 with ripened fruit for the bird's
 winter pantry.
Click the photo to enlarge.
Shaw Island fall of 2021.

MAHONIA X 'CHARITY' 
blooming in the winter in the
Gatehouse woodland garden
with nectar for pollinators and 
hungry Anna's hummingbirds
who now stay on Shaw Island, WA,
through the winter. 
 

Magnolia grandiflora "Kay Pariss"
Non-native growing on Shaw Island, WA.
Please think about planting for the pollinators.

HEIRLOOM BEANS

 

HEIRLOOM RUNNER BEANS
known in the islands as "BOND BEANS" 
This strain originates from a long life grown and
saved each year by the well-known Bond family on 
ORCAS ISLAND, San Juan Archipelago, WA.

The Bond Bean, an heirloom runner bean (Phaseolus coccineus), known for decades on Orcas Island is now available for the first time this year at Gatehouse Seeds. 

The tender perennial plant is native to the mountains of Mexico and Central America. The Scarlet Runner Beans have scarlet flowers but this one with white flowers, reported by Sidney on Orcas, is tastier for dried beans for cooking.

They like full sun in rich soil with plenty of organic matter and average moisture. 

The seeds of this species are more tolerant of cold soil in the spring than other beans. 

The viability of the dried seed is 3-4 years. Harvest in 75 days.

"BOND BEANS "
runner type now growing
on Shaw Island 
from seeds generously shared 
by Sidney on Orcas.
They will soon be installed 
on the rack at the 
roadside shed,
Reefnet Bay Road,
 on Shaw Island, WA.