womanswork.com » garden glove company

Gardening On The Coast of Maine

dorian — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 13:56:28 +0000

The cottage by the sea

One of the things we love about our little island in Maine is that seemingly nothing ever changes. And yet things do change– in subtle, positive ways. For instance it was always difficult to purchase good produce on the island because there is only one market and they tend to bring in produce that travels well, such as iceburg lettuce. This summer we enjoyed a floating farmers market, which motored into the boatyard every Saturday morning carrying fresh vegetables and berries, as well as seafood, meat and baked goods. It was heavenly.

Floating Farmers Market

Then there is also the Second Wind Farm, an organic farm that operates on the honor system. We picked a bunch of flowers out of their garden and dropped our money into a tin container.

Flowers picked at Second Wind Farm

Collecting Lupine seeds

Now that we have a greenhouse at home I am interested in seeds and seed collecting. The timing was right for plucking the seedheads of the lupine plants in the cottage garden in front of the house. I saved the seeds and will try propagating them this winter for planting out next spring. Here’s a link with more information about collecting lupine seeds: http://www.ehow.com/how_453678?5_save-lupine-seeds.html

Fresh seaweed in the garden

Seaweed in the garden– Every time we walked up from the beach we carried a few handfuls of seaweed for the garden beds. Seaweed grows so fast, and is considered a nuisance to people who like white sandy beaches (those people usually do not go to Maine for vacation), so nobody minds when you remove some seaweed from the beach. Seaweed can act like a mulch in that it helps the soil retain moisture and suppresses weed growth. But it also has nutrients and hormones which are very good for plants. Here is a link with more information on the subject: http://ventnorpermaculture?.wordpress.com/2008/07/16/?using-seaweed-in-the-garde?n/

My sister-in-law Monica is a gardener and wears Womanswork garden gloves and sun protection hats so well, so we organized a shoot in her front yard for the holiday catalog. She is wearing our raffia hat with brim down, and also a pair of our High Performance gloves in red (a new color available this holiday season).

Pruning cottage roses

For pruning the thorny cottage roses growing up the side of the house and trellises my mother put on a pair of Womanswork leather rose gauntlet gloves. They protected her hands well and they’re breathable so are not hot.

On the last day of our vacation we picked wild raspberries from bushes growing along the side of the road, and added other fruit from the fridge, such as peaches, pears and apples, and I made a fruit tart. The tart pan was purchased for $2 just days earlier at the island’s weekly flea market at the Island Grange. The tart was a delicious addition to our lobster dinner, and was a high note to leave the island on the next day.

High Performance gloves in red (a new color)

Wild Raspberries fresh picked

Here’s the recipe for my fruit tart. For the crust I found an old edition of the Fannie Farmer Cookbook and followed this recipe. Crust: 1 cup flour, 1/4 tspn salt, 6 tblsp cold butter cut into small pieces, 1 egg yolk, 1-1/2 tblsp sugar (optional).Mix flour, salt and sugar in bowl. Cut in butter with a pastry blender. Whisk egg yolk and 2 tblsp water together in another bowl. Add to flour mixture, blend until smooth. Form into ball. Wrap in foil or plastic and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes. Roll it out or press by hand into tart pan. Prick bottom and bake for 12 minutes at 425 degrees. After baking the crust I put it in the freezer for 20 minutes at my daughter Eve’s suggestion. (She is a talented baker).

For a 10-1/2" tart pan like this, I made the crust recipe twice and combined the two balls.

Filling: I put the fresh-picked raspberries in a bowl and added slices of other fruits from our fridge, including apples (thinly sliced), pears and a couple of peaches. I gently mixed in about 1/4 cup of sugar, a little salt and a tblsp of flour. I filled the prebaked tart with the fruit mixture and baked for about 35 minutes at 375 degrees (individual ovens may vary). It was delicious!

“Creating A Landscape Berm” by Dorian Winslow

dorian — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 12:28:21 +0000

Early last Spring I woke up one morning and decided that what my yard needed was a berm. Most berms, or mounds, are designed for privacy to block an unwanted view of the street or a neighbor’s backyard. By creating a little hill and planting it with trees and other vegetation you can create a very attractive and effective screen. Fences are often used for this purpose too, but a berm is a more natural-looking solution.

