letters from the wilderness
While I've been quiet here, I've been very busy in the garden. Some projects, some planting, some setting up new things for future plans. One of my favorite plants is geraniums. When I was a little girl, I was given a book about Carl Larsson, a Swedish painter. The paintings in the book focused on... Continue Reading →
Last fall, we had the river birch next to our home taken down. River birches are messy trees. This one kept dumping branches on the roof of the house which would end up in the gutters and cause the water to overflow and damage the wood around the front door. The water also eroded the... Continue Reading →
One of the projects I've been working on this spring is the drainage issue for our yard. All of the gutters go into the ground where black plastic pipe carries the water away from the house. Two areas where these underground black pipes drain down hill are a bit of a mess. Unfortunately, we have... Continue Reading →
I’ve been making do with a potting area in 2 spots in the basement. However, my knees didn’t appreciate all the kneeling on the floor. When we cleaned up the basement, we moved these shelves into this spot by the water heater. It seems to be the perfect spot which we can’t use for much... Continue Reading →
This weekend I spent time digging and digging. The rain garden is one area I tackled which I'll work on again this week. This area has been eroded by the downhill flow of water and the 2 pipes attached to the rain gutters. You can see the pipe ends (black) marked by a rock in... Continue Reading →
After spending a day at a gardening symposium over a week ago, I've been digging deeper into low-carbon gardening, sustainable gardening, etc. In a nutshell, it's everything I've done for years because I was focused on frugal, organic gardening. It's nice to know I was helping the planet just by being a good steward. Anyhoo,... Continue Reading →
One thing I had in abundance in my Pennsylvania garden was beneficial insects. Ladybugs, praying mantises, spiders, dragonflies, bees, earthworms, you name it, we had it in our 1/4 acre yard. When I first started gardening, I didn't plant to attract bugs. But, as I learned more about organic gardening, I started planting to get... Continue Reading →
This newer bed sits at the top of our long thyme bed. In it are roses, blueberry bushes, and 5 grape vines. I noticed this spring that the wood chips were making their way into the thyme bed. Normally it would not be an issue however the wood chips looked messy as a result. I... Continue Reading →
A few weeks ago, I attended the Extension Master Gardeners of the Central Rappahannok Area Living in the Garden Symposium in Falmouth, VA. Given that Falmouth is about 3 hours from where I live, it was an all-day experience. Since this post is photo-centric, I'll keep the writing short. We heard 3 speakers, one of... Continue Reading →
Recently I decided to try growing my own amaryllis from seed. Thanks to advice from a friend, I pollinated the amaryllis I bought at Home Depot after Christmas for half price. Then I waited and watched. I saw these bulbs begin to swell on 4 plants. If the bulbs continued to increase in size beyond... Continue Reading →
2 dogs and a house 