Okay. I’ll take breath mints.

I grew my first successful crop of garlic last year. It was modest, perhaps a dozen heads of Nash’s Delta Giant but I was hooked. The dried version you get at the supermarket is pretty generic, much of it imported from China. Fresh garlic is gentle, succulent, and nuanced. It grows well here. It gives bragging rights. So I set aside a whole bed for this year’s crop. Like any addict, I wanted more. Much more.

Garlic is planted in the fall and Nash’s seed crop failed last year. This led me to a local garlic maven, Blythe Barbolian, of Barbolian Fields Garlic. I landed in Garlic Heaven. Did I want softneck? Hardneck? Hot and spicy? Mild? Artichoke? Asian? Porcelain? Oh, dear!

Blythe is patient and good hearted. She knew the signs of a fresh convert and walked me through her tiny workshop of baskets loaded with heads of garlic – large, small, porcelain, purple. I estimated the number of plants I could grow and she helped me decide. I came home with a small bag of this year’s promise which I planted last November. The photo above is most of the bounty. There are also about a dozen heads already harvested.

German Extra Hardy (porcelain, shown above), Inchelium Red (artichoke), Brown Tempest and Persian Star (purple stripe). And she threw in some Juan de Fuca Wonder, their own rocambole. Plus the Siberian that I’d already harvested.

Some years ago I helped at a friend’s party with kitchen duties, peeling and chopping garlic. When another guest commented on my work, without thinking I said, “Garlic makes me happy.” I hadn’t realized it until that moment but it was one of those simple, unrealized truths. And now that I can grow it I’m very happy indeed.

Simple pleasures are like that. Life is good.

Clallam County Fair

The Clallam County Fair was last weekend and it was full of all the things you’d expect from a fair, starting, of course, with animals. The swine barn is always a must-visit. Aren’t they just the cutest?

And there’s the lineup of the hardworking kitchen canners.

The quilters strut their stuff.

There are always flowers, simple or exotic, single or arranged.

Things to buy. (Okay. I didn’t purchase and I took a picture anyhow. So far no one’s come after me.)

And, of course, there’s fair food. Good luck trying to find the alien stuff they eat on another planet: anything healthy. It is, after all, the County Fair!

The Bear is here

Big news around here lately is that the Black Bear Diner has opened. I’ve visited Black Bears in California and Arizona and local reports confirm my experience: big servings of comfort fare. Most folks leave with enough leftovers for another meal or at least a hearty snack later. The Sequim Black Bear is just about the first thing you’ll see as you come into Sequim from the east on Washington Street. It’s next door to the new Holiday Inn Express.

I planned to post this shot closer to its opening a few weeks ago, but my computer began staging death scenes with drama befitting an opera. It had no intention of going quietly into that good night and held most of my photos hostage until I could negotiate a transfer into a healthier, happier Windows system. Adios, Vista!

Ice cream social

The Sequim Prairie Grange has “ice cream socials” during the summer months and it didn’t take much to convince recent guests to become ice cream socializers. This is an example of what $5 gets you: a sundae or banana split with your choice of ice cream and toppings. Three scoops, table service, and good cheer. It benefits a variety of local causes.

Fresh Mix Grill

I saw the name of this place in the newspaper recently, then spied it a few days later. With its bright colors, it shouldn’t be hard to miss. It’s across the parking lot from the Coop on Washington Street and from the looks of it seems to be doing well. The building itself appears to be a converted gas station convenience store; it is steps from gas pumps.

I didn’t have a chance to stop in and sample the fare. Our latest set of summer visitors was due to arrive soon.