Gail of Clay and Limestone is celebrating wildflowers this week and I wanted to get in on the fun. Fortunately I have one wildflower in bloom here at the End of the Road, coltsfoot, coughwort or Tussilago farfara. I usually call it an 'herb' because of its medicinal uses. Its leaves are used in an infusion or to smoke, in both cases to cure a cough. Of course the word 'herb' in its broadest sense means only a…
In spite of Saturday's snow and sleet which continued most of the day, after a warm night with temperatures constantly increasing, Easter Sunday dawned warm and sunny and blissful. This is all that was left of the snow. The breeze was gentle and it was a perfect Easter Sunday. One of the first fences we removed over the past months was the wire fence that formed the 'fourth wall' of the Sunken Garden. These dayliles grew along the…
It may be snowing and sleeting here in Heath this morning, but many of us are thinking spring thoughts, planting thoughts, harvesting thoughts - and winning thoughts. The Prickly Pine Cone has won Starter Vegetable Gardens! by Barbara Pleasant. Good luck to her and her new gardens. Maybe it isn't snowing at her house.
The technique of gardening without digging up the soil has been around for a long time. Ruth Stout had a best seller on her hands when her book “How to Have a Green Thumb Without an Aching Back” came out in 1955. Two more recent books that explain how to have a productive garden without breaking sod and breaking your back are “Lasagna Gardening” by Patricia Lanza and “Weedless Gardening” by Lee Reich who lives right here in…
On this Earth Day I don't want to lecture about what we all should be doing to protect the environment. I want to celebrate some of the actions I know about in my community that are being done right now, many of which will grow. I am thrilled with the school gardens that are being planted, tended and harvested. They not only supply food, but many lessons that connect with work in the classroom. Heath school has had its…
For several days the weather has been chilly, raw, showery, rainy and generally unpleasant. Not gardening weather. We all know we cannot dig wet soil. However, the chickens remain cheerful and production continues. They are happy to stay inside, maybe because they know I'll give them an extra small ration of cracked corn. Don't forget tomorrow is the last day you can enter the Give Away drawing for Starter Vegetable Gardens by Barbara Pleasant. Just click here…
For more Wordlessness this Wednesday click here.
Yesterday we again saw turkeys walking across the field; they came right up to the end of the road. Turkeys are no longer a rare sight in our neighborhood, however - - - one day I was visiting a friend and he showed me this - and asked if I could guess what it was. I could not. It is a well filled turkey crop, that part of a turkey that is an important part of its digestive…
The weekend was chilly and windy; the snow is nearly gone. There was work to do. Four potted rosebushes arrived from High Country Roses: Cardinal Richelieu, Agnes, Madame Hardy and Goldbusch. Their arrival inspired me to go out and clean out the Shed Bed which is right next to the hen house. I could not resist planting Cardinal Richelieu which will add its rosy purple hues to this assortment of pink roses. You will notice the arrangement of…
Tis the season to start gardens. If you have been tentative about starting your first garden this year here is an opportunity to win a book that will be an immense help. Storey Publishing generously sent me a copy of Starter Vegetable Gardens: 24 No-Fail Plans for Small Organic Gardens by Barbara Pleasant to giveaway to my readers. If you would like to win a copy leave a comment at the the end of this post. I would…