Category Archives: Howard County

Too Tired to Post

Posted on April 24, 2014 by AnnieRie

That would be a strange occurrence for me, but after just downloading 90 photos and editing them, I realized how much we had done in just a few days. The camera had pictures from:

Grilling the last of the venison.

Finishing the tilling and pathway construction of the garden.

Picking up the Friends and Farms basket.

And, socializing and dining at Petit Louis Bistro.

There will be individual posts on each of these topics coming up, but in closing tonight, before I collapse on the sofa to watch Elementary, a reminder that Lake Kittamaqundi is a special place. Go enjoy lunch or dinner there, or stop by Le Comptoir for breakfast.

I may have left Columbia nine years ago, but the lakefront is special.

Somewhere, not far from the People Tree is our brick, celebrating that move to Columbia almost forty years ago.

#hocofood

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Posted in Community, Food, Friends and Farms, Howard County, Local Businesses, Real Food, Restaurants and tagged community, Food, foodie, gardening, grilling, hoco loco, Howard County, local businesses, Locavore, real food. Bookmark the permalink.

Busy Season at the Conservancy

Posted on April 23, 2014 by AnnieRie

Just about everyone who reads my blog knows I spend way too much time (just kidding) at my volunteer “job” at the Howard County Conservancy. April and May are two of the busiest months. But, they are chock full of fun things to do, and in a location that just takes away all the stress in my life the minute I enter the driveway.

How can you resist the lure of this view?

Here is the upcoming calendar.
APR 26- Saturday 8am-1pm Earth Day: Make a Difference!

Start with a bird walk. Grab some gardening tools and pitch in and plant trees. Or, clean out some invasive species. Buy some native plants at the plant sale.

APR 28- Monday 9-12am Home School Day

This field trip is one of my favorites. Home school families will come to the Conservancy. A handful of us will be manning stations to teach them. And, they have some large group activities as well. Always a great interactive day with people who are passionate about teaching their children.

MAY 4 – Sunday 3- 6 pm Belmont Preview Event

The Conservancy is officially kicking off their management of the Belmont Mansion site. With an open house. If you have never been to Belmont you should check out this event.

MAY 10- Saturday 10am Mothers’ Day Special- Tea, Scones & Gardens

This year I am making scones for this Mother’s Day party. The local garden clubs who maintain the various gardens on the property will be on hand to show off the spring finery, and there will be tea and scones.

MAY 29- Thursday 5-8pm 8th Annual Wine in the Garden

The annual major fund raiser for the Conservancy. And, a wonderful night in the honors garden. With silent auction. Many caterers providing small bites (enough altogether to make a light fancy feast). Numerous wines, some local. This year the event is after Memorial Day, so an easier night to attend without interfering with holiday plans.

Check out the upcoming events page. Come join us, for one or more of them, or just come visit. Spring is busting out all over.

#hocoblogs

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Posted in Community, Howard County, Volunteering and tagged community, gardening, howard county conservancy, volunteering. Bookmark the permalink.

Perfection

Posted on April 21, 2014 by AnnieRie

The weather. The garden. The grilling.

All came together to make one perfect day out here. We spent part of the day tilling, and came home to grill a good dinner.

68° and sun and breeze and no humidity. Why we live here. Spring is my favorite season.

Tomorrow, Sharp’s Farm opens and we will be there picking out tomatoes for the garden. If you want a huge selection of vegetables, flowers, and herbs to plant, try and get out to the greenhouses. They are open Tuesdays through Saturdays for picking out plants.

It may rain tomorrow night but the rest of the week should give us more perfection.

Crank up the grill. Plant some herbs, or lettuce.

Find some flower seeds to sprinkle in the ground. Tomorrow is Earth Day. And, come join us for a bird walk and some projects at the Conservancy this Saturday to celebrate.

#hocoblogs

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Posted in Gardening, Howard County, Nature, Volunteering, Weather and tagged community, gardening, Howard County, howard county conservancy, spring flowers, weather. Bookmark the permalink.

Out and About: Gadsby’s Bar American

Posted on April 20, 2014 by AnnieRie

What a great way to spend a Thursday evening. Watching a master of mixology (aka Beverage Mercenary) create craft cocktails for a small group of local bloggers.

