OUR BELOVED ANDRE THE DOODLER IS OFF this week, muttering something as he trudged out about summer “holiday” with “the Missus,” but my oldest orange Clivia, which normally blooms in April, is present and accounted for (above). So are a pair of gray foxes, who decided to spend last weekend with me eating apples off my trees. True. I have a photo to prove it (not great, but hey, they were way across the yard; at least I tried). [Read more...]
andre’s on vacation, but my clivia isn’t
July 30, 2009
my august garden chores
July 30, 2009
I SOMETIMES THINK THAT AUGUST, not April, is the cruelest month (though T.S. Eliot famously thought otherwise, and spelled it cruellest for good measure). Hazy, hot and humid…and plum tuckered out. But give up we must not. Every weed pulled now is a hundred you don’t have to deal with later (well, who knows the precise math of mama weed to baby weed, but you get the idea: prevention). Don’t let them go to seed. But that’s not all there is to do around here, so let’s get started on the list a day or two early: [Read more...]
growing and storing a year of parsley
July 28, 2009
F LAT-LEAF, OR ITALIAN, PARSLEY IS MACHO COMPARED TO CURLY-LEAF, particularly the selection called (grrrr!) ‘Gigante.’ I like my parsley big and strong, and I get just that by growing my own, and stashing it away for year-round use with two easy freezer tactics. No $1.99-a-bunch stuff for me except in recipes when only fresh will do, and no dried parsley for me, ever: insipid! Welcome to Week 1 of Summer Fest, our Herb Week, the kickoff to a four-Tuesday-long cross-blog celebration of garden-fresh foods and flavors. [Read more...]
starting tuesday: 4-week summer food event!
July 27, 2009
T HOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE BEEN AROUND AWHILE may recall Food Fest, a cross-blog collaboration in 2008 that lasted all harvest season long. This year, I’ve agitated and cajoled some of my favorite food-blogging friends into creating Summer Fest, a four-week celebration of fresh-from-the-garden food: recipes, growing tips, even tricks for storing and preserving summer’s best. I think we’ve assembled a pretty diverse team to treat you to the delights of the season, but there’s one thing missing, the secret ingredient to a successful fest of any kind: your participation. Here’s how the series will work this year, and how you can join in, starting tomorrow, when we kick off the festivities with Herb Week. [Read more...]
the promise of roasted brussels sprouts
July 25, 2009
THE PROMISE OF ROASTED BRUSSELS SPROUTS is what keeps me from turning under much of the vegetable garden, after record rains brought havoc to some crops. I’ve harvested five cherry tomatoes and as many beans so far, sigh, in a season that began with an abundance of asparagus but then fizzled. At least my salad bowl’s been full nonstop. I like the way the tiny buds of sprouts-to-be are developing in the leaf axils of this Brussels sprouts plant, and the dreamy nature of the photo; it all seems to fit the kind of dreamy mindset I need to stay in to believe that there will be a plentiful harvest of something, after all that effort, and all that hope. You? Any crops coming into focus?
doodle by andre: new privacy policy
July 23, 2009
A PPARENTLY THE VOICE OF JACK THE DEMON CAT, who lives in a shed of his own here, can be heard all the way in Nebraska by doodling Andre. Isn’t that what this illustration is about: my nocturnal killer cat who entertains who knows what out there all night long? Or am I missing something? Wait, Jack doesn’t usually say “bloody” (though things get that way when he’s on the prowl: weasel tails, anyone?). What do you think is going on in Andre’s shed, dare I ask (and what’s up in yours)?
I WAS BLESSED TO visit many of the nation’s finest homemade gardens for 15 years for ‘Martha Stewart Living,’ first as garden editor and then as editorial director. The places we published included my upstate New York home. Take a tour of 
