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The Gardens of Mien Ruys - a book review

I don't know how I missed her, but I was totally unfamiliar with Mien Ruys. A beautiful new book The Gardens of Mien Ruys details her life and work. Born in the Netherlands in 1904, she was the daughter of Bonne Ruys, who founded Moerheim Nursery in 1888. She grew up in a liberal atmosphere and encouraged to learn and study. She found great comfort in the natural world around her and learned all the plants in her father's nursery at a young age. After leaving school at the age of 19, she knew that she wanted to work in the garden center. The Moerheim Nursery, in addition to selling plants, had an on-site design studio where they published a detailed catalog and sold landscape design plans to customers. It was in the design studio where Ruys first began to work and she was soon encouraged to venture beyond her country and study abroad. Her father's connections helped her secure a traineeship with Wallace & Sons Nursery in Tunbridge Wells in England. There, she met Gertr...
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Apple Crisp


One of the few trees already existing at our house is an apple tree in the middle of the hedge that runs along the back fence line. For the past several weeks, it has been loaded with apples and with them, flocks of birds. The scrub jays are the ones that seem to be enjoying them the most (as well as disrupting the peace and quiet with their incessant cawing).

I have been picking a few of the apples, thinking that they were probably no good, but it turns out they are okay for the most part.

 I made an apple crisp this afternoon. 

 The late summer sun here looks just like autumn in the South. It is very strange but wonderful.

 Apple Crisp

  • 4 or 5 medium tart apples, peeled and sliced
  • 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
  • 1/3 cup butter, softened
  • 1 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp. nutmeg

Preheat the oven to 375. Grease an 8x8 pan with butter or shortening.

Spread the apples in the pan.

Combine all the other ingredients and sprinkle over the apples.

Bake for 30 minutes (or until the top is golden brown and the apples are tender).




Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy
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  1. Lisa at GreenbowJuly 31, 2016 at 4:24 PM

    That Apple Crisp looks delicious. I want a bite...or two.

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  2. Kathryn/plantwhateverbringsyoujoy.comJuly 31, 2016 at 4:34 PM

    Yum! I have an apple tree, too. My apples are not quite ripe. I'll return to this recipe when they are! Thanks for the reminder!

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  3. debsgardenJuly 31, 2016 at 4:53 PM

    Yummy! It won't be long before we will be harvesting apples from our two trees. Lou likes to bake apple pies. (They are OK, not great.) He bakes so many our friends run for fear he will foist another one upon them!

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  4. RobinLJuly 31, 2016 at 6:24 PM

    My all time favorite dessert, warm with ice cream! Drool...

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  5. AaronAugust 1, 2016 at 5:34 PM

    Dang. That recipe looks amazing. It's not apple season here particularly (peach season and blueberry season!) but I'll file this away and maybe try it in autumn.

    Just another hot, humid summery day here. We had a line of ominous-looking storms approach, but they sort of fell apart right before they hit us. We got thunder and wind and some lightning, but only sprinkles. It was anti-climatic.

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