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 […]
Ice Capades
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 […]
Trying to grow
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 […]
Sprouts to emerge
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 […]
Taking stock
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 […]
Sounds of summer ending
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 […]
Fly-in dining
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 […]
Missing morning al fresco
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 […]
Good Eating
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. […]
Don’t worry, they don’t bite. . . .people
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 […]