Nyack Backyard

Your Average Backyard Bird

2012-01-22T13:14:00.000-05:00

Dark-eyed Junco with snowy beak

European Starling

Once the snow hits, and the ground is inaccessible, the action at the feeders really picks up. That means the best time of year for bird watching has begun! The Audubon Society’s Great Backyard Bird Count was set up to help track wild bird populations. It helps scientists figure out which species are surging in numbers and which might be declining. They can also track their patterns of migration and determine the effects of urbanization, climate change and disease. Last year 594 species were represented, 92,000 lists were submitted, and over 11.4 million birds were counted! On their website, you can see lists of the most populous birds in the country, or break it down locally. Last year, these were the most common birds in the Nyack area:

1) European Starling
2) American Goldfinch
3) House Sparrow
4) House Finch
5) Junco
6) White Throated Sparrow
7) Crow
8) Mourning Dove
9) Northern Cardinal
10) Blue Jay/Turkey Vulture/Chickadee (tie)

Red-bellied Woodpecker

White-throated Sparrow

Maybe you're wondering how Nyack compares to the rest of the Northeast? Here are the most populous birds last year in the Mid-Atlantic, East Central, Northeast, Great Lakes, Allegheny and Atlantic Canada regions, according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology:

1) Chickadee
2) Dark-eyed Junco
3) Mourning Dove
4) Downy Woodpecker
5) Blue Jay
6) American Goldfinch
7) Northern Cardinal
8) White-breasted Nuthatch
9) House Finch
10) Tufted Titmouse

By conducting our own hyper-local bird count, we can see what the most common birds are in our own backyards and compare our results with our neighbor's. Do you have more Blue Jays than Juncos? More Chickadees or more Woodpeckers? I did an informal count of the birds at my feeder this past weekend, and made a list of the most popular birds. It ended up being much different from their's:

1) House Sparrow
2) Dark Eyed Junco
3) Blue Jay
4) Tufted Titmouse
5) White Throated Sparrow
6) Chickadee
7) White-breasted Nuthatch
8) Downy Woodpecker
9) Red Bellied Woodpecker
10) Mourning Dove

Downy Woodpecker

I’ve only had a few transient European Starlings visit, though it’s the top bird nationally. I rarely see Northern Cardinals and can count on one hand the number of times I’ve seen an American Goldfinch. What about you? How do these lists stack up to yours?

Go to the Great Backyard Bird Count site and sign up for this year’s count, running February 17 – 22.

Mourning Dove

What to Grow? Seed Inventory and 2011 Review

2012-01-14T11:31:00.001-05:00

What to grow? What to grow? Time to think about the vegetable garden of 2012! I love browsing the seed catalogs and figuring out what seeds to buy – but my eyes are bigger than my stomach. (Or, rather, my seed purchases are always too prolific for the space I have!)

It’s so hard to narrow it down, but recently I heard some good advice: “Grow what your family eats.” I had to think about that because even though I enjoy growing and eating exotic colored radishes and garnishing crudite plates with them, they are probably something that my kids would pick out of a salad. They love tomato and basil, though, and just about any kind of potato. They’ll eat sugar snaps, cucumbers, lettuce, sweet peppers, spinach and chard. Potatoes will be my new experiment this year – maybe sweet potatoes too!

The space I have for starting seeds is very limited, so I’ll probably buy tomato seedlings this year. I’m setting up a small indoor growing station in my closet, though.

PEAS, PEAS, PEAS

Blauschokker Flower

How could I have neglected to plant peas last spring? The lapse prompted me to purchase some late in the season and plant them in August. We (well, mostly Betsy) got a few handfuls of “Sugar Snaps” and “Sugar Ann” in October. The flowers for “Blauschokker Alauws Blue” were stunning.

HERBS

Dill Flower

The small-leafed mounding Italian basil did well for me this year. It didn’t flower or wilt as quickly as the Genovese, and it looked nice in the front of my community plot. I don’t remember where I got a bunch of generous and inexpensive packets of Pagano seeds, but it was probably at the grocery store. I’ve had good results with all the herbs I’ve grown from this Italian company. I also saved lots of dill seeds from the plants that volunteered.

CUCUMBERS

Probably my best crop. I made 12 pints of pickles. The Japanese Long produced well for the second year. So did the slicing cucumbers that Meems from Gardening in the Boroughs of NYC sent. Didn’t get any lemons but I have enough to try again.

The 2011 Squash Vine Massacre

SQUASH, PUMPKIN & GOURD

I’m getting rid of my pumpkin and gourd seeds. They just take up too much space. If you follow this blog, you may have witnessed the Great Squash Vine Massacre of 2011. Lesson learned. I’ll grow bush or compact vines from now on. I saved “Bush Delicata,” not knowing that it was a hybrid. Curious to know what turns up. I’ll get an heirloom zucchini and yellow squash this year.

TOMATOES

My big mistake this year was not labeling my tomatoes. One standout was a fuzzy hybrid called "Alberta Peach." I grew too many cherries and not enough slicers. This year at a book fair, the publisher gave out tomato seeds to promote the book Urban Farming by Thomas Fox. I love this promotion idea! But not the fact that the variety of tomato is nowhere to be found on the package! On my wish list this year for tomatoes are Yellow Pear, Sungold, Sweet 100, San Marzano, Brandywine and Mortgage Lifter. I’m done with the purple and brown varieties for awhile.

RADISH

Watermelon Radish

I had my best results ever this year with watermelon (aka red meat) and daikon radish. I’ll use up these seeds and also try some podded radishes.

GREENS

I have “Tuscan Lacinato” kale, “Bright Lights” swiss chard, a “Salad Bowl Blend” from Botanical Interests. Also quite a few “Drumhead Savoy” cabbage seeds, however, that’s another vegetable my family is not big on, and it took me a year, overwintering, to get a full-sized head. I loved growing Radicchio this year and it was super hardy. Wish I could remember what variety it was.

FLOWERS:

I collected and saved perennial and annual flowers last season: Gaillarda “Indian Blanket”, Coreopsis “Tickseed”, Tropical Milkweed, Purple Columbine, Delphinium, Marigold, Cardinal Flower Vine, Cleome, Morning Glory, Zinnia, Scarlet Runner Bean, Purple Hyacinth Bean, Black Eyed Susan Vine, Lunaria, Snapdragon, and Strawflower.

So here are my seed needs: Spinach, Beans (I’m looking for a thin, stringless, French-style green bean. Kylee at Our Little Acre has recommended “Jade”), carrots, zucchini and yellow squash -- recommendations, anyone?

Seedlings needed: Tomatoes and peppers.

SEED OFFER: Minnesota Midget (small cantaloupe) – I may put in one of these plants. But I saved like 400 seeds! Just email me your address if you’d like some: nyackbackyard@gmail.com

Here are some seed companies that I’ve used and recommend.

Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company

John Scheepers Kitchen Garden Seeds

Johnny Seeds

Abundant Life Seed Company

Hudson Valley Seed Library

What new things are you growing this year? Any old faithfuls that you'll be sticking with for sure?

Kristy McNichol Forever

2012-01-09T00:29:00.002-05:00

My daughter asked me last night what celebrities I wanted to be like when I was her age. I searched my memory. The most obvious choice was Olivia Newton-John, but even then I knew that I had as much chance of becoming a blond Australian songbird as I do of winning the HGTV Dream Home in Salt Lake City Utah this year. No, the celebrity I studied with the most interest back then was undoubtedly TV actress Kristy McNichol.

“Who’s that?” was her response.

People used to tell me I looked like Kristy, and since my best friends at the time were twins, I fantasized that Kristy was my twin sister. She was “family” in my head. Oh, and we were psychically connected, as most twins are.

A Google search revealed a recent photo of Kristy (above), posted THAT VERY DAY along with a story about how she’s come out of the closet as a lesbian to help bullied kids through their own struggles with acceptance. How kooky is it that I hadn’t thought about Kristy in almost 30 years, and she pops back into my mind on the SAME DAY she comes out? Proof once again that Kristy and I have a psychic connection.

Kristy has suffered with bipolar disorder and rumors of drug addiction. According to Perez Hilton:

"The Family and Empty Nest start decided to make an official statement about her sexuality not only because she is "approaching 50,": but she wants to "be open about who I am" and "is very sad about kids being bullied."

Her rep says: "She hopes that coming out can help kids who need support. She would like to help others who feel different. She is very happy and healthy. And she enjoys living a very private life."

Aside from being comfortable with one's sexuality, there's another positive message that Kristy’s reappearance sends: that there is happiness in being true to yourself, and that “success” is all relative. It’s not always about finding the brightest spotlight, even if you’re one of the biggest stars in Hollywood.

Kristy, I know you’re not one of the 6 people who read my blog, but it’s okay because we’re telepathic. Thank you for what you’re doing. I’m so happy that you’re finally feeling confident enough to do it, and I’m sure it will inspire those troubled kids, and maybe some adults, too. It’s sure inspiring me to do something brave with my year.

Love, your twin sister,

Jennifer

Theme Thursday: The Night Tree

2011-12-22T17:00:00.000-05:00

One of our favorite books to read this time of year is Eve Bunting's "The Night Tree." Our church has even created an annual tradition around this story!

The book is about a family that goes out in the woods to hunt for a tree. You might assume they're going to cut one down. But no, this is a different kind of outing. And the "gift" is for the birds.

They've brought handmade treats to hang on the tree for the birds and critters.

After reading the book, why not make some of your own bird treats? And hang them on your own trees? Here are some ideas:

Cover a pinecone with peanut butter, then roll it in birdseed. Hang it from a string on a tree.

Make some homemade suet. Melt 2 cups of lard (get it from your butcher!) and 1 cup of peanut butter together, then add 2 cups of corn meal and cool. Choose your own add-ins. Try seeds, raisins, cereal or oats. Or just skim the fat off soups and soak it up with stale bread. Put it in a suet holder. Woodpeckers love this.

For the mice other animals below, use a stick to anchor some bits of fruit in the ground.

I love the rose-colored house finches. We had one gift us with a visit last week.

Father's Fancy Finch Feeder
Use a piece of wood at least a foot long. Leave the bark on, if you like. Ask Father screw a sturdy ring on one end. Can he drill several holes down and around? big enough to hold small paper cups? Fill these cups with several mixtures. Suet and bird seed. Suet and nut meats. Suet and peanut better. Put cups in holds.

