I am trying to take notice. To be enchanted by things that might be otherwise overlooked. I have lived the first half of my life so frantically. One could blame it on my personality type (Maverick and Type A) or my sign (Aries), or the fact that I have always been aware of mortality and…
Tag: gardening
Hori Hori (such a fun word to say)
Permaculture originated in Japan, along with some amazing farm implements. I have a Japanese sickle that I can never remember the name of and began calling it a Hibachi because I couldn’t remember any other Japanese word! (Not proud of this.) Well, fast forward, and all my farm interns call it that too. At least…
Why We Homestead (10th anniversary)
How fitting on my tenth blogging anniversary, that I would sit down with my cup of coffee to write why I am returning to homesteading with a fervency and peace I haven’t had in awhile. I entered a space of wondering why I do the things I do. I grew weary and older and wondered…
10 Rebellious Ways to Make a Huge Impact Now
Be the change you want to see in the world. Ghandi It can feel so overwhelming. A single person on the planet amongst billions of others; our lives run by big business, lobbyists, and corrupt governments. Our ecological footprints growing larger by the day, farmable land expected to be gone in a mere sixty years,…
Real Farms are not Picture Perfect (but that’s okay)
The large book I have on natural insect and disease control says that one should plant their pumpkins as far as they can away from last year’s crop to prevent squash bugs. We thought twenty-five miles would do it. Nope. It is rather difficult to have a farm named Pumpkin Hollow Farm whilst battling these…
How to Create a Meandering Garden
This is the driest terrain I have ever gardened upon. It is straight high desert, cactus loving, rattlesnake calling, no-rain-in-sight, sand and limestone. Luckily, I like a good challenge and I believe that if I work with the land instead of against it I will have great results. Putting grass everywhere is not a sustainable…
Time to Plant Spring Crops! (how and when)
I have a confession to make. Almost every early March for the past fifteen years, I have registered for school. Once farming season hits, I drop classes and begin my life outdoors for the next nine months. Then I am busy with crafts and rest. After Christmas, I redo my house, busily planning my garden…
Trench Planting; Easy Gardening Anywhere
“But how will you plant with all the rock?” the sweet librarian asked me. Her colleague looked on curiously. I began rambling on excitedly about how to grow in this particular environment. The soil of our new farm is really more sandstone and red sand (with a little cactus thrown in) then it is soil….
The Old Jar of Rhubarb
It is magical how something simple can transport us to another time, amongst people we love, to memories…so often bittersweet. Suddenly and without warning, I found myself in Great Aunt Donna’s garden. I could see her jutting along with clippers and bags. I could see her deftly slicing the tops off the rhubarb stalks with…
The Intricacies of Placing a Seed Order
Oh it is one of the best days of the year for me! Not my birthday, not my anniversary (that’s next week), not Christmas, it is the day I placed my seed order! Do you know this joy? Oh happy day. My seed and orchard orders are in. I know quite a lot of folks…
Farmgirl School 