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.

Garden DILL

Garden Dill 
Anethum graveolens "Hera"
Organically grown seed from
Reefnet Bay Road, Shaw Island,
San Juan Archipelago, WA.

New Listing for Dill "Hera"

Scientific name: Anethum graveolens "Hera"

The common name of dill reportedly comes from the Norse word dilla meaning to lull or soothe. 

Lifecycle: Hardy annual 

USDA Hardiness Zones: 02-11

Site: Full sun, protect from wind. Shade can cause plants to flop over.

Dill attracts a number of beneficial insects to the garden: bees, wasps, butterflies, lacewings, tachinid flies, hoverflies, and lady beetles. 

Dill is a larval plant for the black swallowtail butterfly.

Sowing: Sow in situ from spring until mid-summer. Thin to 9-11" apart.

Watering: Don't let them dry out.

Maintenance: Low.

Bloom time: August to September.

Harvesting: gather leaves when young. To collect seeds after flowering heads turn brown, hang the whole plant upside down over a cloth or a paper bag underneath.

Preserving: Dry or freeze leaves. 

Notes: Early settlers took dill to North America, where it became known as "meetinghouse seed" because children were given dill seed to chew during long sermons.

Uses: Commonly grown in herb gardens, vegetable gardens, or flower borders. If grown in a pot it should be a DEEP one. 

More information may be viewed on the highly regarded Missouri Botanical Garden site. 

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.