Frog Pond Reflections
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The First Dandelion
The appearance of the first dandelion means spring has really and truly arrived. It also means that lawn mowing will not be far behind. Because of a family obligations, and a joyous publication party for Carol Purington and Susan Todd's poetry anthology, Morning Song: Poems for New Parents, Saturday was taken up with family and friends. On Sunday we were eager to go out and play in the dirt. Some of the seedlings I have had out in…
Water and Wine
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“Water” on Muse Day
Water What is the vitality and necessity of clean water? Ask the man who is ill, who is lifting his lips to the cup. Ask the forest. Mary Oliver from "Evidence" Water is almost everything. We are water. Water is essential. Water is so important that I cannot find the words to encompass it. Right now the news is full of reports about devastating floods. Other times the news is of drought. We gardeners have our own experiences…
Snow Storm
It's been cold and we have had dustings of snow here in Heath, but our first snow storm arrived Sunday. Flurries on and off all day, but coming down hard by 9 pm. On Monday morning when I took this photo it was still flurrying but the wind was blowing so it was hard to say how much snow we had altogether. The governor declared a State of Emergency so Henry got to stay home. By evening the…
Water and Livestock – Blog Action Day 2010
Water is beautiful. Our Frog Pond is beautiful. We can't drink this water, but in July of 1990 it helped keep our house from burning down. The previous owners of our house used Conservation funds to enlarge the pond enough to qualify as a Fire Pond. We are so glad they did. Mostly, though we just use it for fun, swimming, catching (and releasing) newts, and ice skating in the winter. Water is essential. Out here in the…
Water, Water — Nowhere!
Last week I set out the sprinkler to water the vegetable garden for 45 minutes. I have not NOT watered anything else for weeks. Then I turned on the hose to water the chickens. I heard the phone ring and ran into the house. When I got back to the hose - it was dry. I turned off the spigot, went into the house and turned on the taps. No water. We have a drilled well, and have…
Rain Gardens for Earth Day
The term rain gardens sounds kind of romantic. I imagine something vaguely tropical with exotic blossoms amid rain drenched foliage viewed from a wicker chair on a veranda. In reality a rain garden can have colorful blossoms, not necessarily exotic, but when the foliage is rain drenched the rain garden is doing its work of infiltration. Infiltration is not a romantic term. I have heard the term rain garden and seen Master Gardener work sheets on building a…
Two Beautiful Sights
Yesterday I went to Greenfield to hear a talk by the charming Ed Himlan of the Massachusetts Watershed Coalition talk about rain gardens, but we didn't have to stand out in the rain to enjoy it and learn. Did you know that the major cause of pollution in our waterways is from rainwater runoff? More on that later. During my drive about town I admired the forsythia in bloom everywhere. It hurts me to see bushes pruned severely…
It’s Melting – and Melting
Although I am still surrounded by lawns and fields of snow, the sun has been shining with the predictable result. The snow is melting slowly and almost invisibly. Melted snow is running off and down the road. Have I ever mentioned that we live on a hill? Some of this water is actually coming from the hill that continues to rise behind our house. Is this water from the invisible melt beneath the snow, or is it coming…