Behold the beauty of frost’s many forms
I love the first frost. I’ve never joined the chorus of gardeners who view it ...
See all in Kitchen GardenColumnists
Maine Dish
Add crunch to your meal
We Mainers love our coleslaw; Saturday night baked beans and hot biscuits with fresh and ...
See all in Maine DishMore from our Columnists
Invaluable kitchen aid for mashing veggies
Autumn is a festive time here at Rabbit Hill. My dining room table is decorated with trays of elongated yellow and red striped Blush tomatoes, blood red Goldman’s Italian American tomatoes, and plump processing tomatoes. Blue-green Hubbard squash, creamy yellow and green striped delicata and tan long-necked butternut squash are hardening in the greenhouse. And …
People-pleaser caught between her husband and her parents
Dear Carolyn: I’m tired of feeling caught between my husband and my parents. They didn’t like him and outright told him they thought marrying him wasn’t the best path for me. Friction increased when I moved to his hometown. I am the first of my sisters to marry and leave the area. I recognize my …
Hot topic: Cooking up compost
It’s often said that making compost is like cooking. You assemble your ingredients — in this case, a combination of dry, high-carbon organic materials such as dead bean vines and straw, mixed with moist, high-nitrogen ones such as kitchen scraps and manure. Then you use heat to break the ingredients down. With cooking you use …
Groom worries his on-again, off-again parents will ruin the wedding
Dear Carolyn: My parents are dating again, and I just don’t think I can take it. They divorced the first time when I was about 9, got back together and remarried when I was 12 and then divorced a little over three years later. That divorce seemed much bitterer than the first one but maybe …
Everything is coming up peaches
There is an abundance of fruit this fall; apple trees are lush with ruby red orbs while bright orange pumpkins and squash decorate prickly vines, deep purple blackberries line the woods, and peach trees are bowing down with jeweled globes of fruit. Our family loves fresh peaches. Intensely fragrant, perfectly ripe, sweet and juicy, with …
Behold vegetables’ vivid blooms
There’s a red-stemmed collard in my garden right now that is taller than I am — impressive for a member of the brassica family. It’s a magnificent creature, with huge blue-green leaves that get smaller as they ascend the magenta stalks. The top is crowned with abundant sprays of pale yellow blossoms, presently enjoyed by …
Rascally raccoons twice raid corn patch
My corn patch was truly a work of art this summer. Regal, tall stalks almost 7 feet high in a neat 10-by-12-foot patch. Five rows of 12 plants. The variety, Natural Sweet (F1), sold by Johnny’s Selected Seeds, bore at least two and sometimes three 8-inch-long, plump ears per stalk. Delighted with the potential bounty, …
How do I cage my inner Tiger Mother around my young daughter?
Dear Carolyn: I don’t want to be that mother. You know, the kind inappropriately invested in her kid winning, achieving, etc. But I have those tendencies, because I think I was raised that way myself. How do I make sure my child lives up to her potential without hounding her to distraction? She is a …
Plants are self-sowing and staking out their turf
Summer is by no means over and plans are already underway for next year’s garden. You’re not the one making them, though. It will be months before the new seed catalogs arrive, and what with weeding and watering you might not have had a chance to come up with a scheme for next year. But …
Grandma and Grandpa think the kids’ food allergies are made up
Dear Carolyn: My children have serious food allergies. I have had difficulty educating and bringing my in-laws on board with our way of managing their food choices. I recently found out from my sister-in-law that my in-laws have been saying they think I am making up my children’s allergies. I am beside myself. My husband …