There are no longer horses at our place here in Scottsville, a farm we’ve come to call “Horseshoe Hill.” Our barn did use to be home to several pampered horses, and in ode to them, Scottsville’s location at the bend of the James River, and perhaps the spot of good luck we had at finding and […]
I profess to have dreams of walking out my back door in the morning, strolling along a merry path just feet from our home, and picking strawberries, cherries, and raspberries. Or, if its later in the season, there are peaches, blackberries, and blueberries. Later, there are cantaloupe, apples, and pears. Anyone that grows fruit knows […]
One year, while turning our kitchen into a bedroom and our former bedroom into the kitchen, it finally happened. I had some strange desire at that point in my life when I had three children under the age of five to live pioneer style and do most things by hand. Things like outhouses, cleaning clothes by […]
This is a poem I wrote in July 2008, when I was deep in the throes of motherhood and seasonal living. In praise of self-sufficiencyI once holed up almost anacre-island of sand and trees.Many days spent on kneesamongst chickens and rabbits,trowels and error.Slowly, I learnedand from the soil I earnedthe right to eatthe right to […]
Mushrooms on pizza do not excite me. And happening upon a mushroom when I’d much rather find a fried sweet potato or cauliflower in my tempura is always unwelcome. But one Portobello burger can go a long way. Next thing you know, you are looking at seed catalogs from Maine and ordering what is known […]
How many years did I drink bad coffee, then good coffee, until I finally learned about the beauty of a good cup of tea? When I was little, my grandmother would make me “coffee” to drink while we watched Lassie. I think it was actually 80 percent milk with a few drops of coffee, and […]
In our early twenties, fresh out of the city with two small children and another on the way, my husband and I purchased a tiny house. It was a 700 square foot “cottage,” because when things are tight, you can call it a “cottage” and it somehow makes it seem more romantic. It was in […]
My mother once planted sunflowers that germinated overnight and grew to over eighteen feet tall. I’d heard about these sunflowers all my life and never realized how remarkable this was until I began growing things from seed myself. Stealing away a few minutes to plant in our first real garden was my main birthday wish […]
PLANTING A BUTTERFLY GARDEN Many years ago I edited a newsletter for the Master Gardeners in Virginia Beach called ‘Gleanings’. I often asked other gardeners for submissions, since not only was I new at assembling a newsletter, but also at growing things. Occasionally, generous people obliged, which is how I learned of an excellent idea […]
We begin the first pressing of the apples Over the river and through the woods (and down the road apiece) lies the 150-acre intentional community Springtree. Located on the banks of the meandering and historic Rivanna River, Springtree has been demonstrating so many of the ideals I strive for (and more) for more than thirty […]
