Living life simply…
Gardening season is back in full swing. Here in Maine we have what’s called “Black Fly Season”, which typically goes from Mother’s Day to Father’s Day, but it can start earlier and drag on longer depending on the weather. The result is that there’s this short, sweet season in between spring thaw and the time…
We have a few really old apple trees on our property, they were planted by the original homesteaders in the late 1800’s, which means they are all well over 100 years old. Last spring we lost one to a late spring blizzard, it was in rough shape and needed to come down anyways, so we…
Maple sap is flowering, birds are singing, the days are getting longer and the sun is starting to put off some warmth. It feels like spring outside! This kind of weather always has me itching to get outside and I’m happy to have chores that need done. This year I’m boiling down some of the…
Last Wednesday I started the first seeds of the 2021 gardening season, that’s means it’s officially garden season. This week the process continues with two varieties of celery (Tango from Johnny’s and Merlin from Renee’s Garden), Italian flat leaf parsley, and celeriac. When it comes to things that I don’t grow an entire flat of,…
It’s hard to believe that it’s time to start seeds for the 2021 summer garden! As I sit at my computer I can see freezing rain falling outside, coating all the trees in a layer of sparkling beauty. When you grow onions from seed, they need started early in the year. Valentine’s Day is the…
I’ve always had houseplants scattered all over the house. I supposed it comes from my mom, who always enjoyed plants and gardening and was always trying a new houseplant from the grocery store. My collection has grown steadily over the years, there are sansevieras, ivies, schlumbergeras, loads of African violets, jade plants, and a wide…
I’m not much of one for mums, I’m not sure why, they’ve just never been a flower that I liked all that much (lilies are the same, including daylilies). Instead of mums by the front door for fall color, I have two ‘Endless Summer’ hydrangeas in big terra cotta pots. They start turning in late…
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…
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…
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…