The venue. Gadsby’s Bar American in the northeast corner where Columbia meets Ellicott City. A little difficult to find, but very convenient right off Route 100. I like individually owned restaurants where the food is made from scratch, and there are many local ingredients, wines and beers on the menu. Gadsby’s delivers in this respect.

Chad Spangler, who obviously loves his craft, and excels at it (he makes one very tasty Sazerac as well as the five craft cocktails he made for us. All while explaining the art surrounding his craft. Right down to making their own tonic syrup for their Gin and Tonic. Their own simple syrups. A lavender foam. Yes, you read it right. Creating the foam using a stabilizer, like lecithin. Science in cooking. What isn’t there to like about it?

This was our introduction to a restaurant where we will return, as the menu looks very tempting. As does the wine list. I was happy to see Herman Wiemer’s wines on the menu. One of our long time favorite Finger Lakes producers, of dry Riesling and Cabernet Franc.

Other little goodies are enticing as well. Just take a look at the tasting trays they put out for us.

Thanks to Chef Gadsby (you were robbed in Iron Chef America), Chad Spangler, and Michael the bartender, and to Jessie Newburn, our hocoblogs den mother who arranged this demonstration.

If you live around here and want a new place to try that isn’t a boring chain restaurant, check out Gadsby’s. And order their seasonal cocktails, made with rhubarb.

Or, if you like your Manhattan a bit smoky, this one is a treat.

#hocofood

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Posted in Adventures, Food, Howard County, Local Businesses, Restaurants, Wine and tagged community, Food, hoco loco, Howard County, local businesses. Bookmark the permalink.

Just Us Chickens

Posted on April 11, 2014 by AnnieRie

The total chicken post. For whatever reason we just have chickens everywhere we look. Watching the girls run around England Acres (and getting to feed them, if you want).

Or, how about the tour tomorrow. See the Conservancy web site, if you want to join us. After all, chickens are immensely interesting.

The baby chicks at Tractor Supply. I always get inspired and want to buy some and get a coop, but then we just “chicken out” for some reason. While we were there last week, I wanted to take a few pictures of the adorable chicks but they prohibit picture taking.

The joys of free range chicken eggs. The colors. You don’t need to dye these eggs for Easter. They already are amazing in color and designs.

Who can resist the lure of these fresh eggs, with so much flavor.

#hocofood

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Posted in Birds, Farms, Food, Howard County, Real Food and tagged chickens, farms, Food, Howard County, howard county conservancy, real food. Bookmark the permalink.

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Chickens …

Posted on April 6, 2014 by AnnieRie

… in a fun tour of coop-to-coop.

April 12th. 10 am to 2 pm. A number of Howard County chicken owners are opening their coops for the chance to meet the “girls” and see what fun chickens are. Sponsored as a free program from the Howard County Conservancy. Visit the upcoming event page to learn all about this program.

You can get a description of the tour and some information on the coops. Visit as many as you like.

I saw this great program a few years back in a blog about living in Sonoma County. Suggested the program to our friends on the committee at the Conservancy. This is the inaugural event.

There are eleven sites on the tour. Come out with us. Bring your friends. I really think this is a fun way to spend a Saturday morning.

Updated: Because one of the links isn’t working right for everyone. Visit the Conservancy page to see about the event and get a corrected copy.

#hocoblogs

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Posted in Birds, Community, Farms, Howard County, Volunteering and tagged birds, farms, Howard County, howard county conservancy, volunteering. Bookmark the permalink.

Diggin’ The Garden

Posted on April 5, 2014 by AnnieRie

At long last, a day to get outside and start working on the gardening. But, that wind chill made it a bit hard to get lots done.

I spent most of today out at the Community Gardens. The Food Bank plot team was preparing the double plot for spring plantings. I have started cilantro from seed, in my garage window, and will be donating some of those plants for the herb site there.

I was there today to assist in the row cover sale and orders.

We were over in the restored Montjoy barn today. Trying to stay out of the wind. Cutting and folding row cover and selling hoops for low rows. We are going to put in one row so that is next week’s project, if we get the ground dry enough to till. I would like to start some spring plants there.

Monday I am off to Sharp’s to return the unused thin version of the row cover, and the last of the hoops. Sharp’s Waterford Farm on Jennings Chapel Road is a great supporter of local businesses and garden clubs all over the area. They open for business on April 22nd this year.

