Getting ready for winter is a lot of work. I unearth winter clothes, make sure the heating systems are serviced and put good tires on the car, but the garden is where most of my energy is needed. I start with some basic jungle management...

It’s November. Daylight savings has ended (UGH) and I have done as much garden clean-up as I am going to get to. I was helped - or hindered - in this task by my flock of elderly chickens. I have kept chickens as pets for most of my life, and have a great fondness for them. The current collection is an assortment of breeds and personalities, who, with the exception of three adolescents from eggs we allowed one old lady to hatch this summer, are geriatric members of the gard

Fall is for a lot of things in Maine. It’s for hunting and fishing, and for hikes on cool, bug-free days. It’s for apple cider, and figuring out what the heck to do with all those tomatoes. It’s back-to-school shopping, and relaxing when the kids are finally out of the house for a few hours a day. It may well be the moment you force yourself to take care of those home repair projects that you couldn’t face on hot midsummer days, but it is also a great time in the garden. Fall

These annual flowers are loving the cooler nights and are hanging on through the fall, looking better than ever.

She said she was not so much a book buyer but, rather, as a teacher. She said she used the process of making syrup as a metaphor for writing. I loved it! Her name was Karin Podschun. I hope this finds her some day! Anyway - we had a great chat. She sees the collection of raw maple sap and its slow transformation into a sweet finished product as a model for making a book from gathered ideas. So we dug a little deeper.

This post originally appeared on MaineCrimeWriters.com From time to time, we share news about new books by Maine crime writers. Today, news  of Claire Ackroyd’s newest. Claire Ackroyd: I was raised on murder mysteries in England – fed every new Agatha Christie by my grandmother as she read them, and have ever since believed that every good story needs a dead body in it.

I have admired swallows since my childhood in England, where squadrons of them nested in our stables and sheds. I love their chatty company and am honored that they choose to raise their families in my barn.

The landscaping traditions I had been raised and trained in were all about the subjugation and replacement of nature - the creation of tightly managed gardens where foreign species were prized over native plants. It made no sense then, and it makes no sense now, for gardens to be part of the degradation of our environment.

In lieu of thoughtful reflections on Life I offer this silliness

First and above everything THANK GOD FOR MAINE, and to be back to wild land, locally grown veggies and friendly, local banks

I am on the return path, via assorted family members, and not happy about leaving

The days lengthen fast here. It is easy to overlook how much further north the middle of England is than Bangor.

I am in Shropshire - on the border between England and Wales. Nothing seems to change much here, provided you look no further than the hills

The Body in the Blueberry Barrens, a second chapter in the life of my sleuth Simone Thibodeau, has gone to Maine Authors Publishing ...

Three spring flowers that add early color to your garden.

First real day in the garden this year, and I spent most of it pruning raspberries.

This is my chance to elaborate on my thoughts on garden design. As I mentioned in my video – the place to start is with figuring out how...

Hi to everyone who has landed here. This is intended to accompany the third video that will go ‘live’ as soon as Johnny Sanchez, the...

Hi – check out my new YouTube channel – and note that i will be backing it up with lots of additional blurb on this blog! So stand by