Hang your Finch Feeder near a window. But not where cats can climb. Then watch the rosy finches feed on Fathers Fancy Finch Feeder.

Isn't Father wonderful?

(from "A Child's Christmas Cookbook" by Betty Chancellor)

See also:
Attracting Birds (And Keeping them Happy)

Getting Creative With Pizzelles

2011-12-18T19:35:00.001-05:00

Grandma Rose was the expert pizzelle maker in our family, and she and my mom got together every year to make them. My mom, in turn, became a pizzelle fairy, distributing them to friends, teachers, physicians, mailmen and anyone else lucky enough to cross her path during the Christmas season. So of course, when I got married, a pizzelle iron was among the gifts.

Here’s what my pizzelle iron looks like today.

Mind you, I know people who would be horrified by this, but Grandma Rose would have said that the golden-brown patina caused by decades of burnt grease is useful for "seasoning" the iron and enhances the flavor.

Pizzelle recipes are fun to tinker with. The basic recipe is:

1 cup (two sticks) margarine
6 eggs

1.5 cups sugar

2 t. vanilla

4 t. baking powder

3.5 c. flour

1) Melt and cool one cup of margarine (be sure to use margarine – it doesn’t burn as quickly, which is important in the iron)

2) In a large bowl, combine the margarine with 1.5 cups of sugar and 2 t. vanilla. Add the eggs one at at time.

3) In a separate bowl, combine 4 t. baking powder and 3.5 c. flour., and with a hand mixer, add to the wet ingredients, about a cup at at time and beat until smooth.

4) Put 2 t. on each side of a hot iron and bake for about 30 seconds until golden. (All irons are different! Your mileage may vary).

The fun usually starts by substituting other flavored extracts for the vanilla. Anise is popular, but I’ve also used orange and lemon extracts.

You can also add an additional 1/2 c. of cocoa, 1/2 c. of sugar and 1/2 t. baking powder to the dry ingredients to make chocolate pizzelles, then put a scoop of peppermint ice cream in between. Move over Klondike.

Pizzelles right from the iron are still pliable and can be rolled into tubes (for cannolis) and cones. For my wedding, we filled pizzelle cones with Jordan almonds and gave them out as favors. At Italian weddings five almonds symbolize health, wealth, happiness, fertility, and longevity.

I tried something new this year with colored sprinkles. These must be handled with caution, because if they’re applied too densely, they’ll melt into a big wad and muck up your iron. I had better results sprinkling them onto pizzelles that were about 10 seconds from being fully baked, then reapplying the iron for the remaining 10 seconds or so. The sprinkles stuck nicely to the cookie.

Chocolate chips can be melted in the microwave and spread on the back of a spoon, applied lightly to the relief pattern of a finished cookie, then, quickly before the chocolate sets, sprinkle with nonpareils.

If you’re not feeling fancy, they’re wonderful just sprinkled with powdered sugar.

Have you started your holiday baking yet? What kind of cookies are you making?

See also: Sandwiches and Santascones for Grandmama

Leaving the Leaves

2011-11-28T15:55:00.000-05:00

Did you know that there's a campaign underway to get us to stop raking up our leaves? Rather, we're being encouraged to grind them into a finer mulch, or even just leave them where they are. Ground up leaves that are mulched by a lawnmower are quicker to break down. They do wonders for the soil, adding organic matter, and helping replace what's lost through erosion. When left in garden beds, they protect roots and help retain moisture.

If enough people comply, municipalities will spend less time collecting and processing leaves, which saves them money. See the video below that features Ann Holmes from the Greenburgh Nature Center in Westchester County.

With more than 50 trees on our property, the leaves piled up fast. You can see that where the lawn ends, and the tree line begins, the leaves are at least a foot deep.

Here are some things I'm trying with my leaves this year...

The leaves are not being raked out of the beds until spring. They're being left in place to protect the plants from winter abuse.

They're just being left on the floor of the wooded areas.

We've created a pile behind the compost bin that we'll use to "feed" the compost throughout the year. After food scraps or grass clippings are added to the bin, we'll throw in a few handfuls of leaves for good measure.

The leaves on the lawn are being mowed over and ground up, then collected to be worked into the vegetable beds.

They're also being used in combination with wood shavings as litter in the chicken coops. I think I'll try to use the ground up ones here in the future.

What do you do with your leaves?

On Mindfulness and Gratitude

2011-11-23T12:15:00.000-05:00

"God is that personal journey we all want to be on -- to feel like we're connected to a universe that celebrates life."

"Nature's beatuty is a gift that cultivates appreciation and gratitude."

"If you do nothing else, at least respond to today's gift as if it were the first day of your life and the last day."

"Let it flow through you so that everyone you meet on this day will be blessed by you -- by your eyes, your smile, your presence."

Happy Thanksgiving to all! And thanks to my friends Debbie, Amanda and Kathy who shared this video with me.

The High Line in Autumn

2011-11-19T22:33:00.000-05:00

Photos taken at the High Line in Manhattan on November 11, 2011.

Lots more photos on Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nyackbackyard/

No Need to Dig Deep for Tulips

2011-11-12T17:42:00.000-05:00

I wish I had William B. Miller’s job. He’s head of the Flowerbulb Project at Cornell. It’s his job to plant bulbs and see how they grow best. In a recent report, (see Cornell Chronicle Vol 43 #12) he recommends top planting for tulips, rather than digging down 6 to 8 inches, like we’re used to doing. He says that gardeners only need to till about two inches of soil, put the bulbs on top and then cover with 2”-4” of mulch. Don’t skimp on the mulch, though. Too little can make them vulnerable to critters.

photo from Cornell.edu

Don’t you love it when the lazier way works best?

The best time to plant bulbs here in New York is from mid September through mid November. Planting in December is okay, as long as the ground isn’t frozen. Ideally, you want to have them in the ground a few weeks before that, to give them a chance to form some roots.

This year I’m planting Spanish Bluebells (Hyacinthoides). They’re supposed to be deer resistant.

I also got some “Early Surprise” tulips. They’re definitely not deer resistant, so I have to remember to plant them in the back. I may add a little bulb fertilizer, because that’s what William B. Miller does. I’m also gonna add some cayenne pepper. That’s supposed to repel the squirrels.

Did you get your bulbs in the ground yet?

Harley's Nest

2011-11-02T20:45:00.000-04:00

Last year, my chickens that were hatched in April were laying by this time, so I’ve been on the lookout. My older girls are molting, so it’s been a very dry egg season. I’ve noticed that Harley, our Silver Spangled Wyandotte, has been separating herself from the group and wandering off, even flying over the fence at times. She always returned by late afternoon, so I didn’t think too much of it. Then, this morning, she exhibited some peculiar behavior.

She was pacing back and forth in front of the fence, obviously looking for a place to escape. Her pacing was of the urgent “I have an egg in me and am about to pop” kind.

So I broke the rules. I opened the gate and let her out. Then I followed her.

Sure enough, she bolted over to my neighbor’s driveway. Behind a large bottle of windshield wiper fluid and a bunch of tools near the garage, Harley settled into a quiet settled activity. I tried not to disturb her. Twenty minutes later I went back and sure enough, there were little white eggs in the corner behind the snow shovel.

Can Harley not see where the eggs belong? I even put a “demo” egg in the nesting box in her coop so that she’d know where to put hers. Would it be horrible of me not to let her out of the coop tomorrow until she figures out where to lay? Once a nest is established, how hard is it to break the habit?

This is what passes for a cliff hanger around here!

Cooking Like Paula Deen

2011-11-01T14:29:00.000-04:00

Banoffee Pie

Come to think of it, I haven’t seen her cooking show too many times. I must do a lot of Paula-Deen-style cooking, though, because whenever I’m looking for a recipe via Google, hers often pop up. A few weeks ago, I wanted a recipe for Banoffee Pie, a banana pie made with whipped cream and carmelized milk. Hers came up. Then I looked for Shrimp Etouffee – and hers came up, too. Neither of these recipes called for butter, the ingredient that has given her such notoriety. (And enough about the butter -- have you read Ina Garten’s recipes lately? Talk about heavy cream!)

Paula Deen

I loved Paula’s gracious and humorous response to the recent criticism from Anthony Bourdain that she is the "most dangerous person in America" and I LOVE the fact that Maxim readers have voted her TV’s hottest female chef (but shame on them for using a photo of a stick of better, rather than one of Paula, to illustrate their article!)

What I love most about Paula Deen, though, is her story, which she told at a recent live event. Most would never guess that she had to overcome severe agoraphobia (“I ended up having to cancel my children’s activities because I couldn’t leave the house.”) and hypochondria (“It got to where I couldn’t even watch Dr. Welby MD. I started thinkin I had everything they were talkin about.”) Paula’s parents died when she was a young mother, and she was tasked with raising her younger siblings as well as her own brood, with a husband “who really liked lots of cold beer.” She credits the Serenity Prayer with helping her stay grounded and on track. Back then, she was afraid that her friends would see her mopping floors at the grocery store. I wonder what those same friends think of her now.

Shrimp Etouffee

Growing up in Florida and living in Louisiana for a few years don’t quite make me a Southerner, but I have eaten and appreciate a good gumbo -- so I was happy to see that there is a recipe for it in her new cookbook, Paula Deen’s Southern Cooking Bible, along with lots of other dishes that I think will feel very at home on my table.

I don’t even think Paula expects me to feed my family from this book every day, but when I have time for something more than a quick weeknight dinner, when I need a dish with special comforting skills, or something to remind me of warm gulf coast breezes, I’ll be reaching for this book -- co-written with Melissa Clark.

So what do you think of Paula?

10 Halloween Food Ideas

2011-10-24T16:45:00.000-04:00

Rather than a bag of that disgusting candy corn, bring one of these goodies to the party this weekend. Some of these things we made ourselves, and some were discovered at gatherings when I was lucky enough to have a camera handy.

1) Butternut Squash and Black Pasta: Sautee garlic, olive oil, basil and steamed butternut squash, combine with cooked black "Squid Ink" noodles. Purty.

