Monthly Archives: March 2011

Here’s a story.             Back when my daughter Cammie was 10, through a series of events that defy description, she ended up playing the leading role of Mary Lennox in the Broadway musical, “The Secret Garden,” at the St. James … Continue reading →

Say this to the voice of Groucho Marx: Spring is sprung, Da grass is riz, I wonder where da boidies is? Da boid is on the wing! But dat’s absoid, I thought the wing was on da boid.

Today I spent re-potting leeks — fussy work indeed, but worth every minute because this is such a wonderfully tasty vegetable. I plant leek seeds in a tray with no inserts, then wait until they’re a few inches tall and … Continue reading →

There was a time when I didn’t garden, but then I turned nine and my parents gave me some seed packets, so I’ve been growing ever since. Maybe it’s the miracle of holding a tomato seed and knowing you can … Continue reading →

The gardens of my youth were fragrant gardens, and it is their sweetness rather than their patterns or their furnishings that I now most clearly recall. –Louise Beebe Wilder

            Of all insect species, at least 97 percent found in the home and garden landscape are beneficials or innocent bystanders, according to the Maine Cooperative Extension Service Most beneficial insects in their adult state eat pollen and/or nectar. To … Continue reading →

 It’s quite tasty, crisp and juicy. Use it in salads, sandwiches, steamed, boiled, or stir-fried. It’s almost a lettuce, but sturdier and tastier. It tolerates hot weather well, and grow it as you would any other cabbage. You can spring-plant, … Continue reading →

 What an overlooked vegetable this is – partly because the green cabbages you see at the store are the size of basketballs, and you think “What will I do with that?”  And too, self-important chefs don’t keep company with this … Continue reading →

This is sort of my blog, but it actually belongs to all of you who visit. I’m cruising through topics that I hope might be important to you, but if you have ideas I should cover, or questions, please send … Continue reading →

            I remember at age 9, when I was busy supplying the town with lemonade from my stand, that for my May birthday, my parents gave me a few packets of seeds to plant anywhere I wanted. I dug up … Continue reading →