There is nothing like Cider Days! The Apples are ripe! The fruit has many flavors and there are many many ways to eat, drink and cook apples. There is lots to show off at the orchards, lots to see, and lots to learn. I will mention that favorite Orchards of mine are the Apex Orchards, Clarkdale Fruit Farms and West County Cider. (more…)
After a dry summer the rains are falling – and we are enjoying the brilliance of autumn. (more…)
There is joy in the early spring when colorful plants, like grape hyacinths, surprise us. The foliage did not mind resting on the soil all winter, but the blue grape hyacinths amazingly shoot up through the foliage and thrill us. But there is a surprise. (more…)
Boltonia is a wonderful flower because it comes into bloom towards the end of summer and continues into the fall. Even now in mid-October after drought, and unexpected heavy rains, my Boltonia is in full bloom. The marigolds have a longer blossoming season, beginning in early summer and continuing. They also keep us bright and cheerful. (more…)
American Roots is a useful and wonderful book about many gardens in the Midwest, the East Coast, the South and the West. Naturally I turned first to the East Coast. The first gardens I saw were designed and planted by John Gwynn and Mikel Folcarelli who live on the Sakonnet Penninsula in Rhode Island.
Last week I travelled to UMass with members of my Greenfield Garden Club to visit one of the permaculture vegetable gardens. UMass has wanted to create an international model to inspire permaculture projects in campuses around the world, and it certainly looked like a great idea to me! (more…)
Autumn is a good time to collect leaves to make compost to feed the garden. We have found different ways to do this. The photo shows a wire ‘barrel’ which we pack with leaves every fall. There is also a regular store bought bin where I put kitchen scraps and leaves along with some soil periodically, which helps make very good compost. Behind that bin is another bin that we can use to wait for the first bin to finish the compost. You will also notice that the bottom sheet on top of that bin has holes, evidence that rats were eating through it to get to food they like. (more…)
A few weeks ago, after reading Garden Refresh: How to Give Your Yard Big Impact on a Small Budget, I was inspired and told my husband that we really needed to take down a large viburnum to provide sunlight. Having an obliging husband makes it easy to spend very little money to give more plants needed sunshine. But this book provides many ways to help choose plants, and how to care for them. (more…)
The 104th Heath Fair takes a lot of people to provide great events and pleasures. Ned is just one of the people who works at the Heath Fair. He is watching the attendees look at all the equipment that has found a place in the Solomon Temple barn including books about Heath, and items like a loom that has been used over the years. There is also a raffle – I’ve got my eye on that quilt! (more…)
Queen Anne’s Lace (Daucus carota) grows wild throughout our country. These lovely wild biennials produce a carrot-like taproot, hence its proper name. One of the stories of this flower is about the British Queen Anne II (1665-1714) who was tatting white lace with her needle and pricked her finger. A drop of blood fell on the lace, and sometimes a dark red flower appears on the center of the flower. (more…)