From the category archives:

Fruit

Edible Blue Honeysuckle: A Fruit for Cold Climates

January 26, 2010
edible blue honeysuckle

My first introduction to Clayton was his comment on my post about cold climate seeds. On his recommendation I checked out the links in his sidebar. That’s how I found out he grows edible blue honeysuckle, a fruit that is extremely hardy. I thought my readers would like to know more about it, so I [...]

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Three gardening books for children

November 18, 2008

Many gardening books for children take what I think of as the art project approach: here’s what you need, this is what you do, isn’t that cute?, now show it to Grandma. Very few books out there take children–or a child’s interest in gardening–seriously.
I prefer to regard children as apprentice gardeners, gradually acquiring more skills [...]

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Our best apple recipes

September 25, 2008

We have three apples trees. They came with the place.
That is how I know the secret to good apple pie and crisp is to start with delicious baking apples. When I started using these apples in the same recipes I’d always used, the compliments increased dramatically: “This is the best apple pie (crisp) I’ve ever [...]

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What to do with Concord grapes

September 10, 2008

When we moved to this land, there were some grape vines already growing here. They were slipskin grapes, and if they weren’t Concord grapes, they certainly were similar to Concords. That’s not too surprising, since the hardiest grape species are slipskin.
But you know what? Those kinds of grapes are too tart for me. They [...]

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Rundy publishes his first book

January 28, 2007

Faithful readers of this blog will remember Rundy’s struggles with the brush mower, his love of fruit trees, and his fist-shaking frustration with animal pests. Those of you who are relatively new to this blog can read all his entries here. I am happy to tell you that Rundy’s first work of fiction, The Stuttering [...]

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Is it? Could it be . . . Poison Ivy?

September 6, 2006

It was April. I had just come back from a cabin-fever-induced tramp over our field and through our woods. I had noticed this red-leafed vine growing all over:If our field is 5 acres, then this was easily growing on two acres of it. It lined the main walking path and carpeted the ground near my [...]

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To Complain, Or Not

June 16, 2006

Early summer is the time when I pass from the state of “getting behind” into the state of “being behind.” It is a time when there are a lot of beautiful things I might take joy in, but instead find myself wallowing in guilt or despair over unaccomplished goals. Nobody knows how to ruin a [...]

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Mow The Field, Mind The Blueberries

June 13, 2006

Sometimes, it’s better not to think about certain things. Sometimes it’s better to pretend you didn’t see, to not think about it. Sometimes one might wonder how there can be such moral quandaries about mowing a field.

We have a back field of about five acres that runs up the hill to the edge of the [...]

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Everything In

June 10, 2004

I, at long last, (so it seems,) have everything planted. It always seems I reach this state with less dignity and aplomb than I would like. Later winter and early spring are spent dreaming up all sorts of things that I’ll want to get done and complaining that I can’t do everything. Then, starting sometime [...]

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My Arbor Day

April 16, 2004

My two plum trees arrived yesterday. I have been very pleased with the condition and packing of everything that I’ve bought from St. Lawrence Nurseries. The plants are always well wrapped and in good condition. I can tell a lot of personal work went into packing the plants. So far I’ve bought grape vines, a [...]

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More about fruit

April 2, 2003

I’m sorry to hear of the demise of Bear Creek Nursery. I never ordered from them, but I kept hoping to. They had quite a selection of apple trees. One that I always wanted to get was Chenango Strawberry, because it was discovered fairly close to where we live. I notice all the mail order [...]

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Pear & Cherry notes

March 26, 2003

I look at lists of pears in old catalogs or encyclopedias and feel faint with longing. The book ‘Pomona’s Harvest’ will curl your hair with what’s been lost. Still, there are lots available and one variety I am intrigued with

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