Back when me and mia spousa TLD were young and good looking, ok better looking, we used to take the family vacation on Cape Cod. In Sandwich there's a Thornton Burgess museum - he wrote the Peter Rabbit stories - called the Greenbrier Nature Center. Among the things they have is a jam and jelly kitchen and they used to specialize in "sun cooking" certain fruits like cherries and peaches. We always picked up a couple of jars and felt the taste was better than normal preserves. In fact I recently…
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Added by Dee & Frank Hughes on June 29, 2009 at 2:29pm —
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The next great veggie event in my garden after Sugar Snap Day if First Tomato Day. And that was today. In early March I resurrected the Wall-O-Water system and went to Renfrows for a wee Early Girl hybrid. I had tried the water wall thing before with poor results and read that it works best with small seedlings. I was pleased with this years result. This is the earliest I've ever gotten a full sized tomato in my garden.
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Added by Dee & Frank Hughes on June 18, 2009 at 12:53pm —
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nice print
Steve bennett
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Added by Steve Bennett on June 15, 2009 at 1:56pm —
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It happened today. We've been waiting. Patiently waiting. Today the first Monarch Butterfly appeared in our garden.

Now why is this such a big deal? Two reasons I guess. We're all becoming citizen scientists these days. There are Back Yard Bird Counts, we stretch the limits of recycl…
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Added by Dee & Frank Hughes on June 9, 2009 at 1:19pm —
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No occupation is so delightful to me as the culture of the earth, and no culture comparable to that of a garden...But tho an old man, I am but a young gardener.
So wrote Thomas Jefferson on a summer's day in 1811 from his retreat at Poplar Forest. Not all of my garden summer experiences actually take place in my garden and it's great summer fun to go visiting.
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Added by Dee & Frank Hughes on June 5, 2009 at 9:32am —
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Since I have been out of work I have had lots of time to watch and learn from my resident bluebirds. My bluebird parents had a first nest starting with five eggs. I did not get to see them fledge, but only saw four fledgelings around, now they are down to two that regularly come to eat meal worms. These two juveniles are now helping mom feed the nestlings from the second nest. The male that comes around doesn't seem to be the male from the first nest or the past two years. The reason I say this…
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Added by Leigh Ayers on May 25, 2009 at 10:59am —
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There are only a few days on the calendar better than the one in mid spring when the Sugar Snaps go into the ground. One of those better days was yesterday when the first harvest came in. I have a very small kitchen garden, about 70 square feet, so my harvests are measured in pints. I picked one pint yesterday.
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Added by Dee & Frank Hughes on May 21, 2009 at 1:50pm —
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Every garden needs some protection. We all love to see the variety of wildlife wandering about, but I for one draw the line when some freeloading, no doubt liberal squirrel decides to start chomping on my tomatoes.
We got our garden guardian a few years back when we acquired Paulo Testosterone aka Paulie Peanuts.
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Added by Dee & Frank Hughes on May 12, 2009 at 12:30pm —
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I can no longer view pictures I have posted or add pictures, is this something new?
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Added by Brian Hochmuth on May 12, 2009 at 10:00am —
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My painting ‘Morning Stretch’ featuring a Green-winged Teal has been selected by Idaho Ducks Unlimited for their 2010 Sponsor Print.
A limited edition series will be available next year through the Idaho Ducks Unlimited chapters. These prints are used to support the…
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Added by J.P. Edwards on May 9, 2009 at 4:30pm —
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With apologies to the thousands of Cardinals and Towhees that live here, it is nice to have a unique visitor every now and then. This guy showed up at dawn and has stayed all day.

