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margaret roach, head gardener

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doodle by andre: loosey-goosey chicken eggs

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SEE, NOW *THIS* IS THE REAL PRICE OF FREEDOM: recalcitrant, rebellious eggs, with no regard for order whatsoever. Talk about fresh eggs! Thanks, Andre Jordan, for reminding me to pick up a dozen at the farmer’s market Saturday…the ones I raise here aren’t anywhere near “ripe” yet.

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11 comments
June 23, 2011

comments

  1. Erin @ The Impatient Gardener says

    June 23, 2011 at 4:21 pm

    It is miserable here today. In fact it has been all week. Rainy, cold, and rather like fall instead of summer. I cannot think of a better remedy than an Andre doodle, and this one, with a Socialist egg, might be my favorite of all time. Thank you Andre and Margaret!

    Reply
  2. Tammy says

    June 23, 2011 at 9:07 pm

    I really needed a chuckle. Somehow managed to get into a fight with some poison ivy and the poison ivy won. So Miserable. Thanks Andre!.

    Reply
  3. Irena Jankunas says

    June 24, 2011 at 8:46 am

    Margaret,

    After becoming addicted to your blog a couple of months ago and reading though everything you have written here so entertainingly and knowledgeably, I can’t believe that you need to pay a trip to farmers market to get some eggs. Two beautiful chickens in an even more beautiful coop I believe are a must in your garden.

    I wonder if this is a dinner party for Jack the Demon that I’m suggesting?…

    Reply
    • Margaret says

      June 24, 2011 at 9:26 am

      Hi, Irena. No chickens here — too many wild things (not just Jack — he’d be the least of my troubles when it came to who’d stop by for chicken tartare). Being in a state park and forest (all around me is wild and crazy land) it’s just asking for trouble, and even more visitors that I have now!

      Reply
  4. Lee Reich says

    June 24, 2011 at 3:35 pm

    I agree with Irena about chickens: Mine are decoratively strutting around the yard cleaning up insects and, almost every day this time of year, laying very tasty eggs. They are 4 very small Bantams that don’t even fly over the 18″ high chicken fence that surrounds my gardens outside the higher deer fences. There’s a photo of some of my chickens, some chicks, and the fence at http://leereich.blogspot.com/2010_06_01_archive.html.

    Reply
    • Margaret says

      June 25, 2011 at 3:28 pm

      Hi, Lee. How nice to see you here. I take it you don’t live with a family of gray fox, a lone adult red fox, and more raccoons than you can count. Oh, and then there’s the bears and coyotes and fisher cats and and and … being in the state land here, it’s blood-curdling screams in the night more night than not coming from the woods and fields around me, someone getting eaten. Even my farmer neighbors got sick of dealing with dead chickens all the time, some creature always trying to break in. I forgot to mention weasels. :) I will just remain envious of your great coop and the Bantams.

      Reply
  5. Meryl Natchez says

    June 24, 2011 at 5:47 pm

    Hi, Margaret, any hints for a fig tree? I planted it about 4 weeks ago, with a lot of compost at the bottom of the hole. The leaves seem to be turning yellow… Too much compost? too much water? Any help appreciated.

    Reply
    • Margaret says

      June 26, 2011 at 8:04 am

      Hi, Meryl. Obviously I can’t see from here, and I don’t know where you are and what the weather has been, but transplanting is stressful for many plants, even in the best circumstances. If it loses some leaves it will bounce back I bet. As for watering: You want to give it enough so that it never comes close to wilting, of course, but not water again when the soil is still moist down below from the last time – you kind of have to feel around and make sure it needs watering again, if you know what I mean. This is not particular to figs, but just generally — you don’t want to swamp the plant, nor deprive it and stress it from underwatering, either.

      Reply
  6. Dee says

    June 25, 2011 at 1:41 pm

    Andre, thank you. I always cringe a little when I pay attention to the price of the grocery store’s free-range eggs, but hey, you can’t put a price on freedom, right? I’ll be chuckling in the checkout line…

    Reply
  7. Meryl Natchez says

    June 26, 2011 at 9:56 am

    Thanks, Margaret, I will follow your advice and keep watching.

    Reply
  8. Margit Van Schaick says

    June 27, 2011 at 10:04 am

    Yesterday, I finally got my tomatoes in! The rain and the need to get the plot tilled(and a huge delay in being able to get it done) caused more time to go by than ideal. Still, if all goes well, we will hopefully get a good crop. I had 6 yards of organic compost (leaves and grass) incorporated to get a start on improving the soil and hope to get more when the growing season is over. It is my goal never to till again, just keep applying great compost. I do have a problem that I hope you can advise about: the garden plot is situated behind an old barn, painted red years ago and very likely shedding lead and who knows what other toxic stuff. I’m not planting food crops nearer than 15 feet away, but wonder what’s the best way to deal with the clear ground. Can I plant flowers and something like comfrey? Ideally, I’d like to grow something that will clean the soil, but while trying to do that I don’t want to poison beneficial insects and birds that may be attracted. what do you recommend? Thank you so much for your consideration. And, is15 feet a safe distance for food crops?

