With stargazing, the sky is the limit
In the quiet winter months, it seems like the darkness comes earlier all the time. Why not make the most of it?. Taking a few moments to look up at the sky is a wonderful way to both relax and be awestruck at the same time. Just ask Talbot county local D.J. Van...
Linthicum has the sweets for your sweet
Morgan Linthicum welcomes all customers into her chocolate shop, The Market at Church Creek, but on Valentine’s Day, she pays close attention to the husbands and boyfriends who come in with a look of desperation. With a few dozen different options for sweet treats,...
Anthurium a loyal partner
Roses get most of the attention for Valentine’s Day, but anthurium might be more emblematic of long lasting love. We commonly see anthuriums potted in soil as houseplants but many varieties need to partner with another plant to survive. Those that are “epiphytic” grow...
Feed birds with responsibility
Bird feeding is intended to help birds, but what’s not as well known is how much the practice helps the people who fill the feeders. Just a few weeks into the COVID-19 pandemic, internet searches for bird feeding and bird baths surged as people who were suddenly...
‘Oh’ … is for oysters!
Festivals pay homage to them, roads on the Eastern Shore were once bedded with their shells, and the unique design of the skipjack was inspired by them. Restaurant owners and chefs anxiously await their harvest, and a few hearty souls still dive for them. While...
New hardiness map shifts shore half a zone
During gardening’s winter off-season, gardeners stay active looking ahead to spring, eagerly perusing seed catalogs, making notes, and placing orders. Of all the vital pre-planting particulars armchair growers doublecheck first, the USDA’s Plant Hardiness Zone Map...
Have yourself some merry little holly
Each holiday season, a bevy of beloved botanicals take center stage. These include the array of fir, spruce, and pine trees serving as the home’s focal point. Picturesque Poinsettias fill up tabletops, adding festive pops of color. But among the most iconic yuletide...
Big Rooster Mall finds its perch
United by a love of antiques and collectibles, a team of artisan enthusiasts has created a new spot in Talbot County for shoppers to crow about. The Big Rooster Mall, part of the Le Hatchery Galleria, opened last month on Kemp Lane in Easton, housing more than two...
Holiday Side Dishes
Milby’s fox and hounds relive history
If you are cruising down Three Bridge Branch Road in Cordova, you might see quite the sight of about 20 hounds running out in the sun coming over the slope of the hill. While I swear it looks like some of the dogs are smiling, they are of course only silhouettes put...
Keith’s artistic passion takes flight
“What better place for birds, than in a Christmas Tree?” asks artist Ashley Evelyn Keith.. To the lifelong bird lover, the sight of sparrows adorning the branches of her front yard tree fill Keith with delight. As an enthusiastic self-taught artist, it also fills her...
Black walnuts: Flavorful, frustrating backyard bounty
Along with the gently welcoming cascade of falling leaves, autumn sometimes arrives with arresting thumps, followed by clumps of greenish tennis ball sized objects. Those are black walnuts, landing amid the softly crunching brown, gold, and scarlet foliage carpet, if...
Ann Strite-Kurz draws from decades of experience to create embroidery, needlework
Ann Strite-Kurz has a standard response for people who look at her extensive embroidery and needlework collection and ask how she has the patience to make each stitch by hand. Borrowing a friend’s response, she tells them, “You only have to have patience for things...
When’s the time to decorate the tree?
You’ve taken down the fake cobwebs (maybe some real ones, too) and your pumpkins have sunken in and been tossed. From here, you can either savor the simplicity of your home for November or you are one of the people who are eager to deck the halls with boughs of holly...
Learn to protect pollinators in the slow season
Even when they look dry and “dead,” our green spaces are full of life. When we think about plants, for example, we can see that herbaceous perennials seem dry but they are actually just retreating underground, while annuals continue their life cycle by spending the...
Corn maze-ing Grace
Farm kids have long been told to stay out of the corn so they don’t get lost. These days, farm kid or otherwise, everyone is encouraged to meander the stalks in the name of fun with the rising popularity of corn mazes. Corn mazes are now a pumpkin patch mainstay, but...
Gardening podcasts worth tuning in for
While “True Crime” and other crime and mystery podcasts get the most limelight, have you discovered the large niche of home and gardening podcast shows? There is so much to learn from them to improve your own gardening skills and practices, without learning how to...
Capt. Bill Collins knows the art of the decoy
Capt. Bill Collins was in the process of painting the feathers on a Mallard Drake decoy as he shared highlights of his journey to becoming one of the most sought-after decoy carvers and painters in the state of Maryland. “There are two different elements of this art,”...
Artists bringing mural magic home
A most welcome recent trend involves gifted artists transforming bare, wasted public spaces into iconic legacy treasures. But a number of these talented decorative gurus have also created mural magic in private homes. Mural artist Michael Rosato, who started out in...
Fallen leaves: Rake, mow or go with the flow?
As fall foliage colors take over the landscape, shifting from deep greens to cozy browns and reds, it’s only a matter of time before those leaves are hitting the ground. When that happens, conscientious gardeners and homeowners have to decide to either let the leaves...
Enjoying the fruits of their labor
Fall temperatures beckon you to come out of the air conditioning and enjoy the crispness of the air. And while pumpkins steal much of the buzz, apples should truly be acknowledged as a permanent symbol in our American history. Apples may be the Marylin Monroe of...
