Natural.Designs.Studio : MyBlogHer Profile

A Cortland apple tree has stood on this property for many decades.   It's age is hard to determine exactly but I'm told that it is over 60 years old.  Fruit trees surviving this long are considered a rarity.  The Cortland has been apart of our family for generations.  It has made shade for picnics on hot summer evenings when the kitchen was too stuffy from canning, it's been the guest of honor for countless "apple picking days" where grandchildren remember reaching for the loftiest prizes from a kind neighbor's tractor scoop, and its fruit has been the coveted secret to the best applesauce and pie filling Grandma has ever made; however, all great eras come to an end and the last few seasons have yielded very little fruit from this longtime friend.   Read more >

 Last winter my holly bushes had only a few berries and I didn't know why.  I thought it was due to extreme weather conditions, but I found later that it had nothing to do with winter snow or wind.  Read more >