2) Cheese Mummy - This idea came from our friends the Olsens. It's made by forming a "cheese ball" into a humanoid shape, then covering it with strips of mozzarella and roasted red pepper. Disappears fast.

3) Eyeball Appetizers- Jaundiced deviled egg eyes look even more pathetic when surrounded with alfalfa sprout "guts". Irises are made from sliced pimento olives. Another colorful "eyeball" can be made with sliced carrot, a blob of cream cheese and a black olive.

4) Fondue Cauldron - Cut vegetables into the shape of body parts and dip into cheesey witch's gruel.

5) Frankenmeat! - Why have a meat loaf when you can shape it into FRANKENMEAT? Make it even more gory with tomato sauce blood. Cut a toothy grimace from zucchini squash slices.

6) Wormy Caramel Apples - Use twigs (washed well) instead of popsicle sticks, and cover caramel apples with gummy worms and candied sunflower seeds. Garnish with colored leaves.

7) Graveyard Cake - a "Dirt Cake" can become a graveyard by turning rectangular cookies or Milanos into tombstones. To ensure horrified, incredulous looks from the other moms, put the names of your guests on each tombstone. Add worms and candy body parts.

8) Our friends Pat and Jeff made these kitty cakes using licorice shoestrings and dots on pumpkin muffins.

9) Eyeball Cocktail - Peel a radish in a way that leaves several red "veins," gouge out a space to stuff with an olive. Freeze in an ice cube so that it floats.

10) Salted Pumpkin Caramels (via Food 52)- flavor caramels with pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice. Sprinkle with pumpkin seeds and kosher salt.

Happy Halloween! Hope you're hungry!

Growing, Blooming, Picking, Baking

2011-10-15T13:19:00.001-04:00

It's Garden Blogger's Bloom Day, hosted by Carol at May Dreams Gardens. Lots going on here in zone 6A this time of year -- so much that it's hard to give anything the attention it deserves. There are still vegetables to be harvested, and flowers to scope out, apples to pick and ... we're finally in the mood to bake! Forgive me, but I'm combining 4 posts in one today.

First the Growing:

Peas - "Sugar Ann" is a variety of snap pea that has a very short time to harvest - only 50 days. These were planted around mid-August. Although they're not supposed to need trellising, I think it could have helped. It was nice to have some fall peas, since I neglected to plant them in the spring.

It took a while to get going, but the radicchio was finally harvested. I cut it in half, brushed it with bacon grease, grilled it and topped it with balsamic vinegar. So good!

The Butternut Squash that grew in the backyard didn't grow to a very impressive size, but it was delicious,

filled with beets and topped with brown sugar and butter, then roasted.

Most of the lettuce seeds I sowed in August were washed away by hurricane Irene- I got one nice harvest though.

Blooming
Front door - I've got Autumn Joy and red geraniums in pots, some volunteer nasturtium growing between the steps. The container has Cuban oregano, creeping thyme, oxalis, lavendar, and I've forgotten the name of the plant with the purple veined leaves (please remind me if you know!)

Pentas and petunias still going strong in an old BBQ grill that I converted to a planter. Zinnas still standing strong.

Here are the 3rd generation French Marigolds -- I'll be collecting these seeds again for sure. Nothing looks better this time of year.

Apple Picking
We've had lots of stunningly gorgeous sunny fall days, aso we took advantage of it and made two apple picking trips this year, to our local spots, Dr. Davies Farm with our friends Kelly, Aiden and Robby, and to Orchards of Concklin with our cousins.

Baking

The kids peeled the apples, and my sister-in-law Janine put together an awesome apple crisp. Thanks to Cindy F. from our Working Moms group for the recipe.

Apple Crisp

6 cups peeled sliced cooking apples
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup butter

Put apples in square baking dish. Combine the next 5 ingredients in a bowl.
Cut in the butter until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over
the apples. Bake at 375 F for 30 minutes or until apples are your favorite
consistency. Serve warm with caramel sauce and vanilla bean ice cream.

Hey, I saved a whole bunch of "Minnesota Midget" heirloom cantaloupe seeds - they were lots of fun to grow. If you'd like some, just send your address to me at nyackbackyard@gmail.com. While supplies last, of course.

Strawberry Likes Spaghetti

2011-10-04T14:00:00.000-04:00

My older chickens, Leah and Goldi are both molting, and Strawberry and Harley still haven't begun to lay. I had to (gasp!) buy eggs for the first time in almost a year this week.

Egg laying usually stops during molting because all of the nutrients the chickens ingest goes toward making new winter feathers. Quick-molting chickens are desirable. Before Leah started to molt, her eggs got very soft and watery.

Strawberry, the Buff Orpington, has become quite a magnificent looking girl. I don't think she realizes that she's now much bigger than the others, and could probably be a "Queen Bee" if she weren't so used to being bullied. Get tough, Strawberry!

this moment

2011-09-23T14:27:00.004-04:00

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments over at Wendy's blog,
Crickleberry Cottage Conversations.

Wakulla Springs

2011-09-16T17:25:00.002-04:00

If you're lucky, you'll discover at least a couple of fine places in nature during your lifetime that speak to your soul. Along with Arrow Park, that place for me is Wakulla Springs. It’s a state park about 25 miles south of Tallahassee in the Florida panhandle, and it’s the largest, deepest fresh water spring in the US, putting out up to 210 million gallons of water a day at at constant 69 degrees. They filmed “Tarzan” and “Creature From the Black Lagoon” here.

Edward Ball, the millionaire owner of the St. Joe Paper Company, built the lodge there in the 1937.

Edward Ball

“What can you say about Mr. Ball? That he bought his clothes off the hanger, his eyeglasses from the dimestore, his shoes from whatever store he happened to be passing when he needed a pair… and he carried his own suitcases. He didn’t believe in indulging himself, saying that those who did “cross the creek” at an early age. And that he spent a lifetime building the largest empire in Florida during the 20th Century and by his death at age 93, he was making donations to charities at the rate of $27,000 a day or nearly $10 million a year. “ (from the lodge restaurant menu, which also includes an historic reproduction of a dinner menu from 1940 that offers kraut juice and buttermilk for just 10 cents each!)

Contributing to the unhurried vibe there is the lack of technology. There’s one screen in the lobby, but there are no televisions in the rooms, internet café’s or computer terminals. Instead there is an old-time elevator,

checkers tables,

a handpainted ceiling,

and a soda fountain counter (with one of the largest marble slabs in the country).

Something about handling and using these old fixtures gives me comfort. I feel honored. It’s as if the lodge is saying “We saved this for you.”

The lodge is available for corporate retreats and other events. We just held my mother’s 70th birthday party there. Here she is… the Mermaid Queen of Wakulla Springs….

My summer vacations as a child were usually spent on camping trips. We visited places like Manatee Springs, Homassassa Springs, and Weeki Watchee Springs. These places were our summer retreats, and Wakulla brings back memories of these excursions.

The Swimming Hole

The big attraction at Wakulla Springs, aside from the crystal clear swimming hole, is the boat ride. Birds of all kinds, perched on 500-year-old cypress trees, gators, turtles and jumping mullet may appear.

Tri-color Heron

Anahinga, drying his wings

Purple Gallinule

Florida Alligator

Manatees aren’t uncommon. Here, a glimpse of a manatee tail!

Old Joe was thought to be the most photographed alligator in the world. He live at Wakulla Springs in the 1950s and 60s. “He never harmed or molested any woman, child or pets.”

In 1966 he was found killed at the bottom of the Springs. They offered a $5,000 reward, but the killer was never found. He now lives under glass in the lobby. I bet he could tell some stories.

Healing Through Horticulture

2011-09-10T20:22:00.002-04:00

Plants have so many roles in our lives, especially for those of us who garden. This week in particular, as we remember 9/11, I'm thinking about how plants have the power to heal as well as symbolize growth and survival. There's something about planting a seed that makes everything just a tiny bit better. The Brooklyn Botanical Garden will even be waiving their admission charge tomorrow, on the 10th anniversary of 9/11, acknowledging this fact.

The Survivor Tree
I heard the story of The Survivor Tree for the first time this week. This was the only living tree found, stripped of it’s branches but still alive, on Ground Zero. It’s a Bradford Pear (Pyrus calleryana), a hardy but sometimes fragile variety often used in city gardens because of its compact, upright growth. The tree was removed, and nurtured in Van Cortlant Park in the Bronx, where it also pulled through several damaging storms.

Below is a photo of the memorial garden at Brooklyn Bridge Park. Volunteers planted 25,000 daffodil bulbs in plots that were shaped like the Twin Towers. Although the garden is no longer there, this is such a perfect example of ways that a community can come together and heal through gardening.

Stacey's Garden

Stacey McGowan died on 9/11 and was a student at Valley Cottage Elementary when she was a little girl. "Stacey's Garden" was planted in our school courtyard as a memorial to her. I didn't know Stacey, but I thought of her whenever I watered it. Her garden is the first thing that people see when they come into the school courtyard. It's lovingly tended by her mother and always has something in bloom.

A Hero from Nyack

Another member of our community who died on 9/11 is Welles Crowther. He was known as the "Man in the Red Bandana." He was an equities trader and volunteer firefighter, only 24 years old, who helped a dozen people get out of the towers safely. Here is a link to an ESPN video about him.

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=6929979&categoryid=5595394

A couple of years ago, my daughter was asked to bring in an article about a 9/11 hero. She said half the class brought in articles about Welles. I will be wearing a red bandana tomorrow in his memory.

More from Dr. Duncan Bell

2011-09-07T11:16:00.000-04:00

Remember my friend who has the solar-powered, automatically-watered vegetables on raised platforms on his plot in our community garden? (If not, see my post of July 29.) He started a blog about his gardening projects! Among Dr. Duncan Bell’s other gardens are a spectacular patio flower bed planted in recycled containers, and watered via a timer attached to a toilet (see above), a basement seed-starter under fluorescent lights also watered via gravity and capillary action, a second vertical vegetable plot in his side yard, and another plot at his former offices that features vines .

When he’s not gardening, he’s running the shows over at Elmwood Playhouse or working on robotics projects. Looking forward to following his adventures!

Speaking of adventures, how did you survive the hurricanes?

