As a kid I
dreamed of living in the Big City. On weekends my mom and I drove into Boston
from the suburbs to go shopping at the iconic Filene’s Basement. I got such a
thrill out of walking through the scary “Combat Zone,” past shops and
restaurants in Chinatown, and arriving at “The Basement,” where we shielded each
other and tried on clothes in the aisles, and I learned math by figuring out
the “automatic markdowns.” The variety of different people in the city
fascinated me and I longed to live among them some day.
Indeed,
after college I moved to Boston where I lived for the next 20 years or so- in a
cockroach-infested apartment in Brighton, in three different makeshift artist
lofts downtown, and then in a duplex I owned with a friend in Jamaica Plain. I
got married, my husband and I consolidated our two households of “stuff” into
one apartment, my friend got married and had two children, they moved out, and
we decided to follow suit. We felt cramped and had become homebodies taking
little advantage of the convenience of nearby restaurants and amenities or our proximity
to the T. We also got sick of the occasional sounds of gunshots and all-night
parties of nearby neighbors.
In 2015 we
took the plunge and moved to Holliston, to a home we fell in love with- a house
on a two and a half acre lot with a garden, a swimming pool, a brook, lovely
landscaping, and lots of privacy. Oh, and a chicken coop. We went from one
extreme to the other, and while I had dabbled in container gardening and
watched my parents manicuring their lawn and planting shrubs and annuals, I
needed a crash course in country living!
I set a
goal, to at least avoid killing all the beautiful plants during the first year.
With books like Pruning Basics by David Squire I did teach myself “the basics”
of pruning rhododendrons, roses of Sharon, and lilacs. I kept a log book of
what came up when: hellebores and daffodils first, followed by irises and
poppies, and at this time of year various lilies, daisies and roses. Martha
Stewart’s recent Martha’s Flowers provided great ideas for arranging and
displaying cut flowers to bring the beauty of the yard inside the house.
Facing a
daunting fenced-in garden, I set to work watching YouTube videos and scouring
Improving Your Soil by Keith Reid. I learned about prepping soil, rented a
rototiller, bought seeds, and planned the layout. Companion planting (see Louise
Riotte’s Carrots Love Tomatoes) became a passion. I ended up with too many
zucchinis and cucumbers, and relied on Bittman’s trusty How to Cook Everything
Vegetarian to make use of it all. Imagine my pride serving guests garden-fresh
salads and arugula walnut pesto, followed by cucumber mint sorbet.
The
property did not come with chickens, and I insisted on waiting for a year
before acquiring any. We had enough to learn during the first year. On the
anniversary of moving in, I brought 6 tiny chicks home and delved into the
study of keeping them happy and alive. For anyone with the capacity and will to
venture into chicken parenting, the library has Storey’s Guide to Raising
Chickens, and A Kid’s Guide to Keeping Chickens, if the children want to help.
To get a feel for the way chicken-owners become attached to their flocks, watch
the hilarious documentary Chicken People.
Of course,
with chickens come abundant eggs. We didn’t realize just how many eggs!
Fortunately I received Rachel Khong’s All About Eggs, and Eggs, by Michel Roux,
as gifts. For the library’s volunteer appreciation get-together I made “Green
Goddess Deviled Eggs” from the library’s D’lish Deviled Eggs cookbook, and they
got rave reviews.
Our country
oasis surprised us over and over. I discovered Concord grapes growing along a
fence and into the trees, and learned a bit about canning and preserving (see DIY
Canning). I posted a photo of a weird brain-like mushroom and found out we had
precious morels! This prompted the purchase of Foraging New England. Although
strange mushrooms frighten me, I delight in harvesting wild berries, chard, and
rogue tomato plants that manage to self-seed in the woods.
Home
ownership is not all fun and games though. Having never maintained a pool
before, I discovered What Color is Your Swimming Pool. With so much space to
fill with more and more stuff, I finally read Kondo’s The Life-Changing Magic
of Tidying Up, and learned to de-clutter. Just because you have room for it doesn’t
mean you need to keep it and crowd your living space with junk.
Sometimes
I miss the variety of restaurants in Boston, and I don’t like the long ride to
and from the city when visiting friends or attending events, but at this stage
in life, I definitely prefer being a country girl. A Zen-like calm comes over
me while gardening, and after reading my grandmother’s memoir about farm life
in Lithuania, I wonder whether this knack is in my DNA. As I listen to
songbirds, “peeper” frogs, and even the silence of winter- when I smile
watching the silly chickens or discovering that the peonies have bloomed, I
have no regrets about moving.
