The First Rose of Summer – Purington Pink

  • Post published:05/28/2012
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Purington Pink is the first rose of summer this year. The blossoms are modest, pale pink, fading quickly to almost white. The thorns are anything but modest, spiny and prickery. Like all of four of the roses that the Purington family gave me, this one is a strong grower. Just what we need here on the hill. Of similar prickliness is this rose, also from the Purington's Woodslawn Farm. I think it is a Harrison's Yellow, because it…

Weekend Chores – Removals, Renovations and Additions

  • Post published:05/07/2012
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While my husband was busy with the first lawn mowing - and fence building - I was busy with removals, renovations and additions. I have had a pink potentilla at this corner of the North Lawn bed for several years but never been happy. I was reluctant to remove it, but this spring it look nearly dead, so out it came. Removals can be difficult, but they are sometimes necessary. Neither the dead shrub nor its hole are…

April Has Been the Cruelest Month – Almost Over

  • Post published:04/30/2012
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April proved herself to be the cruelest month indeed this year alternating summer and winter temperatures. The past couple of nights we've had frost - and this after we had gotten quite used to balmy temperatures and tender zephyrs in mid-month. Now these lovely white daffodils might as well be snow cover - it is so cold. And windy. And dry. My Early Garden in front of the house is still adorned with row covers that blow and…

Welcome Rain – Welcome Book by Charlie Nardozzi

  • Post published:04/23/2012
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After a dry winter and an extremely dry spring we finally have rain - two and a half inches in the last 24 hours.  I've been reading away the rainy hours with Northeast Fruit and Vegetable Gardening by Charlie Nardozzi. It has been a perfect rain. Hours of rain have penetrated the thirsty earth without washing away newly dug and seeded beds. The seeds and seedlings I planted just before the rain are really happy. More rain is…

Wishing for Warm April Showers

  • Post published:04/09/2012
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The weather remains cool and breezy or windy.  And dry. I wish we had some of that early warm weather, and rain.This morning there was spitting rain - and snow flurries. There is very little sense of seasonal progression in the garden. This is the single daffodil in bloom, besides the very early Van Sions, but you can see (if you look closely) that buds are showing some color. Over the weekend my husband got all the little…

Monday Record – Leafing Out All Over

  • Post published:04/02/2012
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Shoots are up, plants are leafing out. It is time to start keeping the Monday Record. The only bloom in the garden are these Van Sion daffodils that are growing against a stone wall - in back of the Buckland Rose. I thought I had dug out all the bulbs before I planted the rose here, but I was wrong. I wrote about how I identified this daffodil here. One reader said these were the ugliest daff he…

Resolutions for a New Spring

  • Post published:03/26/2012
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Yesterday my earliest daffodils began to bloom - just in time for temperatures to plunge from their unseasonable summer highs.  Nothing is certain in a garden. How many times do we have to relearn this lesson?  The following takes me back a couple of weeks  - before we were all boldly planting seeds. Beginning tomorrow days will be brighter longer. The sun will not set until 6:46 pm. It will seem like spring has arrived – even though…

Henhouse #6

  • Post published:10/10/2011
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There was nothing photogenic about our chores this glorious autumn weekend - mowing, weeding, cutting back - so I'll concentrate on an exploration of another Heath henhouse.  Joey built, overbuilt he said, this 10x12 foot henhouse for his ten hens. You can see he has a lot of help! He read a lot and looked at a lot of henhouses, and talked to a lot of people before he built his. The forethought shows. His luck shows too.…

Festival of the Hills – A Crop of Authors

  • Post published:10/03/2011
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The Conway Festival of the Hills is a grand autumnal event in our region. This year I got to share tent space with other authors like Marie Betts Bartlett (left in blue) who brought her book The (true) Story of The Little Yellow Trolley Car and Heidi Stemple (right oogling the baby. Heidi is the daughter of and co-author with Jane Yolen of many books, true, mysterious and delicious.  In the center is Jessica, owner of The World…

Is Junk Food Really Cheaper?

  • Post published:09/26/2011
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In yesterday's NY Times Mark Bittman asked the question, Is Junk Food Really Cheaper? Can you really feed a family for less at McDonalds than at your own table filled with home cooked food.  In spite of the protestations that a bag of chips is cheaper than a head of broccoli and other such, the answer is NO!  A meal for a family of four at McDonald's will come to between $23 and $28.  How many groceries can…