What’s this “gifts for gardeners”? The madman has been walking around grumbling, “Not even Thanksgiving and Christmas stuff is out! Jack has already put up his Christmas tree. Bah! Humbug!” I have to remind him Christmas is only 4 weeks away, and people have to start thinking about what to get their gardening friends….
Winter clean-up for the wildlife we call it. Mr. Finch likes the neatly trimmed landscape. Maybe it was Mrs. Finch – I usually can’t tell the difference and the madman was busy planting garlic, so I couldn’t ask him. This year we are trying something different – minimal cutback. After attending lots of lectures on…
The madman finally came to terms with the frost. He simply said, “After all it is almost Samhain”. Sounds like another excuse for a bonfire to me. In another reference to our Wheel of the Year, Samhain is the ending of the harvest and the coming of the darkness. Celtic Celebration Midway between…
“The frost comes on little cat feet” – my apologies to Carl Sandburg, the madman likes the phrase, but really wishes you had used frost instead of fog. The mere mention of frost strikes fear in the heart of the madman, and that first frost warning coincided with the Connecticut Association of Optometrists’ Fall…
It’s a sad time for the madman. He has come to the realization that hot pepper season has come to an end. Days are getting shorter – too short to give his hot peppers the light and warmth they deserve. The madman always says, “the hotter the weather, the hotter the pepper. With the hot…
The madman’s onion harvest was great this year, and it was almost past time to get them ready for winter storage. At one time we braided the onions into long strands, but that was a task that always fell in my lap because the madman was a terrible braider. I’m not so sure that…
Sometimes the best part of going on a road trip is coming back from the road trip. We love Connecticut. Although this country has some very beautiful areas, we always feel good about getting back home. Since the madman has this habit of booking a return flight that lands around midnight, we never get…
We are eating good this summer. The madman says there is something to be said for this garden to table thing. We were complaining just as much as everyone else during the cold spring when the madman couldn’t plant his peas. And then the rains came – we continued to complain. But we…
Let’s talk about pests. Pests come in a variety of sizes and shapes. Some are a major problem. Some are just a nuisance. The madman’s definition of a pest is an organism that cramps his style or causes his plants harm. The Gray Catbird Take the Gray catbird for example. This year, according…