The main task for these past few beautiful days has been setting up the new garden in front of the house which gets protection from the wind, and sun early in the season. I thought I could plant hardy vegetables here and start my harvest early. Once again I used the lasagna method of starting a new garden. First I put down old chick house cleanings in lieu of finished compost. We did not get chicks last year…
What a weekend. While I am waiting for the snow to melt I had a glorious weekend thinking about - and looking at flowers! On Saturday I got to meet Kerry Mendez, the spirited, humorous and knowledgeable keynote speaker at the Master Gardener's Spring Symposium on Saturday. She engaged the audience in lively conversation and talked about how to have a successful flower garden- choose the right plant for the right site - and gave great design tips. Fortunately, if…
The skies are brilliant and the snow is pristine. Krishna surveys the snow-filled Sunken Garden at dawn and wonders why there are no cows, or milkmaids to thrill with his pipes. But my thoughts have gone beyond snow, to sweet soil and seeds. I could not resist the display of Botanical Interest Seeds at the Farmer's Coop in Greenfield yesterday. I will have my Castor Bean plant this year! And many colors of morning glories and bush beans…
Early this morning, after yesterday's rain, the sun began to break through the autumn mist. The grass is still lush, but all bloom has fled from the garden, except for a single pot of verbena blooming in front of the house on this Bloom Day. And indoors only the ever faithful abutilon is blooming. Still, the Thanksgiving cactus is heavily budded and it may bloom right on schedule. For many more Bloom Day treats visit Carol over…
'Life will not be denied!" is the cry that often goes up when I am in the garden, especially when I'm pulling weeds that have come up in the path through layers of cardboard and wood chips. Sometimes the undenied life is beautiful like this tendril of a Grandpa Ott morning glory that just peeked through the slats in the Welcoming Platform in front of the house. A couple of years ago I planted a teepee of Grandpa Otts…