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 […]
On the Landscape
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 […]
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
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 […]
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 […]
PLANTCRAFT
Plant Matter to Dye For
Mix solar rays and garden clippings for earthy fabric hues
Solar dyeing starts with a gathering: deadheaded blooms, freshly unfurled petals, bright green leaves. Dyer’s Coreopsis, Queen Anne’s lace, and Rudbeckia. My garden shears make quick work of the task. […]
GROWING SEASON
Farmers Markets Are Back, for Food and Connection
Pre-ordering online helps with needed distancing
After a pre-season full of uncertainty and adjustment, welcome seeds of normalcy are sprouting at the Provincetown and Truro farmers markets, though at both, new restrictions and guidelines have reconfigured […]
ON THE LANDSCAPE
Finding the Woods on a Search for a Bird
Following a hermit thrush call, an encounter with mystery
There is a little bird that lives in the woods. It nests low to the ground, at the edges of clearings. It is about the size of a sparrow. The […]
ON THE LANDSCAPE
Beyond the Lawn
Rethinking America’s most wonderful, ridiculous monoculture
The lawn. A tightly cropped, cleanly edged area of neat green. An outdoor carpet for lying on and looking at. A lawn is deeply ingrained in our culture as an […]
RESILIENCE
It’s Good to Garden Now
Local suppliers are finding new ways to make sheltering better for us all
TRURO — For the people who grow vegetables and manicure lawns, it’s definitely not a garden variety spring, as the coronavirus closes retail garden centers and seed catalogs are selling […]
ON THE LANDSCAPE
Pruning Is a Good Thing
Purposeful cuts are an act of rejuvenation
Hacking. Butchering. Murdering. These are all terms we hear when the subject of pruning comes up. These words betray a widely held belief that pruning is an act of brutality. […]
