Northwest passage

Seattle is mad for plaid. But then, it has been since the local grunge-music scene of the mid-80s exploded nationally in the  early 1990s. And of course there was mad-for-plaid lumber jacking, long before that. We spent several days in Seattle last week and loved the upscale plaid -- among other things -- at the small Filson store that houses its retail site with factory in back. Nearly everything is made on site. It's mostly a mail-order business (filson.com) selling beautifully made and expensive outdoor clothes, bags and luggage...

...Too rich for my taste (and not much is made for women) but my husband treated himself to more than a few special items of clothing. Including plaid.

We stayed at Hotel Max (hotelmaxseattle.com). It was way too hip for us. A rock-music oriented boutique hotel downtown, it gives out copies of real Eddie Vedder postcards to guests, hangs Warhols on the walls and builds music-related installations in the lobby. Our room was tiny, clean and colorful, but tiny. Next trip, we're advised by a friend to stay in the Queen Anne neighborhood -- away from downtown construction, traffic and noise. The Sorrento (hotelsorrento.com) is vintage 1909  -- about the age of our Montana bungalow. We definitely will go in that direction and we surely will return to Seattle. It's an 8-hour drive to great shopping and amazing food. It's one of the advantages of living where we do.

One advantage to our tiny 8th-floor Hotel Max room was a view of roof-top gardening, Seattle style. This overly formal roof of a condo building featured fall colors of wisteria on arbors, neatly trimmed shrubs and daily attendance by gardeners. We also saw young hipsters carefully walking their dogs and well-heeled young families taking advantage of a fire pit and barbecue area. I wouldn't want to live in downtown Seattle, but, oh well.

A highlight -- as we were pretending to live the high life -- was dinner at Canlis (canlis.com). It's a family-owned seafood specialist but with all of the trappings of fine European design and service. Men are required to wear jackets. Women -- most of them -- sported cocktail dresses...

We were seated high on a beautifully lit platform of diners. Below us were tables all along tall windows with sweeping views of Lake Union and Seattle, beyond. Standout dishes were the Peter Canlis prawns, in dry vermouth, garlic and lime; the famous grandmother-invented Canlis salad; creme brulee; and, of course, the champagne and wines. Wow, what an evening.

I must say that our favorite meals were much less expensive and much more low-key. The first night, we went directly to  Chinook's At Salmon Bay for freshest fried cod, pan-fried oysters and local craft beers (anthonys.com/restaurants/detail/chinook-at-salmon-bay). Oh, and the view of the Fisherman's Terminal was spectacular. Another day, we lunched at Zagat's highly rated Facing East Taiwanese Restaurant in Bellevue (facingeastrestaurant.com). No view here except for plates of gorgeous stir-fired beef and salt-and-pepper shrimp.

But our favorite quirky stop was at something called Garagiste. It's a hard-to-find warehouse in an industrial area south of downtown. We've been ordering wines from it (garagiste.com) for a few years, after a piece in the New York Times extolled its owner, Jon Rimmerman, and his knack for finding great, relatively inexpensive wines that reflect the vines and the earth in which they're grown. He travels all over the world, but his business really does operate in what looks like a huge garage. We picked up seven cases that had been on order -- from Spain, Italy, France and several of Washington State vintage. We also purchased two wonderful olive oils. It was great fun to see where it all ships from.

It was especially nice, though, to get home. We knew we were almost there when we saw pine trees turning gold -- the Western Larches that populate mountain sides here along with the more familiar fall golds of cottonwood and aspen.
(See more about larches here.)

Islandia

The Ranger III is our ticket to get to islands in northern Lake Superior...

...Then, we get into a tiny boat -- either at Rock Harbor where there's big water, or at smaller, safer Tobin Harbor, above -- and proceed to our cabin under clear skies and on sparkling water.

As it happens, this long-planned (since last Thanksgiving) trip gives us a lucky break from wildfire smoke in Western Montana. This old haunt is a family cabin in the chain of islands that's now Isle Royale National Park. We have our own cabin (this is a look out its picture window) for about a week...

Sunrises here can be pretty spectacular; sunsets, too.

The front porch is a gathering spot for wine and cheese, of an evening. This porch and the front of the cabin are built so high atop rock (circa the 1930s) that they have the feel of living in a tree house.

Cousin Peggy Gale recently added a beautiful piece of driftwood to the top of the cabin's front-porch door. 

Inside the cabin are Hudson's Bay blankets, vintage wicker furniture, lanterns with Aladdin-brand mantels, family photos and drawings. (My photo here slants; the cabin does not.)

I sit on the bed, after a nap, and gaze at the lake out of a gauzy old window.

The original stone fireplace keeps the main room cozy. We have several days of rain and need some dry heat.

   

Blueberries are found in patches around the island this time of year. We pick them and have buckwheat-blueberry pancakes most mornings. We bring a Zip lock full of berries home with us; don't tell the Park Service. Technically, they own the cabin and island now, since the last person on the '30s life lease died several years ago (the family signed the lease because it wanted the National Park to come in to protect the 50-mile-long main island and surrounding little ones). It's a year-by-year test now to see when/if we get kicked off. So, we are delighted to have this chance to come do a little work on the cabin -- including closing it up for winter -- and see it all, one last time?

