Author Archives: Keith Possee

It’s been more than a month since the worst of the forest fire smoke cleared up around Seattle. For a couple weeks in September it was hazardous just to be breathing outside. What a rough year for wildfires in the … Continue reading →

Unlike many recent years, we had a cool, rainy May and a cool, rainy June in Seattle. A bit more warmth would be nice but spring and early summer is when we really need rain, so no complaints here. With … Continue reading →

Birdsong and maybe a baffling spring wind wafting through the conifers excepted, all is quiet in the Medicinal Herb Garden and the surrounding city, state, country and much of the world right now as we step out of our busy, … Continue reading →

The good news is the days are growing longer; not by much but it starts to add up about now, luckily, because it has been quite dark and rainy for a while. Rainy and warmish in the lowlands since our … Continue reading →

They’ve all been present around the Medicinal Herb Garden recently. Barred owls appear to have made campus or nearby woods their home, but the ravens are unusual in the city, where they are infrequent visitors, passing over from one rural … Continue reading →

After some good rains in late summer to prepare us for winter, we have passed through another equinox and into autumn. It’s always a little surprising how quickly the days become noticeably shorter. The sun is low enough in the … Continue reading →

It has been a mild and rainy summer so far. The plants are loving it and so are most gardeners. The sotol plant (Dasylirion wheeleri) reached thirteen feet on the 3rd of July when some of the flowers closest to … Continue reading →

This time of year can be a bit hectic, whether you’re a farmer, a landscaper or a gardener. There’s so much, almost too much to do. Once the students (at least those who don’t take summer classes) have set off … Continue reading →

Most of Seattle got the better part of a foot of snow or more in the course of a  week  and a half, starting on Super Bowl Sunday. The newspapers declared this was the biggest snow event since 1949. Seattle … Continue reading →

Pretty soon the days will begin growing longer again. In this Pacific Northwest winter land of soaking gray days and long nights (we’re further north than Quebec City…. though south of Paris and substantially south of London), where heavy clouds … Continue reading →