Magnificent pale lavender irises are glowing in the sun. My friend Renée had divided her bulbs, and she brought up a bunch when she came for a visit a few years ago. They are now well established, and a beautiful early bloomer in the garden. Tonight we are having rhubarb crisp. Cherisse’s mother brought the rhubarb plants [...]
Archive for the ‘Garden’ Category
Transplants
Posted in Garden on May 20, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
Preparing for summer
Posted in Garden on May 13, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
Historic Casey Farm, in Saunderstown, has an annual plant sale every Mother’s Day weekend. For the last few years we’ve purchased most of our heirloom tomatoes, eggplant and peppers there, as well as some annuals. It is too soon to plant the vegetables (they are upstairs under the grow light). May is deceptive in the [...]
View from the garden
Posted in Garden on May 5, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
The flower garden has exploded—with absolutely no help from me. Thanks to the mild weather, a week of rain, and the chickens, all the perennials are growing beautifully. So are the weeds, so I will have to get out there soon. Cherisse has been planting our Fedco order all week, using one of the garden [...]
Some nettles
Posted in Food, Garden on April 30, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
In weeding around the vegetable beds, I have been repeatedly stung by a plant with pointed, serrated leaves and fine stingers along its stem. Each time a rash has appeared on my arm, and so I had taken a dislike to the plant. At Fedco this weekend, we were looking at some potted medicinal herbs: [...]
Leaving on their mind
Posted in Bees, Garden on April 29, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
The Rhode Island Beekeepers Association newsletter suggested checking hives on a weekly basis now, to monitor their food and brood production—and to make sure the bees aren’t planning to swarm. If a hive is growing too fast, the bees will think of splitting off (swarming) but to do that they need to produce a new [...]
Shades of white
Posted in Garden on April 22, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
Much needed rain is finally falling, pooling in all our pathways because the ground is so dry. In anticipation of the rain, we tried to protect our broody hen, who has been sitting on her nest since last Saturday. Surrounded by rocks and covered with a criss-cross of tree branches, she had little protection from [...]
Work crews
Posted in Garden on April 11, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
In preparation for the rather ambitious order we will soon pick up from Fedco, Cherisse has been preparing sites for trees and bushes. Not an easy task. The biggest challenge is posed by the rocky landscape…it is almost impossible to dig without encountering a boulder. She must also consider the light requirement (full sun or [...]
The bluebird
Posted in Garden on April 9, 2012 | 2 Comments »
We had just sat down to blueberry pancakes yesterday morning when we saw a male bluebird sitting in the maple tree outside our kitchen door. This was the first bluebird we’ve seen around our home, and so we examined his brilliant blue coat and blush breast through binoculars. Twice he swooped down to get a [...]
Capricious weather
Posted in Chickens, Garden on March 31, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
My mother called on this snowy morning, telling me to read a piece in the editorial section of the New York Times called “Chickens on the Loose.” In it, Verlyn Klinkenborg writes: ”I come out of the house, and the birds are waiting at the chicken-yard fence like petitioners in some Russian novel but with boundless optimism instead [...]
New York in springtime
Posted in Garden on March 29, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
On any nice day after school my mother took my sister and me out to the park…sometimes against our will. We rode bikes, went sledding and ice skating. When the cherry blossoms were in bloom we had picnics under them—always date nut bread and cream cheese sandwiches with grape juice and gingerale (I have no [...]