Musings on horticultural therapy and the soothing effects of plants and nature
I welcome most volunteers in the garden. Two of the best this year are a pair of tomato plants that have established themselves in a new bed I set up for saffron crocuses. I created this new space in early June after splitting up over 250 corms that needed replanting. To give the new bed […]
Swiss chard has grown spectacularly this year, far outperforming all the other vegetables that I have planted. The only problem for us is that neither Juana nor I are so fond of this healthy, leafy green that we can keep up with (and consume) its growth. A recent dinner for some friends, however, started us […]
August is the heart of harvest season and the first of the potatoes have come in. It is a bit of a misnomer to call them a crop as I take a single old sprouting potato from our larder in June, cut out each eye letting them heal for a few days, and then place […]
Blackberries (Rubus fruticosus) have just started to ripen as the blueberries (Vaccinium corymbosum) are giving us their last fruits. We are fortunate as the progression of different berries takes us from late May to early September with fresh fruit for our morning breakfast just steps away. There is always a tendency to pick the fruits […]
Our beans have started to get too old and tough to eat the pods so Juana is shucking them to remove their coverings. She is a bit puzzled when she discovers that the red noodle beans have white beans inside and the green bush beans have red ones. No matter, I’m sure they will cook […]
I’m lucky that the oppressive heat of the last week has taken leave for my horticulture therapy class. Usually the Summer solstice celebration happens around the summer solstice, when the weather is nearly perfect in New England. But after catching a bout of Covid, I had to delay the class and change its focus. “. […]
Sun tea is a quick and easy drink to enjoy on a hot summer’s day. I try to make a batch every week that I will put into the fridge to consume later. Though it is called sun tea, I don’t put any real tea in my concoctions but mints, flowers and herbs from my […]
Beans and more beans are in the garden. I am pulling both bush beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) as well as those of the pole variety (Phaseolus coccineus). This veg can be tricky as it hides well under its large and expressive leaves. Pushing aside a leaf, long pendulous legumes hang waiting to be harvested. This year, […]
It is a strange summer. And I am not sure if some of my plants in the garden know what to make of it. Both the tomato and blueberry plants have been fruiting for nearly a month. Yet the fruits just sit, unripened. Blueberry harvests have been meager and we have yet to taste a […]
With peach and blackberry season approaching, it is time to decant my artisanal vinegars and start afresh. I have making my own vinegars for nearly a decade after meeting Brother Victor-Antoine d’Avila-Latourrette, a Benedictine monk, at his monastery in Lagrangeville, NY. After he gave us a ‘mother starter’, which has its origins in Paris, I […]