St. Michael's, Maryland (part 2 of 2)

The sights in this little town of about one square mile go beyond the cute shops on the main street that I showed you in my previous post on St. Michael's. Here, the new home of the Hooper Strait lighthouse, moved from another area on the Chesapeake Bay. This is a "screw pile" lighthouse, meaning the cast iron legs that the house sits on are actually screwed into the earth making it more stable. Notice the bathroom at the left of the house. No need for any cleaning as this bathroom used to stand right over the ocean!

In the lighthouse...

Below is a large rain garden - filled with rain from the night before! This rain garden is situated on the grounds of the library, immaculately landscaped by local master gardeners.

To the naked eye, it appears that St. Michael's is right at sea level. This was confirmed the morning after a gentle rain. Here's the completely flooded parking lot of the restaurant we ate at the night before (the waterfront view was great, but it sure was not the Bistro - see part 1). You can probably just make out a guy in a blue shirt in the very center of the photo creating a sidewalk with wooden pallets so restaurant goers can actually... go.

Guess it's not a problem for all of St. Michael's residents.

A couple hours later, all is sparkly and right with the world again.



Below, the Chesapeake Maritime Museum is creating a natural shoreline along the bulkhead. The bulkhead alone, being a vertical wall in the water, does not protect against erosion. Creating this shoreline of stone, sand, and bay grass protects against erosion and also provides a home for other plants and animals.

You know it's the Eastern shore when you spot jellyfish everywhere!

And because this blog is one step away from being a duck and goose blog...


A short drive, rich history, and wonderful food are a combination for a relaxing and low-key weekend. The only potential problem with this town was discovered just as we were about to drive home. In Justine's, a charming ice-cream/espresso shop, my husband read a newspaper clipping that stated Dick Cheney owned a home in St. Michael's. I guess if we go again, I'll have to keep one eye on the gorgeous storefronts and one eye on the people ahead of me or my husband will be strolling the cute streets - ready for a rumble.

St. Michael's, Maryland (part 1 of 2)

With a slight air of superiority, locals call St. Michael's "the town that fooled the British". During the war of 1812, the British planned to destroy the little town and all its expert shipbuilding facilities. The townspeople put out their lights and hung lanterns in the trees behind the town causing the British to overshoot. The British were fooled and the town was spared.

St. Michael's, on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, is frequented today by tourists drawn to the water sports, history, fresh seafood, unique shops, and great restaurants. Being very close to home, we visited St. Michael's last weekend for a little anniversary trip. Incidentally, the quaint bayside town of St. Michael's was also named #8 in Coastal Living Magazine's top 10 Romantic Escapes in the US. Apparent to tourists is the pride that the locals take in their just under 1 square mile town! Enjoy this tour of some homes and storefronts in St. Michaels...

A fun use of fallen tree branches below...

One of MANY doggie hotspots in town. This is a very pet friendly town!

Purple hyacinth bean with a closer-up photo below.




Yes, it's a colorful and pretty planter, but imagine about six identical ones on a very large wraparound porch - cat lounging in the background.

Now here, I must stop and digress... I can understand why our waiter's friend, chef at another popular restaurant, actually eats here on his days off. Like Bloody Mary's? Try the stiff Chesapeake martini - sport of bloody mary with tabasco, horseradish, tequila gold, vodka, and garnished with a shrimp. I personally guarentee you'll be...happy...after the first couple of sips! Then, move on to your soup of roasted red pepper and tomato with lump crabmeat, a swirl of scallion pesto and creme fraiche. Now in our parts, appetizers are usually great, but most restaurants fall flat after the first course. At the Bistro, the duck confit was amazing, and the tres leches-inspired vanilla creme cake with caramel sauce topped off an evening of culinary perfection. And can you beat the flower box with it's great combo of succulent and vine?

I need to remove 500 square feet of lawn

Since I missed out on my city's rain barrel rebate because I installed mine BEFORE the rebate was instituted, I've had my bargain-hunting, won't-let-a-good-deal-pass-me-by-again eye on any new programs my city might offer.

Yesterday, I found that to support our city's push for residents to move towards conservation landscaping, a 50% rebate on materials and plants is being offered, up to a total of $500! I believe what this means is that if I spend $1000 to simply remove lawn and install native plants, I can get $500 back! I've got to calm down though. Keep my cool. Play by the rules. There are applications to fill out. Approvals to attain. Plans to draft. Plants to consider. A seminar to attend. And the bigger obstacle - my husband to persuade.

My husband loves me. He really does. He has faith and confidence in me. He has gone along with every plan I have made without ever a fuss. I just tell him how many bags of mulch to buy and where to go, and he's off. He loves his lawn, and yet I've encroached more and more upon this lawn every season.

