I Killed My Pepper.

We've got tomatoes, some peppers, cucumbers, beans, corn, celery, eggplant, watermelon, pumpkin, cabbage, onions, carrots, leeks, brussel sprouts, lavender, basil, oregano, mint, chives, parsley and oregano.

When you go on an interview and they ask you what your biggest weakness is I will always say I am over eager. Not only is it the truth but it's a trait that's helped me nail several interviews.

So:

• Don't plant your peppers in April! I boasted about planting early to other gardeners and look what happened. Garden karma!
• If your cucumbers look sad don't toss them. I almost did that but they all of a sudden had a growth spurt. 
• I've been told by several experienced gardeners that dish soap and water will keep the bugs away. It coats the plant so they can't adhere if I am correct. Cross your fingers. No one likes bugs in their veggies. 

Life goes on. 

A close friend of mine said I was getting too serious with it and I said no not serious I just don't want any of my kids to die! There was no response to that statement. It's that moment where you feel a little crazy but you're happy so obviously it's working.

I hope to be able to share the garden this year with as many as possible and I would like to get some over to the neighbors. Last year we had just moved in...it was late June...and it was a bust! Not exciting at all. So never to early and never too late. I think we will be ok this year tho.

The sun will come out on Wednesday!

Matthew

Whoever lived here had a favorite color...and it was purple.

1. Magenta mutant tree/shrub

It's a nice change to not actually be trespassing to take photos during the spring. The prior year at this time we had just went into contract but I couldn't wait to see what was growing back here. One time I ran into the agent who was at the home getting it ready for closing. I told him I was just taking measurements for a new fence!

Now it's mine all mine and obviously someone else's before me and apparently they loved purple and magenta. I never realized how much of this color was present until living here while it's all happening and the loads of perennials are coming back. There is so much growth in the yard and that works out great because I'm a big believer of using what you have and adding a little of your own. Why change? Instead I add to it and use what you got! Just transplant at the right time and the right way. If you're new at it and get a little haphazard with the transport and it wilts give it a boost with some good plant food and plenty of water. Water daily for the first week!

Magenta mutant tree/shrub closeup bud

The purple flowering plants with the exception of the forsythias are the first to bloom this season and its been a very indigo show. I actually have a board on Pinterest titled Indigo for my color inspirations in that deep rich but velvety tone. That's how I see purple. It's such a powerful color for nature. It gives your yard that surreal feel. The only thing that could make me happier is to find out some of it was planted by the original owner. It must have been because I have shrub that is the size of a large tree. I have no idea what it is and thats why I am creating this post. For those who read this if you could name the flowering plants in the picture that would be awesome.

Blue-purple cone shaped flowers.

4. Lilacs

4. Hyacinths caption

Arial Gardens in the Poet Section

Let the blisters and body aches ensue. It's totally worthwhile when you arrive at the finished product but that time has not come yet and I have a ways to go. A few more blisters probably. I would say we're about halfway there. With three stories and two dozen windows I thought it would be a great idea to create arial rock gardens viewable from the upper floors of the home. It will make for a nice surprise when you look out and down.

Since late February I have been collecting specific round, heart or egg shaped rocks and stones at local beaches from the north and south shores. I of course wanted to bring the coastal element home. The surrounding bodies of water have a lot of memories for me from the rocky beaches of the north to the ocean and bay beaches of the south. My plans for my first garden was to create a healing mandala. To put it simply,  and I am still learning myself, a mandala garden is a special garden where rocks are aligned in concentric circles or spirals for the purpose of cleansing bad energies, meditation and more. It also looks really cool. A big believer in positive surroundings and a big fan of fun projects that are eye catching - both were a focus for me. I think it's really important to make the grounds look nice not just for us bu

t also the neighborhood. It makes it more special when everyone can enjoy. Here is where I got so far with the mandala on the outside northeast corner. Looks pretty cool already. I keep catching myself going to the windows just to look at it. I love it, even partially completed.

The second garden I worked on today and got pretty far...hence the blisters and the reason for this entry. I couldn't wait to share. At first I went conventional and it didn't workout for me. Randomly placing stones to fill in spaces and jointing it with rock to hold it was too mundane a solution to me. In fact I had sent a photo to Seth and he wasn't happy with it either. So with that in mind and a moment of "what the hell am I gonna do" I figured it out. I just came to me. I created one of my favorite shapes and a symbol of the constant theme of love I continually encounter on journey. Sometimes good, sometimes bad. That's love! ❤️ Eventually a fully constructed gazebo will be placed over it for summer shade. Hopefully the heart will still be viewable while the canopy is up for the summer. I'm sure it will.

