Time for a change
I am skipping a generation or two and have bought my first motored lawn mower, a battery-powered Ego. Prior to this, I have been an anomaly for over 40 years pushing one of many old Scotts manual lawnmowers to trim the grass on my properties. Though this seems like an anachronism, I have enjoyed (mostly) […]
Dandelion muffins
When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. The same can also be said for dandelions except you make muffins. The lawn is chock full of dandelion flowers and I have enlisted Juana and Olivia to be my helpers to harvest the makings of dandelion muffins. Olivia is more interested in dropping the spent blossoms […]
Dry days
The heat and lack of water this July is showing up in all kinds of ways though we have minimized its effects in the garden. Our lawn of native grasses and “weeds” is cut high (only when needed) and is lush and green. This is in contrast to a neighboring lawn that is cut low […]
My lawn is crappy. . .and that is just fine with me
I needed to mow our lawn this weekend as tall tufts of grass stand high over adjacent dormant patches. Unlike many aficionados of a lawn comprising a monoculture of grass that is as smooth as a championship golf green, my undulating and ankle-spraining turf has countless varieties of plants. And I intend to keep it […]
Making hay
When you live in the suburbs, it’s easy to forget the purpose of grassy fields. It’s not to hold the soil of fallow ground, but to harvest for fodder or bedding. I was surprised a few days ago as one of my favorite fields had been mowed and the cut grass was in the process […]
Lawn to table
It is easy to believe that few succulent morsels can be harvested in the early Spring. In the Northeast, most wait for the appearance of asparagus and rhubarb in May and strawberries in June to begin their weekly sojourns to farm stands. But as I showed my clients at Ann’s Place this month there are […]
Multiplying mushroom madness
The last few weeks have been difficult in the garden as relentless rain and cloudy skies have kept everything damp and difficult to work on. Grass can’t be cut, leaves raked, and any activities are a damp and depressing mess. While this weather is lousy for people, it is great for mushrooms as has been […]
Catching up
It’s been over two months since I last blogged and it hasn’t been for lack garden tasks. It seemed that whenever I sat down to write, something came up. In the last few months I have run a number of therapy classes on pounding flowers, carnivorous plants, fall salad seedlings, flavored vinegars and invasive plants. […]
Building a program—Part 2: Finishing the back
Putting up a deer fence was both an end and starting point. It was the end of the carnage by the deer. If the snow didn’t save them from deer last winter, any remaining plants got chewed up in the spring or died during the rainless July this summer. But now we can start anew. […]
Raking memories and leaves
I hadn’t raked leaves at my mother’s house for nearly 35 years. The yard service had done a final cut a few weeks back but since then it seemed as if all the neighboring trees had decided to give their leaves up to my mother’s lawn as a going away gift. Her trees—all oaks—have been […]