Another weekend, another garden visit.
The Old Goat Farm is a private garden and home nursery in the rural area of Orting, near the foothills of the Cascade Mountains. The two men who own it and live there are artists with plants. Their garden is enchanting, full of whimsy as well as beauty.
They are only open on selected weekends, but we get emails from them so we know when we can visit.
When you have rocks, make art.
Everywhere you look there is something interesting.
These fern tables are wonderful.
The front porch of this wonderful old house.
One of the old outbuildings.
In back of the ornamental yard is the farm.
The farm includes a vegetable/fruit garden
There's the Old Goat.
and farm animals too.
Gardeners are often collectors too. These guys are.
At the end of the tour is the nursery.
Of course we couldn't leave without one or two, or three, purchases.
On the way home, through the Orting Valley, we stopped at a fruit stand where fresh local strawberries were for sale.
We bought a pint full, and Sunday morning we had strawberry shortcake for breakfast.
Because, why not?!
Last Sunday morning we sought out another large garden where we could get in a few miles of walking while enjoying the beauty of a well tended public garden. We relied on an old favorite, the Bellevue Botanical Garden.
From the cool wind sculpture at the entrance, to the "meadow", the massive perennial border, the pond, rhododendron and fern garden, to the tranquil Yao Garden, it was a great way to spend an hour and a half.
Here is your tour, without commentary.
Ooops.
From the Yao Garden we took one of the shorter trails through the natural woodland that is a large part of this preserve before ending our walk. Once again the BBG did not disappoint.