Gardens of Earthly Delights

What could convey the beauty, passion and hard work of each of the five gardeners in last weekend's (Aug. 8) amazing Bitterroot Secret Garden Tour? (By the way, we sold out of tickets early, had 100-plus guests and raised $2,580 for the local Humane Association.) Here's a quick summary of the tour, starting with a key image from each garden...

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At Nansu Roddy's in-town Hamilton garden, above, a kind heart or two greets you near the gate. They are from her collection of heart-shaped Bitterroot River rocks and symbolize, to my mind, the "heart" that this librarian/gardener pours into her permaculture space.

From Nansu's tiny greenhouse spill out squash, pumpkins (and gourds?) -- cucurbits of all make and model searching for more room to vine.

A view from the curb shows Nansu's specially designed Rebar fence to keep out deer (still, the critters were able to nibble off sunflower heads close to the fence and just before the tour).

Later in the day, as sun and visitors sweep her garden, veggies stand tall in this tiny 
city plot.  Nansu says her secret is permaculture's  intensely improved soil that becomes
like "chocolate cake crumbs" over time. Rodale defines permaculture as "combining the
best of natural landscaping and edible gardening" (Rodale on permaculture). What could 
be better than that? (Well, maybe the homemade treats by Nansu, also a caterer and
events coordinator, and the hot coffee donated by Randy Lint of Big Creek Coffee?
It all was very, very good.)

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So many single images define Bill and Virginia Kindzerski's acre of pristine vegetable garden that it's just a matter of making a choice. This pumpkin patch is one.

Sunflowers and corn mix in part of the Kindzerski valley-based, mountain-view garden.

Cabbages are a specialty of Bill Kindzerski, who's been gardening for 80 years (since he was six).

Virginia Kindzerski handles the beautiful flower beds. These pay homage in ornamental cabbages to her husband's interest in the vegetables.

The Kindzerski couple dries, cans and freezes much of the harvest. But they end up giving most of it away to family, friends and charities.

Kale, kale and more kale thrive in the Kindzerski's composted soil.

One overview of the Kindzerski garden shows mountains to the east and close-in trees
that Bill insists trap cold air from snow-capped mountains to the west and make his garden
mature later than most of his neighbors'.

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The key image for the Bitterroot Secret Garden Tour is the dragonfly, and Jean Israel echoes that with her own little "Welcome" sign, featuring that beautiful insect with transparent wings.

Sun-shade-sun also could be the theme in Jean's newly restored in-town garden. Out front is a sunny, renovated bed packed with plumes of native purple liatris and ornamental grasses.

In back of Jean's house are areas of deep shade, such as this little patio with fragrant creeping thyme between the stepping stones.

Bicycle-as-garden ornament is another whimsical shade theme of Jean's.

But sun gets captured in a southwest corner of Jean's backyard, where a collection of new raised beds already is partly harvested and ready for fall plantings.

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The best place to sit in Susan and Mark Behrman's garden is under a handmade arbor covered with hops.  It's a quiet getaway at the edge of their unusual mountainside ornamental/vegetable garden -- fenced all the way around against roaming elk and deer.

At the front of the Behrman beds are bright edges of marigolds, nasturtiums and sunflowers, with tomatoes staked in the middle of this one.

The Behrman's Jack Russell terrier scampers across lawn between veggies and herbs.

A broader view of the Behrman garden shows mountains in the background. They live and garden about 1,000-feet higher in altitude than do their friends in town.

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Horse trough as flower bed, above -- just one of many treats to be found in Kielian and Chuck DeWitt's Bitterroot Valley garden.

At the entrance to the DeWitt house are pathways edged with a horticulturist's dream of flowering perennial varieties.

Another view of the DeWitt's paths and bounteous plantings.

Below the main DeWitt house is a greenhouse to die for; here, a master-gardener volunteer tells garden tourists what they need to know about surrounding plants.

A cactus in a birdcage, above, is just one of Kielian DeWitt's whimsical touches...

...as is a lovely screen and planters around the PortaPotty rented for the event.

And when all touring is done, Nansu Roddy, Jean Israel, Virginia and Bill Kindzerski, Susan and Mark Behrman and Kielian and Chuck DeWitt gather on a sunny deck for drinks, nibbles and a special Secret Garden cake (baked by one of the intrepid organizers, Deborah Bedey; other organizers are artist and interior designer Karol Klakken May; garden wiz Kielian DeWitt; Ravalli County Extension Agent Katrina Mendrey; and me, garden writer Becky Homan).  Look for us to put on another benefit garden tour next year!
 2016: Here we come!

Saturday in Montana

Every so often on a Sat., I like to get out of town to see what nearby farmers markets are up to.

Missoula's is pretty wonderful.

A fiddler finds a spot to play some Celtic tunes.

 Black Krim heirloom tomatoes shine (ours, in our Hamilton garden, aren't quite this ripe).

Carrot bunches are massive.

Old-fashioned flowers rule.

English peas are tempting (I bought a bowl and turned them into Pasta Primavera).

Rhubarb slushies? Not so much. I grow rhubarb, I love rhubarb, but I know how much sugar it takes to make it palatable!

Young farmers, beautiful produce, and the dimension of interesting tents make for a fun scene.

And if all else fails (how could it?), grab a tamale from a hipster's food truck on the way out.