A Garden Make-Over

We have a well-established flower bed at the head of the driveway, and last fall we decided we were going to make it into a large horseshoe shape surrounding the fire pit; essentially tripleing the size of the existing garden. We (rather, my darling husband) rotatilled the area, but then left it pretty much alone until the spring. After adding piles of sheep manure on it, and still leaving it alone, the weeds took over. I also didn't do anything with the established bed, so the weeds took over there crowding out the perennials.

Yes, that is the garden right there. You can see the lamb's ears but not much else. Granted, there wasn't much of anything blooming earlier in the spring, but clearly it has been overtaken by the not-so-desirables. My dearest mother commented around this time that perhaps we shouldn't expand the garden until we get what we have under control.

So, several weeks ago, my husband got sick of just looking at the dirt and weeds, and he made one end of the horseshoe into a herb garden. While there are several annual herbs in there (parsley, basil), most of it consists of hardier herbs (lemon balm, sage, rosmary, lavendar, stevia).

Now that one quarter of the garden was dealt with, it looked silly leaving the rest of the horseshoe as dirt. So, I finally decided to dig in after our vacation south, and for three days I weeded, separated, transplanted and mulched. I went to the local garden nursery and bought several perennials (russian sage, false indigo, black eyed susans, astilbe, sedum) and then separated out some of the goosenecks, daisies, phlox, and lamb's ears from the established garden. The pictures below are the finished product working from the established garden to the left around the horseshoe.

It will obviously take a couple years for the garden to mature into something resembling a beautiful garden. The Russian sage is a huge space filler and is rather pretty as well. We'll see what happens in the coming months and years. It is, however, a start.

A Thousand Islands Break

It is difficult to describe with words the spectacular beauty of the Thousand Islands. Over 1800 islands spot a 50 mile stretch of the St. Lawrence river, creating a unique culture of water and land, unhindered by international boundaries (the US and Canada). For a wonderful read about the feel of the region, turn to John Keats' (not the poet) Of Time and an Island and for some beautiful more recent photography see Ian Coristine's books.

My husband and I decided to take off for a long weekend in July. We stayed in Cape Vincent, on the US mainland, but traveled by ferry, bicycle, bridge and boat to neighboring islands. Cape Vincent is a quiet, quaint village for 362 days of the year. However, we had planned our trip to coincide with its annual French Festival. As legend has it, Napoleon's (yes, the Napoleon) brother had bought some land in the region for Napoleon and his family to escape to after his defeat at Waterloo. As often happens, even the best laid plans can fail to materialize, and Napoleon never made it the 1000 Islands. But the town still celebrates with a large parade, French pastries, lots of music, vendors, and an inordinate amount of alcohol.

We were staying at a lovely motel/B&B right on the water, and each morning while there we would grab a coffee and the most delicious croissants and then go sit on the bench over the river watching the ships. Cape Vincent sits at the point where Lake Ontario becomes the St. Lawrence river so any international ship legally has to pick up a local captain here to pilot the ship through the Seaway as it is incredibly difficult to navigate through the shoals and the 1800+ islands. We enjoyed watching a pilot boat take a captain out to the cargo ship and see him climb aboard.

The ferry to Canada leaves Cape Vincent to go to the nearest island (Wolfe Island, Canada) allegedly every hour on the quarter hour but as we figured out, the schedule was just a guide. We took our bikes over and after going through customs, we rode to a protected sandy bay area with the most gorgeous beach. Ten miles of biking on gravel though was not the most comfortable experience however.
On Sunday, we went to a church service at Half Moon Bay (also Canada). The unique aspect of this service was that it is only accessible by boat, and people stayed in their boat (or jet ski) for the service. After service, we went over to a friend's island for dinner. She happens to be the editor for Thousands Islands Life. My husband had contacted her a while back regarding his most recent novel, and she just invited us to come over for dinner when we were in the area. It turns out that she holds dinner parties every weekend during the summer and she has the wonderful ability of bringing together a group of friends, strangers, colleagues and acquaintances, all sharing common interests and vocations, thus creating a lively evening for all.

It was a wonderful and relaxing weekend where neither of us looked at our watches. The concept of time is very different for folks in the region. Very few Islanders actually stay year round, but they don't really have a set date for leaving or arriving. Many just arrive when the ice on the river starts to break up and don't leave again until the ice starts to form. If it's an early spring, great. If not, that's okay too. Furthermore, as demonstrated at our dinner party, since many do not want to be boating on the river after dark, the party is over as the sun sets, regardless of the clock time. Clock time is not important to the Islanders; they leave such things up to Mother Nature. If only we all could follow their example a little more often and not always be hindered by the clock.

Thoughts on Tourism

My darling husband and I were able to escape for a few days up to the Thousand Island region on the St. Lawrence river. We enjoyed beautiful weather, fine food, excellent bicycling, kayaking and good entertainment as well. Coming from a touristy area ourselves, we were very aware of how the locals could potentially view us. Tourists, by definition, do not have to be annoying and a harmonious relationship can exist between the two entities. Afterall, tourism is an industry, and if done right, can benefit the community.

