Musings on horticultural therapy and the soothing effects of plants and nature
After pedaling in the heat today for nearly 45 miles, we have a brief ride of 18 tomorrow bringing the total to slightly over 300 miles. We have had a wonderful adventure with all the Canadians that we have met being kind and accommodating. So we leave the OVRT/Algonquin Trail with the following thoughts. The […]
For an uneventful albeit hot ride of 46 miles today, my mind wanders to the untended spaces next to bike trails that are often a cornucopia of wonderful and wild plants. The OVRT/Algonquin trial is no exception to this. While I can identify about half the plants I find, to discern the others I rely […]
We are looking forward to our lunch today at the Hexagon Restaurant in Deep River. A leisurely ride of 45 miles should be a piece of cake considering neither of us will be hauling our 20+ pounds of gear. It doesn’t turn out that way. Unlike prior mornings, today is windless, hot, and sunny. We […]
Our 46-mile ride started out as did yesterday: Overcast and cold. We’re expecting an ordinary pedal. We couldn’t have been more wrong as the day becomes progressively stranger. A superb breakfast at the Lochiel Street B&B in Renfrew prepares us for the ride as we enter the OVRT/Algonquin trail heading for Petawawa. Stopping over the […]
After biking 46 miles against the wind yesterday, the last thing that Ted and I want is another long day. But that is what we get with today’s 50-mile effort. Still, we are enjoying the ride and how our bodies are adapting to biking life. Leaving the MacNamara B&B, where Ted and I had a […]
Leaving Smiths Falls after a hearty breakfast, it takes us a while to get to the beginning of the Ottawa River Valley Trail (OVRT). We make an easy mistake, first entering a storage-unit property but soon find our way to the OVRT. The first thing we notice is that a myriad of wildflowers, the dominant […]
The start of Le Tour du Geezers is an uneventful and quick car drive of 400 miles. The skies clear as we traverse the Canadian border and the final 50 miles is through bucolic hay and corn fields. The rear of a caboose at the Railway Museum of Eastern Ontario is where I will be […]
The last two months have been unseasonably cold, which meant all of my Autumn efforts (at least for now) to harvest greens and herbs from the cold frames this Winter have been for nought. They can take episodic temperature drops into the teens, but not consistent sub-freezing temperatures below 0 degrees. (I am hoping that […]
Fruiting plants in the yard are not top of mind during these early, cold December days in New England. But while their crops are not as mouthwatering as those coveted by my granddaughters from May-September, there is a group of plants serving up treats that are just as essential and yummy to the many winged […]
For many, the growing season is over. Chilling nights and multiple frosts have done in even the most hearty of vegetables. My harvests are either drying (herbs and flower seed heads), frozen (tomatoes), or put up (blackberry/beach plum jam). But I am able to still pull fresh greens from the garden every day. And with […]