The small but colorful female flower of the hazelnut. Spring is on its way! #Washington #pnw #gardening

On the note of "sounds impossible, but is true and there's even a Wikipedia article about it", tropical cyclones have actually hit Russia before, just in the Russian Far East.

#climate #wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropical_cyclones_in_Russia

If you're in Tacoma or Pierce Co., you may have just got a second ballot (for the Pierce Conservation District board).

Once you sign-up to receive them, you keep getting them when an election is happening.

Why they don't go out with the regular ballot is an odd quirk of WA state law (it's complicated). It's too late to request one for the current election, but you can still sign up on their site and be eligible for the next. #tacoma #piercecounty #washington

https://piercecd.org/573/How-to-Vote-in-District-Elections

If some of the plants look . . . yellow or nutrient deficient, that was part of the motivating factor in making this, to make an organized fertilization plan.

My latest pet project is a digital houseplant inventory. Turns out we have 107 different plants (103 species) from 35 different plant families. I have an outdoor version going, but I think the indoor plant diversity has it beat. #plants #gardening #tacoma

Had a nice day out at the Port Observation Lookout the other week. Very sunny day and the seals/sea lions were chilling. #Tacoma #Washington #pacificnorthwest

Picking out the best tree collards after temperatures hit -5⁰C (23⁰F). You can propagate these from cuttings, and since this a breeding mix, there is going to be a mixture of characteristics. All pulled through the frost, but I got to do a taste test of the ones exhibiting no wiltiness. The prettiest ones were not necessarily the best tasting.

#gardening #perennialtreecollards #washington #vegetables

@justin @greyllama @Sadsquatch Sorry for the late response, been super busy with life stuff, but I'm on board with whatever would be easiest!

I might be more helpful in terms of content (making maps and fun visualizations of Tacoma related things). I would say anything that could display Leaflet maps (so javascript support would be vital) and anything else that a typical Wiki could support would be great.

Good news! Tacoma is getting a Uwajimaya where the old Hobby Lobby was. #tacoma #washington

Excited to bring in the New Year with our dog Joules. #dogs #tacoma #cozy

@czarbucks Yes, I have 6 set up around the house and it has saved me a few times. I think mine are X-Sense brand but I am sure there are others that work great as well (and might be a little more open platform). The system I have also has a smoke detector too, so if it were to go off when I was away from home, it will alert me.

Finally set up the time-lapse video feature on our 3D printer. These are hooks for a new wall-mounted leash hanger. #3DPrinting #timelapse

Our battery backup is coming through spectacularly. Even our internet is back up. Just have to wander the rest of the house with headlamps.

#tacoma

Well, power's out.

#tacoma

Hey just a friendly reminder since folk are doing flu and covid vax rn to not forget about TDaP! Many places recommend a fresh boost if you have a tetanus exposure and its been at least five years since your last one, and it should be boosted every 10 years regardless. While people associate tetanus with rusty nails and barb wire fencing, it lives in the soil. So if you play in the dirt (looking at cavers, gardeners, outdoorsy folk in general) you may be due sooner than you think. Folk like us often have abrasions or cuts on our hands from doing things, and then shove our hands into dirt and mud. Keep that in mind! Plus it seems like every other winter there is a new whooping cough outbreak and thats the P part of TDaP so its an easy one to forget about but a good one to stay up on.

Now that you are protected, go flip some rocks! (And make sure you gently put them back!)

#dirt #mud #outside #garden #gardener #caver #health #vaccine #care #science #health #salamander

Dawn redwood at Jefferson Park in Tacoma in full color. #trees #tacoma #nature #dawnredwood #confiers

@RebeccaBredin I can't speak for Ontario, but around where I live (WA state in the US), restaurant supply stores are all open to anyone, even if you're not a restaurant. I regularly have seen (and occasionally buy) super-sized containers of dairy products for similar food projects. It's the only place I've seen them.

I've bought directly from a dairy before, and used a local food directories as a helpful starting point there.

Good luck!

Going through more old plant photos. I'm struck by how colorful California coffeeberries (Frangula californica) are.

They're a close relative of Cascara, but they're evergreen and are more of a southern Cascadian plant (grows in SW Oregon southward into Northern CA). This plant is in a pot in Tacoma and is quite happy here.

Their berries look like coffee berries, but tragically lack caffeine.

#nature #washington #oregon #pacificnorthwest #botany #cascadia #pnw #plants #nativeplants

@wannabemystiker These are the brined olives. It's pretty much just "add the cal" and wait. Super easy!

These ones are all green. I've found as I've grown them longer on the tree, especially with warm summers (and with some cold exposure on the trees into autumn), they start turning more purple than what you see here.

These are older photos from a few years ago, but I was struck by how photogenic our native oak species, Quercus garryana, can be. It's more commonly known as the Garry oak or Oregon white oak.

These photos are of oak trees in Thurston County at the Scatter Creek North Unit.

#pacificnorthwest #washington #trees #nature #autumn #nativeplants