I have been very much enjoying the warmth and beauty of this 35th spring I have experienced. The garden is covered in flowers, and it is the time when the laurel and live oaks shed their old, tough leaves, and they come down like rain in gusty swirls with each gentle breeze. One morning I…
Category: Organic Gardening
2019 Kale Trial
I love to try different varieties side by side because it gives you a good idea of the variability in flavor, appearance, and production. Besides that, i find it fascinating how different varieties can be from one another. They almost have their own personalities. Just like with meeting people, I will find myself drawn to…
Solstice – Birth and Barley
Erce, Erce, Erce Mother of all good green growing things. May the barley grow tall and shine like gold. May the milk flow in rivers, And the cattle grow fat in the marrow of their bones. Let the pastures grow tall and be filled with flowers, And the fruit trees be leaning and laden. May…
North Florida Pecan Pie
The first of the winter frosts came through last night. We spent yesterday chopping cassava stalks, making a shelter for the goats, and moving flats of tiny lettuce into the cold frame. It got later and later in the day and by the end of the afternoon we realized we didn’t have enough cover or…
November Mustard and Cheese Wraps
The horrible, hot humid weather lasted so long this year. Still, it was startling to see how quickly Autumn took over, greying the skies and laying the tall grasses of summer flat against the ground overnight. The bright early fall wildflowers are replaced by pale late blooming ones, and the honeysuckle vines are empty and…
The House of The Garden
I’m so lucky that I have such a big, sunny garden, but I’ve also come to realize that not being limited by space can be more difficult than having to squeeze things into a small area. Ethan called my garden plan this season “masochistic” after he offered to help and i told him what my goals were for the day.
The Best Pumpkin Dish Ever
It’s amazing what comes from one tiny seed, one small spark of life given at the end of the season, a hope for the next one, waiting in darkness until the light and rain call forth the potential. And the patience of those seeds that wait for years, maybe centuries, for that moment to unfurl. …
Spinach Pesto Pizza
Last week was all rain, and all kinds of rain. There was the gray, dripping rain that blanketed everything in damp and made interesting kinds of mold sprout under the shelves in the kitchen from the ambient humidity. There was rain that came down in silver sheets, moving towards you like a fog and obscuring…
The Wild Garden
{Deep breath……} Right now, this is the gate to my garden, the division between what is (sometimes) cultivated, and the completely untended. It is the barrier that protects my beloved plants, mostly from the bad goats. The pumpkin vines have curled and wound their way through, pouring into the outside. And actually, because of this…
Saving Seeds: A Guest Post by Melissa Desa
There are many things I’ve come to learn in my short, yet full life, that are better done with others. Canning, fermenting vegetables, shelling peas, winnowing seeds, to name a few. Not only do they get done more quickly, but they are immensely more enjoyable. The work becomes more meaningful with the human connections you…
Life in the Garden
This time of the year my hands are always stained with blood… green blood. In the winter the killing frost is my enemy. Now it’s the bugs, thousands of them. Hungry, uninvited guests, they riddle the cucumbers and innocent squash full of holes. The army worms are the worst. Like an army they descend, eating…
Garden Magic
We had the most wonderful surprise out of the garden yesterday. I’ve had many things this week that kept me away from the weeding and planting that really must be done soon… There are sad marigold starts, leggy sunflowers, and slow-to-start peppers left to be put somewhere. And the constant rain that has been drizzling…
Toadstools And Fairy Rings 