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Friday Favorite: Nutscene Twine

February 15th, 2019

I’ve used just about every type of garden twine out there and Nutscene is definitely my personal favorite. It’s not cheap, but it’s worth the extra amount for a variety of reasons. For one, I find it last throughout a long season and often through the winter as well, which makes it nice for tying up perennial vines. The dispensing tin makes it so much easier to use, no dropping it and having it unravel and wrap itself around a few plants or under a rose bush. I’m a fan of the green color since it is much less visible in the garden, something that of particular importance to me since I sell photos of my garden.

For the past few years I’ve used a few other types of twine, thankfully Mr Chiots got me a can of Nutscene for Christmas. I’m happy once again to have a stock of my favorite twine. This size will last me a few years. If you haven’t tried it before give it a try, if you have a gardener in your life, consider this when you need a gift for them. You can also purchase refills for the tin in case you don’t need a new one, it’s cheaper that way as well.

Do you have any great garden supplies to recommend?

Friday Favorite: Witch Hazel

November 10th, 2017

Witch hazels are lovely for so many reasons, the main one being that they are one of the first things to bloom in early spring. In Ohio, our native witch hazels bloomed in winter. Earlier this summer, I got an ‘Amethyst’ hamamelis at Fieldstone Gardens.

Not only do witch hazels bloom very early in spring, they also have the most gorgeous fall color. This small tree was planted below the living room windows. I chose this spot so we can see the beautiful fall foliage and particularly so we can enjoy those early spring blooms. Since it’s a small tree, topping out at 8-10 feet, it will be perfect in this spot. I’m pretty excited to watch this beauty mature and settle into the garden.

I’d have to say that witch hazels are one of my favorite small tree, coming in tied with dogwoods.

What’s your favorite all around small tree?

Weather Station in the Garden

November 3rd, 2017

This Friday Favorite is for Mr Chiots. He’s been dreaming of getting a weather station for year, talking about it, researching, and planning it. Last month his dream came true when he finally got one.



There’s a little monitor indoors which shows us all the pertinent weather information. On Monday morning, it recorded a 50mph gust of wind during the big storm that rolled through. It tracks and stores all kind of information. So far, he’s enjoying it immensely. One of these days we will get around to putting a little widget in the sidebar of the blog that pulls in the information from this system.

Are you interested in the weather?

Friday Favorite: Getting Things DONE!!!

October 20th, 2017

This time of year I’m always on a mission to button up all the things I wanted to accomplish in the garden for the year. Sometimes, things have a way of getting put on the back burner during the summer. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, there are days when going for a kayak or relaxing with lemonade is more important than getting another garden chores finished. This time of year, when time looms heavy on the horizon, it’s much easier to get things finished.

Yesterday, I was able to finish planting and mulching the ‘Green Mountain’ hedge. The goal for this hedge is to be a wind break for the main garden. I will let it grow about 3 feet tall. Along the other sides of the garden, I’m planning a blackhaw viburnum hedge, which will be grown to about 8 feet. Hopefully, these two hedges will help with the wind and snow drifting in the main garden. It’s nice to have this project finished, now I’m debating whether or not I should go ahead and order my bare root viburnums and add them to my list of fall garden chores…

What are you accomplishing in the garden this week?

Friday Favorite: The Last Blizzard

March 24th, 2017

Just when I thought my snowshoeing was over for the year we had a big blizzard hit (last Monday/Tuesday). Out came my snowshoes again and off I went.

I managed to get in a solid week of snowshoeing before the snow started getting to thin on the trails I use. Even though I’m really for spring this year, I was happy to have a final week of one of my favorite winter activities.

What’s something you will miss about the winter when it’s gone?

About

This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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