Amie Talks about Death Again

“That is the Mama skeleton, and that is the Baba skeleton, and that is the big sister and the baby brother skeleton, and…” Yesterday evening I was helping Amie get to sleep – I just lie next to her in the dimmed light, in our bed (we still cosleep), hold her hand, and read a …

Today’s Food and Garden Work

warm and bright out, emptied all the rain barrels, stashed them upside down, and reconnected gutters raked leaves, emptied pots and containers, stashed them in shed Amie raked leaves too (cough) drank two large coffees (more milk than espresso) baked and pureed 5 sugar pie pumpkins will reserve puree for pumpkin bread (not for today), …

Independence Days – Weeks 12 and 13

Amie wowed at Times Square Missed last week because of sickness and a trip to the Big Apple – about which soon! Plant. Nothing, except for ongoing sprout experiments. Harvest. Herbs for drying, wheat grass from sprouter, chard and one or two carrots from garden. Preserve. Drying catnip, mint, sage, oregano, thyme. Drying apples. Baked …

Book Giveaway: Death and Sex

Now this is book I’m interested in reading: Death and Sex by Tyler Volk and Dorion Sagan published by  Chelsea Green – my favorite publisher (see my reviews of Coperthwaite’s Handmade Life, here, here, and here). Looks like it will fit perfectly in my daily regimen of gardening and homesteading books and peak oil and …

Summer 2009 Tally and Notes for 2010 (#2)

This is the second in a series of posts tallying the Spring and Summer harvest in lbs, success, and satisfaction, and noting recommendations for next year’s Spring and Summer garden. Carrots The little carrots (Nantes) took a long time to grow (much longer than the packet advised) but in the end they shaped up nicely, …

Another Indian Summer Day

Today is warming up into the 60s, like yesterday, but yesterday I was cowering in the pit of the second round of this darned cold. Today I feel much better. I’m baking a second bread from the dough I made earlier,  opening all the windows to air out the house, doing loads of laundry and …

Drying Herbs and Saving Seeds

I dried a large mint plant (catnip) in my kitchen, hanging it upside down from the ceiling with a plate underneath for the dropping seeds. The leaves go into a ball jar for tea, the flowers go into a little muslin bag for potpourri, and the seeds into an envelope in my seed storage box. …

I Made Bread in 2 x 5 Minutes, No Kneading!

I love cooking but I’m intimidated by baking (don’t know why). But we are  desperate for some good, organic bread that doesn’t cost $5 and that is right at hand in the kitchen and pantry. So when I read this Master Recipe for a boule from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff …

Art Work, Reading, Writing and Algebra

We’re all retreating into the living room around the warm fire. There’s so much to do in this contracted world. Art Not a day goes by when Amie doesn’t work at her art. She’ll often pronounce “I am practicing because I want to be an artist.” She enjoyed discovering the technique of splashing by rubbing …