The Second Winter Farmers Market will be held on Saturday, February 4 from 10 am - 1 pm at the Second Congregational Church on Court Square in Greenfield. I attended last month and stocked up on beets, turnips, pears, apples, squash and Real Pickles sauerkraut. It is exciting that so much local food is available to us in midwinter. And even more exciting to know that plans are in place to give us even more local food all…
The view from my bedroom window on January 27, 2012. Ice is heavy. And to think I was planning to collect forsythia branches to force today. View from the Welcoming Platform. I have photographed this tree in every season and every weather. It is always beautiful. Temperatures hover at 32 degrees and the stream keeps flowing.
The last planting season of the year is late fall when gardeners are racing to get in all the crocus, daffodil, scilla, snowdrop and tulip bulbs in the ground so they can look forward to an early spring full of color. But fall is not the only bulb planting season. There is a whole array of bulbs that need to be planted in the spring to bloom gloriously and often exotically in the summer. Many summer blooming bulbs…
Winter skies over the End of the Road. For more Skywatching click here.
Yesterday I heard a discussion about the environmental and economic situation on the radio. One speaker laughed and said we'll all be stocking up on gold and backyard chickens. I don't have any gold, but I do have backyard chickens. As do many of my rural neighbors. However, I know that gardeners who live in town on small lots are also setting up backyard flocks. The town ordinances allow up to ten chickens. No roosters! If you don't…
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I woke at dawn and looked out the window to see three rabbits frolicking on the nowy lawn. Hardy rabbits. The temperature was 8 degrees. They were no where in sight when the sun was fully up. When the sun had gotten a little higher and the temperature had reached 16 degrees my husband and I decided to take a walk down the road. We passed our neighbor's house with this beautiful tree that I have always admired.…
The All America Selections have been around since 1933 helping gardeners plant seeds, and buy nursery plants that have been proven to be dependable and giving high performance in many situations. This year they have chosen ‘Black Olive’ an ornamental pepper; ‘Cayanetta’, a mildly spice pepper; ‘Faerie’ an unusual yellow watermelon with the traditional pink/red interior; and ‘Summer Jewel Pink’ salvia. All of these are annuals and all demand full sun. ‘Black Olive’ is very heat tolerant, not…
While the ground is covered with snow and temperatures hover at zero, I've been trolling through photos of my visit to Seattle last July (with 70 other garden bloggers) and especially noticing ornaments in the garden, some plain and some fancy. Many of us have birdbaths in our garden - even me - who has not ornamented my garden in any thoughtful way. It is not a big step to go from a simple birdbath to a fancy…
I rarely participate in Foliage Follow-up, but Pam Penick at Digging has prompted me to take a good look at the foliage around me at this time of the year. I have owned this orchid cactus (Epiphyllum) for a number of years. I pay almost no attention to it which is shameful, because it would bloom regularly and magnificently if I did. You can see I don't even give it the pedestal it deserves. For the past year…