With this view from the bedroom window on February 2, I continue my more or less regular record of the weather and climate in this year of our Lord 2014. The dawn temperature was 34 degrees. Snow is melting. Thirteen inches of snow fell yesterday, and so did temperatures today - 9 degrees. But it is sunny. More snow on February 8, about 3 inches. Temperature still cold, 10 degrees at 7 am. Still more snow! A total…
Indoor seed planting preparaation for microgreens - or for any seeds - begins with seeds. Botanical Interests Seeds are sold at the Greenfield Farmers Coop - as well as many other brands of veggies and flower seeds. The Farmers Coop also sells all the supplies you will need to start your seeds, planting trays, watering trays and seed starting mix which makes it easy for those seeds to get a good start. I put some of the soilless…
What are microgreens? You can find microgreen seed mixes in the seed racks. You can find ‘baby’ greens mixed in with salad mixes at the supermarket. Why are these tiny greens becoming more and more popular? The term microgreen is fairly self-explanatory. Microgreens are lettuces, spinach and other green vegetables that are harvested when they are about two weeks old, and hardly more than an inch or two tall. This makes them ideal for winter growing in the…
In the Pink is the theme of the annual Smith College Bulb Show. Every day from March 1 - 16 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. visitors can bask in the fragrance of pink hyacinths and spring as they wander through the greenhouse stuffed with thousands of bulbs: daffodils, tulips, scillas, and hyacinths as well as blushing azaleas, cyclamen and camellias. For me pink is the color of spring. Pink is also an important fashion color. Currently the…
Here are the birds that sing in the spring. Robins are joining the blue jays - and other birds that I can only identify as Big Birds and Little Birds. Sunday the temperature reached a high of 46 degrees, and gentle breezes are wafting across the hill. Birds have been flying in and out of the staghorn sumac grove across the lawn. The snow is still deep in spite of warmer temperatures these last few days. Birds are…
The Elm Trees in Central Park were featured prominently in the NYTimes Sunday Review (2-23-14) in a wonderful article by Guy Trebay. I have not walked in Central Park for many years, but even as a New Yorker in the 1980s I would not have paid much attention to the magnificent allee of elms that runs for about 2.5 miles along Fifth Avenue, "a continuous stand that, as it happens, may be the longest in the world." In…
What’s new in vegetables? What a question. While I am not aware of any completely new species of vegetables, there are always new varieties which at least purport to be better, have shorter or longer growing season, more disease resistance, be smaller for container growing, larger for those who enjoy the thrill of giant vegetable growing, more flavorful for demanding cooks or more nutritious for the ever more health conscious. Every seed catalog begins with a page or…
In the fall of 1989 there was a bumper crop of Chinese Cabbage in Beijing. This was before 'capitalism with Chinese characteristics' and everyone was required to buy 40 kilograms (over 80 pounds of cabbage). The Chinese cabbages were trucked into Beijing, piled up on street corners, in front of the state stores - and everywhere. Then it had to be bought, taken home and stored, in courtyards, in apartment building hallways and balconies - everywhere. Chinese cabbage…
Sastrugi are caused by the wind's blowing and drifting the snow. For more Wordlessness this Wednesday click here.
Is it too early to talk about new flowers for 2014? NO! By tomorrow afternoon Punxatawny Phil will have told us whether we can count on an early spring. I have heard a rumor that he may very well do so. Maybe. I already know that it is still light at 5:30 in the evening. Spring seems like a real possibility and it is time to pay serious attention to the plant catalogs piling up since before…