Week of May 10

     When we offered a contract on The White House Inn last summer, the gardens were a riot of blooming glory.  I thought, incorrectly, that these flowers would re-appear with scant effort on my part.  Coming from Washington DC with our postage-size yard filled with about seven evergreens, spring prep involved laying down two bags of mulch.   Clearly, this MO was not going to work here.  I frantically called the Belfast Garden Club and a lovely lady, Gina Fry, came over to give me a tutorial on what was in the garden and what we must do to re-create the beauty of last summer. You guessed it — what first we must do is weed.  And weeding is what my husband and I have been doing.  Who said something about the joy of going back to the land?   BTW, the Belfast Garden Club is sponsoring Open Garden Days 2009 on Fridays from May to September; on each Friday, a home opens its gardens to the public.  Our place is scheduled for  Friday, August 21.  More about this later – I am panicked that we have pulled the flowers along with the weeds.  But a wise person once said, “A weed is simply an unwanted flower,” or something.

     As an anecdote to weeding, we tried wine!  The Cellardoor Vineyard is Maine’s oldest vineyard and it’s right next door to Belfast in Lincolnville.  On a blustery and rainy Wednesday evening, with hands scarred from weeding and my manicure ruined (along with those pesky dandelions), we joined a wine tasting event at the vineyard.  Truly, this farm-winery offers a bit of Tuscany in the mid-coast hills.  Anyone can stop in anytime for a complimentary wine tasting around the inviting wine bar, and take a  tour of the vineyard .  Of the wines I sampled, my personal favorite is a red called, “Ned Said ‘Red’”.  I am not too sure of the story behind that name! 

Later,

Diana