http://leslieland.com/blog Cooking • Gardening • Home Style Fri, 16 May 2008 19:22:53 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Forty or fifty years ago, the owner of our house planted a LOT of peonies, and by the time we got the place they were huge. Also, in many cases, overtaken by shrubbery. When we dug the shaded ones to move them we found huge giant knotted rootballs the size ... http://leslieland.com/blog/woodland-peonies-a-walk-on-the-wild-side/ Hot then cold, dry then deluginal then dry again; it's been a difficult spring. But this year the Northeast is having an excellent morel season, so there is definitely something good to be said, namely Blonde morels, Morchella esculenta, get 'em while you can. The place to get them is in open ... http://leslieland.com/blog/morels-2/ The frost I feared last week (see below ) was a doozy all right; 25 degrees at 5AM on April 30th. Theoretically, that's normal. Frost-free date for this area is supposed to be May 10th. What's abnormal was the whole rest of April, which had very few frosty nights and ... http://leslieland.com/blog/inconvenient-frost-the-cold-side-of-global-warming/ Like every garden writer in the history of humankind, I’ve spent my entire career begging ” don’t blow the whole wad on spring. If everything in the yard is done blooming by the 4th of July, how boring is that.” But then every year about this time I’m glad the ... http://leslieland.com/blog/magnolia-plum-viburnumflower-flower-flower/ Gotta hand it to eggs. You can use EVERYTHING, including the shells, an extremely sharp-edged material that is almost pure calcium. In the house: * great for cleaning narrow-necked bottles and vases. Crush a shell, working it between your fingers so the bits aren't stuck together. Stuff it into the bottle, ... http://leslieland.com/blog/afterlife-for-eggshells/ Having just said goodbye to too many reminders that eggs are – or were – seasonal, and thus a symbol of spring rebirth, I won’t go into it except to point out that the best eggs still ARE seasonal, and that there's a huge difference between an egg that’s as ... http://leslieland.com/blog/369/ It's spring! Time to evaluate, improve - or possibly discard - your current collection of houseplants. But it can be hard to see old friends clearly; loyalty gets in the way. The fix? A field trip to the nearest public conservatory. Botanic gardens, universities and colleges all over the country ... http://leslieland.com/blog/the-most-happy-houseplants/ Is it just wishful thinking or are there really somewhat fewer green glitter shamrocks (and similar) this year? Not that I have anything against the good Saint, and I know Irish immigrants have made huge contributions. But it’s always seemed like a bit of a stretch to make the ... http://leslieland.com/blog/soda-bread-not-just-for-the-irish/ At first glance, it seems like a no-brainer: If you’re going to be an organic gardener, you ought to plant organic seeds. But it would really be better to say: if you’re going to buy organic products, put organic seeds on your shopping list. For home gardeners, the reason ... http://leslieland.com/blog/organic-seeds-starting-off-on-the-right-foot/ The cut flower industry is finally beginning to wake up and smell the roses, reports the New York Times. There is money to be made selling organic and sustainably raised flowers. Lovely, as far as it goes, but like the organic spinach that goes from California to New York, most ... http://leslieland.com/blog/buying-local-and-organic-flowers/