Tynan Matthews arrived for his turn at End of the Road Farm. Anthony and Drew took him out into the field to show him the tree fort. Tynan made himself right at home.Of course, Tynan wanted to do everything the other boys did. He made chocolate chip cookies. Why is it that boys always want to bake chocolate chip cookies. Ty made one that was six inches across. We ate it so fast we didn't even get a…
What is a shed? Well, our tax bill defines our 15 x 15 foot Cottage Ornee as a shed. Some people call it a summer house, a screened porch, or a gazebo. To us it is pure delight, and I was happy to share our pleasure in it with the ladies at Garden Rant and Debra Prinzing. Debra's book Stylish Sheds and Elegant Hideaways is a beautiful tome, and a reminder of how many ways there are for…
Sawyer Hall is not the oldest building in Heath's newly designated National Historic District, but it is the building I am most familiar with. Originally built as a town library, and named after the man who put up the money, it has been added on to and functions have been added. The whole east side of the downstairs is the Heath free Public Library founded in 1894. Across the hall is the Post Office, and an office for…
There is a reason and a use for lawns. Croquet! Although I can't say that our turf is finely maintained. A cultural foray. Off to North Adams and Mass MoCa, the Museum of Contemporary Art which is housed in the renovated old Sprague Electrical Factory. The museum of part of the revitalization of this old mill town and it is just about 45 minutes from our house, across the historic scenic highway, The Mohawk Trail. We stopped to…
Anthony (almost 12) and Drew (10) up from Texas joined Rory. They found out there is a LOT to do at the End of the Road. Put away those cards!Rory started working on the worm farm. Now it's Anthony's turn to drill some air holes.Drew wasn't sure he liked the drill, but he took his turn and did his duty. Of course, there is more to a worm farm than a bin and air holes.We took a trip…
Rory has arrived to spend nearly a week with Granny and The Major. There is a lot to do here at End of the Road Farm. I just bought a new plastic trash can so that I can make compost tea. Rory and I used Kathy Puckett's recipe which mixes bunny pellets (alfalfa) and Epsom salts in water. I used 12 cups of pellets with 3 cups of Epsom salts. Rory measured and stirred. Rory likes hiking so…
There was substantial discussion about the demise of the lawn on Garden Rant recently. One question was what will replace lawns, especially on municipal sites. I'm not against all lawns, but some municipal space could very well be used for community gardens. This one in Greenfield (MA) is right in the center of town. It occupies part of the lawn surrounding an old elementary school that now houses the school systems' administrative offices.Eveline MacDougall found the site, originally…
The raspberries are coming in. I wish I had put up a better trellis. Picking the berries requires some maneuvering. I have learned my lesson. Next year I will have a better trellis and I will have the berries thinned out, for their benefit and mine. I don't have to wait for next year to have delicious berries. You can see that I'm in the process of making jam, but really, one of the benefits is that I…
Years ago, when visiting a friend in Tacoma, we toured the Lakewold gardens. Near the back door was a trellis screen covered with a vine such as I had never seen before. The leaves were not only variegated, they were variegated in pink and white. I said I had to have this vine which turned out to be a hardy kiwi, Actinidia kolomkita.The fact to remember about all Actinidias is that they require cross pollination by a male…
For months an area in our shopping center was walled off and shrouded. Then The Tree was unveiled.It's an ATM!Joyce Kilmer's oft quoted line is, "Poems are made by fools like me/But only God can make a tree."I don't think God anything to do with this one.