The state of my indoor plants, such as they are, makes me long for spring bulbs in the lawn. But alas the lawn is buried under deep snow, fresh snow, with more snow promised. The cyclamen is sprawly, but still going. This one a bowl of daffodils I potted up in November. I made the mistake of using a bag of mixed bulbs on the sale table at my local garden center. I will know if future to…
Tomorrow we are hosting the Heath Gourmet Club (27 years of serving ourselves) February dinner. Since it is Valentine's Day the theme had to be love. I sent out word that our entree will be chicken with citrus and amaretto - the amaretto supplying the love. I suggested that in addition to thinking of aphrodisiac foods which did at least once on an earlier Valentine's Day, there were many ways of thinking about food of love. They…
Tomorrow we are hosting the Heath Gourmet Club (27 years of serving ourselves) February dinner. Since it is Valentine's Day the theme had to be love. I sent out word that our entree will be chicken with citrus and amaretto - the amaretto supplying the love. I suggested that in addition to thinking of aphrodisiac foods which did at least once on an earlier Valentine's Day, there were many ways of thinking about food of love. They could…
Celeriac was lauded in our daily newspaper, The Recorder, on Saturday by Aaron Falbel of Sunderland for its brightness of flavor, versatility, and modesty. He says,Relegated as you so often are, to the back and upper shelves in the supermarket,Tossed among horseradish, jicama, salsify and other strange,Unidentifiable rooty things.Little do they know that you are the storage champion of all time, Leaven even butternut squash in the dust. . . .You persevereon, and on and on, Keeping your…
Beverly Duncan is known to her Ashfield neighbors, and colleagues at Mohawk Trail Regional High School as a friend, as a helpful worker, as a gardener, and as an artist who sells cards and sketches of flowers and other plants at Elmer’s Store. Some know her as a freelance artist and illustrator for books and magazines, but many are not aware of her reputation as a fine botanical artist whose work has been exhibited at the Denver Botanic…
Beverly Duncan grew up amid the lush landscapes of Hawaii, and her art has always tended toward the natural world, but it was not until a dozen or so years ago, when paintings that she had done of autumn leaves for a Buffalo (NY) Science Museum, that she rejoiced "to have found a place in the art world".Those paintings caught the eye of someone at the Hunt Institute of Botanical Documentation at Carnegie Mellon University and she was…
The seed catalogs are filling my mailbox. I’m starting to make lists of vegetables to grow, paying particular attention to those that can be stored with the least amount of trouble and energy, including winter squash and root vegetables like beets. Of course, I need lots of veggies like lettuces, green beans and tomatoes, too. Many of the vegetables I plant get seeded right in the garden, but I usually buy a few flats…
Yesterday, February 2, was the day the whole United States celebrated the groundhog. TV cameras were set to watch Punxsutawney Phil come out of his burrow to determine whether or not spring is upon us, or whether we will have six more weeks of winter It is recorded that about 90 per cent of the time Phil does see his shadow which means spring is only six weeks away. While the United States, or at…
Yesterday, February 2, was the day the whole United States celebrated the groundhog. TV cameras were set to watch Punxsutawney Phil come out of his burrow to determine whether or not spring is upon us, or whether we will have six more weeks of winterIt is recorded that about 90 per cent of the time Phil does see his shadow which means spring is only six weeks away. While the United States, or at least readers of the…
Simple Gifts'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free,'Tis the gift to come down where you ought to be,And when we find ourselves in the place just right,'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.When true simplicity is gain'd,To bow and to bend we shan't be asham'd,To turn, turn will be our delight,Till by turning, turning we come round right.This little song was written by Elder Joseph Brackett at the Alfred, Maine community…