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[caption id="attachment_22" align="alignleft" width="186" caption="Garden Mystery by First Time Author "][/caption] Recently I had the pleasure of meeting Rosemary Harris, author of gardening mysteries and an Anthony and Agatha Nominee for Best First Novel. I had read her first book in her "Dirty Business" series, Pushing Up Daisies, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Her lead character is Paula Holliday, a cheeky 40-something woman, newly single and launching a landscaping business in a small town in Connecticu...

I met Michele Carlin this summer at the Pawling Farmers Market, the day she volunteered to talk to our community about beekeeping. As I watched the crowd gather around her I observed people's curiosity about this age old art. In her talk Michele noted that honey is one of the few food products that doesn't spoil. Local honey is a great remedy for colds and congestion. [caption id="attachment_1947" align="alignright" width="158"] Michele Carlin Teaching Beekeeping 101 at Pawling Farmers Market[/captio...

Watching the hummingbirds at my feeder is always a joy. Being in the Northeast I get ruby-throated hummingbirds, the most common here, and last year three females vied for the nectar in two feeders, one in front and one in back of my house. This year there is at least one male among the females. The hummingbirds are just one of the pollinators I try to support. In spring I don’t mow the dandelions, ajuga or the buttercups to allow the bumblebees to forage. A little later, my apple blossoms attract more...

The following excerpts are reprinted from an article by Frances Palmer in the May/June 2014 issue of Connecticut Gardener, with permission. Planting: I usually plant my tubers in late April, which is considered early. Most instructions advise planting tubers at the same time as tomatoes. Be that as it may, I dig a hole to accommodate the size of the tuber. If I am planting a new tuber, the hole is only a few inches down and the tuber is placed with its eye and/or new shoot pointing up. I then c...

  The following is reprinted from the original article published last October in The Curious Gardener. Since then Jennifer has been "hard at work on a book for Timber Press - focusing on the current state of women working with plants - due in stores Fall of 2019!"  We featured Jennifer on hang tags on our gloves because we were inspired by her story. Jennifer Jewell is a gardener and writer who takes as much pleasure in the ritual of gardening as she does in thinking, writing and talking about ...

Here are 10 of our favorite tabletop ideas for Thanksgiving, using plants and fruits. For how-to instructions, click here to go to the Womanswork Pinterest board. Click on individual images to be taken to their source. [caption id="attachment_2115" align="aligncenter" width="378"] Cranberries in glass container with votive candle in center. (We used a hand blown glass by Jill Reynolds, glass artist, with a pleasingly irregular shape, for added interest). Dorian Winslow, Womanswork[/caption] [caption ...

  Thanksgiving feels like a less commercial holiday to me. In the spirit of keeping it that way I like to make table decorations with natural items found right outside my door. If you have a pair of scissors and a few craft items it's easy to create a beautiful, natural looking table that celebrates Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving Placecards Create placecards with the following items: woven bags and kraft paper tags (I purchased mine at Michaels); a piece of Oasis foam; and berries and dried greens fro...

[caption id="attachment_505" align="alignleft" width="210" caption="White Flower Farm, Litchfield County, CT"][/caption] Earlier this week Ruth Rogers Clausen met my mother and me at White Flower Farm in Litchfield County, CT. I wanted to catch up with Ruth on the topic of her new book, coming out in June (Timber Press). The title is 50 Beautiful Deer Resistant Plants, and I thought our visit to White Flower Farm provided a good opportunity to ask her what some of her favorite deer resistant plants are.Â...

Hay versus straw Hay is grown as food for livestock.  If you buy hay for your garden you will have seed heads that can sprout and create weeds. I learned this the hard way one year when I sprinkled hay over a newly seeded part of our lawn and large weeds emerged that were hard to pull out. Straw makes a great mulch and planting bed for your garden. It has no nutritional value for animals because it's made of the plant stalk with the seed head removed, leaving a hollow tube. (Think of a drinking 'straw'...

So spring is here and the summer and fall-blooming shrubs need to be pruned—right? Well, yes and no. Don't be in a rush. Beware of pruning too early, especially those silver-leaved beauties that have only just started into growth. [caption id="attachment_268" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Perovskia atriplicifoia "][/caption] Through bitter experience, I have found that it is better to wait a couple of weeks until at least 1" of new young growth is showing.  You can always cut back later, b...