Musings on horticultural therapy and the soothing effects of plants and nature
An early morning walk on the beach brings us to foraging seabirds including terns, seagulls and piping plovers. They are spending most of their time in the rack, full of seaweed, bait fish, bivalves and tiny trapped crabs. The plovers dart in and out of the waves trying with their beaks to grab a buried […]
We are spending a lovely holiday weekend at the beach on Long Island. The weather is perfect with bright sun and light, warm breezes. We decide to take an early morning walk with a foraging prey in mind: beach plums. Early September is beach plum season here and we hope to beat the birds and […]
This quart of blackberries gives the appearance of plenty but the truth is slightly different. This haul represents three days of not picking while in a typical year, it is one. We made the decision not to water the berries given the current drought and this decision has had an obvious effect. Our berry haul […]
September is a bittersweet month a summer ends and fall begins. It’s is the time when the largest bounties of the gardens’ flowers, vegetables, and fruits are harvested. Some leaves begin to turn to orange, yellow, and red, while migrating birds and monarch butterflies make their way south. [This year, however, is quite different than […]
Hand watering the garden can be done with either a hose or can. Both have their place, but watering with a can is more contemplative for me and more necessary this season given the drought. Just filling up a container from my one of my water barrels has a soothing and calming effect. Cracking the […]
“Do you see the size of that bee?!” exclaims the attendant at the transfer station in town. “Is that a killer hornet?!” Turning my head toward the back of the pickup holding my garbage cans, I see a huge bee at least 1.5 inches long. “I’m closing my window,” says the bearded employee, shutting it […]
The threat of rain forces me to transform my garage into classroom for my Ann’s Place clients. Given the heat, it turned out to be a good decision for my session on flavored vinegars. “Before we start with flavored vinegars, I’d like all of you to try some of the artisanal vinegars that I make […]
This year I have been having great luck with all of my root vegetables: carrots, beets and radishes. This cherry belle radish, in particular, is the biggest I have ever harvested being larger than a cherry tomato and slightly smaller than a small cutting tomato. And it is absolutely delicious
Even though I needed to cancel my class on flower pressing a few weeks back because of the heat, I don’t let the materials go to waste. Both Charlotte and Juana decide to take material (and pens) into their own hands to customize a set of presses for their own use. I think they did […]
This year has been a strange one in the garden and the latest surprise is the emergence of a trio of blooms on one of our flowering quince bushes. Typically these bushes sport their red-rose-like flowers in mid-spring and then produce a few tiny fruits that never seem to make it to maturity. This year, […]