Spring foraging
Six easy-to-find edible plants. This time of year is great for foraging greens in New England, particularly if your cultivated ones have yet to pop. Here are six of my favorites that are in my back yard now. Garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata): These plants are beginning to bolt with the leaves starting to taste increasingly […]
Time for pie
Half of the makings for a strawberry-rhubarb pie is one of the first substantial things to emerge from the garden in early Spring. The only compromise is that the strawberries must be store bought for at least another month before they come into their own in my garden. A gentle tug pulls the rhubarb stalks […]
May wine
It is time before the sweet woodruff (Galium odoratum) flowers to harvest it to make May wine. I was intoduced to this delightful beverage by the writings of Adelma Simmons, who used to run the legendary Caprilands Herb Farm in Coventry, CT. It is something that Juana and I enjoy every Spring. The recipe is […]
Spring greens
We are at the time of year when we must be judicious with how many of our greens we harvest. Until May, when the first strong crop comes in, we need to nibble and supplement. That is why I now pull extra greens from wintered over and perennial plants to add some heft and oomph […]
Garlic mustard
Garlic mustard (π΄πππππππ πππ‘πππππ‘π) arrives in the early Spring faster than the dandelions (πππππ₯πππ’π ππππππππππ). And like dandelions it can be savored in many different ways. Emerging from the ground, the tiniest of this biannualβs leaves are pungent and delicious as an adornment to any salad. As it grows, which can be very fast in […]
New greens
The cold frames did their job this Winter by letting me get a jump on planting this Springs. While all of the exposed beds are frozen more than 3 inches below the level of the soil, the two beds covered with the cold frame are thawed and toasty warm. I lost all the Swiss chard […]
Early greens
A smattering of frost-hardy minerβs lettuce (πΆπππ¦π‘ππππ πππππππππ‘π) self-seeded in my cold frame this Winter.β Rich in vitamin C, its succulent and tasty heart-shaped leafs make a perfect topping to any salad. It is a green best enjoyed in the late Fall or early Spring as it bolts and becomes bitter when warm weather emerges. Itβs […]
Persistent fruits
Starting to bud out, the crabapple tree (Malus) in the back still has quite a few fruits hanging from its branches. This collection of shriveled orbs, has withstood the test of Winter as well as the local bird population. It is often the last of the fruit to be cleared off my plants by the […]
Seeding the future
Itβs time to start seeding! Because I am not sure about being able to get all the plants for my Annβs Place clients wholesale, I am starting up what they will need for one of our classes in late May. In this class we make herbal hanging baskets. For it I am growing four herbs […]
Horticultural activities
In writing A Therapistβs Garden, I wanted to give readers some horticultural therapy activities that they could practice. And in every chapter (or month) I have done that with both a craft and an outing. The ones for March concern food. Coming out of Winter in New England with enough food used to be critical […]