The afternoon of the second day, the sun is low and after the heroic walk up to the ruins a soak in the ocean sounds appealing, so we go to the beach. It isn’t as good as the Florida beaches. There’s no sand, only rocks that slide and hurt your feet so you have to…
Travel Journal #1
Long flight in very small seats wedged between knees and elbows of the teenager and old lady who only spoke Danish. We coasted into Nice in time for the sunset. Teenager is staying separate in boys hostel dormitory for the first time. He says he hardly slept between the snoring and the stench of farts….
A Parting
A quick walk through the garden this morning…. This was my most beautiful summer garden, full to the brim with flowers and herbs, rambling vines, beautiful fruits, sweet corn and sorghum, sweet potatoes and cassava. It is at the turning point, when the sunflowers have started to shrivel up and it becomes jungly. In this…
Chocolate Chevre Cheesecake with a Chocolate Cookie Crust (grain-free)
The high days of summer have brought the rains at last, the grey and sandy days broken by the tropical sun. Nothing is gentle here in summer. The rolling thunder and pounding rain, the blinding sun and baking heat all work an alchemy and draw the green and the sweetness out of the earth for…
Six Cooling Herbal Drinks For Hot Weather
Summer has set in. The days are long and so hot the wind feels like the air from a baking oven on my face, and the grass looks like uncut hay, all shriveled and dried in the pasture. It has been days and days of dry, bright sunshine over 100 F. The ticks and yellow…
Chicken and Parsley Root with Pesto and Pink Peppercorns
For several weeks now i have been hearing the scream of a chicken in the night, whereupon i climb down the loft and rush outside, holding aloft a dim little lantern like the Statue of Liberty to where the dogs are already silently loping through the darkness. Nothing has been discovered until morning, and only…
May Roses
The roses are blooming, the queen of any garden. The goats had eaten all but one of my roses i started many years ago from cuttings, and just this spring i bought new bare root plants to replace them, and it is wonderful to see them bloom for the first time, all different beautiful pinks….
Harvest
This year has lacked a dry season, making the pastures already green and beautiful and filled with flowers. Walking through the cow-paths, the starry Erigeron flowers swirl past in a green galaxy of grass. It isn’t the usual hot, blue, open skies of May, but chased all over with piled up clouds shadowed with silver…
Poppies
The poppies are the scarlet beauties of the garden right now. The legion poppies have been blooming the longest, but every week a new kind is blooming, delighting us with new colors and shapes. They are so proud and bold among the grass, yet so delicate with their ruffled petals like fine silk that glows…
Goat Stew with Parsnips and Raisins
More than a week ago now i woke up to a grim grey sky. I started the chores right away, hoping to be inside by Calcifer when the rain started. Things went quickly, despite the usual difficulties of the brooder lamp flickering out for the little ducks, and wading awkwardly through the 100 little meat…
Easter
This was the first year we were able to dye eggs with all home grown dyes: turmeric, beets, red Brussels sprouts leaves, mulberries and spiderwort flowers. The natural dyes are so subtle and beautiful. They blend in beautifully with nature and are really hard to find. I woke up early to cut dewy grass and…
The Hermitage
The warm days are rushing me onwards, from first light of dawn I feel the same pulse and impulse of the ginger sprouting from winter-hidden roots, each day taller, flushing with urgent green to catch the gifts of the sun. It is time to plant, and i have started earlier than in past years. The…
Toadstools And Fairy Rings 