Musings on horticultural therapy and the soothing effects of plants and nature
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 […]
The good thing about summer is that gardening can be put off a bit if needed. In the heat of July and August the lawn doesn’t need much mowing. The propagation of weeds has slowed. And it is harvest time. We still have blueberries though the raspberries/thimbleberries have pretty much been spent. The blackberries have […]
A few weeks ago we had a new bamboo floor installed by a contractor we have used over the last 20 years. Joe is a good fellow, well-skilled in the art of flooring. It was warm when he started the job and within 60 minutes his shirt was off and his body was dripping. His […]
With our expanded garden (more on that in a future post) we are beginning to find ourselves feasting on more vegetables than we can handle. The spring greens are still producing like gangbusters with only the slightly hint of sourness. Most seasons by now I would have dug up the garden to plant the late […]
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 […]
I’m not sure why it happened or that I choose an altitude of 35,000 feet to reverse course. But after a year of sparse postings I am going to give it another shot. It is not as if I haven’t had lots to write about: the crazy winter, the non-existent Spring, the early Summer, new […]
We are now in a warming period that has the optimistic among us believing that Spring will arrive not only by calendar but by the emergence of soil from under its icy blanket in less than two weeks. Getting back from Florida last week, I spent four days chipping and shoveling out the (hopefully) final […]
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 […]