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Garden and the Great Outdoors

“The cherry tomato is a wonderful invention, producing, as it does, a satisfactorily explosive squish when bitten.”

—Miss Manners

Garden Surprises

Every spring I make a trip to the nursery to load up on puny little plants that have no blooms. It's an act of faith, because half the time I have no idea what they'll look like. Then in summer, the color combinations in my garden come as a wonderful surprise, far better than if I'd planned them. Gardening in spring is life-affirming. The outcome is often less important than the promise of things to be, and the plants transforming in my flower beds remind me of the potential for growth in other areas of my life.

“Anticipate the good so that you may enjoy it.”

—Ethiopian proverb

Confronting Reality

Very early in the morning, when the mist is on the lake, I go down the hill in my nightie with a cup of hot tea and a handful of cat crunchies for Minnesota Fats, who comes with me. We get into the dory (Fats takes the bow), and I row out into the middle of the lake and just float there, luxuriating in the peace and stillness. When we come back to the shore, Fats rests on the dock, and I drop my nightie and slip, naked and quiet, into the water. It's a wonderful sensation to swim in the mist when you can't see the edges of where you're going or where you've been, and the air and the water are the same temperature so there's no feeling of separation. When I start to feel chilly, I go back up the hill to the pleasure of a hot bath on the deck, and I warm up from my swim in preparation for work.

My colleagues can always tell when I've been early-morning mist swimming by the dreamy grin on my face that lasts most of the morning. When I hear people come back from a wonderful experience and say, “Oh, well, back to reality,” I remember the lake and the mist and the stillness and I think to myself, who decides reality has to be drudgery instead of intense pleasure?

THINGS TO DO

Aromatherapy, au Naturel

Every time you pass a lilac bush or an iris or daffodils in flower, take the time to bury your face in the bloom. Lilacs have a sweet and heady scent, and irises are musky and erotic. Close your eyes, breathe deeply and imagine the fragrance passing all through your body.

The Perfection of Peas

Now and then an entire row of peas germinates without the cats rolling in them. They're most beautiful when they're maybe an inch high, before they get all straggly. They're just so fat and round and perfect, like a row of green stars in the sky.

“What can your eye desire to see, your ears to hear, your mouth to take, or your nose to smell that is not to be had in a garden?”

—William Lawson

THINGS TO DO

Planting the Seed

Gardeners are by nature optimists, and if there's anything more therapeutic and satisfying than working in a garden, it's planting the seed of wonder in the mind of a child. There's a small investment in a packet of seeds or—for the most impatient children, grandchildren, or young neighbors—a half-dozen tiny plants in a plastic packet.

Remember playing with puppet-like snapdragons when you were a kid? It's not a lost art. Youngsters may also enjoy fast-growing, towering sunflowers, fuzzy lamb's ears, fragrant sweet peas, lavender, and mint. And with a strawberry in a pot in a sunny location, kids can have their gardening project and eat it, too.

Or help youngsters sprout seeds indoors. Fold a couple of paper towels together to form a strip as wide as the towel and a few inches high. Moisten and place inside a peanut butter jar or similar-size jar, forming a border at the base. Crumple and moisten another paper towel and stuff into the center. Carefully place seeds—beans are easy to grow and handle—between the folded paper and the glass. Keep moist, but not soaked—for several days as seeds germinate. Kids can watch roots and plants sprout. When plants reach above the jar and two sets of leaves have formed, transplant to pots of soil or into the ground.

THINGS TO DO

Reflected Glory

Martha Stewart is renowned for making beautiful things that are often complicated to do. However, sometimes she has an idea that is simplicity itself. One such suggestion we recently saw is to line the edges of a garden path with pure white stones, pebbles, shells. That way, when the sun sets, “they'll reflect the moonlight, showing you the way.”

Art for Mules

As an artist who works with handmade paper, sometimes I make something that's too big or confrontational for someone's living room. Then I have the problem of owning and storing it.

Recently I started designing works of art that I install in the woods and let return to nature. I made a paper flag from maté with cutout images of figures with vegetables growing out of their arms that I got in Mexico—offerings to the gods of corn and tomatoes and beans. I put the flag in my garden, and it gave new life to my crops as the garden began to absorb it back to earth. I also made a giant book, in the form of a teepee, with text that spoke to wild creatures of the woods. I made it large enough for me to sit in, and I installed it in the woods. The messages in the book were meant to be for the deer and the mice. I had no idea that my book would speak as well to the mules that came and ate it.

THINGS TO DO

These delectable treats are easy to create; use them on top of ice cream or cakes. Pick the flowers fresh in the early morning.

Candied Flowers

violet blossoms

rose petals

1 or 2 egg whites, depending on how many flowers you use

superfine sugar, to taste

Gently wash flowers and pat dry with a clean towel. Beat the egg whites in a small bowl. Pour the sugar into another bowl. Carefully dip the flowers into the egg whites, then roll in sugar, being sure to cover all sides. Set flowers on a cookie sheet and allow to dry in a warm place. Store in a flat container with waxed paper between layers. These will last for several days.

The Urge for Going

Every spring I get hit with the urge for going. It doesn't matter how—it could be by canoe or truck or plane—and the destination matters even less. For me, it's the most liberating experience to get up and go with no idea where I'm going to end up. It's about having no fear, no expectations, no obligations. I don't have to be anyone for anyone, and I'm open to meeting anyone and everyone. It's one of the few times when I feel there's no separation between me and life.

“Following the sun we left the old world.”

—Inscription on one of Columbus' ships

The Taste of Rain

In early spring, I like to catch on my tongue the drops of rain suspended from branches on trees and bushes. The best are witch hazel catkins, which have phenomenal small perfumed droplets—or so my imagination tells me. And the drops that hang from the red berries of hawthorns seem to carry inside them the reflection of the whole upside-down world. I also consider myself lucky if the night has brought a freezing rain that coats each twig in an icy casing. Then I do what deer do and chew on them, no hands. The clear, glittering ice on a twig is far better than any popsicle I ever tasted.

“We do not remember days, we remember moments.”

—Cesare Pavese

THINGS TO DO

Heavy snowfalls are blessings for people who love their maple candy. The good news is that you don't need an acre of sugar maples and a bucket of sap to make it. A bottle of maple syrup will do just fine.

Maple Candy

½ cup maple syrup

1 baking pan full of packed, clean snow

Leave the pan of snow outside or in the fridge till the moment you're ready to use it. Then heat the maple syrup in a pot to 270 degrees (check with a candy thermometer).

Carefully dribble the hot syrup in small patches over the snow. Each one of these patches will magically and immediately turn to chewy toffee that will amaze and delight your friends. That's all there is to it.

We've already said you don't need a sugar bush for this. Truth to tell, you don't even need snow. You can get the same result with crushed ice, if your fridge makes it.