And, yes, spring is officially here. That would be evident as it was opening day at the Woodstock Snowball Stand. A little cold for snowballs, but such a welcome sight.

So, Howard Countians. Get out there! Plant a few herbs. Take a ride and get a snowball. Spring is definitely here.

#hocoblogs

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Posted in Community, Farms, Food, Gardening, Howard County, Local Businesses, Volunteering, Weather, West HoCo and tagged community, farms, Food, gardening, Howard County, howard county conservancy, local businesses, volunteering, weather, West HoCo. Bookmark the permalink.

Four Years In

Posted on March 31, 2014 by AnnieRie

Time flies when you are having fun.

As in being retired.

I have to admit though, this winter tested that “fun” thing.

Four years ago tomorrow, April 1st was my last day at work. I never intended to work again. I was positive that there was enough to do.

There certainly is quite a bit to do around here. Like volunteer. And, learn new things. Like gardening, leading hikes, the environment and so much more.

Robinson Nature Center needs lots of volunteers. So does the Howard County Conservancy, where I hang out. Master gardeners. Master naturalists.

School volunteers. Park volunteers. Greenway clean up teams.

For me, my spring and fall are busy with leading field trips. Spring, summer and fall I have my garden. Usually in the winter there is still a lot to do, but this winter was tough with all the snow and the cold.

All in all, Howard County is a great place to retire, if you want to keep your mind and body active.

Here’s to retirement, the third trimester of my life.

#hocoblogs

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Posted in Howard County, Retirement, Volunteering and tagged howard county conservancy, retirement, volunteering, weather. Bookmark the permalink.

Wanting to Garden!

Posted on March 29, 2014 by AnnieRie

I am so ready for springtime and gardening. I can’t wait to lose the winter doldrums and start planting.

The seeds I started indoors are getting out of control.

The scarlet emperor beans are a foot high. The edamame have pushed through the potting soil. Lots of arugula ready to transplant.

The cardoons are getting feisty.

Purple tomatillo. Check. I also started a small pot yesterday with dill seeds for the herb garden out back.

We had our kick off community garden meeting today.

There are 24 new gardeners at the Conservancy plots.

Next week. Row cover pick up. The following week. Garden work day. Next week, also is Greenfest at Howard Community College. The following week, is the coop to coop tour for the chicken coops in Howard County.

Sometime in there I need to go pick up my plants for my summer garden from Sharp’s, and put the potatoes in the ground in the yard.

We are deciding where to put the root plants. The hoops with row cover. Where to put the tomatoes and the peppers.

Spring can’t come fast enough.

#hocofood

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Posted in Food, Gardening, Howard County, Nature, Weather and tagged Food, gardening, Howard County, howard county conservancy, real food, West HoCo. Bookmark the permalink.

The Runaround

Posted on March 26, 2014 by AnnieRie

It’s what I am currently doing to fill in those voids in my pantry and fridge.

Wegmans has a few things I like, and can’t get elsewhere. So does Roots. And, Harris Teeter.

But, they are no longer the primary source of the foods we eat.

The CSAs and the Friends and Farms basket now comprise the bulk of my food sources.

Plus, what is in the freezer, from my garden and from places like Larriland.

Roots is my source for cereal, bulk foods and specialty items like coconut oils.

Thankfully, Clarksville isn’t that far away.

As for Wegmans, they are the only source for two standard items in our kitchen.

Shelf stable non dairy creamer, unflavored, for me.

A really good choice for K cup coffee, this San Francisco Bay one.

We are still getting the coupon books, even though Wegmans has decided I don’t come there often enough to send me the Menu magazine. I asked. They said, I don’t do enough business with them.

Interesting reply.

Harris Teeter. The grocery store we use for other shopping. Mainly on Thursdays, since they give seniors like us a 5% discount on Thursdays.

So, tomorrow, while getting my Friends and Farms pick up, I will hit Wegmans to use the coupon for coffee, which we need.

I have to admit. It is not what I thought I would be doing, four years ago, when I retired. Interesting that the changes I made to focus on local buying, and small business emphasis, have shaped where I go and what I purchase.

#hocofood

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