Image Needed Archives

Garden Attire

by Nancy Goodwin I am a small person with short, gray hair, usually dressed in winter in faded jeans, frayed at the knees and cuffs, boots, and layers of old shirts, and in summer in faded shorts and shirts. A wide-brimmed straw hat without a crown protects my face from the sun. I generally pull…

Connecting with Nature on a Minifarm

by Richard Louv The yard surrounding Karen Harwell’s home is only six hundred square feet, yet it harbors ducks, a beehive, eighteen semi-dwarf fruit trees, an organic vegetable garden, calming places to sit and read and think, and neighborhood teenagers. The teens visit summer, the dog, and sit in the rabbit hutch, hold the baby…

December is a Blizzard in Wyoming

by Hal Borland December is a blizzard in Wyoming and a gale on the lakes, and the Berkshires frosted like a plate of cupcakes. It is bare trees and evergreens. It is wrestling weed stems and a gleam of partridgeberry on the hillside, a cluster of checkerberries, and winter greens in the thin woodland. It…

No Winter Lasts Forever

by Hal Borland No winter lasts forever; No spring skips its turn. As featured onThe Daily Gardener podcast: Words inspired by the garden are the sweetest, most beautiful words of all.

The Queen Bee Alone Survives

by John Burroughs The queen bee alone survives. You never see her playing the vagabond in the fall. At least I never have. She hunts out a retreat in the ground and passes the winter there, doubtless in a torpid state, as she stores no food against the inclement season. As featured onThe Daily Gardener…

February Makes a Bridge

by George Herbert February makes a bridge, and March breaks it. As featured onThe Daily Gardener podcast: Words inspired by the garden are the sweetest, most beautiful words of all.

Edward Beard Budding

Budding Lawn Mowers Today, in 1830, the first lawn mower was invented by Edward Beard Budding. Budding had adopted a machine that was used to remove the nap from wool. Budding had been working part-time at a carpet mill, and he got the idea when he was working there, watching that machine with the wool.…

Gardening is Civil and Social

by Henry David Thoreau Gardening is civil and social, but it wants the vigor and freedom of the forest and the outlaw. Note: National Simplicity Day is observed every July 12th in Thoreau’s honor. Henry David Thoreau was an advocate for living a life of simplicity. As featured onThe Daily Gardener podcast:…

Just Watching the Natural World

by Sir David Attenborough I can’t pretend that I got involved with filming the natural world fifty years ago because I had some great banner to carry about conservation – not at all, I always had a huge pleasure in just watching the natural world and seeing what happens. Notes: Today is the…

A Man of Words and Not of Deeds

Note: Today, (May 2) in 1863, Stonewall Jackson was shot by his own men, and I thought his life story contained many moving passages. An article in the Washington Post, called “Stonewall Jackson had a soft side”, revealed that just before the start of the civil war, Jackson had developed a love for gardening.…

My Little Dove Has a Tree Full of Them

I was mistaken about [our] large garden fruit being peaches… It turns out to be apricots and I enclose one which I found on the ground today… Just think, my little Dove has a tree full of them. Note: Today, (May 2) in 1863, Stonewall Jackson was shot by his own…

Our Garden Has Been Thirsting For Water

Note: Today, (May 2) in 1863, Stonewall Jackson was shot by his own men, and I thought his life story contained many moving passages. An article in the Washington Post, called “Stonewall Jackson had a soft side”, revealed that just before the start of the civil war, Jackson had developed a love for gardening.…

I Watered Our Flowers This Morning

Note: Today, (May 2) in 1863, Stonewall Jackson was shot by his own men, and I thought his life story contained many moving passages. An article in the Washington Post, called “Stonewall Jackson had a soft side”, revealed that just before the start of the civil war, Jackson had developed a love for gardening.…