Planting the Fall/Winter Garden

At the beginning of August I started sowing one row per week of beets, carrots, endive, and parsnips. I’ll continue with these through September, or until I run out of room, except for the carrots, which keep getting planted until the first week of November. In...

New Garden Spot

You may remember when this happened:       A storm brought this tree down and it had to be removed.  The tree removal company shredded the tree (most of it) into chips and we asked them to dump them on site.  Mulch Mountain was born. The stump was...

How Much Is Enough?

One of the main issues about gardening/sustainability in the suburbs is space.  Particularly a lack of “farmable” space. It matters most in terms of how far you want to go with sustainability.  Are you content just sticking your toe into the water, growing...

Book Giveaway: Paradise Lot

When I meet someone new and find out he or she loves to garden, it seems as if we immediately hit on an endless vein of common interests. Soon, we are deep in a discussion of soil and pests and cultivars and comparing lists of what we grow.  I seize on their success...

How an Unknown Publishes a Picture Book

I recently saw a post by Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond, on the 20 Steps to Writing a Children’s Book.  As a picture book writer who is friends with other career picture book writers, I wanted to clarify some points so new writers do NOT think what Ree experienced...

I Couldn’t Do Without . . .

This gigantic plastic bowl. This cheap, mass-produced plastic bowl is one of the most useful things in my entire kitchen. It’s lightweight, somewhat flexible so I can squeeze it into one side of my divided sink, easy to clean, and LARGE.  I use it every time I...