Pacific Northwest Gardening: Apropos of Nothing v.5, 1 by bonehead

bonehead wrote:
Good morning all. I'm fairly new to DG and just starting to explore the forums. Thought I'd try tracking a local one to begin with. My life in a nutshell: Married since '74, 2 adult children, 1 grandchild, 1 dog, 1.5 cats (mine and a walk-on I feed but don't allow inside). Live in a now too-large home on 15 acres in north Snohomish County. Lots of perennial gardens around the house and barn, recently converted our fenced vegetable garden into an herb labyrinth (see photo, early spring '08) which is slowly taking shape. We have a year-round salmon creek, in-stream pond, fields, wetlands (ya think), and woodlots. We recently got rid of our livestock, and I am now enjoying identifying and cultivating native plants in our wild areas. We struggle with beavers, trying to find a balance of coexistence (currently they have the upper hand, and have us flooded to the point we have no access to our back 10). I'm a semi-retired paralegal, working on a very part-time freelance basis from home. My husband continues to go down the driveway on a daily basis to the salt mines. He's a golfer and tinkerer, I'm a gardener and reader. Hope to exchange some thoughts and ideas with like-minded folk.