I'm a wife, stay-at-home mom, crafter, and blogger living in rural New England. As seen in Martha Stewart Living, Food Network Magazine, and more! | Tutorials, DIY, crafts, parenting tips, recipes, money saving tips, product reviews, local product features, New England living, intentional living, and more! |
This past weekend we took a much needed day trip up to Boothbay, Maine to finally see the amazing Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens and its new art installation of giant trolls by Danish artist Thomas Dambo. The whole visit was beautiful and so fun. I’ve included a few photos here but they don’t do this magical place justice - the Gardens and the trolls must be seen in person if you ever have the chance! Here are a few tips and items of note from our trip. | This post contains affiliate links |
Tickets
Currently at this time Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens are requiring advanced purchased tickets only and your entry is timed (I believe this is for COVID precautions to help spread out visitors and limit the amount of visitors coming in at any one time to help reduce crowding). We purchased ours for one of the first time slots of the day and it was perfect. We found that the park was getting rather crowded by lunch so earlier was definitely better.
Masks
There were signs asking non-vaccinated guests to wear masks inside buildings, however we did not see that enforced. Nevertheless, we have been very COVID-cautious ourselves and made sure our kids put on their masks when we passed through the entrance building and when we left, also we had them put them on whenever we went into any other enclosed spaces.
The Trolls
There are five giant Trolls tucked away in the woods throughout the park. The map in the brochure was a bit confusing and it was difficult to tell exactly which paths some of them were on, but after a quick conversation with a very helpful gardener we had a good plan to see them all. At most of the trolls there were groups gathered to take photos but everyone was very respectful, waited their turn, and gave space so each group could take good photos with the trolls which was very nice.
So Much to Explore
Besides the incredible trolls, there are miles of hiking trails and so many gardens to explore. We spent several hours there and didn’t even see most of them. Our favorite areas were the Children’s Gardens with its whimsical flowers, buildings, and animals, and the various ponds and fountains. Our kids especially loved watching the tadpoles (SO many tadpoles!) and turtles in the ponds.
We got lots of compliments on our kids' matching sunhats too! They are our absolute favorite ones by Sunday Afternoons.
Lunch
We headed out early afternoon when it started to get very hot and crowded but we easily could have stayed and explored longer! There was an on-site cafe that had grab-n-go food that looked great but we decided to forgo that and opt for seafood on the way home (when in Maine). We would have loved to stop at Red’s Eats in Wiscasset but the line was down the block when we went by, so we got takeout from Sea Basket instead and ate our weight in fried seafood and lobster rolls - it hit the spot.
Overall it was a beautiful day to get out and explore this beautiful place with our family - we’re already planning on coming back later in the summer to see everything with different plants in bloom.
Since we moved into our home several years ago we’ve been trying to establish more pollinator-friendly areas in our yard. We planted perennial flower beds wrapping around our house which are now well established, and we also have a veggie garden we plant every summer. One item that we’ve been wanting to add has been a solitary bee house to help make our space even more bee-friendly. Thankfully Kind Bee Farms was kind enough to send me one of their all-inclusive bee kits to try! | This post contains an honest review of product provided by Kind Bee Farms |
Kind Bee Farms is unique in that it's an all-inclusive bee experience - you don't just get the solitary bee house, but you get baby leafcutter bee cocoons to hatch too!
The whole kit is well packaged and thought out and comes with everything you need to get started. Since our kids will be home this year remote learning/homeschooling, we thought this would be a great project for science enrichment too.
Once you open your kit, you have the choice whether to let your cocoons start the hatching process inside or outside. We opted for inside so our kids could get to see them come out their cocoons - and don’t worry, letting these bees hatch inside your house isn’t as scary as it sounds! The cocoon box comes with a breathable window so you can see the process and keep them contained. Once 1-5 bees have hatched it’s time to bring the box outside, take the lid off, and put it in the loft of your bee house.
Once our bees started to hatch, we moved the cocoon box out to the bee house. We loved how the bee house looked on our potting bench but realized the afternoon sun was too intense here so we ultimately decided to hang it on our garden fence. This worked out well so our kids could keep a good eye on the bees too. These bees are non-aggressive so I’m personally not worried about our kids watching them up close.
Hello little bee friend!
We’ve had a few bees hatch over the last few days and I’m excited to see the rest of them hatch, move in, and pollinate our fall flowers and veggie garden!
End of Season Update: Ultimately we only had a few bees hatch and then they stopped… I was worried maybe a brief cool spell we experienced had done them in but after hearing back from Kind Bee Farms I found out that they unfortunately had some warehouse and processing delays due to COVID restrictions which affected their cocoon timing. They were kind enough to offer those who didn’t have a great hatching experience free cocoons next year which I thought was great customer service. I’m really looking forward to trying again next year and am sure we will have great results next time!
