There is a pile of seed and plant catalogs next to my chair so garden planning for 2014 has begun. I already have existing gardens, the big fenced Potager, the blueberry patch, the Herb Bed, the little Front Garden for early vegetables, the Daylily Bank, the Rose Bank, the Shed Bed, the Rose Walk, the Peony Border, and the two Lawn Beds, north and south, which means my garden planning is in the nature of review and renew.…
The Lyman Plant House at Smith College looked as frosty as anyplace during the recent Polar Vortex. Outside. Inside the Lyman Plant House there is humid warmth and lush growth. Once past the brilliant greenery I passed into the Palm House where I might have been in the jungle. The brilliant January sun shone through the dense palm foliage, but all below was in shadow. I sat on a bench and rested, and debated whether I should follow…
Slow but sure is the gardener's motto when plants first go in. This is the beginning of the Daylily Bank in the Spring of 2009. We decided on this solution to a bank that was hard to mow. At my time of life five years pass in the blink of an eye. This succeeded beyond my dreams, with daylilies added row by row for four years. For more (almost) Wordlessness this Wednesday click here.
We all need to pay attention to the wisdom of the young. My husband was telling our visiting great-grandaughter Bella (age 7 1/4) that while Granny didn't make New Year's Resolutions, she did try to do a little bit of everything that she wanted to enjoy on New Year's Day. On New Year's Day Bella went to Eastern Heath to spend the afternoon with her good friend Hazel. They both returned to our house for supper. There was…
The noted essayist and poet Charles Lamb (1775-1834) said “New Year’s Day is everyman’s birthday.” As I look at the snow covered mowing near the center of Heath, I cannot help thinking that the mowing is like the first day of the year. It is perfect and flawless as the new year begins. It seems filled with opportunity and the promise of a good harvest. There may be only sunny days and gentle rains. And yet we…
This chair provides reading comfort and convenience. The Bibliochaise was designed in Milan and made in Italy. As a reader I am always looking for a comfortable reading chair. This chair might even control some of the book piles around the house. That would be a good thing. If you are a reader as well as a gardener, you might like to check out this post on the Good website. The Fishbol Bookseat is another take on a bookcase/chair…
Happy New Year! We started celebrating on New Year's Eve Eve with Chinese. Thank heaven, and cousin Tricia for homemade gingerale. What's the point of snow? Sledding! Who cares if it's only 15 degrees? Not Bella! We can always warm up baking cookies - and taking them to a friend. A great beginning to 2014! For more (almost) Wordlessness this Wednesday click here.
New Year’s resolutions. The beginning of a New Year always has something of the seductive about it, no matter how dismissive we try to be, or how skeptical we think we have become. I look at the blankness of the calendar’s pages, matching the blankness of the winter landscape and think about the ways I will fill the days of the new year, fill my days in the garden. …
Merry Christmas! This is the gift giving season. The season inevitably leads to lots of shopping. This past Monday I had a morning appointment in Northampton and I thought I would take the opportunity to shop along the way home. I didn’t have much shopping left because, of course, I had already done most of my shopping in Shelburne Falls and Greenfield. Still a few things were needed. I like lively Christmas…
I guess the Good Reading Roundup continues here in my Between the Rows column for Dec. 14. The vegetable garden has been put to bed, and right now is neatly covered with an inch of snow and ice. The planting, cultivating, harvesting and preserving seasons are past; now we are in reading season. For me, plans to make things better usually start right about the time I am in mid-harvest. And there are always…