Musings on horticultural therapy and the soothing effects of plants and nature
Recently I helped my friend Eric and sister-in-law Rosana move their possessions into a new summer rental for the next year. They have always been very generous to Juana and me inviting us to their house on Fire Island. As a gardener, the visits have forced me to return to my Long Island roots of […]
The first snow of the year comes with anticipation. By the time the first flakes can reach the outstretched tongue of a child, the annuals have long since died and the perennials gone dormant. The leaves have lost most of their color becoming a gray carpet that periodically crunches underfoot. Broken branches are scattered waiting […]
As Labor Day fades along with the crowds at the beach, the signs of Fall accelerate. The first hint of change ironically is not spawned by nature but man in the mid-August appearance of Halloween candy in grocery and drug stores and mums and asters in garden centers. The heat of the season tests us […]
Though a heat wave is abating, the early signs of fall are in the air. A few leaves are beginning to turn and the sun has started to set over the hill much earlier than has been typical for the past few months. In another few weeks, the back yard will be in the shade […]
My wife Juana has always said that we need to share our crops with our animal and avian friends. I agree with her to a degree though I point out to her that the definition of the word share, a part of a whole, esp. a portion allotted or assigned to a member of a […]
Since my last post, little has changed except that I have been blessed with a new grandson. That singular event is the only warmth I’ve been given. Though my seedlings are growing nicely in their trays, warmed from the bottom pointed toward the grow light hanging overhead, I wonder if I have started them up […]
The Boston area, where my daughter Sarah lives, has been the epicenter of extremely nasty New England winter weather. In the Nutmeg State, we have had our share of the cold and snow, but nothing like Sarah and her neighbors. For me the last few months have been focused on family chores, shoveling, keeping the […]
Sitting in the back yard resting between gardening jobs it is easy to notice the changing sounds of the season. One often doesn’t think of seasonal sounds, but there are many, easy to discern in the absence of cars, lawn mowers and other mechanized devices. I am lucky in that we live on a quiet […]
August is the time of year when it seems almost unnecessary to go to the supermarket as our garden produces more food than we can consume. We are awash in berries, greens, beans, tomatoes and cuks. It sometimes gets a little repetitive. “More beans?,” says Juana as I bring in enough for us every evening. […]
To start a new garden is one of my biggest joys. Sometimes there is a bit of trepidation as I ask myself, “Do I really need yet another space to manage?” But as I have aged, a key design criterion is to build spaces that are fairly self-sufficient with minimal need for weeding. So with […]