I’m not ready to write this post, but I must start somewhere. It is part explanation, part apology, part a ploy for commiseration. This is not a farewell post. No, I just signed up for two more expensive years of hosting. Yes, that was a bit of a grouse, but when I tell you about…
Everyday Happenings
Big Things I’m Doing Differently in 2018
Remember “The Beverly Hillbillies”? How about “The Brady Bunch”, or “Green Acres”, for that matter? They are all TV shows that started out with a theme song that told their stories. For me, it could have been “There once was a woman who homeschooled, With her ten kids, she moved out to the country and…
Observations on an Ohio Spring
We haven’t entered springtime officially, but tell the weather that! This has been a most mild winter, and Ohio experienced all time high temperature records for the month of February in 2017. It accelerated a climate phenomenon which, as a gardener, I look for each year. Most everyone know of the “Indian Summer” and “January…
Snippets of Gardening, February’s Mercies
One of the mercies found within an Ohio winter are those small windows of dry enough conditions and relatively pleasant weather. They are almost always very short, so the opportunities need to grasped. We have a short window at this moment and I have used it to carry on the weeding and garden preparation that…
Thoughts from the Deep Freezer
It is a normal weather pattern for central Ohio to plumb the depths of single digit temperatures with little or no snow. It is equally expected for gardeners to go into planning mode during the deep freeze of January. Reviewing the last year has made me realize that I’m more prone than ever to the…
This Is What I’m Doing in the Garden
Single Focus Living I can’t seem to gardenblog and attend to my actual chores at the same time, so posting has been sparse. Fall is always one of the busiest times in the garden and this autumn has been spectacularly wonderful for getting things done. Which is a good thing, because I am now very…
Is It Fall Already?
Yesterday’s winds, today’s rain, and the smell that has been on the air tells me so. The asters blooming, the store displays burgeoning with mums (I bought two huge ones at Sam’s Club) also tell the undeniable story that summer has past. I still have tomatoes ripening on the vine, and they should continue to…
Found Flowers
“There are always flowers for those who want to see them.” ~ Henri Matisse When in California a few years ago, I had been walking in a nature preserve on a bluff overlooking the Pacific. By chance, some unknown person left this pretty handtied bouquet of flowers in the dirt path. It was so delightful,…
Garden Update And Late Starts
Every year I promise I won’t go AWOL during the main growing season of the garden. Just so I will get everything done and catch up with the past year’s neglect. but every year I manage to break those unspoken, informal vows. Usually family related, but sometime through the call of far off places I…
I knew I should have taken pictures
This spring was unusually cool and full of rain. The result was a long period of spring bloom that seemed to stay fresh and picture perfect for a protracted period. I knew I should grab a camera or at least my iPhone and take some photos. But I have this contrary quirk of wanting to…