Earth Day 2026

Earth Day was wet. It rained a lot. But a few of us intrepid members of our garden club braved the chilly rain to tour a special place we only learned about recently from an article in the Sunday  Magazine section of the Seattle Times.

Shadow Lake Bog, part of Shadow Lake Preserve, is an area of about 22 acres salvaged from construction and years of dumping to reveal an 8 to 10 thousand year old  sphagnum moss-hemlock peat bog hidden in a semi-rural neighborhood east of Renton, WA. 

The small lake and area were renamed Shadow to stand for Save Habitat And Diversity Of Wetlands. Our guide was a young woman Environmental Scientist. The area is privately owned by a benefactor with support from King County.  

While moss on the ground formed the peat bog, moss is everywhere. Decaying trees and plant life will continue the process of bog building. 

Salmon berry is blooming.

Bracket fungus

Skunk cabbage

Now entering the peat bog itself.

Moss of various kinds cover the forest floor

Formed over thousands of years, originally in a bowl shaped depression, the peat here is about 80 feet deep. 

Mounds of moss

It was a wonderful experience to be able to see and learn about this treasure of nature being conserved for all to enjoy and learn about.

We did a little more trail walking in the preserve before we succumbed to the rain and met up for lunch and conversation at a local restaurant.

It was a memorable Earth Day.

For The Beauty of the Earth.

 Tomorrow, April 22nd, is Earth Day.

We have been getting our hands, and knees, and tools in the earth plenty here at the Reeder Homestead. The garden is looking spiffy, and we are feeling "stiffy". Is that a word? :-)

We've done a lot of cleaning up and clearing out and cutting off. I have scraped off moss and cleaned up edges. Tom has transplanted seedlings from his greenhouse and tended all of his geranium cuttings. Extras from our garden is being readied for sister Laurie's plant sale in May. 

Early bloomers have made way for later April flowers. Spring is beautiful, and lots of work.

Our tulips are blooming.

My color combination this year.

We always have a clump of Princess Irene Tulips.

And Fringe tulips.

It's apple blossom time. We don't get many apples anymore - too cold and too shady- but we like the trees and blossoms. 

This is one place where I worked, cutting edges and scraping moss. 

As we work in the garden we enjoy looking back across the garden to take in the whole of it. 

The photo below was taken about two weeks ago. I have it on my desktop screen. Inside or outside, I love our garden, even when it makes me work too hard. 

Wednesday, Earth Day, we are going on a garden club outing to a 5000 year old peat bog at Shadow Lake Nature Preserve. We may also walk some trails in the preserve, and then do lunch. Rain is coming later today, over night, and Wednesday morning, just in time for our outing, wouldn't you know.  But we Northwesterners can do rain. 

I'll let you know if I can stick it out. 

Happy Earth Day!

Thank you

 I have had responses from several of you and have DJan's contact information. I have sent her an email. I will update if I hear anything. 

It's Dogwood Time

 

We have been having some beautiful weather the last few days. Green leaves are popping out everywhere. The dogwood flower bracts have gone white.

The photo above is fron the tree hanging over my mail box. the photo below is from the park where I walk, that is. when I'm not working in the garden.

 

Working in the garden is a struggle, especially trying to remain upright, but at the same time I love it. I miss being able to just be free to move.

Sunday morning is when I usually read DJan's Eye On The Edge post. I miss her and I realized I have no way to contact her. Maybe she wants it that way, but I don't. I don't have her email address or mailing address and I don't even know her surname. 

Does anyone out there have contact info for her? If so, my email address  should be on my profile.

Thanks, and happy spring! 

Irene Is 21!

 April 17th is Irene's 21st birthday. Already!

We celebrated it Easter Sunday, along with Jake's 51st. Today she will celebrate with college friends in Bellingham. She's happy that it's on a Friday, so she can sleep in the next day. I don't see her carousing too much though. That's not her style. 

Once she was little, here with her great gramma Violet. 

Now she climbs mountains.

Here she is as a freshman at Western Washington University, where her major is Marine biology with a minor in Salish Sea studies.  She likes being outside. That's not surprising.

Now she is finishing her Junior year. We are always happy when we get a chance to see her. She loves her family and we love her. 

Happy Birthday to our sweet Irene.

We are very proud of her.