Posts Tagged ‘Gardening’

Nature is bizarre and fascinating. Discovering new things in my small garden world is exciting and makes me think of all that’s still undiscovered in nature. I came across two unfamiliar garden creatures this week. The first was suspended between the milkweed and a daylily stalk from my daylily plant in the front yard. It was a huge spider – about 2 inches long! In the past four years that I’ve been manicuring the garden, I never came across a spider like this. I plugged her description in google: large […]

I’ve never had much luck with zucchini but this year, the squash gods granted me bounty. I said to myself as I peered down over the plant, “Wow, they look like real zucchinis.” Have you ever seen the plant? The vegetables grow outwards on an angle. They seem to defy gravity. The fruit is bulky yet the large yellow flowers are so delicate. I recently learned from Pam, the Market Manager of Edgemere Farm that there are male and female flowers. Female zucchini blossoms are directly attached to the fruit. […]

For me, the best part of summer is the opportunity to plant and harvest my own produce. This year, I’m growing purple and sweet basil, mint, thyme and horseradish. I bought the basil; the mint and thyme are perennials– they came back from last year. And my mother-in-law gave me the horseradish. I also planted heirloom tomatoes, yellow squash and oregano from seed. I’m particularly excited about those. When you grow something from nothing, you become invested. It’s always exciting every step of the way, tending to the plants and […]

Previously published in The Wave. For the past four years, our backyard has been a renovation dumping ground. Now that the house is essentially done, we wanted to clean things up and start the backyard garden for the summer. In April, I watched this awesome show on Netflix called Love Your Garden. It’s hosted by Alan Titchmarsh, a professional English gardener, poet and gardening journalist turned TV personality. Alan and his quirky, knowledgeable team visits homes around the United Kingdom helping people transform their gardens. The families are deserving, having […]

Photo courtesy of Tim Hill. Previously published in THE WAVE 125TH ANNIVERSARY ISSUE I met Kerry and Jeanne of the O’toole family and Patty Shea last summer as they were walking down my block, all smiles. Turns out, at one time, it was their block too. We had a thriving community back in the day on 91st St.” Jeanne tells me. I was excited to meet these new friends, learning of their lives lived from the 60’s through the mid 90’s, on the same street that I now call home […]

It’s mid-April: the time to slip out after dusk with your trowels, rakes, plants and seeds. If heavy rain is in the forcast, get prepared to launch your green grenades over your shoulder on the way to work. What? I’m talking about guerrilla gardening, planting in places that need a little love and wouldn’t otherwise get it– abandoned lots, under the el, unkempt street medians, every tree pit on the blvd. past 90th st. Rockaway Beach is the perfect target, and the result is aesthetically pleasing, enhanced public spaces, not […]

Over the summer I wrote a column about the development and design of my front garden. The wholesaler I was working with charged by the truckload, so the price would be the same whether it was half full or packed. This was a great opportunity to get hold of a tree, preferable one native to the area that would provide food for the birds and animal life. After consulting with plant whisperer and good buddy Walter Meyer* of Local Office Landscape Architecture, we decided to go with a serviceberry (Amelanchier […]

Here’s a recap of the best instagrams of last week. If you want the day to day follow me here! I went to a free watercolor class this week at the library here in Rockaway. They  have many free classes. Check them out! Your looking at a serviceberry tree in my front yard! Delicious for the birds as well as you. This tree thrives in our costal zone. Edible gardens are beautiful and useful! More garden photos. This is an Oak  hydrangea which can grow six feet tall. Since last year, mine […]

I was walking back from the YMCA last week and noticed the dandelions have flowered. Time to forage in the great wilderness, or as I like to call it, the median of Shore Front Parkway. I know what you’re thinking, “Gross!! Dogs pee there!!” Whatever. I bet gophers pee on asparagus and kale in the organic farms. Either way, I still feel natural, locally grown foods are healthier for us than the pre-packaged produce in the supermarket. God knows what they spray on those greens! Besides, germs make your immune […]

If you remember, in the spring we implemented Cousin Lesley’s garden design –  the flower beds thrived and looked beautiful all summer. In fact, it still looks great now. But one thing was missing – the magical Foxtail Lily. This floral is a bulb, so I couldn’t plant it until now! As the common name dictates, this plant looks like a fox’s tail. It’s stunning with an impressive hight up to 8 feet! It is native to semi-desert areas in Asia – so perfect for the sandy soil conditions in Rockaway. I’ve never […]