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Portuguese water dog doing 'deep woods agility', colourful frog, macro of dandelion seed, mushrooms after rains, stream in the woods, honey bee
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Patch of sun in a ferny woods with Portuguese Water Dog, Vancouver, BC
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Patch of sun in a ferny woods with Portuguese Water Dog, Vancouver, BC

  • 'S' is for sumptuous, succulent, sweet, Swiss chard<br /> <br /> Another one of my garden vegetables, Swiss chard has been called the 'new kale'. It is one of the most nutritious vegetables around, and ranks second only to spinach for its total nutrient richness. Cooking tip: boiling Swiss chard in an uncovered pot of water for 3 minutes will help to release some of it’s acidity by reducing its content of oxalic acid, making it sweeter.<br /> <br /> Re Art's comment: Where I live in Vancouver, near the ocean, we are in the Canadian 'tropics'. We have a USDA climate zone rating of 9a (equivalent to coastal Oregon and northern California), so we can actually grow winter veggies here, and cold tolerant vegetables, such as Swiss chard, will last throughout most winters as we rarely get snow, and even more rarely get a killing frost.<br /> <br /> 17/11/13 <a href="http://www.allenfotowild.com">http://www.allenfotowild.com</a>
  • 'T' is for tempting, tasty, tender tomato's from Terry's garden.<br /> <br /> I still have 3 pots of cherry tomatoes in the greenhouse....the latest I've been able to keep tomatoes to date, thanks to a late fall and more sunshine than usual. Fresh organic tomatoes to go with dinner tonight! I actually forgot that I had tarragon and thyme in the herb garden for alternate 'T's, as well as sage for an alternate 'S'.<br /> <br /> I have no veggies or flowers left in the garden that start with u,v,w,x,y or z (my vinca and my zuccini froze), so I think that this is the end of my garden alphabet for this year, unless I get a brain wave.<br /> <br /> 24/11/13 <a href="http://www.allenfotwild.com">http://www.allenfotwild.com</a>
  • 'W' is for winter kale #2<br /> <br /> Best at the largest sizes.
  • 'W' is for winter kale<br /> <br /> Took this before I left for London. My garden came through again, since we had some frost, and I caught the kale just as the sun was rising and there was still frost and ice crystals on the kale. Best seen at larger sizes to catch the details of the frost and ice, and the nice side lighting to give it more of a 3 dimensional effect.<br /> <br /> For an alternative 'W' shot of another kale plant winter kale from my garden, with some even nicer ice crystals, but with a flatter light, see here: <a href="http://goo.gl/AikWVR">http://goo.gl/AikWVR</a><br /> Any preference?<br /> <br /> Thanks to everyone for your discussion yesterday on women photographers. I was thinking last night of the other fields where women are under-represented including great chefs, artists (painters), symphony conductors and composers, and many other artistic fields that you could probably add to.<br /> <br /> 15/12/13 <a href="http://www.allenfotowild.com">http://www.allenfotowild.com</a>
  • `X`is for X-garden (as in ex-garden) #1<br /> <br /> When I got back from my recent trip I was wondering if I could squeeze another alphabet challenge out of my garden, but before I could take a photo it started to snow, and I thought "my garden is no more, it is a dead garden.....an ex-garden" (remembering the Monty Python sketch about the ex-parrot) and all of a sudden, I knew I had my `X`shot. (Although as Art would say, we'll have to let the jury decide this one, LOL).<br /> <br /> Thanks to Rick for pointing out that the paths between the raised beds also make an 'X'!<br /> <br /> If you don't remember the famously funny Monty Python dead parrot sketch, it's a classic! You can see it here: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqz_4OgMi7M">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqz_4OgMi7M</a><br /> <br /> A wider angle shot of the garden can be seen here: <a href="http://goo.gl/xk3ovS">http://goo.gl/xk3ovS</a><br /> <br /> 22/12/13 <a href="http://www.allenfotowild.com">http://www.allenfotowild.com</a>
  • `X`is for X-garden (as in ex-garden) #2
  • 'L'<br /> <br /> I recently bought a new L bracket for my camera, and photographed it for the alphabet challenge<br /> <br /> 6/04/14 <a href="http://www.allenfotowild.com">http://www.allenfotowild.com</a>
  • 'Bonus' post (best larger)<br /> <br /> Canadian Tiger Swallowtail, Papillo canadensis, Vancouver, BC. I don't often post butterfly pics, but this guy was keeping me company as I dead-headed the geraniums out on the back deck this afternoon, so I grabbed my camera and saved him for posterity. Notice that both antennas and his tongue are clear in this image.
  • Eight shrimp practicing their shrimp ring routine (best larger)<br /> <br /> Old photo with a new treatment (no time to do anything else for the still life challenge)<br /> <br /> 08/02/15 <a href="http://www.allenfotowild.com">http://www.allenfotowild.com</a>
  • Still-life-with-travel-books
  • Still life with books<br /> <br /> More of my collection of travel and adventure books for the still life challenge...and yes, I've read them all.<br /> <br /> 22/02/15 <a href="http://www.allenfotowild.com">http://www.allenfotowild.com</a>
  • A sign of spring
  • 'Y' is for yummy, year-end, yuletide vegetables!<br /> <br /> Our recent snow was gone by the next day, giving me the opportunity to go out yesterday afternoon and dig some beets, carrots and leeks out of the garden. I rinsed some of the soil off them with the hose to bring out the fresh colour, laid them on one of the raised beds and took a photo. In Vancouver, with our Mediterranean climate, root vegetables will over winter in the ground. The leeks, together with some potatoes I dug earlier in the season, will make a nice potato and leek soup. The beets can be used to make a nice borscht or some pickled beets, while the carrots could be part of a nice scotch broth with barley. So now, there is only 'Z'. I have an idea, but you'll have to wait until next Saturday (1 day early, since I'll be on an airplane).<br /> <br /> 29/12/13 <a href="http://www.allenfotowild.com">http://www.allenfotowild.com</a>
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