Musings on horticultural therapy and the soothing effects of plants and nature
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 […]
This has been the longest stretch I have not blogged. Like other stretches where I have not written, it has not been because I have been resting on my laurels but rather there were more important things to get done. And when the end of the day came, I was either too tired or indifferent […]
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 […]
As the local-food movement continues to gain speed, this fashionable trend appears to be rejected by an unexpected group of diners: local birds. During a time when thrushes, blue jays, woodpeckers, etc. should be scarfing down bugs, seeds, berries and all the other fresh meat and veg that is in my yard, they are instead […]
One of my favorite summer pleasures is al fresco dining. Sitting outside, particularly early in the morning with my newspaper and coffee is an elemental pleasure. On Sunday mornings it is even more sublime as the din of autos, delivery trucks, landscapers, etc. are eliminated leaving me just the birds and the simple rustle of […]
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. […]