Grow
Stewardship
'If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito.' ~ Dalai Lama Today, I’m reminded of how important it is to grow sustainably. Cancelled orders, crop failures, unprecedented changes in weather in Europe and the States, vegetable shortages in Asia… all in addition to the perennial topics of energy over-consumption and disappearing biodiversity. I’m feeling it, we’re all feeling it. From left to right: 1) We added giant bronze fennels to our pollinator habitat, where Eastern Black Swallowtail caterpillars like to hang out. 2) Growing vegetables and flowers in the field with minimal energy consumption....
Seed Sowing Progress Round 1
Today is edibles care day! We bottom water, we thin, we pinch, and we 👩🏻🌾🐶 eat! Each year we start our veggie seeds quite early, partly because we think homegrown greens truly taste better (in addition to their lack of pesticides 😬), partly because by the time Jan/Feb roll around, I’m itching to get started again. From left to right: 🥬 1) lettuce seedlings that have been thinned out to make room for the ones still standing, sorry 😬. 🌱 2) Fuzzy clarys doing their thing. 🌱 3) Tasty peashoots, which we’ve pinched out to create more branching (= more peas 😋) Note...
Winter's a Planner's Dream
"January is the quietest month in the garden... But just because it looks quiet doesn't mean that nothing is happening. The soil, open to the sky, absorbs the pure rainfall while microorganisms convert tilled-under fodder into usable nutrients for the next crop of plants. The feasting earthworms tunnel along, aerating the soil and preparing it to welcome the seeds and bare roots to come."- Sunset, 1/99 Here in North Carolina, we have been preparing a collection of new planting beds since last November on a local farm that's managed through principles of regenerative agriculture. As a planner at heart, there...
The Cutflower Garden Chronicles: Homage to Simplicity
Homage to simplicity and finds from places by the water — shell from a knobbed whelk and a hibachi/tea table brought back from Yokohama in the 1970s. I had been wanting to incorporate them with the beautiful things from the garden for a while now, the waterlily dahlia and fluid vines of the clematis made perfect company. A counterbalance to the chaos of August both in and out of the garden! Epilogue In technology product development, I am often presented with a real world question or problem in complex systems in need of some kind of solutions. (Lately, it’s been...
The Cutflower Garden Chronicles: Wednesday | April 28, 2021
“A fresh start isn’t a place. It’s a mindset.” ~unknown One reason we love growing is - the garden is always ripe with opportunities for fresh starts, for dreams, and also for meaningful work and rewards, any time of the year! And it is all up to you (well, minus the forces of Mother Nature :) This year, we have changed up our back garden a bit to include more herbs and perennials and give up on the tasty veggies 🐰 🐿🤪. Professionally, the frest starts in our gardens have reminded me to be patient and alleviated some of the...