As you can see from the ground you really can't tell what it is or get that wow really cool factor until you're on the second or third floor. It reminds me of a very small version of a geoglyphs of southern Peru called the Nasca Lines. You know those ancient carving in the ground that are only viewable from up high. I've been watching the Discovery and National Geographic channels since I was a kid. I think that's where I drew some of my inspiration. I don't know how it happens tho, I hit a wall and the ideas just come to me. Sometimes thinking to hard can disable your creativity and sometimes a challenge can inspire you.

I can't wait to finish these gardens. I am not sure which material I plan on using to fill in the voids. Maybe more rocks, possibly a dark mulch...or maybe even plants! The beauty of it is I don't have to decide and I can just do as I please. The creative part of me is in control. It feels good to not have to think and just be able to do. It is incredibly relaxing,

Thanks for the read.

Love,

Matthew

The Adult Tree House

So the work has begun on the greenery at the house and I'm more excited than ever to get my hands dirty knowing the original owner Annie, was just as eager being a horticulturalist and master planter. At least that is what I hope as I still have to confirm at the county office in Riverhead NY by researching the deeds and ownership trail. However, as winter mixes with spring it becomes a cold wet mess out there which brings work to a halt because I can't track mud in the house. Seth would have my head on a platter.

In the meantime I am entertaining myself on my      day off with one of my favorite activities since we moved in - weather watching. We have a partially finished third floor which was once a walk up attic. I call it the "tree house". Its a great place to watch the sunset and a relaxing place to just be in silence. It really is a magical place. The wild life is returning in the form of huge robins, blue jays and unidentified black birds which were bathing and making a splash in our bird baths. I feel like I am in a wildlife conservatory. Now if you read my earlier post I think I mentioned that during my research I discovered that this land was once a private hunting and fishing almost park like area in North Babylon for the original owners and founders of the land and surrounding areas which are now West Babylon, North Babylon, Babylon, West Islip and even possibly Lindenhurst. As far as I know it could have been more but from what I read they're land definitely stretched through different towns. That is how much land these founding families owned and controlled during the late 1800's to early 1900's. Maybe even longer I am still digging. On to my point, I am pretty confident the birds, rabbits and plants have been living here way before we have and they've never left due to the very old trees that line the streets of the poet section - many of which are original whether native or planted and this has been their home since. The wildlife was ironically fostered and nurtured as a result of the land restrictions to the public for private hunting use. That is my theory.

We had some guests from out of town stay the weekend with us and they decided to lay back and relax and I thought it was a great idea. We love this house and we love to share it with others. It makes anyone who enters feel happy and welcome. They love it as much as we do and we love that.   

Me and My Lady Annie Orr: Horticulturalist, Widow & Original Owner of 150 Poet

Our mostly finished exterior. A few minor details left.
We love it. If you need a guy I've got one!

During the exterior renovation one of our neighbors sent a text to previous owners of the home. They had lived there for over thirty years and raised a family. They responded with excitement and loved how it was coming out and thanked our neighbor for the photos. As a gift in return they left info about the original owner of the home and their occupation. It had never crossed my mind to ask previous owners if they knew who built the home and I was doing so well on my own with the research or so I thought I was.

Historical Ariel Photo from 1953. The yellow square indicates
the location of the house and the blue line represents the original
property borders before being subdivided in 1972. Land stretched
north to Emerson and South to Hunter. Only weird thing is the
street address is coming up as Lowell Ave. but I don't see that
street name on any maps. Could Lowell been changed to Poet
to match the surrounding streets named after famous poets. Find
out who I think its called the Poet Section in my first entry.

She went by the name Annie Orr and she was born in New York in the year 1884. She was a horticulturalist who lived on a large piece of land that extended north and south of the current properties borders. Several things made sense after learning this including the massive amount of growth and the thirteen trees on the property of which many were planted when the house was built. Several were not native to the area including red hickory and dogwood and when our tree guy came to check them out and do some trimming he had informed me they were around 100 years old and were most likely planted by the original owners. Sounds like Annie planted those trees! Another clue we found was the original molding trim around the front door that was still there. We found it when we took off the first layer of the exterior. It has painted vines with pink flowers as a border over the white wood frame. We were also told by neighbors there is onion growth in the ground. So someone was planting! That hasn't stopped either.

