Movie Gardens

Amy Stewart over at Garden Rant posted about the reality of Meryl's Streep's garden in the new movie, It's Complicated. As the LA Times article said, this garden was not planted or tended in situ. It is a movie set. The plants for this 'potager' were grown in a greenhouse and laid out when it was time for the scene to be shot. Tomatoes were wired to the plants. Some people have complained that this fantasy of a…

Sprouted Wheat Bread

  • Post published:01/06/2010
  • Post comments:2 Comments

Bread is the staff of life. I love making bread in general, especially in winter when the oven helps warm the house, but in preparation for my sprouting workshop at the Northampton Winterfare on Saturday, Jan. 9, I decided to make sprouted wheat whole wheat bread. I got a good recipe from the Sprout People website, and the result is delicious. The recipe made two loaves. One, the prettier one, went into the freezer so I can bring…

Winterfare in Northampton

  • Post published:01/05/2010
  • Post comments:1 Comment

This Saturday, Jan. 9, I'll be giving a Sprouting workshop at the first annual Winterfare in Northampton which will be held at the Smith Vocational School, near Cooley Dickinson Hospital. This event is patterned after the Winterfare market that has been held at Greenfield High School and will be celebrating its third annual festival of fresh produce, workshops, bartering, and refreshments. Northampton's Winterfare will be serving delicious soups (bring your own mug) provided by 5 local eateries: Cup…

Winter Landscapes

  • Post published:01/04/2010
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The recent days have been the coldest (3 degrees) and windiest (40 mile gusts) we have experienced so far this winter. Snow showers every day have kept the landscape pure and white in the  Knott Road landscape. We live at the End of the Road, which we always say is not much of a road, but the road crew keeps it in good shape all year long. Knott Road is a spur off Rowe Road which leads from…

What Will I Do?

  • Post published:01/04/2010
  • Post comments:2 Comments

My view to the northwest is of an unblemished snowfield. The snow is clean and bright, the sky a brilliant blue. The landscape is as untouched as the new year.. What will I do with 2010? How will I approach my landscape? Recently a friend of mine said he was gearing himself up to buy a tiller for his tractor, usually used for work in the woods and plowing snow. His wife chimed in that he was tired…

New Year’s Day 2010

  • Post published:01/01/2010
  • Post comments:5 Comments

Red Brocade by Naomi Shihab Nye The Arabs used to say, When a stranger appears at your door, feed him for three days before asking who he is, where he’s come from, where he’s headed. That way, he’ll have strength enough to answer. Or, by then you’ll be such good friends you don’t care. Lets to back to that. Rice? Pine nuts? Here, take the red brocade pillow. My child will serve water to your horse. No, I…

A Year of Compassion

  • Post published:12/30/2009
  • Post comments:6 Comments

When we were living in China we were once taken to a temple where we saw a small statue of Guan Yin, the bodhisattva of compassion, with her thousand hands, each of which has an eye in the palm. I thought this was a grotesque image until someone explained that it was a metaphor for her compassion. It is said that Guan Yin has a thousand eyes to see the troubles of the world and a thousand hands…

A Color Challenge

  • Post published:12/29/2009
  • Post comments:5 Comments

While spending a little time checking my favorite blogs, I saw that Mr. McGregor's Daughter was having fun with David Perry's color challenge.  MMD took Red, Green and Blue photos, but I stuck with red. I'm a sucker for red - all shades. It was fun to look around the house and see what I could use. I took this photo through the bottom of  a beautiful red handblown glass bowl held up against today's brilliant sunlight.

Obligations at the Edge

  • Post published:12/29/2009
  • Post comments:3 Comments

As I prepare for the new year I have been thinking about the importance of conservation, about preserving the best of what we have for the benefit of the next generations.  Today I am posting a piece I wrote three years ago after talking to an inspiring conservationist and speaker.  My inspiration is a gaggle of grandchildren, two of whom love to play in the old apple tree in our field, home and pantry to birds - and…

Christmas Trees – of a sort

  • Post published:12/28/2009
  • Post comments:7 Comments

When we woke early on Christmas morning we immediately lit our Christmas tree, but we also admired the majestic yellow birch out in our field. This is the most notable tree in our landscape; it still shows the damage wrought by last year's historic December ice storm. It would be pressing a point to say that I did any gardening over the holiday weekend, but I did devote some time, energy and nerves to prepare another type of…