May
22
2011
On Saturday, we visited the Northern Dutchess Botanical Gardens to buy a few plants for the garden. We got the essentials: peppers (bell and poblano); lettuce (oak leaf, red sails, and red romaine); arugula; peas (snow and sugar-snap); soybeans; broccoli; strawberries (everbearing, Junebearing and all-star); herbs (green and purple basil, Italian parsley, and lemon verbena); flowers (coneflowers […]
May
15
2011
On Saturday, Sarah played first base in her first softball game, against Red Hook. Rhinebeck could have fielded 15 players, but the Red Hook coaches — rather churlishly, in my opinion — allowed only nine of them on the field at a time. Some of the Red Hook girls seemed quite a bit older. In […]
May
08
2011
We had a great Mothers’ Day weekend at the farm, with lots of lilacs starting to bloom, and plenty of gardening by Jen. If the house appears a little odd … … it’s because we’re having it painted, and it looks a bit naked without its shutters. In addition to lilacs, we gathered lots of […]
May
01
2011
We had plenty of sunshine this weekend, enjoyed by what we can only hope is a large proportion of our pond’s turtles. The squirrels — all of whom are as fat as house cats — checked out the new growth. The birds also seemed to enjoy the fine spring weather. Here is a mourning […]
Apr
03
2011
We returned to the farm after a month away to find many harbingers of spring. Uncharacteristically negligent deer left us a single crocus, which is enjoying a visit from a bee. We had a visit from some scaups, as well as a pair of mallards (not pictured). We found wild hyacinths … … and a […]
Nov
14
2010
Sarah and Jen are already thinking ahead to next spring, planting bulbs that they got from Aunt Julie’s chorus fundraiser. Here is a red-bellied woodpecker, which spent most of the day at the feeder. And below, some of our last remaining leaves.
Aug
15
2010
We had a great summer vacation, mostly at the farm. We started off last week with a canoe trip in the Adirondacks, on Follensby Clear Pond. Here is Sarah preparing to launch the Sarah K. Sarah got the full camping experience, including a campfire dinner (hot dogs, corn on the cob and s’mores) and plenty […]
Jul
11
2010
We had a rainy Saturday, but Jen and Sarah made the best of it. It’s been quite hot, and some rain was welcome. Eventually the sun came out, and with it the bunnies… … and their admirers. The rain was particularly welcome in the garden. Sarah’s pumpkin is thriving. The corn seems to be doing […]
Jun
13
2010
Here is a robin, surveying his domain during a rare sunny moment this weekend. The T-ball championship game and picnic were rained out on Saturday, but are now scheduled for next Saturday. Next weekend should also bring us plenty of black raspberries: the first ones were ripe this weekend, about a week before last year. […]
Jun
06
2010
It’s nice to have a splash of color on a dreary day. Atop the left pilaster you can see the nest of the phoebe — which Sarah, confusing her fashionable Upper West Side children’s names, sometimes calls a gwyneth.