Loading ...Bunny Business
A rabbit species in distress finds a hospitable home on the Mashpee River Reservation.
For a better understanding of what the Trustees of Reservations’s latest project is all about, imagine for a moment, that you’re less than a foot tall. And furry. Read more…
- Posted in Nature
Pond Perspective
How to add pizzazz to your landscape with a fish pond—or a pondless waterfall.
When homeowners think about improving their landscape, they often focus on how to make their lawn look better, or perhaps how to make their home look more appealing with new foundation plantings. Read more…
- Posted in Gardens, Landscaping, Nature
Hydrangea Days
Pink, green, purple, white, red. Dwarf, tree, shrub, and climbing. Besides the classic blue beauties, there’s a hydrangea out there for every landscape.
Hydrangeas have long been loved as Cape Cod’s quintessential flower, ever since Martha Stewart shared her affection for the flowering shrub with the world in the 1980s. Read more…
Springtime Secrets
Four local naturalists share their favorite places to savor the arrival of spring.
Spring comes slowly to Cape Cod. Still, we know our surroundings are changing, waking up, and bursting with new life and activity.
Read more…
- Posted in Family Fun, Nature, Spring
Natural Beauty
Get a healthy springtime glow with cape and islands skincare products.
You’ve seen the names: Sea buckthorn, rosehips, olive oil, quince. Botanical ingredients—flowers, herbs, oils, and other plant-derived essences—are captivating skincare clients with their natural properties, uncomplicated scents, and bottles without long lists of unpronounceable chemicals. Read more…
A Fresh Angle
With freshly stocked kettle ponds all across the Cape, there’s no time like the present to cast a line and get the first bite of the season.
The Cape’s waters are famous for saltwater fishing, from fighting ferocious blues in the surf to landing lunker stripers into the boat. But tucked behind curtains of pine trees in the Cape’s interior are waters that are equally rewarding for fishermen, although these quiet, often unknown places offer very different fishing from the open ocean. Read more…
Set in Stone
Stone artist and craftsman David Campbell’s artistry is shaped by Cape Cod’s geometry.
At the close of a long day in the brilliant summer sun, David Campbell finds solace in the landscape. A faded cut-off tee shirt exposes the tan, sturdy arms that designed the gardens he’s surrounded by, and built the stone bench on which he’s perched. His build hints at years of work requiring strength and endurance in the outdoors; his demeanor hints at years of relishing the life he’s crafted for himself. Read more…
True Cape Roots
Eastham turnips—those savory, violet-tinged staples of the holiday dinner table—have origins deeper than the soil.
Abbott Schafer Knowles started farming turnips just about as soon as he could walk. He was born in one of the old farmhouses on Locust Road in Eastham in 1905, and he came from a long line of Knowles men—farmers, mostly, and a few nefarious characters dabbling in moonshine. The Knowles farmed turnips. So did the Nickersons and the Kings and the Bracketts. Especially the Bracketts. Until suddenly, they didn’t. Read more…
Harvest Home
As I write this in early August, my vegetable garden is about to burst with tomatoes, squash, and basil. I have so many cucumbers that I plan to make jars of sweet pickles to give to out-of-town guests when they arrive on the Cape for our son’s September wedding. I will also be harvesting some sunflowers for the wedding—one variety that we planted is so tall it towers over my head. It has been an amazing summer for gardening—day after day of warm sunshine, followed by brief cooling showers. It is a perfect recipe for garden plentitude. Read more…
- Posted in Gardens, Susan Dewey's Blog
In the Red
The bright red sea of berries seen during the annual flooding of cranberry bogs has become a quintessential delight during Cape Cod autumns. Native to Cape Cod, cranberries were first used as a source of food by the Native Americans, and later, the Pilgrims. The growth of the cranberry industry on the Cape started in the early 1800s, when cranberries were either hand-picked or collected with hand-held scoops. This process continued until the mid-1900s when a walk-behind mechanical dry harvester became a popular—and time-saving—substitute. For information on all things cranberry, go to the Cape Cod Cranberry Growers Association’s website at www.cranberries.org.
—Fiona O’Connor
