Disconsolate, my friend trudged from one garden center to another. Not a parsnip seed to be found. I am sure he was able to order some from a catalog — half of those in my own stack offer a variety or two. But it is sad to see a stalwart old vegetable sink to obscurity, …
When I was growing up in New York City, we would often see apologetic signs in the middle of the street that read “Dig we must for a better New York.” Everyone knew that beneath the traffic lay an intricate network of phone lines, gas lines, water lines, electric lines and the great tubes of …
The slug, in theory, is a friend. It belongs to a class of animals, called detritovores, that feed on the detritus of the living world so that it does not pile up endlessly around us. Vegetation that is decaying, or has at least begun its downward descent from the prime of life is a slug’s …
It’s been 180 years since Thomas Jefferson’s American consul in Florence, Italy, Thomas Appleton by name, sent him some fennel to plant at Monticello. Jefferson did, and the crop has thrived over here in peaceful obscurity ever since. In California, where the climate is something like the plant’s native Mediterranean region, it has naturalized and …
There is nothing subtle about a sunflower. Poke a seed into the ground and a thick stalk will zoom up, with broad leaves at the sides and a huge flower on top, a gentle giant wearing a sporty grin and sending a message of affable openness. All pollinators welcome. All birds invited to supper. Sunflowers …
In my neighborhood, the first asparagus in spring are cheered just as much as the first snowdrops, but very quietly. When our own have started to poke up their miraculous spears, we know the same thing is happening in other yards, most notably the ones where the owners are out of town. When these absentee …
It’s dark in our root cellar in wintertime. Ideally, it’s a bit clammy down there too, as the temperature hovers around 33 degrees with a humidity of 90 percent. It smells earthy and maybe a little cabbagey — not a fun place to hang out. But grab a bucket and something from every bin, bring …
Gardeners sound like warriors when they talk about their weeds. After all, a grower’s reputation rests on having an adversary of stature, a foe worthy of one’s determination and skill. Don’t tell a Californian you envy her climate. Listen to her epic tale about battling wood sorrel. The green-thumbed Vermonter might acknowledge the leg-up he …
The holidays, fun as they are, can be guilt-producing. Too much rich food, too much champagne, too many family expectations to be met. And then there are the gift plants. Your boss gives you a poinsettia, your neighbor gives you flowering bulbs, your mother gives you an azalea, covered with festive red blooms. Only a …
It’s a cook’s nightmare. The table is set, hungry diners hover, and the beans still aren’t done. They’ve been cooking for six hours, but still haven’t softened and never will. For those of us who have foresworn canned beans in favor of the real thing, the unpredictability of dried beans’ cooking time can turn a …
