Bella came to visit in time to prepare her exhibits for the Heath Fair. Baking for the Fair is almost as much fun as the Fair itself. At the age of 6 Bella is in a real competition which means that she has to make her cookies all by herself. No one else, not even Granny, can touch the cookies. She measured the ingredients, operated the mixer, and used a tiny ice cream scoop to measure the dough…
Joe Pye Weed, Eupatorium, is a native plant whose range extends from Texas to Maine. It can be used in perennial flower beds, or allowed to flourish on the roadside or in fields. I planted a small variety in my garden this spring, but I love the 6 foot tall 'weeds' that grow in the fields. I am not successful of getting photographs of butterflies, but butterflies find lots of nectar in the tiny blossoms of the Joe Pye…
Kevin Hollister and his family live across the lawn and through the woods right next door to his sister Sarah Hollister. Together they share multiple gardens. Sarah has lots of vegetables for the two families, many of them growing on utilitarian or whimsical structures. Kevin hosts Tomato World and Blueberry World, dozens of trellised tomatoes of every sort, and a large patch of blueberry bushes, bent with the weight of the fruit and covered with old tobacco…
On this Garden Bloggers Bloom day there are some surprises. The weather should not surprise anymore, but it does, and often causes gnashing of teeth. In June we had a glorious 12 inches of rain. In July there was no rain! It was hot! An official heat wave. In August it has been much cooler and we had 4 inches of rain so far. Still there are lots of blooms in the un-irrigated flower gardens. The Daylily Bank…
PHOENIX by Xu Bing is on display at the Mass Museum of Contemporary Art in North Adams, Massachussetts. It is very difficult to photograph the whole with a little point and hope camera. But the details of the construction debris that comprise these two magnificent birds can be appreciated. The Phoenix is a mythical immortal bird that rises from its own ashes. Xu Bing's Phoenixes. which will eventually fly in Beijing , symbolize the rise from greed and corruption…
Black Raspberries Black raspberries are delicious and make great jam, but they will take more care than blueberries or red raspberries. To begin, black raspberries, sometimes called blackcaps, need a site that gets full sun, and has access to watering. In my own experience I have found that regular watering, two inches a week, is essential. I lost most of my first two crops because of the lack of watering. The berries were small and almost instantly dried…
Mountain mint was one of the fascinating new plants I saw yesterday when I visited the beautiful and inspiring Wildside Cottage gardens in Conway. According to an Illinois Wildflowers page "Many insects are strongly attracted to the flowers, including various bees, wasps, flies, small butterflies, and beetles. Typical visitors from these groups include honeybees, Cuckoo bees, Halictid bees, Sphecid wasps, Eumenine wasps, bee flies, Tachinid flies, Wedge-shaped beetles, and Pearl Crescent butterflies. Most of these insects…
Wood chips from Asplundh before I even finished my first cup of coffee. I need them to lay over cardboard on my garden paths. I can never have too many wood chips. I think I might even get a second delivery today! For more (almost) Wordlessness this Wednesday click here.
The August 4, 2013 issue of the New York Times included a fascinating story about food security by Damien Cave - "As Cost of Importing Food Soars, Jamaica Turns to the Earth." "Jamaica has always farmed- sugar and bananas , mostly - and imports have been a part of the mix since at least the colonial era because grains are had to grow in the region. But the balance tipped more significantly toward foreign food in the 1990s. From 1991…
Blueberries and raspberries are easy food crops that can save you money and are amazingly nutritious. Berries are expensive in the market because they require so much labor to pick, are perishable and need to be shipped quickly. Yet it does not take much time or trouble to go out a pick enough for a family. Blueberries I think blueberries are about the easiest berry to grow. Blueberries are hardy, a native plant that loves our acid…