I make it a point to shop locally, but I am particularly aware of this when vacationing. The locals (beyond the employees) do not really benefit if I shop or eat at one of the chain stores. The executives of these chains take the money and throw it somewhere else. If I choose to shop at local boutiques, then I know the local shopowners are going to use their income locally and thus create a positive feedback cycle.

Unfortunately, in our area, the main attraction (at least for the teenagers) is owned by people who live several states away. They have developed this complex so much, the families don't even need to come into town anymore to eat, or shop. In addition, so much of the housing is rented out on a weekly basis during the summer that there is no year-round rental market anymore. I have removed myself somewhat from the politics of all of this, but basically, the lack of affordable housing (rentals) has contributed to the lowering enrollment of the school district, which in turn has resulted in numerous budget cuts and loss of services at the school. This isn't the fault of the tourists themselves; it's a lack of forethought and a general attitude of greed (or is it the tug of capitalism?). Bigger is better! Expansion is great! Let's cater to the tourists! Nothing better than cash in the pocket! I think, however, that our stores have forgotten the local population and the long term effects of such behavior. I am grateful for the few restaurants in town that don't particularly cater to the tourists (groups of teenagers accompanied by adults). I talk to old-timers and they describe what Main St. used to look like with its hardware stores, drug stores, clothing shops etc. My biggest worry is that when the main attraction for the teenagers shuts down, will there be anything left to sustain the local population? So many of our local storefronts have been transformed into souvenir shops that I fear that we will become another ghost town of Upstate New York if the tourists were to leave. We can't just go back to the "days before" where there were just the Museums and not much else that sent New Yorkers and Bostonians flocking here. I believe our community has gotten itself caught up in a vicious circle, where now it has no choice to keep up with the frazzled pace, unless it wants to lose everything.

Dog Days of Summer

It's hot out today. Sweat dripping down your back in the shade hot. Not unusual for some parts of the country, and I for one am a big fan of such weather. Daisy, our two year old lab whom we acquired last fall, is definitely not a dog that enjoys heat. Within two seconds of being outside, she is panting up a storm and wanting to be back inside (unless of course, we are outside and food is involved). On the other hand (paw?), Belle, our 8 year old mutt of hound origins, who has never been very people oriented, will stay outside in the blistering heat all day if she could. She lumbers from sun to shade and back to sun, blissfully ingorant of everything around her. Yesterday evening the chickens were pecking their way through the yard and came upon her, and she couldn't care less.



The horse is not happy about the heat or the flies. He spends his days under the apple tree, tail switching constantly. He has exhibited some interesting behavior the last few days. Around 5pm the other day, he started galloping around. Up the hill and down. Back and forth. He paused for a few seconds, then continued on his sprint to nowhere. In minutes he had worked up a good lather. This evening run has continued for the past few days. Although initially concerned, I believe he is just letting loose some of the stored up energy since he is spending all day under the apple tree and not grazing throughout the day as he would do in more temperate weather. Perhaps it's also because I called him fat to his face (which he is since he has been gorging himself on grass all spring).



The vegetables, aside from the tomatoes and peppers, are not fans of the heat either. While in cooler weather the peas could keep going for another couple of weeks, the dramatic turn from green to yellow overnight is a clear sign to me that they have decided they are through. Done. End of story. And this despite a thorough drenching with the sprinkler last night. I still have time for a second planting if I put the seeds in the ground sometime next week.



So we continue on at the farm. The dog days of summer are here, perhaps for a while.

Circles in the Lawn

Odd, yes. But I find a certain quiet solitude every time I mow the lawn. We do own a push mower (and it does run on gasoline) and it takes me about two hours to mow the entire lawn. The drone of the mower blocks out any excess noise (barking dogs, whiny children etc), and I'm only left with my thoughts and some physical activity.

I suppose the phenomenon is similar to that of running, hiking, swimming or bicycling, although with mowing I actually get to check a chore off of the list. The activity is solitary, yet relatively monotonous. I find such activity particularly useful after a stressful day or event when I need to vent some frustration. Inevitably, I am much calmer at the end of the task, if only from exhaustion.

The back lawn grows about twice as fast ast the front, and its thick lush grass lends itself to lots of yard games, a cozy place to nap, and frequently clogging up the lawn mower. Thus, I have remembered to only make half paths as I mow that section. To mix it up, I find myself mowing in variouos patterns. Do I go horizontal, vertical, curvy, criss cross or circular today? Perhaps the choice of pattern says something about my frame of mind at the time. Straight lines are very purposeful. If I get to the point of mowing in ever smaller circles, it's because I'm in a more whimsical mood. I have even been known to make criss-cross patterns, not unlike celtic designs, in order to entertain a 7 year old who trailed behind in the freshly mowed paths. Regardless, the lawn eventually gets mowed, and looks great for about 3 days before it is beckoning to be mowed again.


A couple of lawn care tips from the farm: In order to keep our lawn healthy, we don't use any chemical fertilizers or pesticides. We also mow only down to four inches, which keeps the grass from turning brown.