The trees in the area next to my yard have been overrun by vines, and the ground is covered with evergreen undergrowth. The vines still have some orange berries from fall; the lower plants were topped with white flowerheads last spring. What can I do to save my woods? J.F., Worcester, MA Invasive plant species […]
garden
Gardens
Keep Your Head Focused
This is a macro shot of a moth, sucking nectar from a beautiful, purple Butterfly Bush. It was taken in my garden in Enfield, Connecticut. Taken on July 21, 2013 with a Nikon D3200.
<!– _ It’s the size and shape of an ice cream truck. And certainly kindles the same enthusiasm, “They’re here!” shout the kids of a North Troy day care, as the big white truck lumbers down their long dirt road. Yet it’s not ice cream sandwiches and popsicles, they’re giddy about, it’s The Lunch Box […]
Massachusetts
Exploring Brookline, Massachusetts
Brookline began its life in 1638 as a hamlet of Boston called Muddy River. In 1705, it was independently incorporated, but it remains surrounded on three sides by the city. And despite being home to nearly 60,000 residents, with a population density similar to that of Cambridge, it still stubbornly calls itself a “town,” not […]
For chef Matt Jennings, Providence, Rhode Island, isn’t just home to his restaurant, Farmstead; it’s the best food community in the country. Join him as he toasts the growers and producers behind his success.
New Hampshire
Our Favorite Off-the-Beaten-Track Antique Shop
I’m going to let you in on a little secret today. It’s a vintage/antique shop in a town you’ve probably never visited, and it’s wonderful—not just for its inventory, which is well curated, but for its prices. They are easily half what I see at shops in cities and more touristy areas, not to mention […]
(1.) For 130 years, Ward Clapboard Mill has been a major presence in the New England timber industry. Still owned by the Ward family, the company produces beautifully crafted quarter-sawn vertical-grain clapboard (prices begin at 92¢ per linear foot for the popular 6-inch extra-clear clapboards) from locally sourced timber at the firm’s mills in Moretown, […]
On a perfect blue-sky summer day, two dozen members of the New England Unit of the Herb Society of America are mingling over coffee and fresh scones in the South Dartmouth, Massachusetts, garden of Eva Sommaripa. It’s almost time for the day’s main event: a talk and tour with their host, who, in these circles, […]
On a Friday in mid-October, Eugene Ratner takes stock of the churning sea in front of his home in Nantucket’s Madaket region, on the island’s southwestern shore. “This is bad,” he says. High, white-rimmed swells break and slam a few feet from where he’s standing, sending up a salty spray. “This is what you see […]
An enormous “O” hangs in Jeff Soderbergh’s backyard, dangling from a cherry tree like a giant earring. He eases inside the hand-forged wagon wheel, fitting himself to its iron contours. Who could have guessed, back in the early 1800s when it was first wrought in Pennsylvania, that this utilitarian hoop would achieve a life […]
Is anything better during the harvest than making good use of fresh garden produce? This recipe for summer succotash is a summer variation on a New England classic, lightened and brightened for warm days when a bowl of veggies makes for a perfect supper. A culinary combination of corn and beans, succotash was one of […]
Gardens
Vermont Daylillies
The weather has been so glorious lately and my thoughts are turning to the beautiful corner of northern Vermont where my gardening imagination is fed. In real life, I have a small backyard and we live with in blocks of the Boston city line, but I like to imagine that I can create a slice […]