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Good year for hickory nuts and maple syrup. I brought some maple syrup to my brother the ex-arborist's house for breakfast, and he pronounced it quite good. Got a reasonable amount of winter squash. Last year they all died of mildew before they set much fruit, so, moving up in the world. I...

Joe, I'm sorry to hear that. Would it help to take pictures and file a police report of vandalism? Our local neighborhood Future Felons of America club contents themselves with playing Mailbox Baseball. Sometimes the homeowners wrap their mailbox posts (and even mailboxes) in cast concrete and...

Holy smokes! You have extremely spoiled cats. Were they always indoor cats from kittenhood, or were they originally outdoor kitties that you adopted?

We used to have those ghost flowers around our house when I was a kid. Except we called them Indian Pipes. In the UK, elder trees are supposed to be the special trees related to witches--various sources claim that witches are reincarnated as elder trees, send their spirits to hang out in elder...

Well, I had a stroke of good luck for a change! I better buy a lottery ticket while it lasts. :P Looked around online, could not find exactly what I wanted. Went to Local Garden Center in despair, not expecting much. Lo and behold, due to the time of year, they are having a massive perennial...

I have had better luck with their seeds than with any other heirloom seed company. Best germination rates ever! Only thing I would suggest is to buy more than one variety. There is not enough detail about each individual type of plant to make a decent judgment call about how well it will do in...

+1. We have three big lilac hedges, and they look like poop. One of mine, the least-trimmed and wildest of the bunch, did croak completely, died all the way back. But the others are fine and will come back. It's a mildew, don't worry too much.

Ron, do you ever read any of Terry Pratchett's books? There are a few smaller ones with a character called Eric Wheelbrace. It's apparently an issue in the UK, that many folks like to go for long walks across the moors regardless of who may own them, or what livestock might be grazing thereon...

Current age: Older than dirt Time to grow a standard holly to 10': 7 years When I should be going to the Raisin Ranch: Any day now. Hey, thanks! Amazing how well that works! :gig Mostly I want to do something nice and permanent because I have been through so much insanity with this renovation...

Hunh. Here's the thing, I wonder how the cedar shakes and structural timbers under the trellises are holding up. In Nantucket of course the house owners can afford to have Norm Abrams come out personally every year as needed, but I would really like this to be the very last time I have to...

Here's what it looks like in winter: This is an old picture, but pretty much the same. The neighbor brats broke my light, so you'll have to imagine the new light--one of those round nautical types--but same size, same location. Contractor working on the siding: So you can see how close to...

Hey youse guys, I need some shrub selection help. I'm re-doing my front yard, as the plants that were there got smashed during a recent renovation. Planted six white roses in front already: there are two climbers, which will be trained around some sort of ornamenty things, on either side of...

If you really want to move em, here is what you do: Get several layers of newspaper, and lay it on top of the dirt. Soak it real real good with the hose. Then wait, hmm, maybe till afternoon or so. A few hours. The worms will mostly crawl up to the surface under the newspaper, where you can...

Yeah, I am picking fresh raspberries. :drool Best raspberry of the year, even better than the summer raspberries--and I have some wicked good summer raspberries--Autumn Britten from Nourse Farms. Holy smokes, is it ever tasty. You know how raspberries, if you don't pick em just right, they...

Definitely dig up the dahlia tubers and put em in the basement or garage to overwinter. Seeds, depends--I would imagine you'd have noticed if there weren't any seeds in the casings. How did you store them? I usually put mine in the crisper drawer of the fridge, and they do OK. Some, like...

Trick to Butterick patterns: Learn to sew using costume patterns. Enough younguns in your family and a friendly neighborhood every Halloween, it only takes maybe a couple years to get decent at sewing, and if you time it right the small kids won't remember your worst mistakes. Make general...

Depends on exactly what use. Rugosas of any variety get nice big hips for jam and syrup. I used to have an Apothecary Rose (Rosa gallica) but I haven't checked on it for a few weeks--that was also nice. I have an Aimee Vibert noisette that I just planted this year, hasn't bloomed yet, but...

To me, my garden represents a little bit of hope. There's an old story about a preacher who liked to preach about the end times being nigh, and how any minute now the whole world would be slaughtered/raptured/possessed etc., but when his congregation visited him at home, they found him...

Not that I know of. Some varieties will develop smaller side-shoots after you harvest the main head, but otherwise, just put em in the ground, water as necessary, and watch out for groundhogs.

Finally got around to making pretzels. I checked the recipe book, it's more like 1/4 c. baking soda per quart of water. OMG good! I may run out of mustard!