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Saturday was perhaps the observable height of the blackberry season. Here, Jen fills a gallon bag with them. Jam will follow. It’s also high season for wineberries, which, although invasive — possibly pestiferous — are sweet, and easy to gather. We collected a gallon of those too.

Flowers tend to bloom, and fruit tends to ripen, all at once. If you miss a weekend or two, you might miss something altogether. This weekend, we had a couple of days of the sort referred to in meteorological circles as stinkeroos. Still, if the fruit is ripe, the jam must be made — and […]

We had a quiet Independence Day weekend. On July 4, Sarah shucked corn while Daisy enjoyed a post-prandial stick. Sarah has been feeling rather independent herself, after the initial surprise of her graduation present. She has named it Stella.

Even Norman Rockwell might have been horrified by the amount of food we had at Thanksgiving this year, including a 21.5 lb. turkey, five pies (apple, pecan, pumpkin, hickory, and coconut), and three kinds of cranberry sauce (not readily distinguished from one another). We had Rinda, Erica, Lew, Geoff, Julie, and Stacey visiting, two of […]

Mid-October is quite late to make hay, but we’ve had a very wet season. Herb Stickle and his fleet of Ford tractors (seen here with bailer, tedder and mower attached) cleared out our hayfields this week. Herb said he made about eighty round bales. Here is a rare image of our interior swamp, in the […]

Today is the day to drop off culinary entries for the Dutchess County Fair. Jen, the defending champion in the marmalade category, entered four categories of jam. We are hopeful for a successful defense of her title. This weekend we had a visit from Lauren Ballback, Babysitter Emeritus to Sarah, and now counsel to the […]

Jen’s garden is not something that just “happens.”

It took us about ten years to find our first morels and about ten minutes to gather this large bowl. It seems to be a good year for them. To the right is today’s haul from Jen’s proliferating asparagus beds. All will be sautéed in butter and tossed with fettuccini — a perfect spring supper.

We had a small but mighty Christmas, with a perfectly sized tree-for-three, which Sarah named Leroy. We had many presents, a Zoom call with the Burleighs, and a cassoulet dinner. The night before, Sarah made gingerbread cookies. When it came time to decorate them, everyone got involved. Daisy had a particularly successful holiday, receiving, in […]

We had an intimate Thanksgiving for three this year in our lugubrious dining room, with a relatively svelte (12 lb.) turkey from Kesicke Farm and all or most of the fixings. We had Zoom calls with Jen’s family and with mine, with Erica & Geoff participating in both. Sarah took charge of the apple pie, […]