    Reply

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Podcast: Soups, Soups & More Soups

I’VE FOLLOWED a vegetarian diet for decades, but it wasn’t until just a few years ago that I mastered a really good vegetable soup. Now I’m learning variations on vegetable-based soups, plus ones with beans and even ideas for mushroom soups, too–all thanks to Alexandra Stafford and these recipes. (Stream it below, read the transcript or subscribe free.)

https://robinhoodradioondemand.com/podcast-player/6211/vegetable-soup-ideas-with-ali-stafford-november-5-a-way-to-garden-with-margaret-roach.mp3

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mad gardener, nature addict, award-winning writer & podcaster, rural resident, corporate dropout, creator of awaytogarden dot com and matching book.

Instagram post 2190297402408409324_444552553 Snow day. To be followed by a snow night. #awaytogarden #wavehillchairs
Instagram post 2177779417009402040_444552553 No matter that it was 11F and 17F on mornings this week; my lifelong companions and I are all tucked in, each in our respective offseason spots. Three giant pots of #cliviaminiata that are actually pieces of my long-gone grandmother’s original plant from many, many decades ago, love the offseason bright cold of the mudroom, and get no water till around the new year or so. They need a chill (under 50 but above 35) for about 40 days to trigger timely bloom in late winter/early spring (without it they will bloom whenever, later, like June or even summer). The #alocasia reacts to the cold of the mudroom by shutting down and going dormant and leafless, and then I’ll let it sleep till late winter, when I give it a drink to see if it awakens. That one sleeps and wakes on its own timetable because I do not have a proper spot for it (ideally warm, like 60 or 65 at least, and humid and bright...no can do the humid part here). We have been together probably 10 years anyhow, despite my shortcomings as a #plantparent . #alocasiaamazonica #clivias #houseplantsofinstagram #houseplants #awaytogarden
Instagram post 2172580656557749859_444552553 Gardener: “I raked all the leaves!” Nature: “Oh, really?” (Cue sound of demonic laughter from on high.)
Instagram post 2170506606641504178_444552553 I wanna tell you how it’s gonna be You’re gonna give your love to me I wanna love you night and day You know my love will not fade away Not fade away Nope. Not this #cotinus leaf’s fiery hot love at least. Like the 1957 #buddyholly song I first heard by #therollingstones in 1964, it keeps going. #awaytogarden #fallfoliage2019 #cotinusgrace #notfadeaway
Instagram post 2168987273989949378_444552553 “Jack Frost nipping at your, er, geraniums...” And here it comes.
Instagram post 2166837817953503284_444552553 Constant companions: If you want to keep good company all winter, grow some good keepers. My house is stuffed with piles of #cucurbita awaiting their time in the oven or soup kettle. Each one is a character, distinctive. On one chair in the mudroom two close cousins in #cucurbitamoschata — the horse collar-shaped one called ‘Tromboncino’ or ‘Tromboncino Rampicante’ snuggles with some ‘Butternut.’ The ‘Tromboncino’ are better eaten green and small as #zucchini but I can’t resist their eventual mad size and shape, big enough to wear around your neck. I use their meat for enriching vegetable stock; the ‘Butternut’ are far more rich and delicious. Seed respectively from sandhillpreservation.com #sandhillpreservationcenter and @turtle_tree_seed (whose ‘Butternut,’ selected for “lastingness” for decades, will keep and keep into next spring or more). #wintersquash #awaytogarden #goodkeeper #cucurbitaceae
Instagram post 2162565040882902064_444552553 Furry fall friend: I look forward to crossing paths with this woolly caterpillar of the #giantleopardmoth this time of year, when its fiery intersegmental bands and plush coat seem to be just the right autumn-into-winter look. Miraculously this tiny animal will overwinter in a woodpile or in the leaf litter, even here in the North, building up a concentration of antifreeze (glycerol I think?) in its cells before the worst weather begins to avoid disaster. (Reminds me of the super-hardy #woodfrog who does similarly. Such heroes.) Swipe to see a beat-up pic of the adult moth, tattered with scales missing at its wing margins, but still dramatic. Unlike various spine-covered caterpillars that can sting you, this one’s hairs (or setae) won’t, but he will roll up tight if touched, in self-defense. I am in awe of such complex strategies of survival, I am. #mothsofinstagram #caterpillars #awaytogarden #hypercompescribonia #hypercompe
Instagram post 2161992098629435854_444552553 Beans are life. I mean, not only do I live on them daily (as I have as a vegetarian for 40+ years) but each one is a seed, a living embryo, a distinct and gorgeous little DNA miracle. I have been inspired by the hashtag #31daysofbeans by @lukasvolger lately, loving watching someone unknown to me (um, who shares my oatmeal thing too apparently...also see his #28daysofoatmeal) dish up the #phaseolus. We both admire bean ambassador Steve Sando @rancho_gordo and this photo might be my fave bean of all that I “met” via Steve years back, big and flat and chestnutty ‘Christmas Lima.’ My advice: don’t wait till Dec. 25 to dig in.
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Welcome! I’m Margaret Roach, a leading garden writer for 25 years—at ‘Martha Stewart Living,’ ‘Newsday,’ and in three books. I host a public-radio podcast; I also lecture, plus hold tours at my 2.3-acre Hudson Valley (NY) Zone 5B garden, and always say no to chemicals and yes to great plants.

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