Growing Things - 2021 Garden

Things I grew this year, in no particular order:

1. Jimmy Nardello Pepper: I haven’t had luck growing peppers before, but I did with this absolutely terrific variety. The seedlings were a bit fussy, but once they took hold, this plant took off and I’m beyond thrilled with the outcome.

2. Jack Be Little pumpkin and Sugar Pumpkin: I ended up with a handful of Jack Be Little, but not as many as the first time I grew them. And we won’t talk about the full-size pumpkins. It just wasn’t my year to grow decorative gourds. Win some, lose some.

3. Tiny Tim Tomato: A hardy, abundant cherry tomato, this was my second year growing these and it won’t be the last.

4. French Breakfast Radishes: I keep striking out on radishes. Large, leafy greens, lackluster tiny veg. I think this comes down to something I’m doing/not doing correctly — it might be an issue of fertilizing? The few full-size radishes I did manage, though, were good.

5. Rose Finn Apple Potatoes: Hands down, this was my favorite thing I grew. I used a few containers for growing, but next year, I’ll use trash bins to get a larger crop.

6. Mammoth Melting Sugar Snow Peas: This was my second year growing this variety and I give them a bazillion stars. Robust, fast-growing, tons and tons of peas: everything to love, nothing to hate. I did do a second planting in August. It might be too late for a second batch, but worst case scenario, the shoots will be nice for salads.

7. Basil: Another thing I grew from the Hudson Valley Seed Company. I grew a few rows of basil and was able to get enough to make and freeze pesto. I could have frozen more, but I ate a larger quantity than I set up, regrettably.
   
   I also grew lettuce, which is doing far better now than it did earlier in the season. The onions were a colossal disaster. And I grew White Lace and Utrecht Blue Wheat (which looks wonderful dried). And the final thing I had a go at was Elephant Ear which took forever and a day to sprout, but ended up doing pretty well as the season progressed. I’m moving that indoors here in the next week or so.

Slowly Made

I started this illustration last winter, then deadlines and life got in the way. Then this sat, leaving me cross every time I walked by. It’s been a whirlwind of a year and I haven’t had as much time for personal work as I’d like. But I’ve made a deal with myself that if I get my to do list cleared off by end of day, I get a few minutes working on this. I haven’t done one of these pencil drawings in ages, mostly because they’re so labor intensive. But drawing fiddly, domestic things seems to take the edge off of whatever the stressor du jour is, so it’s back to the drafting table with this one.

Other things:

* Wodehouse in Exile is charming and quiet, with some food for thought, too.

* I finished Blood of the Isles over the long weekend. Some of the more science-y parts were a slog for me, but the book’s look at the genetic makeup of the British Isles and its intersection with myth and history was fascinating.

* I’m knitting this cardigan right now. I’m still in sandals and short sleeves because I refuse to accept fall starting before September 22, but even I have to admit autumn is right around the corner in these parts.

* This recipe for Piernik (Polish gingerbread cake) is pretty tasty.

Belle of Kilronan

For very obvious reasons, this Magnetic Fields song is one of my favorites.

I haven’t drawn any comics in eons, but was stumped on story, so had a go with these lyrics instead. Also, this is 100% digital (aside from a couple textures), which I don’t typically do, but inking traditionally usually ends up with me covered in ink. Photoshop to the rescue…

Fields and Forests

Photo: Annie Buchholz

Last year, I had the good fortune to collaborate on a batch of mugs with the very talented Annie Buchholz, who runs Sunshine Design. I created the repeating pattern, which Annie added to her beautifully made pieces. The illustration was inspired by the area around Sandwich, New Hampshire, which piqued my curiosity driving up to teach at Squam in 2019. It’s hard not to get sucked into the story of a town that has a massive wall topped with an enormous statue of Niobe.

That Summer Feeling

August makes me think of this song. And that song makes me think of every childhood summer. It seemed from June until the first day of school I did nothing but swim and ride bikes and make forts and stay up long into the night reading. There was powdered lemonade and plastic lanterns strung up over the picnic table. Camping trips way up north. Perpetually bruised knees. And there’d always be beach trips, where we’d arrive when the sand was cool and the sun low and stay until a picnic dinner. I’d go back to school in September laden with freckles, full of ice cream and ready to take on the world.

Not every summer was idyllic. There was the July we all had chickenpox. And the August the dog died. But by and large, those long, languid, analog days were some of the happiest of my life. And sometimes when I’m awake far too late reading (because it’s far too hot to sleep), I feel temporarily 12. So I might have to buy some powdered lemonade, for old time’s sake.

Original Originals

I’ve been pulling original art out of files lately, trying to make room for new things. I’m slowly adding those pieces to the shop.

Owen's Disappearance

A few weeks back, I stumbled on a newspaper clipping about my great-grandfather’s cousin’s disappearance. Late one spring night, Owen Halpin left the house, distraught. He would later be found drowned in the East River. You can read the rest of the story here. It’s heart-breaking. And mysterious. And I wonder what really happened to a 60’something engineer, drowned on the eve of World War I.