It’s mast season in Maryland
Every fall, Maryland’s forested areas begin producing one of their most important natural food sources: Mast. Some years it’s light, and some years — like this year on many parts of the Mid-Shore, it’s heavy, virtually raining nuts and acorns from the branches. Lou...
Experts explain how to prep a bird-friendly yard for winter
Want to make birds happy without lifting a finger? Skip cleaning your yard in the fall, and the birds will thank you. A yard that hasn’t gone through fall cleanup offers numerous food and habitat resources, which help migrating and residential birds through the...
Rock around the bushel basket Christmas tree
Hallmark movies always feature a picturesque town strung with Christmas lights, but even with all their television glamour, they don’t hold a candle to a charming and crabby Eastern Shore Christmas! From crab pot trees to bushel baskets to PVC trees — Maryland lights...
How, when and why to divide perennials for better blooming
If your spring and early-summer perennials are overgrowing their spaces, blooming less, producing smaller flowers or flopping over (possibly with a hole in their centers), they’re telling you they want to be divided. Crowded plants often struggle because they must...
This is hardly the time to stop planting
The garden may be slowing down, but there’s still plenty of activities to do and things to plant. Spring flowering bulbs, such as alliums, crocus, daffodils, hyacinths and tulips can still be planted through November. Remember to make the hole two to three times as...
Give more joy, not more stuff
November has arrived, and somehow the holiday season is already knocking at our doors! Before we know it, we’ll be making lists, checking them twice, and trying to remember where we hid the gifts we bought back in September. I love the magic of the holidays, but I...
Northwind a four-season sight for landscaping
Panicum virgatum Northwind is a cultivar of switch grass, a native, clump-forming perennial ornamental grass that thrives on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. As a warm-season grass, it grows new foliage from its roots each spring as the soil warms, reaches its mature height...
The lost art of the formal dining room service
(Editor’s note: DeeDee Wood is the owner of Black Cat Curiosities, an online antiques research and sales venue.) Thanksgiving is coming soon, and during this time period, more formal dishes might come out of the pantry and grace tables with dishes only used during...
A cherished tradition
A Savory Solution to Stretch Your Grocery Budget