Dr. Duncan Bell's AutoGardens

Harvest Monday: Mid-August Pickings

2011-08-22T08:24:00.000-04:00

Backyard garden, from above

a violent end

It's amazing how much more efficient the community plot is at growing vegetables than my shady backyard beds. The plants have migrated over there once they've gotten a few inches high. The biggest lesson learned this year is not to plant vining squash -- it took over the plot and I had to wrestle it out of the ground and finish it off with loppers in the compost heap before it could even set fruit. The Great Squash Vine Massacre of 2011.

Arugula is one of my favorite crops because in three years I've never had to re-plant it, and it's always there. Lately I've been letting some of the pretty yellow flowers go to seed, and some are being clipped and put in salads or bouquets.

This Savoy cabbage is at least 365 days old. I planted it midsummer last year, overwintered it here (with no protection whatsoever) and moved it to the community plot in May. Two more heads should be ready before the end of the month.

Delicata winter squash was one of my first squashes to mature. I love the way they look and the fact that they keep so long. I've saved seed and definitely plan to grow them next year. "Minnesota Midget" cantaloupe are fun to grow -- the vines are easily trained into a 1'x3' coil. I typically get 2-3 fruits per vine. You can tell when they're ready because they turn from green to yellow. I like to combine cataloupe with different herbs.

I finally bought some glass jars and plan to try my grandma's recipe for bread and butter pickles later this week -

my first time pickling cucumbers for storage. (Stand back! )

After the heavy rains of the past week or so, many of my tomatoes split.

Although the taste is nothing special, I love the mottled skins of the "Elberta Peach" and "Big Rainbow." Also growing "Brandywine", "Sungold" and "Sweet 100."

A few bush beans were grown on my deck and in the backyard. Nobody here really eats beans - not even me. I just like to have a few to freeze for recipes.

Eggplant is another veg that's not so popular here, but I couldn't resist this pretty "Little Prince" variety offered by Hook Mountain Growers.

Flat leaf parsely was grown from seed and has been cut back at least once already this summer.

"Bright Lights" swiss chard also went into the plot fairly early - in May. The yellow and red stalks have been about 1/4 the size of the white ones. Whats' up with that? I made a casserole that was sauteed onions, peppers and swiss chard with layers of tomato and cheese. The leftovers on toast was my favorite meal of the week!

Yeah, okay -- the onions need a little grooming. But they're all out of the ground now.

And don't forget the flowers! Chinese lantern, purple phlox, black eyed susan, arugula, zinnia, scarlet runner bean, anise hyssop, sunflower and hydrangea.

Want to share your harvest? Head over to Daphne's Dandelions for "Harvest Monday!"

Two Tribes: A Chicken Update

2011-08-09T22:39:00.000-04:00

After a hellish winter, I decided to move my coops. I’m thinking that putting them under the deck, closer to the house will accomplish several things. It will give them more shade and protection from the snow and rain, enable me to check on them easily from the house, and reduce the distance that I have to travel every frickin freezing snow-covered morning.

The second coop is being used to house more pullets. My two chicken Babies arrived at the end of May.

This is Harley – a Silver Spangled Hamburg. Her eggs will be white.

This is Strawberry – a Buff Orpington. She’ll lay a tinted egg.

And, just in case you haven’t met them yet, here are the Old Ladies. This is Goldi Macaroni, an Americauna. Her eggs are blueish.

And this is Leonarda the Queen (aka Leah), a Cuckoo Maran. Her eggs are brown with spots.

The Babies were about 7 weeks old when I brought them home. For the first week or so, they stayed in their coop. I would open the door, but there were often all kinds of things going on in the backyard that made them scared to come out. Mostly hoses, children, and children playing with hoses. And don’t forget the poodle.

Meanwhile The Old Ladies were confused.

“I’m almost sure this is where I used to live…what happened to my coooooop???”

To add to their confusion, the vegetable garden was suddenly fenced off. All their lovely swiss chard was no longer accessible.

When The Babies finally started coming out, The Old Ladies chased them away from the feeding station. Alternative stations have been created, and The Babies are now let out of their coop 5 minutes before the Old Ladies, to give them some early uninterrupted pecking time with the fresh food.

Will these two little tribes ever mingle? Should I try to get them roosting together in the same coop? Any tips from experienced chicken keepers extremely welcome!

The Joys of Summer

2011-08-05T11:20:00.000-04:00

Orange palm trees against a lavender sky.

The smell of Hawaiian Tropic Dark Tanning Oil.

Jumping into an ice cold ocean on the hottest day of the year.

Carving the name of your crush in the sand.

Riding the roller coaster with your BFF.

The Tilt-A-Whirl.

A row of stuffed puppies.

Have you been "On the Boardwalk" lately?

See also Theme Thursday: Summer

A Self-Watering AutoGarden

2011-07-29T11:24:00.000-04:00

One plot in our community garden is attracting a lot of attention. It’s a raised, solar powered, self-watering “AutoGarden” designed by Dr. Duncan Bell, a veteran gardener who is about to retire from his day job as head of Biomedical Engineering at Pfizer/Wyeth. Using his Ph.D. in botany and his background as a robot designer, he designed the system to be a cross between hydroponics and container gardening.

Dr. Bell has been experimenting with automatic watering systems for awhile, developing his own models. An early prototype consisted of a system using his toilet tank, an electric pump, and a timer to water his containers though a tray placed underneath them. This method used low pressure, had no leaks, and only ran for 15 minutes a day.

During a 6-month relocation to California last summer, he began thinking about the water lifter designed by the Greek philosopher/scientist Archimedes (c. 287 BC – c. 212 BC), and wondered if he could design a system that used this method of lifting water rather than a pump.

Solar-powered panel

He assembled his own using a swimming pool noodle, table saw, PVC pipe, salvage DC motor and duct tape. Whenever the sun is shining, a solar powered panel switches the lifter on. To move the water, the pipe turns slowly, picking up droplets of water from a storage tank as it turns.

The water drips onto a series of terrycloths placed on top of a waterproof surface, but under the plant containers.

As the towels and containers get saturated, the water runs elsewhere, to a lower rack. Finally, after saturating the lowest rack, the water runs into a storage tank.

In addition to being outside the grasp of groundhogs and rabbits, the raised trays make the garden more accessible to people who might have trouble bending over, or people in wheelchairs.

From the looks of it, Dr. Bell's harvest will be beautiful and abundant. Because the plants aren't competing for water, they're able to be grown much closer together, increasing his yields.

Have you ever used a self-watering gadget in your garden?

Balancing Fear and Trust

2011-07-20T19:34:00.002-04:00

Last week’s tragic news that an eight year old boy, Leiby Kletzky, was abducted and murdered in Brooklyn has many parents debating the merits of allowing children to walk unsupervised through city streets. It was the first day the boy was allowed to walk the seven blocks home alone. He got lost and stopped to ask a stranger for directions. This particular stranger was one of the extremely rare dangerous ones.

It's heartbreaking that so many have chosen to throw blame at his grieving parents. “What were the parents thinking?” seems to be a common response.

Well, I think I know what they were thinking. They were thinking that a child has a better chance of being struck by lightning than of being abducted. They wanted their child to feel independent, and get to know his neighborhood. They knew that if he got lost, chances are that he’d ask a kind helpful person who would get him safely home. What happened was inconceivable for them, but it will remain in the consciousness of every parent who has heard this news story.

The incident made me remember my own terror as a child, getting separated from my mom at a county fair, and crying for what seemed like hours, but was surely less than 10 minutes, in the first aid tent, surrounded by caring strangers. It made me remember losing my children in department stores, and enlisting the help of other women pushing strollers around who immediately understood my panic. I remembered all the helpful people in the Sheep Meadow when I lost my kids in Central Park two summers ago.

I still feel that fear, allowing my kids to roam unsupervised in ever-widening circles, but I’ve never believed in teaching children not to talk to strangers. Yes, “Be on your guard.” “Never allow someone to touch you or pick you up.” “Never get in a car with someone you don't know.” “If you’re lost and need help, find another mother with children. She’ll know what to do.” Teaching them to feel comfortable approaching strangers when in crisis will almost always help them. It's not unlike the moment when we let go of that two wheeler, and allow them to pedal on their own for the first time -- the trick is teaching them to balance fear and trust.

I hope that parents, especially the ones in Borough Park, will read Lenore Skenazy’s Free Range Kids blog, and learn about the real risks of letting their children roam. Now, more than ever, kids need to connect, in real time, with their natural surroundings. They need to feel the thrill and pride of doing something on their own. They need to know that evil exists, but still believe in the kindness of strangers.

Bees, Bayer, and the Big Pharma Fakeout

2011-07-11T15:19:00.001-04:00

Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) wiped out an estimated one-third of the U.S. honeybee population, and scientists are scrambling to find out why. A good percentage, however, seem to be able to resist the lure of Bayer, the multi-billion dollar pharmaceutical company that is funding their research on viruses and fungus, but not on neonicotinoids, a class of pesticides manufactured by Bayer that many suspect is confusing bees and making them more susceptible to disease. Here's an article that explains it all in detail, and how this important info was omitted from a front-page New York Times piece that ran last year about the breakthrough research that got everyone all excited.

Then, in January, we learned that the U.S. Environmental Protection agency knew all along that this chemical was toxic to bees, but is allowing it to be produced and distributed anyway. How's that for "protection"? Their advice to growers? "Read the labels."

Somehow, the idea of putting the planet’s growing systems at risk, so that Bayer can continue to do business irresponsibly is especially disturbing. It’s not like the earth can choose to take a drug only after reading the studies and weighing the various risks and side effects. We are currently experiencing a side effect that could have serious consequences on our farms and in our forests. It would be nice to see this conflict of interest exposed further in the mainstream media, and the use of this pesticide curtailed, as it has been in several European countries, until more facts are known.

There's a "buzz" about this film!

I'm looking forward to learning more on Sunday, July 17 at 2:00 pm, when "Queen of the Sun" will be shown at Fellowship of Reconciliation, 521 North Broadway, Nyack, NY.

(This post has been re-written and re-posted. It was originally written in Oct. 2010, but disappeared from my blog. )

Early July Harvest Video

2011-07-07T15:58:00.000-04:00

For most of the month of June, I got a handful of strawberries every other day or so, too. They seem to be all gone now, even though I planted both June bearing and everbearing varieties.

