Last week I had the opportunity to walk a new property that will likely be donated to Ridgefield as open space. What makes this parcel special is that it is smack in the middle of undeveloped State land, which together would add up to over 40 acres of pristine forest that is adjacent to another […]
New pollinators
Last week our leafcutter bees arrived from @kindbeefarms. Like any expectant parent, we opened the box with anticipation and excitement. We have lots of bees (and wasps and Yellowjackets) buzzing around our gardens and hope that these new arrivals will get along with all of our other pollinators. Their new home, which is well built […]
A great helper
Charlotte continues to be a great helper in the garden. She quickly helps me pick and identify the ripest of tomatoes as well as an underlying layer of green beans that we will have for dinner. Her reward is unlimited access to the blueberry bushes and their fruits.
A jewel of a weed
Jewelweed (Impatiens capensis) is one of my favorite wild plants this time of year as it has three big things going for it. First, even before it starts flowering, it is wonderful as an antipruritic for poison ivy as well as insect bites. We found an immediate use for it years ago when we were […]
Tomatoes are in
Juana is holding up just a day’s harvest of tomatoes. Perhaps I shouldn’t have planted 18 seedlings, but you never know how good or bad the harvest will be. We are in the middle of good eating in the vegetable garden with peas, beans, peppers, greens, radishes, scallions, celery, carrots and tons of herbs ready […]
Deadly plants
Wicked Plants by Amy Stewart is a real eye opener as prior to reading it I never realized how dangerous and deadly are many of the plants that reside in our garden. I knew about the obvious ones like foxglove and daffodils, but had no idea that the vast majority of things that are planted […]
Tasty insects
It’s midsummer and the virtual tummies of my carnivorous plants are sated with the insects of the day. Right now I have three different types of carnivorous plants: Pitcher plants (Sarracenia), Cape sundews (Drosera capensis), and Venus fly traps (Dionea muscipula). The pitcher plants sit in a bog that I build over a decade ago. […]
Bird alert
Between the raptors circling above our house using thermals and hummingbirds frenetically zipping between flowers, our gardens are chirping with birds. This year, in particular, we have been hosting a wide variety of fledging birds in too many nests to count. Woodpeckers took over the top of a sugar maple whose upper branches had died. […]
A morning cupper
It is wildflower season and one of my favorites, chicory, can be found next to nearly any road around here. This bright blue plant is somewhat reminiscent of bachelor buttons and is a herbaceous plant. Unappreciated and untended, chicory reached the height of popularity during WW II when its ground and roasted roots became a […]
Busy butterflies
Though the current weather conspires against much activity outside, the pollinators are having none of that. Between the countless butterflies, moths, dragonflies, and bees, the garden is swarming with activity, sounds, and life. The coneflowers and black cohosh are particularly popular now though others like Queen Anne’s lace, black-eyed Susies, hostas and roses are not […]