Wild Beach Plum Jelly

Green brush filled with bright red-orange berries and vivid pink and white flowers form a mosaic of color along the perimeter of beaches and bogs. The native beach plums are larger than a grape and smaller than a plum and grow wild all over the Cape. Gardeners believe they grow best left untouched with the salt air and sandy soil. The locals make jelly out of its sweet/tart fruit. I often buy the spread as hostess gifts or to bring back to friends outside the area.

My favorite places for this favorite local jelly and other homemade jams: Chatham Jam and Jelly and Briar Lane Jams and Jellies in Wellfleet.

August Hydrangea season

Abundantly lining the grey shingled homes and gardens all over Cape Cod, hydrangeas are prized for their blue and violet blossoms throughout the month of August. So much so that there was a blossom thief several years ago cutting all the bushes barren and leaving gardeners and local police on a wild goose chase to catch the hydrangea robbers! Who would steal flowers?! Well, you can thank Martha Stewert and her hydrangea infatuation for driving the prices of these ordinary, moppy blossoms into high-gear. Now people can’t get enough of them and they are in big demand. I do love them though, especially at the end of the season when they start to turn antiqued sage and violet at the ends of each petal. Thankfully, we have our own blooming bushes and don’t have to steal them.

Cape Cod Lavender Farm

It is July and a beautiful time of year in Harwich when the Cape Cod Lavender Farm is in full bloom. Acres of violet and indigo blossoms burst in the summer sun with bees buzzing by, dipping into their regal flowers. The farm is hidden along an unpaved path, but worth the trek up to the fields and farmhouse. They sell the most lusciously fragrant plants, sachets and bath products. I planted a Provence variety in our garden 5 years ago and it is now as tall as I am. The sandy Cape soil is perfect for lavender to thrive.