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Added by Dee & Frank Hughes on May 3, 2009 at 6:39pm —
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It all started with Milkweed. CBJ let us know that Milkweed, otherwise known as Aesclepias ...see, I'm learning, was the only plant upon which the Monarch butterfly will lay its eggs. The larvae evidently love to feed on some part of the plant. Our first stop in the search was the NC/SC Native Plant sale held a few weeks back in York, SC. "Sorry, we sold out in about 10 minutes". We did pick up a Buckeye and a Beauty Berry as well as a brochure for making a rain garden. Now we live close to the…
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Added by Dee & Frank Hughes on May 2, 2009 at 9:54am —
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Every year I try to raise an heirloom tomato from seed. This baby, nurtured by me over a long winter becomes the centerpiece of the kitchen garden. This year I picked a variety called
Mortgage Lifter. As the story goes an old boy from West Virginia called Radiator Charlie began experimenting in the 1930's with crossing varieties of tomatoes he liked. After a number of years he had a plant that produced huge, delicious pink fruit. He began selling the plants for $1.00 at his garage and in…
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Added by Dee & Frank Hughes on April 28, 2009 at 1:42pm —
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I might have Twittered, but having been taught by the good sisters of the Blessed Sacrament I believe that's a sin. I could Face Book but then i would actually have to join Face Book and I can't bring myself to do it. So that leaves me with this handy, ready to use blog space that I will fill with random ramblings about life, death and the meaning of the universe as exposed by my garden.
I write completely for my own pleasure, and to make a little record of whats happening in the garden througho…
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Added by Dee & Frank Hughes on April 27, 2009 at 2:00pm —
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Date: Tuesday, March 24, 2009, 9:29 PM
Tonight I got a phone call from the
Carolina Raptor Center, a non-profit rehab center for injured birds of prey. I was told that a caller from Fort Mill has an injured juvenile bald eagle on his property. I was skeptical that a bald eagle has come this far north up the Catawba River. So I wrote down the address and phone number and called this guy Paul. When I got there I had to drive another 1/2 mile from his house down to the river. Sure enough, t…
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Added by Leigh Ayers on March 28, 2009 at 3:22pm —
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I had a male bluebird arrive early as February 23rd and now I have a pair of bluebirds today March 4, 2009. Both are going in and out of the nest box and really giving it a close inspection. Both looked very healthy and looked to be mature birds. I noticed the male was pecking at the top side of the next box at the roof area. I just then remembered the duct tape is still over the ¼ inch vent area at the top of the roof and sides. The male was actually trying to removing it. I got my coat on and…
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Added by Harry Schmeider on March 4, 2009 at 11:19am —
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NIls and I are building bluebird nest boxes for Reedy Creek. We're going to be using cedar so if anyone has any cedar scraps at all, send them our way. You can e mail me at kathyn12@windstream.net. Thanks.
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Added by kathy nordstrand on March 3, 2009 at 12:17pm —
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First and foremost I love Nature and Wildlife. Though I live in Butler, PA which is 40 miles north of Pittsburgh PA ( The Home of Champions I might add, ) I visit the Matthew NC. area often. My Daughter, Son in-Law and Grandson resides in Indian Trails NC. which is not far from Matthews. Also I have a close friend and his wife and child that live on County Line Road, Stanfield NC. I am a friend and a fan of Carol Buie-Jackson's Website < smell like dirt> I plan on visiting her some day whe…
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Added by Harry Schmeider on February 27, 2009 at 4:01am —
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Its my passion and desire to help these beautiful birds in their fight for survival. Understanding the causes and the events that led up to the nearly extinction of the Bluebirds and the problems they face today will instill mankind’s compassion to come to their aid. It is not only the Bluebi…
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Added by Harry Schmeider on February 27, 2009 at 12:41am —
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Snow falling on Tuesday resulted in large numbers of hungry birds making repeated stops at our backyard feeders. For the first time in our ten years in Matthews we have seen flocks of pine siskins in our backyard, often high in the sweetgum trees. In the Charlotte area pine siskins are said to be an
irruptive species. In any given year (an irruption year) they may appear in large numbers, yet be uncommon or absent in subsequent years. Tuesday we had well over 50 siskins crowding our trays…
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Added by Will Stuart on January 22, 2009 at 6:57pm —
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