meteor misses east coast

wow: from my view, the meteor hit somewhere near the potomac in charles county at about 12:40pm on valentine's day this week, but it actually fell into the ocean...this time...yeah: i saw it while driving on route 301 on the harry nice bridge leaving virginia, heading into maryland...of course: no one believed me, but i saw what i saw...and what i saw was something (fairly) large...on fire...headed toward the ground at a high rate of speed...sooo glad i am not alone!

please stop and smell the flowers

may flowers are delightful...

it seems like winter was so long ago.

house and garden pilgrimage

the annual maryland house and garden pilgrimage is in talbot county today. tour homes and gardens of nine featured properties, from waterfront gardens, historic and modern residences, to a historic church. talbot county is the fifth of six maryland counties participating in the 2010 pilgrimage, which has been on going since 1930. the pilgrimage tour has raised over a million dollars since it's inception, and is a central component in the non-profit's mission to preserve and restore architecturally significant properties throughout the state of maryland. go spend an awesome day on the eastern shore.

farm fresh market near the white house

grab some fresh stuff on the way home tonight at the farm fresh farmers market near the white house.

own a share of your farmer's market

if you missed yesterday's liberty farmer's market and cant make it to the fresh farm market near the white house tomorrow, head to clagett farm to pick up your share of the bounty. Clagett Farm is a working farm, owned and operated by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) in Upper Marlboro, Maryland. they grow vegetables for their Community Supported Agriculture program, raise grass fed cattle and have a native tree nursery on more than 285 acres. you can purchase a `share’ to become a member of the farm, and each week, from mid-May to mid-November, they divide their harvest by the number of shares. members can visit the farm at any time to check it out or to harvest as much as they want from the items on the you-pick list. The you-pick list might include flowers, herbs, and any vegetables in abundance, such as tomatoes or collard greens. maybe, pumpkins? i think i am going to do this if only for the vegetable-growing-knowledge i hope to gain...not to mention the deliciousness!

international shed of the year

not only is this shed the coolest i have ever seen, it was designed and constructed by chuck witmer of silver spring, maryland: a neighbor! see more photos of this awesome winner on we♥sheds and visit other contestants backyard creations on the shedblog (of course!).

mile-a-minute weed

wow...this stuff is taking over! Polygonum perfoliatum was first recorded in oregon in 1890 and then in beltsville, maryland in 1937: both "mile-a-minute" weed populations were eradicated. it popped up between the 1930's and 1946 at a rhododendron nursery in york, pennsylvania and was kept and studied by the nurseryman. this invasive non-native plant species is now found radiating 300 miles from the york nursery. i took this shot in rock creek park today. vine-y!

sunflower in the summertime

sunflowers in my front yard reseeded from last year's batch. totally summer!

vermicomposting

last year i shot this video for the howard county (maryland) master gardeners. i still havent warmed up to the idea of worms in my kitchen, but a lot of other people have! learn how on youtube or with mary applehof's "worms eat my garbage..."

south mountain creamery

for those of you trying to live sustainably and buy locally, here is a highly recommended maryland and virginia home delivery dairy farm, south mountain creamery. the artisan cheeses looks delicious and the milk lasts two weeks longer than store bought!

emerald ash borer alert

i have seen a number of billboards along the chesapeake bay watershed in both maryland and virginia asking people not to move firewood away from were it was felled so to not spread the ash borer beetle any further. the beetle itself does little damage but the larvae feast on the inside of ash trees and disrupt the flow of water and nutrients to the tree. 40 million ash trees have been killed so far, with a total of 7.5 billion threatened nationwide in the entire fraxinus genus! educate yourself and others: learn to identify the nasty ash nemesis and distinguish it from other similar-looking native (and good) bugs.

native plants of matyland

this past thursday, i attended maryland master gardener annual training day held at the university of maryland's college park campus. it was awesome to meet all 600+ attendees from all over the state! the volunteers from the native plants of maryland group were so wonderful and had gorgeous specimens! you can get all their info and their, i mean "our" plants, too.