From time to time, I pick up the book, Creators on Creating, and read a bit. It is a collection of essays written by world-famous novelists, poets, scientists, and the like. They reflect on their own creative processes, each in his or her own way. Each essay is only a few pages long; they are short, but long enough to get a good understanding of the author’s thoughts. I am currently reading one written by Cathy Johnson, a naturalist author.…
a little greenhouse
January 21, 2019For a few years now, I’ve done my indoor seed starting using one of the those portable greenhouses. It was given to me by a friend who didn’t use it. I promptly said Yes! when he offered it to me. My friend had gotten it secondhand and a couple of the frame pieces were already broken, but it held up well enough for a while. After a few good years, it finally became too unstable to use. The plastic frame…
native plants
January 18, 2019One of the things I’d like to do in the garden this year is to plant some native plants. Thanks to my favorite gardening podcasts, The joe gardener Show and A Way to Garden, I am becoming increasingly aware of the importance of adding native plants to my garden and landscape. Native plants are important for several reasons: the local wildlife, including insects, have evolved along with these plants and depend on them for food and shelter. native plants are…
thoughtful thursday: everything is connected
January 17, 2019Today’s musings are based on the book, Meditations, by Marcus Aurelius. He was a 2nd century Roman Emperor and philosopher. I’ve posted on my readings from this book before (here, here, and here), but it has been quite a while. I’ve picked the book back up and am starting from the beginning again. Every time I read this book, it seems as if something new catches my thoughts and won’t let go. It’s so full of insight. This book seems…
our laundry room has a new look
January 14, 2019There is so little gardening activity to be done right smack in the middle of winter- at least until seed starting time comes (next month!), it seems like a great time to work on home improvements. As promised, I have some updates on the projects we worked on over the holidays. The man and I kind of split things up. I worked on repainting the laundry room and changing out the ceiling light fixture there. He worked on replacing all the…
my 2019 seed order – too much?
January 11, 2019Have you ordered seeds for your garden yet? I placed my order this past weekend – one of the most fun things to do during that bleak, somewhat boring month of January. There are a few seed companies that I love, mentioned in a previous post here. Before ordering, I start by going through my existing seeds to see what I have and what I need. I still have a bunch of seeds from 2016, 2017, and 2018 that will…
thoughtful thursday: don’t let fear be a show stopper!
January 10, 2019Hey all! How is your January 2019 going? I’m starting something new to the blog this year. Realizing that I hardly ever post on my readings, musings, and journaling these days (those DEEP THOUGHTS!) and that I miss it, it came to me that I could do a weekly post – Thoughtful Thursday! Turns out, that is already a thing. So, I am jumping on it! Today’s thoughts are around the January 10th entry from the book, The Language of…
a peaceful winter walk
January 7, 2019Greetings! Hope the new year is treating you well! I am staying warm and preparing to take a seed inventory. In the meantime, the weather was very nice this weekend and I got outside to do a quick virtual garden tour (video below), if you are interested. This is something new I am starting on the blog this year. Kind of as a way to document and also as a way to share our space and garden. The plan is…
january garden activities
January 4, 2019Yes, even in January. I am doing something relating to my garden every month of the year. This month has the shortest list and maybe the most fun activities: Some other things to consider doing this month: Rake heavy snow off shrubs to prevent damage. Here is a good article that covers this: https://chatham.ces.ncsu.edu/2015/02/helping-trees-and-shrubs-recover-from-snow-and-ice/. Use a high quality ice melter on ground surfaces, as salt can damage concrete and plants, especially needled evergreens. To help you give your garden year…
2019 garden plans
December 31, 2018Happy New Year! Are you going to ring it in tonight?? I am doing my usual – goal planning. And I have a BUNCH of plans for the garden for 2019. Here they are in black and white: 1. Put a rain barrel into use for the veggie garden. A dear friend gave us a barrel several years back and I am ashamed to say that it is still sitting there, waiting for us to get it going already. This…
