Spring is supposed to be wet. Here in Wayland, Spring often means flooding in many basements and parts of town, sometimes even busy intersections and the public library. But until today it hadn’t rained for weeks. Drought is a relief from flooding and mud, true, but it brings fire hazard warnings, and having to  use …
Category Archives: garden
The Chicks Meet the Chickens
My day of rest after Earth Day Weekend involved gardening: watering, weeding, some sowing (calendula, chamomile), staking and training the sour cherry and continuing to lay the drip irrigation (hard on the hands, that). It was pretty warm, above 70F, so the fig trees came out, as well as the two chicks. I knew that …
Full House, with Seedlings
On this rainy, chilly day I find myself alone in the house for the first time in over a week. My in-laws are here, and over the weekend we had a crazy house full of friends and family – eight adults and two kids, all sleeping over. I love extending the dining table to the …
Goings On
Spring mode! It was 72 degrees today and sunny with a light breeze. I was in the garden as much as possible these last two days. I planted two paw paws in a corner of the garden that previously held a leaf pile. What gorgeous soil I found there! From now on: leaf piles all …
More Seedlings at the Center of the Universe
More and more lights are being switched on in the basement. In fact, we’re almost full up! We’ve got three shelves going now, the bottom one with heat mat, the top two for “growing up” and cold germinators. I also have  a couple of flats sitting on the shelf in the porch, behind a curtain: …
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First Seeds are In
Amie and I planted the first seeds in flats. The heat mat is now fully booked. I’ll move the mache because it doesn’t need warmth to germinate and use that space for the leeks and onions, which I like to give a haircut so I can munch on the trimmings while working the seeds. This …
Medicinal Herb Purchase
I found this great seed (and plant) supplier, Horizon Herbs, through Mountain Rose Herbs, where I usually buy my dried herbs. I admit I went a little crazy. But if I can grow all of these, harvest them and make them into medicine, and also take seed from them and propagate them… it’s a dream I’ve had …
Fruit Orchard on the Slope: Soil Analysis and Amendments
Been thinking about that slope: will the soil support what we ultimately want to plant there, and how do we best prepare it? This south-west facing slope, relatively sunny – somewhat shaded from the southeast and northwest, more so as you go further down the slope – will be a fruit orchard: we’ll plant blackberries and …
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Applying the Pattern Language (ii): Inviting Entry, Making Connections
Back to patterns! Having a plan for the slope has re-opened my mind for the immediate front: the balcony, the level stretch of garden up top, the top of the driveway. This is what it looks like right now: I already analyzed one of the more general  problems: the negativity of this space. There are some more specific …
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Soil and Water Works: Hugelswales
It cannot wait to get started in the garden, in particular to start the big Soil and Water Works. I want to plant stakes and dig dirt and maneuver wheelbarrows and roll rotten logs downhill. I even want to roll some of them uphill, that’s how desperate I am to get started. For today I …