Toki Oshima drawing. By Roberta Bailey Have you been through the Exhibition Hall yet? Common Ground Fair’s Exhibition Hall is a hall of marvels. You walk from the hustle and bustle of the fairgrounds into the cool quiet sanctum of mellowed wooden timbers and high ceilings. The outside world falls away. You focus on rows
Sue Szwed drawing By Roberta Bailey I once stated that if I could grow only one plant, it would be sweet basil – aromatic, pungent, mouth-watering basil. No sooner were the words out of my mouth when thoughts of tomatoes, fresh salad greens, cilantro, and garlic immediately challenged my claim, and I conceded that basil
By Jean Ann Pollard Along with parsnips and the last of the well-mulched carrots, every New Englander with a garden, or a good eye for old cellar holes, can welcome a once-popular, now mostly forgotten, springtime treat: the tubers of the native American sunflower. Knobby and brown on the outside, but crisply ivory-colored inside, the
Growing grapes provides not just fruits for wines and jellies, but leaves for stuffing as well. Illustration from Handbook of Plant and Floral Ornament from Early Herbals, by Richard G. Hatton, Dover Publications, N.Y., 1960. By Jean Ann Pollard The Norse tale of Leif Eriksson’s epic voyage across the Atlantic to “Vinland” circa 995 –
By Roberta Bailey “These recipes are our gift to you. They are the ones we love, the ones that work, the ones that carry us through trouble and heartache, celebration and joy.” So begins the Ashwood Cookbook, Food for Family and Friends, a simple yet elegant collection of wholesome recipes gathered by friends of the
By Roberta Bailey My mother always said that things cycle back into fashion every 30 years or so. Usually she was talking about the clothes in the attic. I am not sure if it is an age thing, but I am starting to believe her. Maybe I had to let enough years pass to actually
A bento box lunch containing dead dinos, primordial sludge, and fossils, by Laurel McFarland. Laurel McFarland photo. By Cheryl Wixson My elder daughter, Laurel, who works as a nanny and home schools two delightful children, is always sharing with me photographs of the colorful and fun lunches she prepares for her charges. Using bright purple,
by Roberta Bailey When I was just starting to garden in northern Maine, I would stop at a small, local greenhouse to ask the older woman who ran the operation about seedling problems or how to plant something. I no longer remember her name or much of what she looked like, but I vividly recall
Tomatillos are prized for their sharp, clean taste and, once cooked, for their thick sauciness. They are used in salads, desserts, soups, sauces, and stews. Illustration from The Principles of Vegetable Gardening, by L.H. Bailey, MacMillan, London, 1901. By Roberta Bailey Each year I seem to get excited about a different fruit or vegetable. Last
Toki Oshima drawing By Jean Ann Pollard What’s so round, so firm, so – strangely hairy? If you’ve never seen celeriac, you couldn’t guess. The literature has few references to it – at least in America. It’s a root vegetable that’s been around for about 4000 years, but its lack of publicity wouldn’t tell you
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