When The Fixer and I moved to this property over 10 years ago, I needed gardens fast. Moving households for me has always meant moving plants. The number had grown over the years, and I had plastic bins and trashcans full of roses, irises, peonies, and other cherished passalong plants. I even had a trash …
You’ve been struggling with physical things lately. Increasingly you need help. Your joints are swollen, you’re losing energy to keep up with the things you used to do all day long. Your doctor runs tests. You spend a few weeks anxious about the results. And then they finally return with the results and jovially claim, …
My relationship to the vegetable garden started out in a whirlwind of excitement. Innocently enough, the seed catalogs lured me with glossy photos, promising luscious harvests. “This is the year,” I proclaimed, “that I will grow our food.” I lovingly prepared the ground to receive the seeds, sparing nothing for the plants that would bear …
Is arthritis causing you food security anxiety? What if I can’t feed myself? My family? My community? These are realities most in this generation have never experienced. But lately, pandemics, shortages, and world events, all contribute to feelings of panic. In the last few years, going to our jobs to produce money for food and …
Are you caught in a gardening quandary? Gardening is your passion and it’s what you want to be doing, but your body’s not cooperating? There are many good reasons to continue gardening well into old age. Gardening’s good for your health and well-being Gardening provides movement for your body and joy for your mind Gardening …
I like to dream big when it comes to the garden. My annual letter to Santa typically consists of outrageous and practical gardening gifts. My outrageous wish list includes: Greenhouse (a perennial on my list) She-shed (beautifully designed, with potting bench, room for all my tools and a few lovely antiques) A trip to Hawaii …
I love holiday lights! My inner child delights at the dazzling displays! I’ve noticed there are some distinctive styles to outdoor holiday lighting. They range from very carefully crafted scenes to minimalist. There are the professionally installed displays of splendor and then there are the ones that look like the homeowner tripped while carrying the box …
My tomatoes have been outstanding this year. The whole vegetable garden has produced beyond my expectations. I think it’s because of the Korean Natural Farming (KNF) methods I’ve been learning to implement. But that said, a few tomatoes are having problems. I think it’s blossom end rot, but I’m not sure. It looks like a regular, almost …
When I was a child, my rural-Arkansas-born parents gave me and my siblings the gift of experiencing the world! My dad was in the Air Force and we traveled, moving every 2-3 years, sometimes to foreign countries. It all seemed normal to me then, but looking back, I realize how incredible it was. My parents …
Does chronic pain have you searching for alternative gardening methods? The methods you use are vital to your ability to continue gardening. Traditional methods are labor-intensive and hard on the back and knees. There are many different methods that are much gentler, and a lot of them fall under the heading of Permaculture. I’ll be …