Weeds. The weeds are thriving in my garden. In the middle of August when we are getting ready for the Heath Fair there is no longer even a pretense that I am keeping up with the weeds. This week I am resolved to begin a major weeding. One friend I met at the Fair said she had given up weeding for the season and would worry about it next spring. I understand the feeling, but there is…
I was walking across the Bridge of Flowers this morning and it is clear this is high Dahlia season. I don't know the names of these varieties, but I am going to look through the Swan Island Dahlia catalog and see if I can get names for some of these. Some dahlias have a more tender hue. China Doll is a dahlia that everyone loves. Dahlias come in so many forms and sizes. Do you think 'Shaggy' is…
Our family enjoys water many ways. Exciting ways on the Deerfield River and paddling peacefully on Lake Champlain. For more Wordlessness this Wednesday click here.
Late last week we drove up to Charlotte on Lake Champlain in Vermont. In 1939 my grandfather and Uncle Wally bought a 300 acre farm. Since then four generations have been attached to this piece of land, even though The Farm itself no longer exists. This is the view from Aunt Doris and Uncle Mike's house. It was a rainy and foggy day when we arrived so you can't quite see Lake Champlain, but you are looking down…
What is the why of the Heath Fair? It is a celebration of the bounty of the earth - and the knowledge and energy to make it fruitful. It is a celebration of our farms and farmers. It is about sharing the natural world with our children. Those are miniature mama goats. The Heath Fair is about competition, and music, and Blue Ribbons. For more (almost) Wordlessness this Wednesday click here.
Coffee for Roses by C.L. Fornari is subtitled . . . and 70 Other Misleading Myths About Backyard Gardening (St. Lynn’s Press $17.95.) Fornari covers a lot of ground in this book that gives more than it promises. I had to laugh when I opened the book to the first myth,“A perennial garden is less work than an annual planting because the plants come up every year.” That was a myth that I believed in when I planted…
On this Garden Blogger's Bloom Day there are great clumps of bloomers and I can see a busy fall season of digging and dividing. Here the Thomas Affleck rose and Henryii lilies are lush and full of pollinators. You can also see a cloud of meadow rue flowers. I just love this section of the garden right next to the house. This Bloom Day the Black Beauty lilies and the crimson bee balm make a great combo -…
The view from the bedroom window on July 1, 2014 shows a hot and humid landscape, but there is a breeze. It's been hot, humid and rainy. The rains are usually torrential - July 4 - 2 inches; July 7 - 2 inches; July 15 - 3 inches during the night. Thelast week of July was chilly, with night temperatures in the 50's. Breezy during the day. A total of another 2-1/2 inches rain on the July 27-28.…
I have wildflowers in the fields around our house. Other flowers have joined them unexpectedly. These wildflowers showed up mysteriously en masse this year. I believe they are panicled asters. They are tall with 'willow-like' leaves, numerous rays and they bloom in August through October. Lots of these pretty flowers in the field and along the roadside. Goldenrod, solidago. Maybe this is Solidago juncea which has tiny leaflets in the axils of the slim toothless of the upper…
Beans are among the most common vegetable crops. Because they are so common, perhaps we don’t think about the great variety of beans that we can grow and enjoy. Beyond string beans we have shelly beans, long beans, lima beans, garbanzo beans, soy beans, butter beans, and tepary beans. Within each of those bean families are dozens of varieties. There are green beans, yellow wax beans, purple podded beans and splotch podded beans with names like ‘Tongues…