Some Much Needed Color

Saint Patrick’s Day is supposed to be pea planting time, but with temperatures barely getting above freezing today, I was hunkered down inside instead of digging in the garden. Winter seems determined to hang on a little while longer this year, and outside the spring bulbs are just barely beginning to push up through the soil.

This time of year the spring flower shows at the Smith College and Mount Holyoke College Botanic Gardens are the perfect antidote to the late winter gloom outside. Continue reading →

Sugar Shack Season

Here in New England winter usually lasts a few more weeks than we’d like it to, as you may have guessed from all my grumbling lately. It snowed again last weekend, and then a little more Thursday and Friday. But truth be told I wouldn’t have it any other way, because cold winters and the slow, gradual arrival of spring make for a bountiful maple sugaring season. Continue reading →

February in the Garden

Yesterday morning I awoke to the worst kind of weather, a couple inches of wet snow overnight followed by pouring rain all day long. It was a slushy mess. The ground is still covered with a few inches of snow leftover from the blizzard a few weeks ago, despite plenty of above freezing days since then. The seeds have been organized, charts and plans have been made, and the onion seedlings are coming along nicely, but it’s going to be a while before I’m able to dig in the garden. Continue reading →

Simple Cream of Asparagus Soup

The weather was chilly and grey today, and after a quick stop at the garden to check on things after work, I wanted soup. The first local asparagus turned up the co-op last week, and I had a bunch of it waiting at home in the fridge. This soup is very simple and barely takes half an hour to make, but it tastes like something very fancy. I want to eat it every day until the peas come in, and then I want to eat this soup with peas in place of the asparagus. Continue reading →