Be joyful though you have considered all the facts
Here’s another article I wrote for Suite101.com, the copyright of which passed to me so I can share it with you here. It’s of William S. Coperthwaite’s book A Handmade Life, In Search for Simplicity. It was one of the first books I read after making my turn-around regarding a Simpler Life in a Better …
Continue reading “Coperthwaite, A Handmade Life, Review Part 1”
Compost bin 1 at 92 degrees F In the Germination Area sowed second batch of Onions, Leeks, Catnip sowed first batch of Garlic Chives 2 Rosemary sprouts emerged 1 Parsley sprout 15 Sweet Marjoram 15 Thyme 3 tiny Mint sprouts 1 Lemon Balm sprout (but it’s probably a stray Marjoram) 1 Pepper seedling (looks stuck …
Mama’s potting bench in the basement The situation at our “homestead” is very complex, and getting more so as I gather more information and experience. I feel like I’m that not-so-proverbial teacher who is only one step ahead of her students, and I’m teaching French! Today, for instance, I was transplanting the lettuce seedlings (the …
It’s been a while since I wrote about Amie’s crafting. All the garden activity hasn’t put a stop to all that, of course. Today we made something specials for one of Amie’s teachers who has broken her wrist. Amie wanted to give her one of her dolls, but then I suggested her teacher probably no …
The Pachy Patch in Summer 2008 yesterday was a perfect summer, spring, winter’s day: cloudless sky, 60F, the mildest of breezes, and some good hard labor. I went out, turned the two defrosted compost bins and then tackled the Pachysandra patch, a.k.a. the vegetable garden. Ah Pachysandra… It took over five hours of hacking and …
Here’s one of the reviews I wrote for Suite101.com. The copyright recently passed to me, so I can share it with you here. It’s of Home Ground, a book that deals with the concept that is most on my mind these days: place. The more I think about place, the more it amazes me that …
Continue reading “Place: A Review of Home Ground, edited by Barry Lopes”
One Our renovation project has so far generated a fair amount of scrap materials. Luckily it’s mostly wood and only some drywall, which is virtually not reusable. Of the wood DH and I have saved most: we take out the nails, tease off the drywall and have built up a nice stack of project wood …
Continue reading “Three for the Neighborhood, or How I Scored Unlimited Amounts of Horse Manure”
The Black-Seeded Simpson Lettuce is doing well. I fed it some Tomato Food (Terracycle Wormpoop) the other day, as it was immediately on hand. There were no instructions on the bottle, so I eyeballed it. Oops! Their leaves soon curled under, a sure sign of overfeeding. Luckily it wasn’t too bad. The wormpoop is a …
Continue reading “Seed/Ling Update, and Thyme, Parsley and more Onions,”
Kitchen Gardeners International has an interesting article on the worth of a home garden. The author, Roger Doiron, weighed the food coming out of his 1600 square feet garden in Maine (zone 5b/6) and calculated how much this food would have cost had he bought it in a conventional grocery store, a farmer’s market, or …
Yuck! I have one flat with green algae coating the surface. It started with one small spot and the next day it was all over. It shouldn’t harm the seeds directly, but it may smother them. The causes were (1) over-watering (beginner’s mistake), (2) the fact that the potting soil I’ve been using compacts too …