Sale Barn rolls with punches
The Olde Sale Barn has been in Caroline County since the early part of the 20th Century. It has evolved from a livestock auction barn to an arena for amateur boxing matches to an antique mall with an event venue. The Olde Sales Barn’s transformation is a reflection of...
Checking out at the seed library
For the second growing season in a row, Mid-Shore residents once again can bask in the best of both worlds, courtesy of the Free Seed Library at Talbot County Public Library’s main branch, 100 W. Dover Street in Easton. Sponsored by the University of Maryland...
There’s always a few shady plants
In a perfect world, we’d all have sunny, weed-free gardens but the truth is, it’s just not possible! Perhaps your only possible garden site is along a woodsline, or your yard is surrounded by woods, or, your garden might consist of planting boxes on your patio. While...
Stay a cut above with strawberries in your diet
While several niche berries have gotten recent acclaim as superfoods, the old standards such as strawberries remain a powerful player in health and wellness. From diabetes to heart disease, strawberries’ health benefits are nothing to pass by. Its heart shape offers a...
Homestead Gardens talks ‘Nature’s RX’
More than 40 gardeners filled the house at Homestead Gardens in Davidsonville, on March 10 for its 27th annual Spring Garden Show. The theme was gardening as “Nature’s RX,” cultivating plants, both ornamental and agricultural, not only for the dinner table or...
Spring Cleaning: Yard Edition
(Courtesy Seek Visibility) In just a few short weeks, the sunshine will be bright, the air will be warm, and the birds will be singing so sweetly that you won’t be able to stop spending time outside. Yet, if you don’t prepare your yard for spring, you won’t enjoy what...
Knock the dust off your garden
After being cooped up all winter, we all have visions of the weed-free, bountiful garden we’ll have this year. However, when we can finally venture out in weather warm enough to spare wearing a knit hat and flannel pajama bottoms, further investigation might show that...
Pansies, primroses offer color as temperatures creep up
Two early bloomers many gardeners turn to for their first bursts of garden color are pansies and primrose. While both come out early, they each present a different look; the pansey putting out flat or ruffled flowers and the primrose offering a tightly wound rosette....
Start your garden off ‘Brew-tifully’
Tea lovers swear by a well steeped cup (or two) in the morning to smoothly jump-start their days, especially during the long winter months. While caffeine supplies the kick, healthy nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorous, ions and flavonoids are added advantages. As...
Squirrels are all about the nuts and bolts
Do you (and likely your dog) love watching the curious adventures of squirrels as they jump tree to tree and scurry around in your yard? While many people know that squirrels like acorns and have bushy tails, what else are the crazy critters up to as they bark,...
Herbs offer an ideal accent to your garden
With many gardeners putting their attention on their vegetable gardens with spring upon us, herbs could get some due consideration as well. Their green foliage and aromas in the air could add some atmosphere to a windowsill or plant beds, and can work as wonderful...
Lecture series explores history of canning in the Chesapeake
Though there’s still farm after farm here in the Eastern Shore’s “Land of Pleasant Living,” you’ll rarely see one commercially producing tomatoes and canned tomatoes in general have gone to the wayside as fresh tomatoes are able to be easily trucked onto grocery store...
Terrariums making comeback after decades in background
If you grew up in the 1960s or ’70s, your home décor may have included macramé wall hangings, Indian bedspreads and almost certainly terrariums — those magical mini-gardens encapsulated in bottles and jars. Baby boomers, rest assured, you’re not having flashbacks. But...
Love and Chocolate … Eastern Shore style
“All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt.” —Charles M. Schultz Fortunately for Eastern Shore chocoholics (and those who love them) gratifying one’s appetite for the blissfully enticing confection doesn’t require either a plane ticket to...
Is it time to turn the page?
Moving during life’s later years brings many challenges. Empty nest, divorce, and changed financial circumstances can all contribute to a search for smaller surroundings. The euphemistic expression for such a pursuit is downsizing. It isn’t really too difficult a...
Taking care of clutter
Recycling the basics is in many homes part of the weekly routine of a running household. The paper, plastic, glass and aluminum bins fill up and every so often you take them to the nearest cluster of igloos or colored dumpsters and you’re reset for the next round. But...
Go with your ‘gut’ and eat cranberries and blueberries
Many people know of the healing role of cranberries and cranberry juice when it comes to human male and female urinary tract infections, but, according to Dr. Amy Howell, a research scientist and nutraceuticals specialist at Rutgers’ Marucci Center for Blueberry...
The new year is an open page: You’re the author
It is that time of year again. No sooner than the clock strikes 12 at midnight on New Year’s Eve than we begin to plan our resolutions: We sign up at the YMCA, local gym or exercise group; we dump all the cookies, cakes and snacks; we start that book on self-help. By...
Stitching together the fabrics of life
Carrie Elzey can’t remember a time she didn’t love stitching fabric together. It never mattered to her whether the material was the finest or fanciest. What excited her most was the leftover scraps, the bits and pieces destined to be discarded. Her boundless joy in...
Exit ahead: Simplify your busy life with meditation
We are always moving ... going ... doing. From the moment our feet hit the floor after waking to a screaming alarm we are already fighting against our brain. Even before our day has started we have forced our body to unnaturally wake up going against its normal...
Learn to think outside the branch
By Charlene Marcum For many, the fondest Christmas memories are made going to the tree farm with my family and selecting our Christmas tree. The smell of freshly cut fir, spruce and pine evergreens and the selection process for “the perfect tree” heralds in the...