Coincidentally, I have been planning a little garden expansion - about 200 feet's worth. I JUST need to scratch out another 300 feet to earn my rebate. When I excitedly told hubby about this today, he flat out said "No" - and he never says no. Now mind you, I was not asking permission, as I'm a grown woman. However, I want him to be OK with this. Can you help me convince him that this is an important project that we MUST take part in? We just MUST find our 500 feet of lawn to remove!

EDITED TO ADD: OK, so I'm off of this idea now. Please feel free to comment anyway, I'm sure I'll use your ideas later on, but I've decided that I need to be my own free agent on this one. I looked over the rebate info again and I CAN'T play by the rules after all- an application? A written plan that someone ELSE has to approve? Then I need to sit around and wait for someone to come and inspect my yard? Requiring that 3/4 of the plants must be from a list? Never mind all that noise. I can be a landscape conserver and do it on my own terms without the rebate and kudos, but for the sheer benefit of acting responsibly. I'll stick to my 200 feet for now, slowly encroach on the lawn 50 feet at a time so hubby doesn't really notice, and plant whatever I like, whereever I like, whenever I like.

Oh shit. What have I done now.

I'm sorry if the title of this post alarmed you. I guess you were either sympathizing with me or eager to see a photograph of some horrible garden error I have made. I won't ask which.

Here's how my garden inspiration generally plays out. I'm minding my own business, strolling through life, admiring a container planting here and there. Suddenly, an idea bowls me over. I practically burst with excitement telling my friends and family (who are familiar with my ways and humor my sudden intense obsessions with certain ideas), "Oh my god. I'm so excited about this, and I really shouldn't be telling you about it because it's a little silly and ambitious and it probably won't work out, and I know I'll jinx myself but the plan is..." and so forth.

I spend the next 2-5 days in feverish study over the idea, conducting Internet research, drafting plans, taking measurements, making lists of things my husband needs to pick up at Good Earth THIS weekend (anonymous commenter, please remind me to tell my husband how awesome he is).

I break ground.

Inevitably, "Oh shit. What have I done now."

During the landscaping project, the period of "oh shit" was probably the most concerning, as the project lasted several months and I have been known to become quickly obsessed with an idea and lose interest just as quickly.

Fortunately, early on, my friend Grace took a quick look and without a moment's hesitation, leaned in, put her hand on my arm and said, "Well, you got to break a few eggs if you want to bake a cake".

Fast forward a couple years later, this is what I'm thinking each day I arrive home from work to the beautiful edge I've cut in of a large new garden expansion that's going to be prepared this fall, bags of mulch and compost sitting on my lawn for weeks, and plants arriving via UPS daily all mulched up with no place yet to go.

I've seen enough garden projects from start to finish now to know that it always starts off messy. I don't think I'll ever avoid the "oh shit" feeling. However, these days, the in-garden panic attacks are few.

I read something today I'm particularly fond of that I find related to my "oh shit" feelings and other aspects of my life as well. I wonder what it might mean for you...

If I were to wish for anything, I should not wish for wealth and power, but for the passionate sense of potential, for the eye which, ever young and ardent, sees the possible.

~Soren Kierkegaard

Autumnal Equinox means time for apple picking

In our family, the Autumnal Equinox has become synonymous with fall apple picking. Lucky are the suburbanites who have several orchards within a short driving distance from home! Last weekend, we visited Homestead Farms in nearby Poolesville, MD. Though the tradition is a fairly new one (ok, to be truthful, last weekend was our first time...), the day was perfect for apple picking. We had the kind of weather that's cool enough to keep kids from whining about being hot - no one needed to be carried - yet warm enough to dress in t-shirts and enjoy being under the sun all day. We were also smack in the middle of the season for several types of apples.




Homestead Farms is a working farm that has been in the Allnut family since 1763. Hayrides are provided on some weekends to the fields where you can pick your own pumpkins, apples, cherries, berries, peaches, beans, etc. In the distance, you can see the light green strip of the pumpkin field just behind a few rows of apple trees. In the winter, visitors can cut their own Christmas trees as well.



Though most visitors at this time of year are prepared with wheelbarrow standing at attention and large bucket in hand ready for a short walk to the fields, it's impossible not to be distracted by the farm animals to the left of the farm. The farm owners have built these amazing lookouts and bridges for their goats to show off their daredevil climbing abilities. Just beyond the right of this photo below, another lookout stands with a pulley system by which visitors can give treats to the happy animals. The bridge passes right over the visitors.



This goat goes to great lengths for attention. Check out the personality!




Contrary to how it may appear by the quantity of my posts that involve ducks, geese, or other birds, I am not obsessed with poultry. I do not even have any particular fondness for them. But one's got to see the cuteness in the fluffy white feathers and stately stance of this lady below...

