Year in review
2021 in review. Better late than never. These are among the most favored by me and others of the Instagram posts I made last year in seasonal succession. Included is a brief recap of each picture. In a little over 10 months, I have gone from zip to over 3,200 followers. Thank you all. Bunnies […]
Christmas tree time
It’s a great day to cut down our Christmas tree! Over a decade ago, I decided that it was silly (and expensive) to go out “over the river and through the woods” to purchase a tree when my property has plenty of space to grow tiny conifers. So I planted over a dozen seedlings and […]
Harvest time
The final strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa) harvest of Sunday was also the first of our blueberries (Vaccinium corymbosum). I have been spying them from a distance looking for when an entire berry rather than just one side becomes blue. Our birds have been cross with me as their attempts to penetrate the defensive veil encasing […]
Virtual horticultural therapy: Ann’s Place scavenger hunt
As tomorrow is the Fall equinox, I thought that a scavenger hunt at Ann’s Place would be a great way to celebrate the changing season. I have put together a slideshow with the rules and the objects that people should search for in the different gardens and around the exterior of Ann’s Place. My ‘Where’s […]
Going wild over strawberries
Last week the strawberries came in: both domestic and wild. The domestic ones are familiar and tasty. Emerging from their straw bed last month, their pollinated flowers metaphorized into small whitish balls changing again into large, sweet red orbs. Charlotte, my granddaughter, can’t wait to visit us this time of year to survey and select […]
Black and blue berries
This growing season continues to mete out surprises. Last week the golden rod was blooming and this week the blackberries started to arrive in the middle of blueberry season. Not that Charlotte was complaining. Yesterday we went to pick blueberries and she noted, “Pompi (her name for me,) there are blackberries to pick!” Before I […]
Hard Frost
All frosts are not created equal. The first often arrives in October as a sprinkling of powered sugar on the roof of my house and pickup truck. Unlike that sweet confection, it disappears with first light and is easy to miss if one is late to wake or not attentive. There are a few other […]
Blueberry time
A week ago the last of the strawberries were harvested. The pickings were slim and even the chipmunks abandoned the vegetable garden looking for food. As I scoured the patch for the last time, removing the bird netting, I found a few perfect fruits reminding me how fortunate we have been this season with bountiful […]
The strawberries are in
When I lived on Long Island, strawberry season was always between Memorial Day and Father’s Day. In that short stretch, when we lived on Long Island, Juana would get me out to the Eastern End farms to pick strawberries for eating and jelly. It was one of her favorite activities now reminding her how she, […]
White birches, grey spaces
White birches are one of those trees that make their best mark in the winter. Against a landscape of grey detritus, they offer a clean and differing diversion to the eye. One of the nicest stands of betula papyrifera is on the way to Boston via I84 in the upper east corner of Connecticut (known […]