This time of year, as the sun starting rising and setting much lower in the sky, it seems like the sunrises and sunsets are more dramatic and colorful. Almost every night I find myself looking out the back window to see what color the sky is. The sun rises over the coastal mountains out in…
Still Harvesting
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. There’s a recipe for cauliflower soup in Nigel Slater’s ‘Tender’ that we really like, I make a few batches and we freeze it in wide mount pint jars for quick lunches during busy weeks. The recipe for cauliflower cheese from this cookbook is also a favorite…
Growing Freesias for Winter Blooms
I grow a lot of salad greens and herbs indoors during the long Maine winters, but I’ve never really attempted to grow flowers for cutting. I’d love to try ranunculus, but I always forgot to order corms. This year I did manage to get some freesia bulbs when I made my spring bulb order. I…
Making Comfrey Fertilizer
I grow lots of comfrey in the garden, it’s been a favorite of mine for many years. There are several varieties scattered around, I have a lovely variegated type that is planted throughout the ornamental borders, a creeping ground cover type that is in the nursery bed, and a few different types of the regular…
Heliotrope, a New Favorite
This was my first year growing heliotrope. I started seeds for it years ago and they never germinated. As I was trying to use up lots of old seed this spring, I saw the envelope and decided to try them again. Only five germinated, but they were really old (probably 10 years old) and were…
The Know Maintenance* Perennial Garden
I don’t typically read a ton during the busy summer season, most often I’m referencing a book about a specific plant or gardening technique. This summer, I managed to squeeze in some reading, most of it revolved around gardening. ‘The Know Maintenance* Perennial Garden’ by Roy Diblik popped up when I was reading about a…
First Frost
Last night we had our first frost (and freeze as well). When I got up this morning it was 31.4 outside. There was frost on the grass in some places and the tender plants had been zapped. A few weeks ago we had the threat of frost, but we escaped being at the top of…
Enjoying the Outdoors
This summer we ate most of our evening meals in the cedar adirondack chairs on the front lawn. We also enjoyed coffee in the mornings and cocktails out here on the weekends. An added benefit is that they overlook the new pollinator bed, so we were able to watch the butterflies and bees while we…
Fall Flowers from the Cutting Garden
I’ve always grown flowers, dahlias and many others for cutting, but typically I plant them in the perennial borders to save space in the vegetable garden. When I do this, I am reluctant to cut the flowers because they bring so much to the borders. That’s why this year, I decided to plant the dahlias…
Welcome to the New Site…
For years, we’ve been wanting to redesign the Chiot’s Run blog, but that never seemed to materialize. The site kept getting larger and larger, with more content. This summer, I decided it was time for a new site. The old Chiot’s Run will remain an archive site, to keep all information available, but content from…