I want colorful flowers growing alongside my front walkway every day from May to November, and generally have them. I do so by growing annual flowers. I grow more than 100 species of flowers elsewhere on my property, but the vast majority are perennials that only bloom for a few weeks each year. All plants […]

This might be overstating it a bit, but one of the worst things to happen to my self-esteem was the invention of the camera phone. Anyone who has ever tried to take a picture of someone else with their phone, only to realize the camera is reversed and facing back at you, knows what I’m […]

HARTLAND, Vt. Each spring and summer, a Vermont bog yields a rare spectacle — hundreds of wild orchids in bloom, drawing visitors from around the country. The bulbous pink and white showy lady’s slippers (Cypripedium reginae) are on full display among the ferns, bushes and chirping birds at Eshqua Bog in Hartland. This particular orchid, […]

Most gardeners don’t think of July as the time to plant seeds in the vegetable garden. But it should be. This is a good time to plant many things including broccoli, Happy Rich, lettuce, kohlrabi, fall radishes, carrots and beets. With good warmth and plenty or rain (or water from your hose), these plants will […]

Last year I shared with you some of my favorite lies that people tell you at the lake — particularly Maine lakes — during the summer (I’ll define “summer” below). These were lies like “It’s not that cold,” “It’s not that far,” “It’s not the high,” and “It’s not that fast,” and I still stand […]

Generations of Americans have grown up heralding meat and potatoes as the classic dinner of choice. Who doesn’t love the taste of that time-honored combination, filling our bellies with the comfort of a juicy, fatty steak and fluffy, carby spuds? Just thinking about it is enough to make us pine for the 1950s when this […]

With tens of thousands of children lingering in foster care across the United States, waiting for adoption, Illinois schoolteachers Kevin Neubert and Jim Gorey did their bit. What began with their offer to briefly care for a newborn foster child evolved within a few years into the adoption of that little boy and all four […]

My husband, Dustin, officially retires from the military after 20 years. He and I both were raised in military families, and, in my husband’s case, he has remained part of the military ever since he entered the Naval Academy. As for me, I went from being my dad’s military dependent to being my husband’s, with […]

Forget frequent flier miles, last-minute getaways and even road trips. Nearly half of Americans say they won’t be taking a vacation this summer, mostly because they can’t afford it, according to a recent poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. The AP-NORC survey, conducted in May, said 43 percent of Americans won’t […]

LOUDON, N.H. There are no video games or interactive exhibits at the new North East Motor Sports Museum in Loudon, New Hampshire. Not even a touchscreen. Instead, the museum is devoted to showing off cool cars and the history of car racing in New England, from a 1915 Duesenberg — which looks like a missile […]