gardening
-
Plodding and Stomping Toward Spring
The clocks are set forward and my sleep schedule is skewed. The delight of coming home to hours of sunlight will not have me springing forward into my day. I will be staying up too late for the next week and then feeling morose when the sunbeam that had finally started coming in my window to wake me delays Continue reading
-
The busy beekeeper tries to tuck the bees in for winter
A twenty-five pound bag of sugar is empty in the kitchen. Dinner was delayed because the stock pot of bubbling sugar water was taking up most of the stove space. All of my pyrex casseroles are filled with sweets that we won’t be eating. A five gallon bucket and a paint stirrer are coated with sugar Continue reading
-
Making room for a new season of venison… and football
We know it’s hunting season when friends show up with gifts–a heart and a liver that they just harvested from a doe in our woods. While they might normally toss them, they know that John will use them to make an amazing venison liverwurst. The new heart and liver will join what John has in the freezer and will soon appear as John’s redneck Continue reading
-
Tending the herb garden, with thoughts toward school
One advantage to ignoring the garden for awhile (like the entire ridiculously hot month of July) is that when you finally attack the chaos, the results are dramatic. Getting started, though is a daunting task. Where to begin? My philosophy on tackling overwhelming tasks is to start with one big thing that is really bugging me Continue reading
-
Meditations from the herb garden: Graduating the seniors
My goal Saturday morning was to weed around the screen porch in order to find room for the flowers I bought last week, but by the time I slept in and enjoyed a mug or two of coffee, the sun was blazing in that part of the yard. The wise weeder seeks shade, and shade was Continue reading
-
The Scent of Maywood: This Week It’s Wild Roses
A fragrance cannot be posted in a blog. Picture and video can provide sight and sound, but to really experience Maywood in spring, you have to smell it. On a walk down to the field to inspect the blueberries, the sweet smell of grass perfumes the air. Not the smell of a fresh mowed lawn, Continue reading
-
Marching into spring…with my rake
Last week the clock said to spring forward, but there is nothing about getting up an hour earlier that gets me springing anywhere. However, an extra hour of daylight in the afternoon was a good enticement to spring home from work, grab a rake, and head out into the garden. I love to rake. It makes Continue reading
-
Friday Night at the Hunting Lodge
I must begin by saying that we do not run a hunting lodge, bed-and-breakfast, boarding house, retreat center, target practice range, catering service, or wedding reception venue. It just feels that way. If we really were doing all those things I would not have to limp into work everyday and deal with sleepy teenagers who are completely Continue reading
-
Butternut Squash Soup
“The sun’ll come out…next Thursday.” That was the weatherman’s snide remark on the radio the other morning as my windshield wipers swished away. (And the song from the musical Annie is still stuck in my head.) By Saturday I am finally able to sit out on the café porch, surrounded by deep green leaves backlit by patches of chartreuse Continue reading
Slightly Off the Grid 