What are you harvesting these days? Head over to Daphne's Dandelions on "Harvest Monday" to see what people are pulling out of the ground elsewhere!

Bearing Witness at Garage Sales

2011-07-05T13:40:00.001-04:00

It's summer and that means "Garage Sale" signs are popping up all over Nyack. It's never a surprise to learn that families holding garage sales are in transition. They might be empty nesters, divorcing couples with kids, widows, or adults who have recently lost their parents. Even entrepreneurial kids, finally ready to part with favorite toys from their younger days, are out there pushing lemonade.

There is money to be made, but income is just one reason people might choose a garage sale over packing stuff up for consignment, thrift store donations or Ebay. People feel good about directing their old stuff out of a landfill and into the hands of someone who can use it. Still, getting rid of your personal history can be painful. A garage sale allows the item's story to be told to an actual person - someone who might listen, recognize and hopefully, appreciate its value.

My grandmother, when it was time to sell off a good portion of what accumulated in her home in Sandusky, Ohio, stayed in the house while my mother and I held the sale. Even after salvaging her most precious, sentimental pieces, and passing on dozens of heirlooms, it was just too painful for her to see her memories walk away with strangers. But for every widow like my grandmother, there's another who wants to be there to tell you about the ashtray she got on her honeymoon in Hawaii, the hours that she spent on a 3'x 4' needlepoint version of Gauguin's "Femmes de Tahiti" (I bought it, of course), or the broken collar bone her son got on a $6 pair of old skis.

My doctor's receptionist sold me a gorgeous white wicker bassinett that she and her children had slept in. Later I was able to show her photos of the baby shower where an ecstatic mom-to-be was given this important piece of history.

An inquiry about a perennial flower growing near the mailbox once yielded a tour of a spectacular backyard, where I saw dozens of rare plant specimens, heard about the 40 years of care and cultivation it took to get it to look that way, and left with a bag full of cuttings for transplanting at home. I've learned why a Star Wars ewok was crucial in the Battle of Endor, and why the first issue of "Swamp Thing" can't be separated from an intact comic book collection.

Nostalgia isn't just for the sellers, though. Because of my garage sale visits, my kids now drink from juice glasses just like the ones I drank from as a child. I found copies of "Miss Suzy" and "Miss Twiggley's Tree," favorite books from my childhood that were probably sold off when we moved after my parents divorced. And where else would my kids have the chance to try out a rotary dial telephone, manual typewriter or Instamatic camera?

Garage sales satisfy our curiosity about how others live, and lived. What treasures are in the deepest depths of our closets and why were they saved? They're an excuse to approach our neighbors and hear their stories -- and Americans love a good story, almost as much as we love a bargain.

Homemade Root Beer

2011-06-28T13:52:00.000-04:00

When a spot opened up on the annual "Botanical Walk" at Ramapo College, offered to our garden club by the fascinating Dr. Susan Petro, I decided to go again, and once again, became intrigued by the Sassafras albidum plant that she showed us. Sassafras, which grows wild in my backyard, used to be used to flavor root beer. However, large amounts given to rats were found to cause cancer, so its use as a flavoring was forbidden by the FDA in 1976. File powder, used to make gumbo and other cajun dishes, is made by drying and grinding up the leaves, which are not as toxic.

The roots smell amazing!

Of course, nothing more needed to be said to make me slightly obsessed with breaking the rules and trying a brew from this "forbidden" root that was so conveniently growing 20 feet from my back door. Why? Why even bother with it when it could be so dangerous? Well, I did some research and nothing I read convinced me that I'd be taking my life into my hands by introducing a small amount of sassafras, just this one time, to my already embattled liver. However, please consider this a warning and imbibe at your own risk.

You can recognize sassafras by the leaves, which have 3 shapes - triple lobed, double lobed or "mitten" shaped, and unlobed.

Anise Hyssop

Since I was going to use only a small amount of sassafras, I thought I should probably flavor the root beer with a few other things: anise hyssop leaves - also very easy to find in my yard, since it re-seeds so prolifically, star anise, chai tea (mostly for color), brown sugar, vanilla and molasses. Other possible additions to a custom root beer brew could include ginger, clove, orange or citrus oil, wintergreen and cinnamon.

Star anise

Root Beer Recipe
20 inches of cleaned sassafrass root
20 anise hyssop leaves, washed
1 chai teabag
1/4 cup star anise
2 tsp. vanilla
1.5 cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp molasses
carbonated water

Start by making the brew: cover the sassafras root, anise hyssop leaves and star anise with 2 quarts of water and bring to a boil. Add the teabag and steep until the brew is a nice brown color (about 10 minutes), then remove the teabag. Cover the brew and allow to steep and cool overnight.

The next day strain out the solids. Add 2 t. of vanilla, 1.5 cups of brown sugar, and 2 Tbsp. of molasses. Stir well to dissolve and heat the mixture to boiling. Continue to boil, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes or until the mixture is reduced by half- you will have a sweet, root beer flavored syrup.

The syrup can be added to carbonated water in any proportion you like. (If you have a Penguin or SodaStream, add the syrup as you would any of the other flavorings - you can play with the carbonation and proportions to suit your taste.) I used about a cup of syrup to 3 cups of carbonated water.

I always like to see the results of the taste tests done over at Serious Eats. Here's the one they did for root beers. What's your favorite kind of root beer?

Help for Our Little Apple Tree

2011-06-20T21:04:00.000-04:00

Back in 2007, we decided to plant an apple tree in our school courtyard. It wasn't easy to get this idea approved. There were lots of valid concerns. Apples can be hard to grow organically, even for professionals (which we're not!) With a little research though, I discovered that just about any pest or disease that affects an apple tree can be treated organically.

There were also concerns that the abundance of fruit (we should be so lucky) rotting on the ground would attract rodents, and that the flowers would attract bees. This may seem like a huge benefit considering the current crisis affecting honeybee populations, but for the school, and for the few children allergic to bee stings, it's a liability.

Since we have limited space, we ordered a "Three-in-one" grafted tree from a mail order nursery. Since apple trees need to be planted near other apple trees in order to pollinate, grafting three trees together would allow three different varieties to pollinate each other within the same tree. That's how we got away with only planting one.

It took four years, but the tree finally developed fruit this year. We were so excited!

However, now the apples have little worm (?) holes all over them.

A sticky substance is coming out of the holes and rust-like fungus(?) is plaguing the leaves on one of the branches. Most of the apples are falling off.

I can't say that this tree has received too much attention in recent years -- it's definitely under-watered. We've taken a wait-and-see approach, even with preventative treatments, because we want to be sure of what we're dealing with before we apply anything.

But now it's time to do something if we want to save it. Some visiting experts from our local extension recommended that we submit an infected branch to their lab. So that's the plan! But I would also love suggestions from anyone who might have experience treating these kind of apple tree symptoms - preferably organically.

Have you ever grown apples?

Cropsey Community Farm

2011-06-11T12:44:00.001-04:00

Valley Cottage School is so grateful to Cropsey Community Farm. When they found themselves with some extra seedlings a few weeks ago during their planting season, they donated them to our school garden! What perfect timing, too -- our classes were in the middle of their spring planting activities.

When I went to pick them up, their Community Coordinator, Tamika Adjemian, was able to take a break from the digging to give me tour of the property.

The land was originally owned by Jim and Pat Cropsey, whose family farmed the land for over 100 years.

When they retired, they sold it to Rockland County and the Town of Clarkstown through their open space programs. The town signed an agreement with Rockland Farm Alliance for a no-cost lease of 5 acres to be used for community farming and agricultural education.

Through the efforts of the Alliance and many dedicated volunteers, the farm is now up and running!

This year, they started a CSA, and only had a few shares left to sell at the time of my visit. (CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture, a way of bringing fresh local produce to residents through sales of “shares,” usually consisting of weekly boxes of produce.)

Renovations of the big red barn are underway.

The Farm Alliance hopes to someday have a community farm in every town in Rockland County.

Thanks again, to Jessica Kesselman, Tamika Adjemian and everyone at the Farm Alliance and Cropsey Farm, for your committment to our community, healthy food, sustainability and the future of agriculture. You'll probably be seeing your seedlings in action in upcoming posts about the “Seed to Salad” and “Three Sisters” plots in the school garden.

Cropsey Community Farm

230 South Little Tor Rd.
New City, NY 10956
845-634-3167

info@rocklandfarm.org

Cathedral of Junk

2011-05-28T21:59:00.000-04:00

In an effort to comply with the “Keep Austin Weird” motto, we visited the Cathedral of Junk there – appropriately enough, on Easter Sunday. It rises, almost imperceptively from the street, from Vince Hanneman’s quiet backyard in a suburban neighborhood. Plants are creatively integrated.

Vince has been collecting stuff since the 1980s and has faced city ordinance violations and irate neighbors, but has managed to expand and maintain this crazy 80-ton structure, including it’s stained glass windows,

collections,

color themes,

inexplicable juxtapositions,

child-friendly climbability (hellooooo up there!)

and wabi-sabi strangeness.

The cathedral is open during daylight hours most days.

Come worship at the holy throne.

And leave your mark on the holy surfboard.

Apologies to my blogging friends that I haven't visited in weeks...my biggest work deadline of the year is looming! See you in June, if not before.

Garden Club of Nyack Plant Sale Tomorrow

2011-05-21T18:16:00.000-04:00

Lots of nice stuff!

What's Blooming Now in Nyack

2011-05-15T19:29:00.000-04:00

Helleborus

Here it is May, and other than the daffodils, we didn't have much bursting forth here until the past couple of weeks. It was slow to warm up and, being high on a hill, my house seems to have a microclimate that delays blooms even further. I snapped this photo of a new hellebore bloom last week. Here you can see it in the background behind some grape hyacinth.

Muscari armeniacum

A few narcissi are still in bloom, believe it or not.

Lilies-of-the-valley are so happy in the shady spot under one of our big trees. They're spreading at a very comfortable speed. Jocelyn, at The Home Tome, is also growing them. (A new Nyack blog to follow!)

Convallaria magalis

Also in the little white flower category are these forget-me-nots.

