Author: Peter Masi

Click here to read Catalog 267.
well, file last updated early february – it’s april – no major news besides new catalog – garden fare gone – irish side honored with soda bread and corned beef and cabbage – hello spring – off to chilly start – crocus and daffodils putting good face on it – put away the cross-country skis and got snow tires off – enough firewood for few more weeks – next show will be Allentown april 27-8 – so here’s 267 – latest mixed bag – tackled lots of trade catalogs from Michael denker from Potomac – siftings and scrapings from other recent buys – sent with fingers crossed you’ll be amused, perhaps inspired to order – cover: item 62 (enlarged) –
at your service –
peter

Click here to read Catalog 266.

well, file last updated October, 2023 – whole new year and season – garden mostly memory – picked peppers, greens, butternut squash, tomatillo, dug potatoes – feasting on pesto, greens, beans from freezer, onions, garlic, potatoes, squash from cold storage – ground frosted, froze – house repair and painting project put on ice til spring – 4 cords of firewood reduced by over half – much of life spent in proximity to woodstove – Halloween usual melee – spent November weekend with son zach, wife lauren and new granddaughter talia – thanksgiving with Middleboro siblings – early December headed to Washington d.c. to work on appraisal and book call in Potomac, md – acquired collections of trade catalogs and type specimens – in long queue to be cataloged – decorated tree with edie and swapped usual comestible gifts – few days before Christmas hiked sugarloaf mountain with zach and family en route to lauren’s family home – Middleboro for Christmas with sister and family then boxing day in Winchester with brother and family – usual new year’s eve with edie in Greenwich – hello 2024 – we’ve had few snows – been cross-country skiing handful of times – rain, too, and warm days – sunny and cold currently with mostly bare ground – papermania been and gone – 266 finally ready to launch – mixed bag of recent acquisitions – sent with hopes you’ll be amused, perhaps appetized – cover: item 16 –
at your service – peter

Click here to read Catalog 265.

well, file last updated August 1 – mid-October – uber busy times here – garden nearly done – no frost as yet – still picking some peppers, celery, tomatillo, collards – dug small crop potatoes – tomato plants lookin’ dead – ‘nuff corn to call it a season – small crop of butternut squashes – got on roof to clean chimney – mostly stacked 4 cords of firewood and redid stove gaskets somewhat successfully and been burning nights – when not pushing to publish catalog in hand, been putting in time getting hacienda ready to paint – been bit too long – also got carpenter on some long overdue repairs – rotted or malfunctioning kitchen casement windows replaced with sliders – son Zach and wife Lauren now proud parents of Talia Romana Masi – call me Gramps – all going well there – 2 fairs in 2 weeks – fall Allentown then Boxboro – next show January – hopefully time to produce few more catalogs – new acquisitions abound – still working through pamphlets from Reese Co warehouse – buying at shows perhaps too productive- so here’s catalog 265– off to Eagle for hard copies and PDF distribution – sent with  hopes you’ll be amused, perhaps appetized  – at your service –   peter

cover: item 283

Click here to read Catalog 259. well, file last updated late May – it’s october – garden winding down – spring as droughty as last was wet – bunny population explosion – food chain issue – ignored my 2 x 4” wire grid fence which has kept out deer, raccoons, groundhogs – ate through plastic mesh added at ground level – most distressing – eliminated greens, beans – got tomato, pepper, eggplants, squash, cucumbers established – shunned basil, mustard – few other strategies also futile – planted some lettuce in raised bed by house – tomato blight slow to show – record tomato crop – bunnies ate low-hanging tomato, pepper eggplant, but spared higher fruit – summer squash produced before succumbing – small cucumber crop – got some pea plants past bunnies – got enough basil for some pesto – enjoyed usual tomato-based fare: sandwiches, gazpacho, salsa, tomato-basil pasta sauce – canned close to 30 quarts so far, more on way – Zach married Lauren Branchini in at Osmica, Spring Spring Trail Farm, Lansing, NY, July 1 – Jewish ceremony for 120 or so mostly heathens proud father of groom there with longtime friend Edie Brown – many Masis in house – didn’t lose a doctor, gained a lawyer – she works for Cornell in HR – honeymoon in Azores – already sharing lovely house in Newfield, NY – quick visit Labor Day weekend – met new puppy Milo – in training – turned 69 on August 5 – got COVID and had email hacked on birthday – latter remedied with some sibling handholding – former lingers via brain fog and fatigue – avoid if possible – 3.5 cords firewood now stacked for looming heating  season – no threat of frost so far – burned rest of firewood, then ran furnace – fall show season kicked off over weekend  with Boxboro – schedule bit crowded with shows at UMass, Allentown, Boston, Northampton – herein usual masi mix – hoping to achieve 260 prior to Boston show  – meanwhile, yes off to Eagle for hard copies – last of breed to have printed there – with hopes you’ll be sufficiently amused to acquire – at your service –  peter