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 […]
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:
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 […]
PLANTCRAFT
Goldenrod for a September Salve
Longer nights call forth flowers the color of autumn light
September, the golden month on Cape Cod. Sunrises and sunsets that linger in the mind’s eye with color and light. Solidago sempervirens, seaside goldenrod, is just beginning to open at […]
GALLERY
Fences for ‘Where There Are No Cows’
How to build barriers that are better for nature and for views
All of us on the Outer Cape are in some way or another living in a national park. Even if our homes are not within its boundaries, we are surrounded […]
letter from the publisher
One Year and Counting
This week marks a year since we sent our very first edition to press. It was a “preview” edition, full of hope that we’d find the support to develop into […]
HOMESTEADING
Those Chicks You Got in April Will Be Laying Soon
If your adolescent chicken starts to crow, you’ve won the pullet surprise
When we became backyard chicken farmers five years ago, I had oodles of enthusiasm, but very little actual knowledge of chickens. I didn’t know, for example, that our six brand-new […]
BEYOND THE TURNIP
To Market, to Market in Eastham?
Residents plant seeds of support for local food and community
EASTHAM — For several years, the outer reaches of Cape Cod have been home to weekly farmers markets, where a wide variety of locally grown fresh fruits and vegetables, dairy, […]
VIEW FROM THE HIVE
Late Summer Jobs for Field Bees
Carrying water in a dearth, then making white wax for the new nectar flow
Most people know that honey bees collect nectar and pollen from flowers. But field work for honey bees is much more diverse than that. Field bees suck nectar from the […]