Myosotis sylvatica

Speedwell (Veronica)

Euphorbia (Thanks to Tina from In the Garden, I finally got this identified!)

Creeping Phlox (Phlox subulata)

Tulipa humilus (Persian Pearl)

Tulipa

"Black" Tulips- actually, they're very dark burgundy- even the pollen!

Columbine (Aquilegia)

Allium "Purple Sensation"

Who can forget the tree? The Flowering Cherry (Prunus serrulata) was finally cut back. I didn't even have to rake up the petals this year!

Join Carol over at May Dreams Gardens for links to lots of other blogs around the world that are featuring their best blooms today!

Community Veggie Plot Plan

2011-05-13T14:48:00.000-04:00

Discouraged by the dwindling amount of sunshine in my backyard, I applied for a plot in the Nyack Community Garden. A few weeks ago I found out that I’ve been assigned a half plot, which amounts to over 100 square feet of sunny space – just about doubling my growing space! The trick is figuring out what to plant there, and what to plant here. How do you find the sunniest spots?

On my first day there, I learned that the side of the garden closest to the trees experiences less sun due to morning shade. The closer we plant to the fence, the less sun will be available for those plants.

I had planned to plant squash at that end, so decided to “flip” my design, and plant the squash at the other end where it would get more sun. I’m putting lettuce, arugula and herbs at the other end.

Somewhere in the middle will be tomatoes, okra, carrots, peppers and onions. I’ve installed a cucumber trellis at home, so cukes will be grown there, along with more onions, chard, more lettuce, and garlic.

Since the plots here are separated only by stakes and twine, there’s also the dilemma of how to get around the plot without trampling the soil.

I had some marigold seedlings that were started in the school greenhouse. I scattered these around the plot. I tried putting in some seedlings that had been thinned from rows of lettuce that were very closely sown by the second graders at the school. I don’t think they’ll do too well, but we’ll see.

Mulching is a topic much discussed by these community gardeners. This plot has lots of weeds and there are several ways to deal with them. Some choose to use plastic cloth, some use straw and some hoe and weed by hand. I’m going to try using my “chicken mulch” which is composted chicken bedding (meaning wood shavings mixed with chicken manure).

BTW, if you’re a vegetable gardener, have you checked out the Vegetable Garden Planner offered by Mother Earth News? http://www.motherearthnews.com/garden-planner/vegetable-garden-planner.aspx You can mark out your plot on a grid and then add the vegetables you want to grow with a click. The amount of space each vegetable needs is immediately visible. I’m taking advantage of their free trial right now. (If I can figure out how to get a jpeg of my plot, I’ll post it!)

I think the best part of community gardening is the opportunity to meet and compare techniques with other local gardeners who are experiencing the same soil and weather conditions that I am.

Does your town have a community garden?

Seed to Salad (and Chickens!)

2011-05-04T12:25:00.000-04:00

Second graders at the Valley Cottage Elementary School planted a "Seed to Salad" garden in their school courtyard last month. Developed by the Ithaca Children's Garden at Cornell and implemented here by enrichment teacher Michele Signorile, the "Seed to Salad" curriculum is designed to allow kids to sow and harvest edible plants by the end of the school year. The seed-sowing endeavor was supplemented by other nutrition education activities that enabled kids to identify and vote for their favorite vegetable, play in an obstacle course that simulated the human body, and learn about worm composting.

The students expect to harvest several kinds of lettuce greens, spinach, radishes, arugula and baby carrots for their salad by the end of June.

Since the "Seed to Salad" program was part of a larger nutrition unit, I brought Leah and Goldi in for a personal visit.

Heard at the scene:

"She looks mad at me."

"How many feathers do they have?"

"Can I eat these weird colored eggs?"

"He's pecking, he's pecking!"

"Let 'em out!"

"How come there aren't chicks in these eggs? "

"She pooped!"

"I know how to hold a chicken."

"Are you gonna eat them?"

"Is one of these a rooster?"

All of the second graders got to pet the chickens and many were amazed that they were so soft. Some of the kids thought at first that they were a couple and that Leah, with her larger comb and wattle, was a rooster. After a couple of hours of being stared at and stroked by a hundred little hands, the girls were glad to get home to their quiet backyard.

The Wildflower Queen

2011-04-30T21:48:00.001-04:00

photo by Dennis Fagen

When Ladybird Johnson was a little girl, she used to comb the meadows and fields for the first bloom of the season and crown it “The Queen.” Many years later, as First Lady, she remembered how wildflowers and native plants had entertained and consoled her as a child, and made it her personal mission to ensure that future generations would appreciate them too. Along with our local heroine Helen Hayes, she founded the Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center just outside of Austin, TX, and helped get laws passed to beautify US roadsides. The center is part of the University of Texas and is a research center and as well as a public garden. I was able to make a short visit there while I was visiting Austin last week.

Lupinus texensis

I was informed that it hasn’t been a great year for the Texas Bluebonnet, the state flower that's shown above in the photo of Ladybird. I was a little too late to catch them in full bloom, but managed to find a lone little bloom under a shady tree here. There are few flowers that are truly blue—many considered “blue” are actually shades of periwinkle, violet or indigo.

I saw a huge variety of plants there, but decided to highlight only my very favorites, and a few that I saw most frequently while we were in Austin. Below is "Indian Blanket."

Gaillardia pulchella

"Mexican Hats" were also common in New Mexico when we were there last summer.

Ratibida columnifera

Leucophyllum frutescens

Similar hues were found on this captivating Pink Mimosa.

The foliage of this cenizo was absolutely pristine -- I loved the look of the purple flowers against the powdery green leaves.

Mimosa borealis

Salvia farinacea

Datura wrightii (a.k.a. "Jimsonweed")

Although the blooms are pink, this flower is known as "White Gaura"

Guara lindhelmeri

Red Yucca was in bloom all over Austin, often in large potted arrangements.

Hesperaloe parviflora

An orange spider wasp enjoying some yarrow.

(From "Whats That Bug.com": This magnificent Spider Wasp is a Tarantula Hawk, a member of several genera that hunt Tarantulas to feed to their young. The female Tarantula locates a Tarantula and stings it which paralyzes the Tarantula, but does not kill it. The female Tarantula Hawk then buries the spider after laying an egg. The larva of the wasp then feeds on the living but paralyzed Tarantula which ensures the meat is fresh. The vital organs are eaten last. The sting of a Tarantula Hawk is reported to be quite painful. Only the female stings. These large distinctive wasps, generally with black bodies and red wings, are frequently seen taking nectar from flowers including milkweed. You can find more information about Tarantula Hawks on BugGuide.)

Achillea millefolium

One of the highlights of the center is the theme gardens in this gorgeous courtyard.

"Sotol" was the focal point of this succulent/cactus garden. Other themes included medicinal, woodland, and flowering plants.

Dasyilirion texanum

Totally charming little clematis near the front archways.

Clematis pitcheri

One of the staff showed me how the bees get the nectar from the honeysuckle. They’re too fat to fit into the flower opening, so they bite through the base of the flower.

Inside the “Little House” there were activities for children, and a fascinating display of photos from Ladybird’s life.

To learn more about Ladybird Johnson, find this beautifully illustrated book, Miss Ladybird's Wildflowers: How a First Lady Changed America by Kathi Appet, illustrated by Joy Fischer Hein.

What wildflowers are blooming near you right now?

Ladybug Release

2011-04-17T13:50:00.000-04:00

Several hundred ladybugs (Hippodamia convergens) were set free in our school courtyard last week. We’re hoping to prevent infestations of aphids and other pests.

We also want to avoid the use of chemical pesticides, some of which are being implicated in the disappearance of pollinating honeybees. When chemicals are used to kill bugs, you may never know what helpful insects you're killing in the process.

1500 ladybugs cost about $35 from this supplier.

It’s important to wait until leaves are beginning to appear on the trees so that the ladybugs have a place to hide, and that pest insects are present to provide food.

Ladybugs can be kept 2 weeks or more before releasing, as long as they’re in the refridgerator. The release area should be sprinkled with water, since the ladybugs will be thirsty for a drink when they’re released.

They should be spread out around the garden, applied directly to plants. So that each child in our gardening class had a few of their own to release, we put a dozen or so in several small paper cups.

Have you heard of the Lost Ladybug Project? Ladybugs that used to be common have become extremely rare, and scientists are working hard to determine why and whether it will have an effect on keeping plant-damaging insect populations under control. They’re asking folks to photo and document the ladybugs they find (naturally occurring only, please!) and log them on their website. Read more here.

Flower Show Recap

2011-04-10T16:30:00.001-04:00

Don't you love the color of these orchids?

The Garden Club of Nyack held it's 18th annual Flower Show on Saturday. Both adult and child gardeners were able to enter in several horticulture and design categories, and for the first time this year, there was a photography division. Last year, I really enjoyed clerking for Jeanne, who was the chief judge for the design division. This year, I clerked for the children's judges Joanne and Celia. I also served as an entry clerk for both the children and adult divisions, helping the exhibitors categorize and display their entries. (I even worked up the courage to submit a few entries of my own this year - and have included them in this post.)

There were so many outstanding submissions this year - it was hard to pick a few favorites, and I was limited by a dead camera battery that forced me to take most of these photos on my phone.

The "invitational" category, which is unique every year, asked that the exhibitors create a place setting for a celebration. I liked the more formal entries best- this one celebrating spring, and another for a garden wedding.

There were lots of great entries in the children's divison. Classrooms at Upper Nyack school, and my group of afterschool gardeners at Valley Cottage were among the groups submitting.

This was the entry from our class -- it won second place!

This class had their seeds "race" to the finish line!

More entries from the kindergarten classes.

I loved this pasta herb garden, planted in a colander, and mulched with real pasta!

This gorgeous and heartfelt tribute to a gardener who passed away won "Best in Show" in the children's category.

This colorful flower cart won the People's Choice award in the children's division.

Here's one of the recycled soda bottle planters we did in our afterschool gardening class. The idea for this project came from Mike Lieberman's Urban Organic Gardener site. It won a second place!

Another one of our group submissions, a gourd grown from seed in our school greenhouse, placed first.

Richard's tribute to the people of Japan won "Best in Show" for the Adult Horticulture Division. It was accented with handmade origami cranes.