Berm in Mid-Summer

In my case I was trying to create visual interest in a part of my yard that was dominated by two spruce trees that have been struggling to become established since I planted them 3 years ago. In addition, the trees sit in a low area of our yard and lots of weeds and even poisin ivy had started to take over. Rather than clear out the bad, I decided to bury it under a nice big pile of wood chips.

First truckload of wood chips and future berm

First I called my local supplier of mulch and top soil and asked them if they would deliver a truckload of woodchips, which they did. They were able to drop it right on the spot where I needed it. After grabbing my landscaper’s rake and putting on my favorite pair of leather garden gloves, I spread it evenly across the area (what a workout!) and realized I needed another truckload. After that was delivered I had enough chips to create a 2′ high berm over an area of approximately 20′ X 30′. I piled them in front of the trees and left the ground around the trunks undisturbed. Since the ground was low in that spot some of the chips just helped level the ground.

After spreading 2 truckloads of wood chips

A more sensible approach is to use top soil because it is more stable than wood chips. The problem with a pile of wood chips is they are full of air and they will settle and sink, lowering the height of your berm. But wood chips are much easier to move around and I wanted to try different shapes to see what would look best from a few different vantage points. Next Spring I will probably have more wood chips (or top soil) delivered and shore up my berm again.

Berm garden from the side with early plantings

Once I had the shape in place I started planting a few shrubs and perennials. I selected 2 flowering weigela and a red chokeberry shrub to plant in front of my two spruces. As they get larger I will probably transplant them to another location, but this year they were the perfect screen to hide the thinnish lower branches of my spruces, while not blocking the sun which spruces need. In front of the shrubs I planted catmint nepata and basket of gold (aurinia) with its silvery leaves and bright yellow blossoms; and baptisia carolina which did not bloom this year. We have some lovely large rocks that form a gentle slope along one side of the berm and I uncovered them and swept them off with my little bonsai broom so they would become a focal point of the berm also.

Large boulders rise along one edge of the berm

I also placed smaller rocks here and there for accents and created a rock garden where I planted a couple of smaller annuals such as dianthus.

Rocks in our garden provide slope and natural interest

I left several hosta and ferns along the lower, shadier side of the mound. Left undisturbed, they thrived.

Since I did use wood chips, after digging a hole in the wood chips I had to fill the hole with top soil before dropping the plant in. Wood chips are acidic and would not have been a hospitable place for tiny roots. I may have to put in more top soil next spring to replenish what probably drained out this year.

Although our berm is not as high as some (you can build up the earth higher if you want) we were happy with our berm solution because it accomplished the objective of creating visual interest in front of the two struggling spruces (which thrived in the dry heat we had this summer in our region), and burying some of the unwanted wild weeds that were taking over that low section of our yard.

And since I own a garden glove company, I am always looking for projects that will give my gloves a workout. This was a good one!

: Hosta and Ferns were left on the low shady side of the berm

Berm in context of yard in midsummer

Connecting Gardening and Food, and Fighting Hunger

dorian — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 16:43:30 +0000

Tom stirring tomato sauce for ziti

Womanswork hosted another evening meal at The Lunch Box in Poughkeepsie last week. On a typical evening The Lunch Box serves 150 people who need a hot meal. They also serve lunch on week days but this has expanded to include dinners whenever they can get volunteers like us to do it. The numbers of people in need of services like this have been growing here in Dutchess County, NY, like everywhere else.

Nora Madonick, a new friend in town, has volunteered to help us whenever we do these evenings. She recommends that we recruit others to help us in the future and that we split the responsibilities of cooking the meal. I agree! I wanted to see what it felt like to cook for such a big group and now I know!

There is a strong connection between gardening and food, and Womanswork has made a commitment as a company to help fight hunger, starting locally. We will keep building our network of friends who want to volunteer with us so we can continue to volunteer at The Lunch Box. We are more than a garden glove company.

Time allowing, there is a dynamic group called The Poughkeepsie Food Project, that I want us to get involved with also. PFP has a community garden and farmers market, and has programs aimed at teaching the value of “growing your own” to teens and others. They make large food contributions to people in need as well. Tom and I spent a recent Saturday brainstorming with them on ideas for the coming season.