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…
Tag: Gardening
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…
Spring Soup
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…
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…
Gardens of Dreams
All around spring is flowering in the branches. The croaking of the Sandhill cranes will now and then fill the blue-clouded skies as they pass along on their long pilgrimage. From out of the earth the green force of life is brimming in a flowery haze, all things stretching forth with new, fresh growth. Except…
An Irreverent Ramen
Looking back over the past twelve months, this year has been a difficult year. I think if I had known it would be so fraught with peril, I would have wanted to just give up and stay in bed for all of 2018. It started right out with two long-time friends being so horrible to…
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. …
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…
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 