Our garden’s gone in slower than usual this year, not surprising since it’s all fallen to D-I-L Tracee. Of course, we knew, in that vague way that we know and don’t want to know, that someday this place would fall into Ed and Tracee’s hands. I’d be out of the picture and the garden, rambling old house, barn, hens, woodpiles, dogs, cats and rats would be their problem.

Naturally, I figured that would be a good couple of decades on, not taking into account any decline on my part. Strong, capable, working hard and then boom. Gone. I hadn’t figured on my knee. On missing a whole winter and spring of long walks, digging up the garden beds, pounding in posts, even keeping my dishes done.

Not only have I been humbled by my inability to rush around my house all day, but an element of fear enters in: what’s next to go? But I don’t dwell. Worrying about the next bad thing just ruins what should be a perfectly good day.

So back to the garden. It was all up to Tracee this year. And, as it turns out, what was our garden – Wally’s and mine, then my garden, then ours again – Tracee and me, is this year, Tracee’s garden. She filled out the Fedco order back in January, started the seedlings, dug up the beds, made the decisions. I was there for advice, but she didn’t need much. She decided where to put the greens, the onions, the tomatoes. How many kinds of peas to plant, where the corn should go.

She borrowed a neighbor’s rototiller for the corn and potato patch since ours is on the fritz, or should I say, kaput? She enlisted Ed to put in the stakes and plant the tomatoes, even as I hobbled around pulling up an occasional weed that caught my eye

The best advice I could give her was to not get stressed. Thankfully, we won’t starve; though we plant nearly everything we can think of, Mr. Hannayford’s is right down the road if the onions fizzle or the broccoli’s invest with worms.

The other morning, after those blistering hot days we all complained about, she noticed the spinach was on the verge of bolting – sending up stalks, going to seed. Greens like spinach and lettuce, arugula and cilantro are tender and tasty only when young, putting all their vitality into their lush leaves. In hot weather they forget the leaves and put that energy into making seeds and the leaves wither.

So, she pulled the whole row of spinach, cut off the roots and filled the old aluminum flying saucer (the one her husband and his brothers used to hurtle down our hill forty years ago) with tender, green leaves. Dumping them into my huge slate sink (we freely share kitchens these days) she washed them, and packed them into two-gallon plastic bags and into the fridge.

Finally, something I could do: make the creamed spinach. There’s only so much spinach you can eat fresh; ditto everything you might grow in your garden. Some vegetables store in a root cellar: carrots, cabbages, beets, potatoes. Onions and garlic do well in a cool, dry place. Peas, beans, corn are easy to freeze as is. Tomatoes are usually canned. Spinach? I freeze it in a cream sauce. It turns out our favorite breakfast, Tracee and I, is creamed spinach baked with an egg and cheese on top.

Now that the knee lets me stand on it for a while, I volunteered to do the spinach. The first step is steaming it to wilt it, get out some of the water. I did it in batches in my soup kettle. That whole flying saucer full of leaves steamed down to a solid mass that filled a big colander. Next I made the sauce, the white sauce recipe I learned in sixth grade home economics: 1 T butter, 1 T flour, 1 C milk times four made a quart. Plus cayenne, dry mustard, half a jar of last year’s horseradish, some creole seasoning and salt. It’s very tasty.

Stirred the whole thing together until all the spinach was covered, then spooned it into little snack bags, half a cup per bag. It made a lot of little bags. Those went into gallon bags with a paper label stuck inside (always label stuff for the freezer; you’ll never remember) ready to pull out any cold morning when we want a nice hot breakfast.

The whole point of the garden, I tell Tracee, is to love it, to go out there and feel renewed, or excited, or just calm. If the hens scratched up your chard seed, or you forgot to water the cucumbers, or it hasn’t rained in weeks it’s okay. Something’s thriving, even it’s only the root vegetables, safely cocooned underground where there may be some dampness.

Though I may not have been much help around the house this spring, keeping this rackety old place going (haven’t mentioned fences that keep in neither dogs nor hens, or a long-standing Beach cleaning job, or rug orders that pile up) I will take partial credit for one project that did get completed this week-end. On Sunday little signs with QR codes were installed in 11 Lincolnville cemeteries.

