Tasty tuber can be mashed like potatoes October 8, 2018 by Barbara Damrosch on Columnists, Home & garden, Kitchen Garden, Lifestyle Vegetable fashions may come and go, but Jerusalem artichokes have been grown on this continent for a very long time. Native American gardeners were tending this nutritious crop well before it caught the eye of Sir Walter Raleigh, who brought it back to England, and the explorer Samuel de Champlain, who introduced it to France. …
Gardener’s journey began at age 13 September 20, 2018 by Jennifer Osborn on Home & garden, Lifestyle BROOKLIN — At the seasonal Brooklin residence where Annie Smith works as estate gardener, she grows sky-high sunflowers and lush, oversized blooms in tidy rows. Dahlias, zinnias, cosmos, lilies, foxgloves, bachelor buttons, sweet peas — both annual and an unscented perennial variety — are just a few of the flowers found. “I think this is …
Using grass clippings as sun block for soil August 27, 2018 by Barbara Damrosch on Columnists, Home & garden, Kitchen Garden, Lifestyle Summer days are lawn days, with the hum of mowers in the neighborhood, the scent of grass newly cut, the sight of grounds cloaked in emerald velvet (or blotchy burlap if the owners are lax and the weather dry). For the environmentally minded, these are also days of lawn guilt. Even if we practice sustainable …
Richard the Lionheart fueled up on spinach August 15, 2018 by Barbara Damrosch on Columnists, Home & garden, Kitchen Garden, Lifestyle I’ve never had any trouble believing that spinach made Popeye strong. Imagine what powers he might have had if it he’d eaten garden spinach instead of canned. A well grown spinach patch is beautiful: rows of lush, dark green leaves waiting to be picked and tossed in a hearty salad, or sautéed just long enough …
Rural flower stands worth the stop August 9, 2018 by Jennifer Osborn on Arts & living, Home & garden, Lifestyle It isn’t summer in Maine without fresh, vibrant bouquets of flowers scattered throughout your house or camp. How about a slim glass of pungent sweet peas for a bathroom countertop? Or for the kitchen, a bouquet of juicy, coral poppies with a few sprigs of herbs tucked among them? Maybe a tight cluster of bright …
Grouch with the hoe indulges some self-sowers July 30, 2018 by Barbara Damrosch on Columnists, Home & garden, Kitchen Garden, Lifestyle Summer is by no means over and plans are already underway for next year’s garden. I’m not the one making them, though. It will be many months before the new seed catalogs arrive, and what with weeding and watering I haven’t had a chance to come up with a scheme for next year. The garden …
Weeding a therapeutic pastime July 9, 2018 by Barbara Damrosch on Columnists, Home & garden, Kitchen Garden, Lifestyle Say what you will about beastly, dry, hot weather, it has one virtue. The weeds don’t like it either. Their glorious season is spring, when the moist earth favors their agenda. In summer it’s not hard to dispatch them while they’re small by skimming just below the soil surface with a sharp hoe. Do this …
Bees go gaga over anise hyssop June 25, 2018 by Barbara Damrosch on Columnists, Home & garden, Kitchen Garden, Lifestyle Every now and then an obscure plant creeps quietly into my life, and makes a home for itself in my garden. After a while I wonder what I ever did without it. Anise hyssop was just such a revelation. About 25 years ago, a nurserywoman in Gaylordsville, Conn., named Kathleen Nelson, who had introduced me …
Have a fruitful summer, fall May 29, 2018 by Barbara Damrosch on Columnists, Home & garden, Kitchen Garden, Lifestyle In the official language of botany, a plant is “armed” if it packs certain defensive gear. A cactus uses sharp spines — which are modified leaves — to protect itself from creatures seeking the water inside its stems. A lemon tree guards its fruit with thorns, which are modified branches. Bramble fruits such as raspberries …
For a nutritious lunch, try foraging May 19, 2018 by Kate Cough on Arts & living, Home & garden, Lifestyle If you could see through the fog this week you may have noticed some emerald treasures: edible shoots, nudging their way up through winter’s leaf litter. Fiddleheads, garlic mustard, milkweed and dandelions are just some of the wild treats that appear in the early spring. Fiddleheads are the furled frond of a young fern and …