Guess what he's saying? Er, er-er, er-errrrrr!!!

All the birds at home at the Rhode Island Ladies Club - hens, a rooster...and a turkey.

After a short visit with Elmo the baby cow and a few of her friends, we moved on to the fields where the red delicious, rome, empire, and jonagold trees awaited us with limbs full of cool, crisp apples ripe for the picking.

In almost every tree - a special surprise to search for.

Red delicious apples - you can't stop a four year old from taking a bite! We'll pay you back next time, Mr. Allnut...

Above, standing tall in front of the apple orchard, colorful zinnias to choose, cut yourself, and purchase.

Below, undeniable proof that it is autumn, and undeniable proof that autumn is bountiful and beautiful.

And to top off a simple, fun, cheap, end of summer/beginning of autumn day, caramel apple pie a la mode and pumpkin pie with whipped cream. It does not get better than this.

Why gardeners are happy people

Growing one's own vegetables can often bring happiness to a gardener. Click here to see how one man was rewarded when he cut into his homegrown jalapeno.

I may be naive, but I see it half full

I, like other commenters on my recent Baltimore Checkerspot Butterfly post, also feel encouraged by the unit on The Butterfly Habitat Project my daughter is studying in her sixth grade science class. The second of the four units of study is called The Going Green Project where students will learn about natural resources and human needs, environmental issues, environmental change, and natural resources use. The third unit sounds physics-related, and the fourth unit is called the Solar Collector Project. In this unit, students will learn about different types of energy.



In the first paragraph of the course syllabus, the teacher writes: Welcome to 6th grade science. Are you ready to discover...

• why we don't see the Maryland state butterfly very often? And how we can help?


• why it is believed that the earth's climate is changing?


• how bumpers are designed to save lives?


• how to obtain and use clean energy?

A few months ago, my book group gathered to discuss the book Hot, Flat, and Crowded, by Thomas Friedman. He warns that Americans need to step up and lead in a worldwide effort to replace our wasteful ways with a strategy for clean energy, energy efficiency, and conservation.

Though not intended to make concerned human beings lose hope, the book does offer hard facts, thought-provoking connections, theories, and predictions. I was somewhat surprised to find that some members of my book group felt it was "too late" to affect any sort of positive change. Perhaps I'm naive, but I prefer to see the glass as half full. Here's the difference between me and some of the women in my book group that held the most vocal arguments: I work in a high school and have school-aged children.

I work in a high school where there are recycling bins EVERYWHERE. I think that even among kids, it would be hugely frowned upon to put a plastic bottle in a regular trash can.

I am a school counselor and always have many kids interested in classes offered at my school like AP Environmental Science.

Last year I read an amazing college essay by one of my students who dreams of creating a source of clean energy. Knowing the grades this kid earns, and the initiative this kid shows, I am certain he will work diligently towards this goal.

In May, one of my 11th graders asked me to sponsor his efforts to participate in our school system's Drive for Supplies program. At the end of the school year, students dropped off a total of over 16 boxes of gently used school supplies that were then redistributed to local and international non-profits.

I have a 4 year old in preschool who will be studying units entitled Our Peaceful Classroom and Garden Science. Though I haven't overtly taught her ANYTHING (she's the younger sibling after all...), she'll observe me tearing up a cardboard egg carton and ask, "Are you going to put that in your garbage-poster (compost bin)"?

I thumbed through the our city's fall catalog of classes. Our nature center offers a Jr. Naturalist program involving a series of 9 classes. Outside of this program, a purely "fun" class is offered called "upcycling" where kids will repurpose objects to make art.

Our city offers rebates for residents who install rain barrels.

Brookside Gardens, a beautiful garden near me, is hosting a Green Matters symposium that I, and hundreds of others, will attend in the spring.

Every children's clothing catalog and advertisement I've seen in this morning's weekend paper includes clothes with recycling symbols, or love-the-earth symbols, or peace symbols. Though I'm not too naive to know there is a big faddish aspect to this, I think it's impossible to wear these symbols and not have an inkling of their meanings.

I could go on.

We live in a time when global warming, environmental change, waste, etc. cannot be denied. The reality of these changes is such that there really is something to cry over. It is sobering at best. However, in the face of all this, at the end of a book like Hot, Flat, and Crowded or any other book that offers a grim, factual, and downright frightening look at what has happened and what people have done, I am encouraged by what I see around me. Everywhere I look, I see efforts being made to change the poor course we have been on. When a 4 year old knows you put certain materials in the garbage-poster, when an 11 year old spends at least 3/4 of the year studying environmental and conservation-related topics, when my high schoolers enjoy their AP Environmental Science classes and declare a passion for exploring clean, alternative sources of energy, I can feel confident saying that the glass is half-full.