Tag: Summer
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Learning to Live: Sweet Corn and Raccoons
I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. ~ Henry David Thoreau I’ve never successfully grown sweet corn at…
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Cedar-Apple Rust Facts
Over the last two weeks I’ve observed two young Pixie Crunch apple trees in our orchard succumbing to cedar-apple rust. Or so I suspect. (Rosslyn Redux) So what do you think? Cedar-apple rust? Something else? Although I dread admitting it, I’m fairly convinced that we’re battling a light invasion of cedar-apple rust which has undoubtedly…
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Midsummer Mementos
It was chilly this morning, low 50s, having apparently hit 49 in the still-dark hours before I woke. Not unpleasant chilly, just a little reminder that a month from now this will begin to be normal. Days like today with sunny skies feathered with wispy clouds and puffs of crisp wind will whisper, “Ready for…
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Garter Snake in the Snow in Summer
That was one jumbo garter snake, friends! Even longer than the timber rattlesnake I witnessed a couple of weeks ago in a friends barn, though falling short in girth, rattles, and venom. Though this Common Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis) was docile and quickly retreated into a crevice in the stone wall, it’s a common misconception…
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Cedar-Apple Rust on Pixie Crunch Apple Trees
Over the last two weeks I’ve observed two young Pixie Crunch apple trees in our orchard succumbing to cedar-apple rust. Or so I suspect. I’m no plant pathology expert. And I’m an eager but admittedly amateur pomologist. So my hypothesis that dread cedar-apple rust has infiltrated Rosslyn’s orchard may be premature and far off target.…
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Day Lily Daze
Lest the glories of midsummer be eclipsed by boat lift blues and lemon generators, I’d like to dazzle you with blossoms. I’m hoping to follow up this day lily daze with another shortly, the next leaning more toward whites and pinks and purples. But today we start with more familiar hues and patterns. This summer…
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American Mink
I few evenings ago I remembered that I’d left my iPhone on the runabout, so I headed down to the waterfront before dinner to grab it. As I stepped out onto the dock, I noticed an energetic mink playing around on the rocks. I froze. Would he vanish if he saw me? He continued…
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Rosslyn Gardens: Mid-July Veggies
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mQqE7yNGkA&w=600&rel=0] After the rainiest spring/summer in years, the summer of 2012 appears to be one of the driest, and Rosslyn gardens have mostly profited. Time for an update on our mid-July veggies, plus an important question about squash blossoms at the end. Lake Champlain water levels are plummeting (waterfront/dock/boating update soon) and lawns are either…
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Orchard Rumination
Lately I’ve been reflecting on all the trees I wish I’d planted in the fall of 2006 and the spring of 2007. We’ve been adding new trees for a year now — a half dozen or so each spring and fall — and yet I can’t help but imagine what might be today if I’d…
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Haying with Draft Horses at Full and By Farm
CSA run by Sarah Kurak and James Graves in Essex, New York.
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Moon Over Lake Champlain
Last night’s moonrise over the Vermont foothills (south of the Green Mountains) was absolutely sensational! The moon started out fat and orange as it made a dramatic appearance. My bride and I first spied the moon over Lake Champlain while driving home to Essex from Willsboro after dining at Johnny’s Smokehouse. Breathtaking. And elusive because it…
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Rosslyn’s Redneck Yacht Club
I challenge any red blooded American who’s spent a little time in the country to dislike Redneck Yacht Club from Craig Morgan‘s 2005 album My Kind of Livin. Can’t do it! Redneck, city slicker, suburbanite, exurbanite, whatever… If you give this energetic summer anthem a second or two you’ll be hooked. Scoff if you need…