Here's my little dish garden, which was inspired by my facebook friend Helen Yoest, who has been posting photos of some amazing creations from Moss and Stone Gardens.

Unfortunately the handles prevented this from qualifying in the the miniature category, so it went into a separate division called "other plant designs," and won a second place. (I also learned that some varieties of moss are endangered in New York State, and because of this, moss may not be allowed in future shows.)

A spectacular succulent that we had some trouble identifying.

Here's an unusual and creative egg arrangement that won a first in the miniature category. I love the way edibles, including chili pepper and asparagus, were used in this arrangement.

I tried to duplicate last year's daffodil bouquet, but not all of the varieties I used then were in bloom yet, so I supplemented with pussy willow and forsythia.

It got a first place in the forced branches category.

Isn't this an amazing Christmas Cactus in bloom? It comes from the owner of one of our favorite restaurants, the Golden Mushroom.

There was a good turnout for the photos. I entered a photo of an allium in the first stages of bloom, and got an honorable mention. Congrats to Phoebe Farrell, who took home a first place ribbon for her tulip photo in the children's photo division!

Don't miss the Garden Club of Nyack's plant sale on May 22!

A More Humane Egg

2011-04-05T08:33:00.000-04:00

It saddening to realize the extraordinary cruelty inflicted on many of the commercial chickens of the world. An FDA inspection on two farms in Iowa that together produce over a billion eggs a year, found numerous violations, including infestations of flies, maggots, wild birds and rodents, piled manure and chickens crammed with up to 8 birds in stacked cages. That means each bird has only 67 square inches of floor space, or less than the size of an 8.5” x 11” sheet of paper. This leads to frustration and pecking, which is why many producers choose to cut their beaks to prevent them from hurting each other. Up to 1/3 of the laying hens have broken bones at the end of their most productive laying period, which in commercial factories is less than a year.

Evidence suggests that cage-free chickens have a lower risk of salmonella infection, and thankfully, the number of restaurants and retailers switching to cage-free eggs is growing. Walmart, Costco, Safeway, Trader Joes’ and Whole Foods are all shifting to cage-free eggs. So are Royal Carribbean and Carnival Cruise Lines, Ben & Jerry’s, Burger King, Denny’s, Subway and Wendy’s, as well as dining halls at numerous colleges and universities. Battery cages will be outlawed in California by 2015.

It’s confusing, though, to sort through the claims on the cartons at the grocery store. Here’s a rundown of some and what they mean.

USDA ORGANIC – hens cannot be caged and must have outdoor access, and be fed an allvegetarian diet free of antibiotics and pesticides, however beak cutting is permitted.

AMERICAN HUMANE CERTIFIED – hens can be confined in cages or cage-free. Beak cutting is allowed.

ANIMAL WELFARE APPROVED – must be from flocks of no more than 500, and spend their adult lives outside. No beak cutting.

CERTIFIED HUMANE – hens cannot be caged, but may still be kept inside. Beak cutting allowed.

UNITED EGG PRODUCERS CERTIFIED – meets minimum industry standards which routinely permit cruel and inhumane practices.

RAISED WITHOUT ANTIBIOTICS – Routine use of antibiotics is illegal, but they are often used on sick birds. If given antibiotics at anytime, this claim cannot be used.

CAGE FREE – usually means hens are raised in barns or warehouses. They may not have access to the outdoors, but usually have 2-3 times more space than caged hens.

FREE RANGE – hens have some outdoor access, but there is no way to know how much or what kind.

PASTURED OR PASTURE RAISED – hens must have some foraging time outdoors.

Of course, the easiest way to avoid having to determine whether you’re purchasing eggs from inhumane farms is to raise your own chickens. Many people, even those in urban neighborhoods, are keeping chickens in backyard coops. BackyardChickens.com is a great place to start for info on how to take the plunge.

To Learn More:

The Cornocupia Institute Organic Eggs Scorecard

Nutrition Action, “Walking on Eggshells” by David Schardt, November 2010; Center for Science in the Public Interest, http://www.cspinet.org/nah/

A New Fowl Friend

2011-03-31T14:55:00.000-04:00

We woke up to this gorgeous face on our doorstep the other day.

It's a wild male turkey Meleagris gallopavo or "gobbler" that emerged from the woods all by himself, which is unusual. They're usually in flocks when seen around here, but will separate from their flock during mating season to reduce competition. Female turkeys are usually duller brown, and don't have beards (the protruding feather on the front of the breast).

He seems to have adopted us -- at least for now. I named him Jacques, after Jacques Pepin. He makes noise too. Could he be looking for a girlfriend? Judging by the length of his snood and beard, I'm guessing this is a "jake," or yearling male.

He likes hanging out in front of my office window. Sometimes he pecks at the window.

There are about 5 million turkeys in the U.S. They're found in every state except for Alaska. Ever seen one in your yard?

Recipe for Happy Worms

2011-03-22T10:23:00.000-04:00

Nothing is more exciting than 1500 red worms wiggling in the dirt. Just ask the kids in our afterschool gardening class. Here's their recipe for worm compost:

Ingredients

1500 Red Wiggler worms from a source such as Amazon.

10 gallon plastic bin with a few 1/4" holes drilled in the lid.

Shredded newspaper

Water

Food scraps

Dirt

1) Put shredded newspaper in bin to cover bottom.

2) Get it damp but not soaking - about 2 cups of water is good.

3) Put in some food scraps like, banana peels, apple cores, melon rind, coffee grounds, old squash, weeds you pull up from your beds (just make sure they’re not producing seeds!) What will the worms like best?

4) Add a few handfuls of dirt.

5) Examine your worms to make sure they’re alive and wriggling.

Be sure to exclaim over their grossness, their slimyness, and the possiblity that they will poop on you.

6) Put all 1500 worms in the bin! (this is the fun part!)

7) Gently cover worms with materials already in the bin.

8) Put them in a place where they won’t freeze.

9) Check back in a week. Is there some “black gold” compost in the bottom of the bin? Use it as fertilizer for your garden beds.

10) Or, make "poop tea," by tying worm compost or manure in gauze and floating it in a bucket of water. After a few days, use the brew to water your plants.

Got worms??

End Nuclear Power in the Hudson Valley Now

2011-03-17T13:47:00.000-04:00

The devastating events in Japan have renewed interest worldwide in the closing of nuclear power plants. Germany has taken action to close down 7 older plants, and China has halted approvals for new plants to be built. We can only hope that the US will follow suit - nuclear power isn't safe or sustainable.

Indian Point, located just across the river in Westchester County, is the closest nuclear power plant to us here in Nyack, and it is, to say the least, rickety. There have been problems with radioactive leaks, malfunctioning rods, and storage concerns. In fact, a study revealed that of all the nuclear power plants nationwide, Indian Point is at greatest risk for earthquake damage, due to it's proximity to the Ramapo fault line. In the meantime, the plant dumps warm water into the Hudson River, upsetting the ecosystem. With 20 million people within a 50 mile radius of this plant, a full evacuation would be close to impossible.

What you can do: (from the website CloseIndian Point.org)

Write a note to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and tell him why closing Indian Point is important to you. Ask him to use the power of his office to prevent the relicensing of the reactors at Indian Point. Use a note card and don't make a big deal out of formal terms of address or anything else. Just get something in the mail. This is something you can do with your kids. Write to: Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, Executive Chamber, State Capitol, Albany, New York, 12224. Or fax 518-474-1513.

Or write to Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman. Thank him for his “plan to work toward an energy future without the Indian Point nuclear power plant” in Westchester County. Ask him to continue to use the power of his office to prevent the relicensing of the reactors at Indian Point. The address is New York State Office of the Attorney General, The Capitol, Albany, New York, 12224. Or call him at 518- 474-7330.

You might want to read this excellent article in the Huffington Post yesterday, "Too Cheap to Meter: Ten Myths about Nuclear Power" by Michael Rose.

Is there a nuclear power plant near you?

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day: Opening Presents

2011-03-16T00:07:00.002-04:00

Raking the leaves off my garden beds feels a little like unwrapping gifts. Dead leaves are the easiest, cheapest mulch available. The leaves-as-mulch plan also provides a convenient excuse to be lazy about removing them -- with 40+ trees in the wooded area of our backyard, it’s a huge job. Many will break down over the winter, but many will not, and their removal has only been postponed. The leaves are now heavier, soaked with melted snow and rain, matted and muddy. Underneath there are allium, crocus, hyssop and lavendar waiting to see the light of Spring. Here are a few things happily released:

Anise Hyssop (Agastache foeniculum)

This plant re-seeds continously all summer, almost to the point of being invasive. I love the look of the purple sprouts. My kids call this the "root beer plant." A good cocktail herb.

Strawberry (Fragaria Ananassa)
I planted some strawberries last year that seem to be coming back. I don't remember what varieties (isn't that awful that I don't make a note of these things?) but I remember that I planted one June and one everbearing variety. I will probably add a few more plants to this bed this year.

These are probably Allium hollandicum and will green up soon.

Tulips (tulipa)- I planted a black variety last fall - excited to see if they turn up.

Abbotsford Ivy (Hedera helix)- above, an heirloom plant clipped from the Memorial Garden at Grace Church. The winter seems to have heightened the contrasts.

I was happy and surprised to see how well-preserved this liriope was, especially since I totally neglected it last summer.

Crocus - usually the first to bloom in my garden. I try to add a few every year.

Lavendar (lavendula)- This plant hasn't quite taken off, but it hasn't died either.

I believe this is Sorrel (Rumex acetosa), purchased from Hook Mountain Growers last year. I remember Pam telling me that it would be among the first shoots out of the ground, and she was right!

This was Stella's last egg. (Stella was my Speckled Sussex that got nabbed by a predator in January.)

Since I never found her body, I buried it in Yolanda's memorial garden, under this character.

Hey! It looks like I made the deadline for Garden Blogger's Bloom Day! Think I'll head over to May Dreams Gardens and add my link. Today, you'll find links there to gardens all over the world - check it out! and thanks, Carol, as always, for hosting!

For Lent, Write Letters Instead

2011-03-12T12:39:00.000-05:00

What if, instead of giving something up for Lent, we pledge to do the things we've neglected? Every week our chuch sends out an update that includes a "reflection," which is often a poem. The reflections are usually incredibly profound and thought-provoking. This week's reflection was especially so, and humorous, too.

