pendragon orchard and vine

I love this apple for its defiance. It’s the ultimate winter keeper apple. It is also one of the most balanced apples I’ve had—sweet, acidic, and without the penalty that plagues so many late hangers. The skin isn’t that tough, battlefield-leather armor you get with other winter apples. It’s firm, yes, but fair. The history, its endurance, though, makes it worth having.

They understood that certain transformations only happen slowly, in the cold. That winter isn’t an obstacle but a collaborator. That time itself is a tool, if you know how to wield it. Most modern people try to fight winter. Japan fermented it.

And so, wine grape establishment in the Seattle climate becomes less about planting and more about designing a dialogue—between root and rainfall, between leaf and wind, between earth, wind, and wire.

The Native Workhorse Hiding in Plain Sight Across the Pacific Northwest is, Arguably, the Ultimate Species for Edible Landscapes.

You can grow wine grapes in Western Washington—if you pick the right varieties and stay ahead of powdery mildew. Forget the mystique; with soil, sun, water, and patience, a backyard vineyard is within reach.

Russian comfrey isn’t a crop you grow and forget — it’s a permanent fixture in the food forest. The sterile Bocking 14 hybrid won’t spread by seed, but once rooted it becomes a long-term nutrient engine, pulling minerals from deep in the soil and cycling them into leaves you can cut again and again. We plant it around fruit trees not only for its mulch and pollinator blooms, but also as a living barrier that keeps out runner grasses.