Elderflower Eruption
Violets in Spring
A thousand wild violets dot the lawn, welcoming the early bees. I set the mower deck high and shave the grass above their heads. Mowing so high means I’ll have to cut it again soon, but it’s worth it to let the flowers continue their bloom.
Spring Garlic
Rare Catbird Sighting
It’s difficult; they’re small, far away, and move quickly. So it was with some excitement that I heard an unusual birdcall the other day.
Growing Elderberry from Cuttings
A Seat at the Local Foods Table
Rural Action
Freeze and Thaw
The days have gotten warm enough that the ice on the edge of the pond is melting. Hurray!
Meanwhile, the freezer reveals that our supply of last year’s peppers is almost exhausted. Booo.
How did that happen? We’re usually eating the last of the frozen tomatoes around March, but the peppers last until May.
This is probably what comes of someone’s insistence that we don’t need to grow so many hot peppers. It’s easy enough to eat up those sweet peppers with spaghetti dinners and liberally adding th…
Pruning Time
Do you know how to prune an elderberry bush? Me neither. Although I've grown elderberries for over a decade, I'm still relatively new at growing them on a large scale and managing them for production.
Despite not being certain as to the right approach, I started pruning this week on a 50 degree February day, and I hope to finish within the next 10 days or so.
Some of our plantings are now old enough that they need to be pruned, so I’ve been looking at what the literature says and what other …