The earth is coming alive. Beneath the oak leaves that I pile on my garden plot every fall, I am beginning to see the first sprouts of green. Garlic is […]
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:
PEEPS
Easter Chicks, the Easy Way
Because a few feather-footed fowls are good for flock diversity
Though our “Cogsie,” a.k.a. Rooster Cogburn, has been proudly prancing and mounting, he and our hens have not yet succeeded in producing any new chicks. I know they’ll get there, […]
HOMESTEADING
Birds Do It. But It’s Hard to Explain How
Crowing and squawking and going broody for spring chicks
The days are getting longer and lighter at last, heralding the season of birds and bees. When it comes to those of us with yard birds, it is time to […]
ON THE LANDSCAPE
Lichens: A Love Story
Everywhere, intricate, multicolored couplings take hold for dear life
There’s a bend in the road on the way to the dump in Wellfleet. The road winds through a low, wet area, a tributary of the Herring River. As far […]
HOMESTEADING
Ode to a Chicken, or a Goat
The primal love we feel for farm animals is co-evolutionary
How do you measure your love for a chicken? Or describe that warm-fuzzy you feel when your goat greets you with a headbutt? I’m not sure. But I want to […]
HOMESTEADING
Be Prepared for Predators
Don’t let the foxes, hawks, or fishers savage your henhouse
Every backyard chicken farmer must face the fact that some animals around us see those friendly hens as prey. On the Outer Cape, our flocks are up against a long […]
WINTER INTEREST
Hydrangeas Offer More Than Summer Romance
For some species, unpruned is picturesque
There is a stillness that lays itself over our gardens during the winter months. Without the vibrant greens of leaves and pops of color from flowering plants, we are reminded […]
HOMESTEADING
Could She, Would She Give You Goat’s Milk?
It’s not easy to make a match for your backyard doe
For some people, chickens are a gateway farm animal. You start out with a backyard flock. The fresh eggs are nice. So, you start thinking about producing something else, maybe […]
LEARNING
Provincetown Horticulture Students Are ‘Tough as Nails’
Cape Tech program inspires two hard-working local seniors
PROVINCETOWN — “We don’t sugarcoat anything,” said Dave Consalvi of the horticulture program at the Cape Cod Regional Technical High School in Harwich. When freshmen explore their options for career […]
HOMESTEADING
For a Cozy Coop, Hens Don’t Ask Much
A draft-free roost and ‘deep litter’ will keep them dry and warm
We’re bundling up and our furry friends are growing thick coats, but what about our feathery flocks? How do domestic chickens get through the freezing winter months? I became a […]
HOMESTEADING
Bad Feather Days for the Birds
Molting is not pretty, but it’s how chickens grow a new winter coat
The weather is getting colder, the days shorter, and your chickens are laying fewer and fewer eggs. Soon there will be none at all for your breakfast table. (That’s because […]
Morning After
Irving Puffer at work on his grant in Wellfleet Harbor on a perfectly calm Monday morning after OysterFest weekend. Working with him, but not in this photo was Jake, his […]
CONTENDERS
Behind the Scenes at OysterFest 2020
Lights, cameras, masks: ‘The shuck must go on!’
There will be a shuck off at the 20th annual OysterFest. But there will be no competitive parking, no pressing through crowds on Main Street, and no lines under the […]
OUTER CAPE PORTRAIT
‘I’m Still Moving’
RICHARD BLAKELEY / SHELLFISH GROWER / WELLFLEET
Richard Blakeley has been growing clams and oysters on the Wellfleet flats since the 1980s. A year ago, he spoke of slowing down, perhaps even getting ready to pass the […]
HOMESTEADING
Getting to Know Your Flock
Some chickens are social butterflies that like to be scratched behind their ears
WELLFLEET — Most chickens on the Outer Cape are, like the rest of us, among the fortunate on this Earth. Instead of inhabiting large-production poultry farms, our backyard babies live […]