- I received this item for review from Kind Bee Farms but all opinions expressed are my own. Please see our full Disclosure Policy for more information -
So our garden isn’t magazine-worthy (and it definitely could use a good weeding - the spot by the gate gets so over-run with crab grass I can never seem to keep up) - but it’s been doing really well this year and I thought I would give a quick tour and share some things we’ve been doing in our Victory Garden. New England, Zone 4-5. | This post contains affiliate links |
Our garden is approximately 12x24 feet. My husband built the enclosure seven years ago with split-rail fence lined with garden wire fencing (to help keep critters out) and then designed and built the gate himself - the gate is absolutely my favorite part! At the front of the garden I inlayed bricks and pavers (all of which we had on our property left over from the previous owner years ago) to create a little stepping stone walkway leading up to the entrance of the garden and a small flower bed on each side.
Inside the garden everything was planted from seed and directly sown into the ground mid-May with the exception of the Rhubarb plant (it’s a perennial) and the Tomato plants (I purchased them as seedlings from a local garden center).
For fertilizer we put a few bags of composted cow manure in before rototilling in the spring, and then after planting the seeds I sprinkled a small amount of 10-10-10 Fertilizer across the garden.
In each of the front flower beds I planted Catmint which is a perennial and a great pollinator plant! The blooms attract lots of bees and butterflies and help encourage pollination in the vegetable garden. I also just love how wild and cottage-y they look. They’re also very drought tolerant and hardy - a great no-care plant once they’re established.
Soon I would like to also get some type of Mason Bee House to add to the garden to further ecourage pollinators to come to the garden.
Just inside the garden, along either side of the front, I planted Snap Peas against the fence so they would have something to climb. I also planted Carrots along this front area on each side as well.
When I directly sow the seeds into the ground, I usually stake the empty seed packet with a twig (seen above for the Snap Peas), to mark where I’m planting and so I can reference when the seeds should start to sprout, mature, etc as they grow. Now that my plants are mature I could take all these out but I haven’t just yet.
The Zucchini plants are huge this year! Right up to the top of the fence… though I do need to thin out some of the lower leaves on the ground soon for better air flow and access for pollinators (it also can help keep your plants from getting disease/mildew from the ground too).
Here are my Summer Squash plants, which are a bit smaller than the Zucchini ones but doing really well overall. I also need to thin out some of the lower leaves on these as well.
Spinach are cold weather plants and these ones pictured above are sadly done (I actually pulled them out after I took these photos). Once it starts getting hot they tend to “bolt” or grow upwards really fast and flower. Once they do that the leaves are bitter and don’t taste good. This spinach crop is done for now - though I will try to plant more Spinach late summer/early fall to get another harvest in the Fall.
Cucumbers are doing well too. It's a bit hard to see in this photo but I made a small trellis out of Bamboo Stakes and twine for them to grow on. The trellis may look flimsy, but bamboo is actaully really strong (and eco-friendly) so it's great to use in the garden to help support plants.
Along the back I have several Tomato plants growing, both cherry tomato and slicing tomato varieties; behind these along the fence I also have some Sunflowers growing too.
Now for the “showstopper” of the garden - our Rhubarb plant! This is definitely the plant that gets the most interest and questions about in our garden because it’s so big. Rhubarb is a perennial and will come back each year - so make sure to plant it somewhere out of the way where it will have room to grow. We planted this one in the back corner of our garden and marked the area with a stake so we don’t rototill over it in the spring.
While I’m honestly not a huge fan of Rhubarb myself (it’s very sour), growing it is a tradition in our family… when I was growing up we had a very large garden with at least 16 Rhubarb plants. We had so much Rhubarb that we would pick literally garbage bags full of it to give to neighbors and people at Church.
I transplanted this Rhubarb plant from my parents’ garden so I’m not sure on the variety… though from reading around online I’m guessing it’s some type of Canadian or Siberian variety. It can get very large with thick stalks and leaves over two feet across. If you decide to grow Rhubarb, make sure to read up on how to harvest it - you don’t want to over-pick the plant and the leaves are inedible (they’re actually somewhat toxic), it’s just the stalks that can be used.
Across the yard we also have some wine barrels that we’re using for an herb garden. Some of the more hardy herbs (Chives, Garlic Chives, Peppermint, Oregano) come back yearly, despite the fact the wine barrels freeze solid in the winter. I bought the blank slate garden markers on Amazon (and here is the how-to post on how I made them).
