I climb the familiar fence, which I think of as a threshold into the Garden of Eden, and land on the ground with a thud, announcing my presence. Faraway cows are keening. Buzzards are circling in the sky. I pick up a sturdy stick for walking, and to fend off cows if they bother me. […]
Harvested ripe red garden peppers and prepared to roast them under the oven broiler before freezing them in olive oil as per the recipe told to me by my friend Kathleen. Tried to lift a humungous pumpkin that Joe carried over from the garden off the porch picnic table, but it was too heavy. Boiled […]
As I search the bowl of blueberries for the bluest black ones … I remember 4 and 20 blackbirds baked in a pie … and my son arranging battles between blueberries and grapes … The blueberries always lost because he ate them … ~ From “A Blueberry Pie” by Colleen I left Virginia for my […]
There once was a ladybug … who lived in my shoe … She had so many children … She didn’t know what to do It’s not science fiction or a nursery rhyme tale. Alfred Hitchcock couldn’t have dreamt this up. Neither could Mother Goose. In a cartoon gone cruel scenario, we have been invaded […]
Teacups and pens … are the clutter of quiet … in the green café … of my own yard … There’s a new place to sit and write in the green café of my own yard. It’s a small round glass table, minus the umbrella, pulled out of the shed this past July when we […]
The Garden: The entrance is blocked with overgrown rows … I walk on cucumbers and cherry tomatoes. ~ Colleen I should be in the garden. There’s basil to pick for making pesto, onions to braid, and Japanese beetles to kill. All the corn comes in at once. I know it’s ripe when the ear worms […]
How many do you know on a first name basis? Are you sure these are flowers and not fireworks? (I’ll post the answers at the end of the day.)
Look who crawled under the netting to the blueberry patch; my 6’ 2″ 26 year old son, Josh. He inherited his father’s dislike of mayonnaise and his mother’s love of blueberries. When he was a little boy he used to set up battles between blueberries and grapes. The blueberries always lost because he ate them. […]
Slipping under the black netting nailed to a wooden frame that protects my blueberry plants from birds, I picked berries for the first time this year. It was dusk and a firefly was in there with me. A slight sultry breeze offered a momentary break from the day’s oppressive heat. As I strained my eyes […]
What do you want for supper, honey? Kale or Swiss chard? In another life, I’m a research scientist (the one in which I’m not an interviewer). In this life, my garden is my research project. Every morning, even before I’m dressed, I can’t wait to go out and inspect. I visually measure every nano-inch the […]
AKA: The All You Can Eat Buffet One of the reasons I moved to the country was to pursue a more self-sufficient lifestyle. Most of us have jobs to make money in order to pay for shelter and food, but I think we forget that it’s possible to provide some of those things directly ourselves. […]
Spring is a fling of short lived blooms, more about romance than marriage. Crocus and daffodils, my first loves of spring, make a strong impression, but soon I’m feeling fickle, waiting for tulips. And no sooner do my eyes adjust to the brilliant gold of forsythia then the dogwoods burst on the scene. The dogwoods […]
