Absolutely no simple living happening here! This is a place for rumination, cultivation, curation, and creativity in pursuit of the complex, organic, authentic, dirty, imperfect, layered, rich, lush life!
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Today’s the Big Day!
Weed-Free Gardening is in print and shipping out to readers today! Thanks to all of you who pre-ordered and to all of you who plan to order soon! You do literally pay my salary (and lots of other people’s too). Plus, you make all the work that goes into creating a book like this so…
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Early and Evergreen Herbs and Spices
I started my journey to become a gardener by growing herbs. It was so much fun, and saved me so much money, that even before I even knew the term “homesteader” I became self-sufficient at growing herbs. I grew so many, everywhere I could, that I cut them for bouquets, gave divisions to friends, and…
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Epicurean Living: The Chicken Issue!
The latest edition of Epicurean Living is now available for free online viewing or download. I’ve dubbed this one the “chicken issue” since I devoted the entire Epicurean homesteading section to the subject. There are also details on using all five senses in the garden and some easy ways to engage with the ecology where…
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Early Spring Garden
Spring gardens are slow to wake. Day by day, they brighten a bit more. Blooms begin. Foliage fills in. Then one morning, you step outside and find the world transformed by life. This morning — a blustery, cold one set against the backdrop of a bright sun — it feels as if the garden has…
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Phenology and Phenomenology
Phenology is about understanding the relationship between natural events. For example, deciduous fruit trees flower after their chill hours are met, once certain daylength and soil temperature conditions occur. Many pollinators start their season after spending a certain amount of time in a semi-dormant state (diapause) followed by several consecutive days and nights of warm…
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Simple Savings
Make the good life a little more affordable with a few tried and true methods. Shop Deliberately Wanting is programmed into us as a survival tactic. If it weren’t then back when we had to hunt and forage for food, after a satisfying breakfast, we might not have felt the urgency to look for our…
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Light Deprivation for Weed Control
Light deprivation is great low-to-no cost way to control some weeds in your garden. It’s done by covering an area with black plastic sheeting, landscape fabric, scrap sheet metal, a tarp, old carpet, or other kinds of light barriers for a few months. Alternatively, you can use carbon rich materials like paper and cardboard held…
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The Walled Garden
I’ve been enamored with the idea of a walled garden forever. Okay… not actually forever. It’s only been since my first trip to France (over 20 years ago) when I saw how beautiful they could be. Before that, walls around yards defined property lines, increased privacy, and gave cats a place to sit. And that…
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Cooking Lessons: Bouillabaisse
The very first time I had seafood stew was in my early 20’s. I ordered it at a French restaurant in the U.S. under the name “bouillabaisse”. I didn’t love it. The broth was bitter and the whole dish smelled like stale urine to me. It was a while before I dared to try that…