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 …
ELLSWORTH — The Hancock County Office of the University of Maine Cooperative Extension is now taking applications for its 2019 Master Gardener Volunteer training. The training will run on Friday mornings from Jan. 25-May 17, as well as two Tuesday evening classes. The purpose of the Master Gardener program is to prepare you to do …
ELLSWORTH — The Hancock County office of the University of Maine Cooperative Extension is now taking applications for its 2019 Master Gardener Volunteer training. The training will run on Friday mornings from Jan. 25-May 17, as well as two Tuesday evening classes. The purpose of the Master Gardener program is to prepare participants to do …
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 …
DEER ISLE — Intricate, miniature trees growing out of shallow vessels look challenging at best if not downright difficult to replicate. But, you too, can create bonsai trees with a little care, says Deer Isle bonsai enthusiast Greg Mekras of Deer Isle. “You have to like plants and you have to, as my wife says, …
Summer may be the sweet season, as strawberries, melons and peaches appear in a delicious progression of ripeness. But the sweet tastes of winter are treasured too. After the first frosts, something magical happens to the vegetables that remain in the garden. It’s quite different from the sugar buildup in summer fruits, designed to entice …
How do we learn to garden? Those of us who write about the subject do our best to give useful information, just as favorite authors have done for us. We hope our pages end up dog-eared and mud-smeared, sharing shelf space not with Dickens and Proust but with pruners, and twine. Even then, we help …
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. …
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 …
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 …
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 …
