Cover of a Va Beach Master Gardener newsletter, art by Ajah Courts, c.1997. Somewhere in the Bible (Deuteronomy 24:19-21, Leviticus 19) and other ancient histories, there are references to the act of gleaning. For definition sake, gleaning is basically taking the leftovers in a field or garden after its initial harvest or processing. So, someone […]
Everywhere across the world when dusk begins to cast shadows, the unprepared parents and caretakers all begin to ask: What’s for supper?” Personally, I detest the word ‘supper’; it conjures a less thought-out meal, and for some reason brings to mind smacking lips and overly-hungry families, hunched over the groaning board. But there it is, […]
A bit about sheet mulching…I am about as addicted to something as you can be to something that you don’t do all the time. I am able to wait patiently for the materials, but as soon as they end up at our house, I am already thinking about the good soil they will one day turn […]
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 […]
