There was something amiss in my back yard. It looked, from my third-story West End window, like there was a puddle of tar on the brick courtyard below. Except that […]
Farm & Garden
What would it look like to grow, harvest, and protect our bounty?
Browse all Farm & Garden stories below or dive into a topic:
FOUND AT THE FARMERS MARKET
On the Fruit (Yes, Fruit) Loop
Aug. 16, Orleans The long-anticipated season for local tomatoes is finally here. At the Orleans market, many stalls are overflowing with shiny red, orange, yellow, and green fruits. Yes, fruits. […]
FOUND AT THE FARMERS MARKET
Fairies for the Windowsill
Aug. 6 and 11, Wellfleet and Truro August brings warm days and slightly cooler nights. The result? A vibrant palette of flowers is showing up at the farmers markets. Deep […]
LANDSCAPES
A Gardener Co-Evolves With Her Gardens
Building with stone and going native, a plantswoman learns to thrive
Landscaping on the Outer Cape is not for the faint of heart, says Megan Spoerndle, the bad ass, brown-eyed flower child behind Provincetown’s 16-year-old Stix and Stones Landscaping. There’s the […]
FARMERS MARKETS
Eastham Farmers Plant a Gathering Place
At the old T-Time lot, a summer harvest includes food, flowers, and friendship
Photos and story by Edward Boches It’s still early on the fourth Friday of Eastham’s new weekly farmers market when the vendors burst into song. It’s a chorus of “Happy […]
FOUND AT THE FARMERS MARKET
Eat Your Purples
Aug. 2, Provincetown Do you go to the farmers market looking for a specific ingredient? Or do you go and see what sparks your interest? What you’re making for dinner […]
TOOLS
The Snips of Summer
A favorite tool brings you close to your plants to coax out a few more blooms
Sassy Richardson rolls her eyes as she looks around the shed-shop at The Farm, searching in vain for the picking and trimming snips she wants to nominate as her favorite […]
FOUND AT THE FARMERS MARKET
Trust Your Roots
July 28, Truro Roots are up! Some of the most satisfying crops to harvest are those that grow underground. Farmers just have to trust that those beets, carrots, and potatoes, […]
FOUND AT THE FARMERS MARKET
Squashes Beloved and Baffling
July 16 Wellfleet With the blowing of the conch shells, the farmers at the Wellfleet market are open for business. Rebecca Scanlon of Pleasant Lake Farm in Harwich recommends the […]
GARDEN TOUR
Roses to Redbuds, and a Few Hydrangeas, Too
Five Eastham gardeners show off their artful outdoor spaces
Artist and gardener Alex Tureaud never wants to mow the lawn again. “Having a lawn is a very demanding chore to have to do at a beach house,” he says. […]
GOOD FENCES
A Dead Hedge Brings Life to an Orleans Garden
Hard work turns yard debris into an intriguing organic border
We never put much effort into the woods at the back of our property. Hurricane Bob took out most of the locust trees, then sycamore maples, honeysuckle, and runaway privet […]
THE SEASIDE GARDENER
The Bewildering Beauty of Foxgloves
Learn the ways of biennials to grow these lofty stars of the late June garden
Foxgloves have a sense of mystery about them — even their name is a subject of lore. They are, however, very easy to grow in a Cape Cod garden if […]
GROWING WILD
A Trust Tends a Sanctuary of Native Plants
At the Garden in the Woods (and meadows and bogs), ideas that will thrive in a Cape Cod garden
“Right plant, right place.” This mantra, good for muttering to oneself at the nursery so as not to waste money on temptations that, though beautiful, have absolutely no business being […]
THE DIRT
Down on the Worm Farm
Jole Bell’s red wigglers turn kitchen scraps and old newspapers into ‘black gold’
A trio of plastic bins occupies a shady corner of a parcel of land in Truro where Jole Bell rents three garden plots from Meryl Gartside, the owner of Blue […]
AQUACULTURE
Time to Wake the Oysters
With days ever so slightly warmer, farmers return bags of bivalves to the water
WELLFLEET — Oysters don’t hibernate, but when winter sets in and water temperatures dip below 48 degrees Fahrenheit, they enter something like a dormant state, which allows them to conserve […]
