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Chickadees!
For about a week, I thought a family of blue birds would move into one of our two next boxes, but a sweet pair of chickadees fought hard for the one in the back and quickly built a nest from the straw I’d stuffed behind their box and fresh grass clippings. I’ve been opening the door to watch the progress,…
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Garden Walk
After being gone all week, I was excited to get out into the garden and see what had changed. Here are several snapshots I took with my phone. In order: blackberry blossoms (2), the garden path, knockout rose bush, muscadine vine (2), romaine, tangerine crossvine, and Texas tarragon.
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Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum
The boys and I have spent the week in Tennessee visiting family. Today we went to the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum. I loved all the details on the old engines, from the peeling paint of the retired ones to the shiny wheels and lights of the restored ones. The boys were pretty cranky, but that didn’t slow down my picture-taking…
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White Deer Park Rainwater Cisterns
After several posts on my home water cistern, I thought it would be fun to share what White Deer Park in Gardner is doing with rainwater. White Deer Park was built on land with its roots in agriculture, so they chose to have their cisterns resemble silos and built structures with lean-to roofs. Their picnic shelters all have cisterns to…
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Would a rainwater cistern save you money?
Once you start down the green road, it’s pretty easy to get hyped about conservation – soil, water, building supplies, energy, savings. You would assume a rainwater cistern for watering your garden would save you money. This could be true, but depending on the size of your garden, the frequency of use and the cost of your system, it might…
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What is a "Last Frost Date" and why should you care?
When I started gardening, there was one phrase I starting noticing on every seed packet: last frost date. Another one I heard almost as often was: last killing frost. I wasn’t sure what exactly the difference was and who exactly determined that date. The Farmer’s Almanac defines frost in the following terms. Light freeze:29°F to 32°F—tender plants killed, with little…