This year we also added two blueberry bushes to our landscaping since we didn’t have any fruit trees or bushes yet. It’s recommended to have two different varieties of blueberry bushes to encourage cross-pollinating and better fruit production, so we planted two different kinds near each other. We are already getting a few large berries from them which is very exciting! Here’s hoping they continue to do well in the years to come.
And that’s our little garden tour - thanks so much for following along! I’m no expert by any means, but if you have any questions please let me know.
I've been eyeing slate garden markers for our herb garden for awhile now, but buying pre-made ones are soooo expensive and they never have all the varieties I want. So I decided to take matters into my own hands and make my own. Because I have the world's worst handwriting (it's true, ask anyone) I used a Cricut to cut the text for me, but if you have half-decent handwriting you could easily do this project with a paint marker too. | This post contains affiliate links |
1. If using your Cricut to make the text, measure your garden markers and make each "label" in Design Space the appropriate size. I chose a font with a handwritten feel, but you can use whatever font you prefer. You may need to play around with the scale of the lettering to get it to fit. Use 651 Permanent Vinyl to cut your text.
2. "Weed out" your text, removing any pieces of vinyl you don't want to be in your final design. I find a dental explorer to be super useful here to get rid of the pieces inside of letters, but it's not necessary. The finer-point text was definitely a lot harder to weed (which is why you'll notice the dot on the "i" in garlic chives isn't in the right place).
3. Next use contact paper or transfer tape to put over your final vinyl design and rub well to make sure it's on there good. This will "carry" the vinyl once the backing is removed.
4. Carefully peel the backing off your design.. this can be tricky. My advice is to go slowly and have your dental explorer handy if you have one! It can help hold letters down as you peel off the back.
5. Once the backing is removed, carefully place on a clean and dry slate marker. Rub the design on well (I use an old gift card like a squeegee). Once it's on there good, carefully peel off the contact paper. Alternatively: If you don't have a Cricut or want to do this project by hand, you can skip steps 1-5 and just write your text freehand with a white paint marker and allow to dry.
6. To make sure the vinyl doesn't peel or come loose, I use a spray acrylic sealer to seal them. Just put the markers on a scrap piece of cardboard, give a light coating of the spray sealer, and allow to dry (make sure you're in a well-ventilated area). If you used a paint marker instead I would also suggest sealing them.
7. Hang your new garden markers! You can buy special hangers for them if you like, or use sticks and some twine or wire. In my case I wanted them on the barrels in our herb garden so I simply used some thin copper wire and "flossed" it through the slots in the barrel, tying it off with a large washer at the back so they don't pull through.
It has been SOOO abnormally hot in New England these past few weeks that my herb garden isn't looking too wonderful at the moment (hence the limited "after" pictures). We have six wine barrel planters on a small patio; four of the planters have perennial herbs (chives, garlic chives, sage, and peppermint) that come back each year and the other two planters I switch up each summer. Currently my poor plants are a bit sun-stressed and I'm far behind on weeding, but I hope you'll get the idea of the final install below. I think it really helps finish the space and I love that things are finally labeled.
EDIT Spring, 2020: Just wanted to hop on here and add that I’ve left these up year-round on our herb barrels since 2018 and they still look great! No fading or peeling with the sun or snow. The slate with the permanent vinyl labels and sealer have definitely held up wonderfully.
It's always fun to explore your own state and see what hidden gems there are. This past weekend was gorgeous and we decided to head out to the Remick Country Doctor Museum & Farm in Tamworth, NH to get a taste of rural living over the last 200 years.
The
Remick Museum chronicles the life of two rural country doctors, their families, and the way of life as it used to be. It's a working farm with livestock and gardens coexisting alongside historical artifacts and buildings. Our daughter was a HUGE fan of the petting area where there are friendly goats, sheep, and a miniature horse to interact with and feed.
Hello there!
There are many outbuildings and dirt paths to explore - and the views are gorgeous!
My favorite part of the property are all the amazing artifacts and antiques - it's incredible how far medicine and home life in general has evolved over the past 200+ years. The Remick Museum does a great job showcasing the old and new(er) way of life.
Old Kitchen
Newer kitchen of a later generation
No rest for the weary, wether you're a farmer or a doctor - and especially not if you're both!
Overall we had a great day at Remick Museum and will be back for sure! They host lots of fun events throughout the year, including kids day camps, programs on different farming subjects, ice harvesting in the winter, and more.
Just a short walk from the museum is the
Tamworth Lyceum and
The Other Store (yes, that's really what it's called), which are perfect stops for lunch or coffee before heading home. And if you visit in the summer months, you can catch a play at the The Barnstormers Theatre in the evening (check their schedule for details and showtimes).