I’d certainly seen those little squares of squiggley squares in ads, on TV, and on products and had a vague idea that you could point your phone at them for more information. Somebody told me they’re called QR codes. They’ve been around for quite a while, but in the same way that I avoid thinking bad thoughts or dredging up memories that make me sad, I purposely steered clear of them. One more technological trap I thought. Who needed them?

But wait. Sitting somewhere on the Cloud – whatever that is – are web pages describing our town’s cemeteries, all 23 of them. Some years ago, Corelyn Senn researched each one and wrote a piece about them. We put those stories on the Historical Society’s website, a separate page for each, including photos, a map and a listing of the burials.

I wondered how many people ever saw them. Of the 23 cemeteries, 11 are accessible to the public. Could those funny square codes make the information available to anyone? Or anyone with a cell phone that is? How do they work? Point your phone’s camera at the square and up pops the website. An easy search found a free site that will create a QR code for any web address (URLs in case you don’t know – I only recently learned).

In an hour I made QRs for each of the 11 cemeteries, found a site called Build a Sign, designed and ordered a sign for each including its own QR. The town’s Cemetery Trustees and the Historical Society agreed to split the cost.

Steve Hardy offered to install the small metal signs and found metal fence posts to fasten them to. He picked them up Friday and Sunday afternoon he and Jane stopped by to say all 11 were installed. How often does that happen? Somebody says “I’ll do that!” and then they do, the very next day! And it sounds like they enjoyed touring around town on a beautiful summer day, visiting each cemetery, pounding in the posts and fastening the signs.

How well do you know Lincolnville? I invite everyone to spend a couple of hours some nice day, finding these historic and lovely cemeteries: Maplewood, Sylvester, French, Youngtown, Hills, Cross, Center Burying Ground, Norton, Fletcher, Union, Hillside. Take out your phone, aim it at the QR and see what comes up.

School

The last week of school and full of activities! The eighth grade class graduates Tuesday, June 15, 5:30 p.m. in the Lynx gym. Exciting as that is, the class has Step-Up night to look forward to, Thursday at 6 p.m. when the rising 9th graders and their parents (the class of 2025!) visit CHRHS, tour the school with their homerooms, learn about the clubs, organizations and sports teams.

Also on June 15 K-2 students will take a field trip to Birch Point State Park.

Friday, June 18 is the last day of school with Field Day and 11:30 a.m. dismissal.

Best wishes to Coral Coombs, retiring this year and to all the staff, a heartfelt thank you from those of us who’ve watched you navigate this difficult school year. Better days are ahead!

Our Ponds

Did you pick up a copy of the Town Report or read it on line? As always, there’s lots of good information to be found in these reports. I learned under the Lakes and Ponds Committee report about phragmites, an invasive reed that threatens the inlet to Norton Pond. Last year committee members and friends tackled this burgeoning patch of reeds behind Veterans Park and that was overtaking the nature trail leading to the school, hacking it down before it could go to seed. “Ongoing efforts will be necessary, possibly for years to come, to control and possibly eliminate the spread of phragmites,” according to the committee. Volunteers are always welcome to help with this project.

And quoting the report, “This work …. brings a sense of accomplishment and is a great way to meet and get to know our neighbors and townspeople….There are many opportunities for sharing our talents, knowledge and experience while learning a lot in the process. It can even be fun.” Consider joining a town committee.

Lincolnville’s CHRHS Class of 2021

Congratulations to these former LCS students who graduated from CHRHS last Friday evening:

Skye Abaldo

Eric Andrews

Maisie Berard

Kevin Bergelin

Madison Boetsch

Paige Chester

Leah Doolen

Kyyle Dunn

Jason Fowler

Hanna Hallundbaek

Andi Hammond

Rowan Hurlburt

Alley Johnson

Lydia Knight

Alexa Libby

Owen Markowitz

Wyatt Munson

Rose O’Brien

Simon Polk

Phoebe Root

Condolences

Deepest sympathy to the large family of Norma Stinson, long-time, lifelong resident of Lincolnville.

Memorial for Barb Yatseyvitch

A service for Barb Yatseyvitch, who had many friends in town, will be held Saturday, June 26, 11 a.m. at Merryspring Nature Center.