We found this floral trim underneath the existing molding.
A sign someone was a fan of flora.

I feel like Annie Orr has possessed me physically and mentally. I am totally attached to the ground at this point. From the moment we moved in I started digging and planting. Now with a whole spring to work in front of me I've become obsessed with crazy ideas. I have more pins in my Magic Garden Pinterest board than I do my fashion and makeup boards. It seems my focus is switching but thats a whole different post and I will divulge my plans which include a checkerboard garden and mandala rock spiral which I am in the middle of building out on the front corner section in the midst of all Annie's trees.

Covered in dirt last summer. It was an all the time thing.

So as I was researching more about Annie I found out she was widowed. I am not sure if she had kids I found some documents but not with any indication of descendants. I do not know who her husband was but I do know she was related to the Higbie family which were a prominent local family who most likely contributed to the founding of the towns of North Babylon, West Islip and Babylon Village.

Luckily for me I am located in what they call an enumerated district which is a district that they sample more throughly and learn about the inhabitants when they do a census. The last census I found Annie on was 1940 and with a slew of info. However, it's is a difficult document to read and I am going to need to find a way to magnify the text and sharpen the text or find a better copy. Hoping to get some photos of her as well and the house as I continue to "dig" further!

Population Schedule for the 16th Census of the United States Dept. of Commerce 1940

www.ambrostyle.com

Wednesday Night In @ 150

Page from the Southside Signal, January 23, 1909 - Edgar Allen Poe Feature

So, without making this sound like a history lesson I am going to share with you some interesting leads I have come upon which has provided clues to several of my questions including this one.

Question 1: Why is it called the "Poet Section" of North Babylon?

Henry Livingston Jr.

I've always wondered how towns chose street names. I guess it would be similar to how they choose the names of towns which include the names of founding families of Long Island. Well based on what I discovered from reading the local weekly, Southside Signal which details every waking moment of the hustle and bustle of Babylon Village and the "country" out in North Babylon on the cusp of the industrial revolution, that the very author and publisher of the Southside Signal Henry Livingston was not only a poet but so was his uncle famous poet Henry Livingston, Jr. (October 13, 1748 - February 29, 1828) the uncredited and proposed original author of the poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas", more popularly known (after its first line) as "The Night Before Christmas. It then also clicked as to why it regularly featured other famous poets such as Edgar Allen Poe. Now its not confirmed but I see to have found a reason for why it possibly could be called the "Poet Section". Publisher of weekly newspaper Southside Signal, Henry Livingston definitely has something to do with the poetic influence that still seems to reside here. Not only in the names of the streets but also in the century old trees, the artistic old vibe of charming original homes and even in the wildlife which I have experienced first hand on many occasions. But that will be my next entry...it turns out the land that surrounds our home used to be...

Stay tuned!

The House Found Us

It was the very first home we saw but certainly not the last. In our search we found many nice homes but nothing that was the right fit for us. Nothing drew us in and when buying you've gotta go with what feels right. After viewing several homes on Long Island from Patchogue to Babylon we finally decided to go with 150 Poet in the hamlet and census designated place of North Babylon, NY. Blinded by its charm and character we dove right in, as if we were under a spell. Since then we have encountered challenges we've never experienced before from unwelcome visitors in our attic to the potential for frozen pipes. Needless to say, these past 7 months of living in our 112 year old home has been extraordinary and educational to say the least! We learned more about the home and the inner workings of it than we ever expected and it seems we will be perpetual students as we continuously update, explore and research our historic home.

When we first moved in we knew very little about it. The neighborhood we are located in is called the Poet Section which includes several street names named after famous poets and I will you tell what my theory is on that later on. According to friendly new neighbors who came to say hello it was built in circa 1905 and was possibly a farmhouse because the surrounding homes found onions growing in their yards. In the 1970's the house was scheduled to be demolished due to development of new roads and homes and a subdivision of the property the house currently resides on. Thanks to efforts by residents the home was saved and the new roads were built around it. Since then we and the home have been getting to know each other and enjoying our time together. I look forward to sharing the stories I have found out about this unamed domicile which I hope to name after my research is completed.