Portrait of the Artist as a Prematurely Old Man
by Ogden Nash

It is common knowledge to every schoolboy and even every Bachelor of Arts,
That all sin is divided into two parts.

One kind of sin is called a sin of commission, and that is very important,
And it is what you are doing when you are doing something you ortant,
And the other kind of sin is just the opposite and is called a sin of
omission and is equally bad in the eyes of all right-thinking people,
from Billy Sunday to Buddha,
And it consists of not having done something you shuddha.

I might as well give you my opinion of these two kinds of sin as long as, in
a way, against each other we are pitting them,
And that is, don't bother your head about sins of commission because however
sinful, they must at least be fun or else you wouldn't be committing
them.

It is the sin of omission, the second kind of sin,
That lays eggs under your skin.
The way you get really painfully bitten
Is by the insurance you haven't taken out and the checks you haven't added up
the stubs of and the appointments you haven't kept and the bills you
haven't paid and the letters you haven't written.
Also, about sins of omission there is one particularly painful lack of
beauty,
Namely, it isn't as though it had been a riotous red-letter day or night every
time you neglected to do your duty;
You didn't get a wicked forbidden thrill
Every time you let a policy lapse or forgot to pay a bill;
You didn't slap the lads in the tavern on the back and loudly cry Whee,
Let's all fail to write just one more letter before we go home, and this
round of unwritten letters is on me.

No, you never get any fun
Out of things you haven't done,
But they are the things that I do not like to be amid,
Because the suitable things you didn't do give you a lot more trouble than
the unsuitable things you did.

The moral is that it is probably better not to sin at all, but if some kind
of sin you must be pursuing,
Well, remember to do it by doing rather than by not doing.

Let the Good Temps Roll on Mardi Gras

2011-03-08T13:42:00.003-05:00

It's Mardi Gras. Laissez les bon temps roulez today, and let the good temps roll in, too, please. It was down to freezing again last night. After a drenching weekend rain, the last of the ice in the yard finally melted, only to turn into frozen puddles today. On Friday, our afterschool gardening class planted some seeds in the greenhouse, but it seems it may not be warm enough for them to germinate.

On Monday morning I checked the temperature – 50 degrees, but quickly warming up.

The greenhouse temps are regulated by a less than reliable thermostat, fans, heaters

and a timer.

The weekend rain also filled up the rain barrell.

Just to be sure, I started a big flat of peas, so that the kids would have something to plant even if their seeds don’t germinate. Wish us luck!

Here’s a little Professor Longhair, king of New Orleans piano, playing my very favorite Mardi Gras song, "Big Chief."

Starting Seeds

2011-03-01T12:44:00.000-05:00

After a winter of frozen fingers, I’m looking forward to getting my hands dirty again, and the great, gushing Northeast thaw finally seems to be happening. Most of the materials for starting seeds can be found around the house - the only thing I needed to buy is seed starting mix. Why use seed starting mix instead of potting soil? It retains water better and is easier for roots to penetrate. It’s free of weed seeds and fungal spores and has a smoother texture. It usually contains a mixture of peat moss, vermiculite and perlite.

One day I’d like to invest in one of these cool gadgets that Hook Mountain Growers is using to make soil blocks. For now, I’m using recycled materials like yogurt cups, nursery flats and pots, poking a hole for drainage in the yogurt cups. I always wash recycled pots well to remove traces of fungus, even run them thru the dishwasher on sani-cycle.

In the past I’ve also used peat pots and paper towel rolls for seed starting. These pots have the advantage of having the ability to be planted directly outside without disturbing the seedling roots, so they may be a better option for plants that don’t like to have their roots disturbed, like cucumbers. However, my schedule doesn’t always allow me to check on my plants every day – especially if they’re in the school greenhouse. I’ve found that they dry out quickly and didn’t always break down quickly enough once planted for the roots of less aggressive plants to penetrate. In fact, I’ve extracted these pots completely intact from soil at the end of the summer. Much depends on the location, irrigation and type of soil.

Once the seed starting mix is moistened with water and the cups are filled, I use a pencil to create a seed hole, then spray with water. The more delicate the stream of water, the less possibility there is of disturbing the seed. In the school greenhouse, we also underwater by placing the pots in trays and filling the tray with water. The water seeps into the bottom of the pot and encourages the roots to grow down seeking the moisture source.

Covering with plastic or a lid of some kind until the seeds sprout is helpful. I've tried starting the seeds at home near a sunny window and in my closet under flourescent lights, but the greenhouse gets the best results, and I try to move most of my seedlings there once they've sprouted. The constant temp there of 70-75 is preferred, and air circulation is also helpful in preventing fungal growth.

Once the seedlings are bigger, they're hardened off by being exposed gradually to lower temps and sun outside.

So far I’ve started onion, cherry tomato, pepper, sugar snap pea, cleome, cardinal vine, black eyed susan vine, sweet william, sweet pea, and lunaria.

On Friday, our afterschool enrichment class will be starting seeds in the school greenhouse. We have 16 students this time, ages K-5th grade.

Are you starting any seeds early this year?

$15 Mayonnaise at William Sonoma

2011-02-20T13:00:00.000-05:00

When I was pregnant, I craved Granny Smith apples. One day I arrived at my office, put a Granny Smith apple on my desk and burst into tears. “That fancy Lexington Avenue market had the nerve to charge me $1.39 for a single apple!” I sobbed to my concerned colleagues. “It’s outrageous! But I HAD to have it.” Talk about hormones.

Although I don’t often cry over high prices, or succumb to them, I’m annoyed when I see a pricetag that goes beyond exhorbitant. Like last week at William Sonoma when I saw this jar of mayonnaise for $14.95. What precious rare ingredients could be in it? Vegetable oil, egg, lemon juice, salt, vinegar…..wow.

I was out of mayo at the time, but definitely wasn’t that desperate.

The anger drove me to my cookbooks, where I got the basic formula for mayo, and threw the ingredients into the food processor.

1 egg

1 t. mustard

1 t. salt

1 T. vinegar

1 T. Lemon juice

1 ½ c. vegetable oil

Pulse all ingredients except the oil in a food processor until smooth and combined. In a slow stream, while the processor is running, add the oil until the mixture is thick, light colored, and holds it’s shape.

These are just the basics, of course. It could easily be upgraded by using premium ingredients like a fresh chicken egg, dijon mustard, white wine vinegar, fresh lemon juice, or extra virgin olive oil. You could add chopped herbs, horseradish, or maybe a little truffle oil. Even then, I don’t think that would bring the retail price much above $2.99, do you? How would you doctor up some homemade mayonnaise?

Goodbye Stella

2011-02-15T11:55:00.000-05:00

Stella was attacked on Sunday while I was at the grocery store. We knew something was up when she didn't make it home to the coop that night.

Then, this morning, I saw the clumps of wet feathers behind the compost bins. I thought that a cat might have caught her and dragged her over the fence, but if that were the case, there would probably be more feathers in my yard. I think Stella got into my next door neighbor's yard and couldn't get back over the fence. Then something cornered her there - maybe a coyote or a hawk.

Poor Stella. She had just started to lay.

As for Goldi and Leah, they're getting their wings clipped today.

Ghosts of Snowmen Past

2011-02-09T12:59:00.001-05:00

You won’t believe what my son said when I asked him if he wanted to go outside and make a snowman with me. “Mom, I’m not three years old anymore!” Oh yeah? Since when did snowman building become exclusive to toddlers? This guy in West Nyack is sculpting amazing giant colored fish for god’s sake!

My kids loved making snowmen until just a few years ago. Last year all they could muster was this mini picnic table model.

2010

Previous years were more impressive....

2009

2008

2007 (this one, as I recall, was anatomically correct in places)

2006

2005

2004

So what are they doing this year? Making igloos and tunnels.

What started as a simple tunnel through the snow the plow piled up became a maze of tunnels complete with a central dome and windows.

Are you still playing in the snow?

Really Missing Florida

2011-02-04T21:16:00.000-05:00

Just when things start to melt and we think we can come up for air we get pounded again. The photo to the right was taken on my phone on my way to work the other day. Pretty much sums up the lapses in sanitation, dirty snow, parking problems and general slogging of a typical commute.

This is the time of year that I miss Florida the most. It’s always fun to take off your boots only to step into a puddle of water from snow that has melted off of someone else’s boot a few feet away and have to change your socks. Or to discover that your favorite boots won’t zip up anymore. Or find that your dog has decided that she doesn’t want to brave the deep snow and is doing her business on the deck instead. And these are just the boot gripes! I never even wore boots when I lived in Florida.

That is not to say that we are totally without beauty here in the Northeast. Sometimes the snow sticks and sometimes it sticks around.

Each plant has a unique way of being enhanced by snowfall.

I like guessing what critters have been scooting across

Rabbit?

I can tell a stepping cat from a running cat. And a bluejay from a sparrow.

A Fraidy Cat

And something did happen today that made me smile. Stella laid her first egg! A lovely rosey beige color.

Go Stella!

We also got our first egg from Goldi in almost 2 months. So there may be more souffles in our future. Since egg laying is dependent on the number of daylight hours, I wonder if the production surge has anything to do with it being Groundhog or Candlemas Day -- the day halfway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox.

I’m sure you have your own list of winter discontents. Feel free to gripe in the comments section.

Macro in a Mason Jar

2011-01-24T20:15:00.000-05:00

Here are some possible entries in the “Macro in a Mason Jar” contest, which is being run by photographer David Perry over at the Gardening Gone Wild blog. I usually shy away from photo contests because I’m not a very accomplished photographer, and my current equipment is beyond cheap – a Samsung SL600 that was free in bag of conference swag. There really was no excuse not to participate in this one, though, because it was designed for fearful point and shooters like me. See the rules and technique description here.

I tried a few things. First a head of red cabbage.

Then an orange pepper.

Not sure, but I think the idea here is not to be able to see the jar. If so, this is probably not an ideal photo. Above you can see how I set this one up. The jar is resting on the cut pepper.

Some salted almonds.

And the setup.

And then, because it was handy, some Guiness Stout. The bubblier the better.

Which one do you think I should enter?