Yesterday I posed the question, What is inspiring your edible garden this year? I think it is only fair that I join in and divulge my current inspirations for the 2010 growing season. I saw this book, Terrine by Stéphane Reynaud the other day but couldn’t justify the purchase. The next day I treated myself …
Have you ever heard of sea cabbage, a wild cousin of the domesticated brassicas? Did you know that edible bananas are a primitive plant thought to be related to some of the first trees of the primeval forest? I didn’t either until this weekend when I was finishing up an article on unusual vegetables and …
A few months back I decided not to do reviews anymore. Not that I did many in the first place, but the decision lifted a huge load off of my shoulders. It’s the difference between just not doing something, and making a conscious, said out-loud choice not to do something. I love books, yet for …
As I mentioned earlier today it’s been a L O N G year. Actually, it’s been a long year and a half. Or two years. Where am I? I’ve mentioned it briefly here and there but was finally given the go-ahead today to speak freely(ish) about the main project that has been taking up so …
The title says it all. Although, taking the Street Garden out of the picture this year significantly reduced the opportunity to spend more. I could completely disregard most flowers, bushes, or bedding plants, focusing instead of edibles and a few hardy, drought tolerant plants for the fire escape. Bringing a set number of dollars and …
Over the weekend, I decided to read Jamaica Kincaid’s “The Autobiography of My Mother” for the second time. Opening the first page, I notice a note scrawled into the top right hand corner in my own handwriting, “pg 143.” Turning to page 143 I find the following passage underlined: “He had an obsessive interest in …
I recently did an interview with Mari Malcolm of the Amazon blog about the garden books I keep on my own bookshelf. It was a fun interview to do. I love, love, love books and have a pretty extensive collection of gardening books ranging from the contemporary to old. Some are useful resources and some …
I bought “A Tale of 12 Kitchens” by artist and designer Jake Tilson just over a year ago and have been trying to find a reason to write about it on the site ever since. The book isn’t particularly about gardening or cooking from garden fresh food, although it does have brief sections describing the …
Sakura’s White Bleeding Heart in the street garden I wanted to write and thank you all for your very kind words and wishes about yesterday’s post. I’ve been overwhelmed. Thank you. I have to admit I have felt a little bit of embarrassed by what I wrote. On the one hand it reads so dramatic, …
Unfortunately when it comes to Mr. Michael Pollan I can not seem to get past an unfortunate and debilitating case of “teenage fan girl ridiculousness” (squeal!) to write about his work with a modicum of professionalism. If you haven’t heard of his writings and work already I would highly suggest running out and getting a …
Who doesn’t love a good mail day? You know, the kind with items in the mailbox that aren’t bills or the junk coupons and flyers that keep showing up despite the careful note explaining that, “Seriously. For real. We REALLY don’t want that crap delivered to our door.” I received seed catalogues from two companies …
I want this book! We took a week off last month, staying at the home of an avid tomato gardener whose name I have not sought permission to reveal (and therefore will not). While there she introduced me to the Kokopelli Seed Foundation, a non-profit organization based in France who are working to actively address …