This is not a political blog. Sometimes my political leanings (which can be summed up as, “leave people more or less alone and don’t be a raging asshole,”) probably poke up, like so many unnoticed weeds in the raised bed of my life. But I try not to focus on politics here, or in my…
Friends
The Kids Who Will Save The World
You know how you read the newspaper (or whatever passes for a newspaper in your world – for me it’s the Google news homepage and my blog feed reader) and by the time your coffee is tepid you’ve discovered thirteen new ways in which The World Is Going To Hell In A Handbasket? Like most…
Roadtrip! Peppers, Sun, And Locavorism
Because summer refused to come to me this year, I went to summer. Yesterday I drove to Eastern Washington, a region as dissimilar from Western Washington from a gardening perspective as Iowa. I was visiting a friend and, for the first time, stomping around her garden. Eastern Washington is hot, dry and seasonally distinct. If you…
Being Everyone
A friend came up to me at a party. “So I’ve finally started reading your blog and now I totally feel like shit!” she joked. What my friend was really saying is that when she reads about No Spend Month, and keeping the garden, and cooking from scratch, she feels like maybe she should be doing that stuff…
Right Tool, Right Job, Right Technique, Your Technique
One of my best friends is moving to the eastern side of Washington State, where much of the land is under agricultural production. She is joining her fiance, who happens to be a professional seed farmer, on their 5 acre rural plot of land. My friend, Kristen, is excited to have room to start a…
Q: Why Did The Chickens Cross The Road?
A: To freak out my neighbors.Homebrew Husband and I go on approximately one date a month, if we’re lucky. Lately they’ve been less frequent, and have included our little guy, which does take some of the romance out of the mix. Anyway, last Friday was Date Night! We dropped our daughter off for an evening of…
Let's Call It A Vacation: The Mother Earth News Fair Getaway
Homebrew Husband and I made a very last minute decision to attend the Mother Earth News Fair this past weekend. We weren’t going to brave the ride to the fair with our son, Young Mr. Screams-In-Car, but a combination of things came together late Friday that convinced us it would be worth attempting the hour-long drive. Chief among these was…
A Public Defense Of The Enthusiastic Beginner
It has come to my attention that some of the best voices on the internet – writers I admire and read and am dedicated to – would rather chew their own arms off than see another damned blog post about homemade yogurt. Okay, I get it. It’s yogurt. Homemade yogurt is so done. Jams and…
Self-Sufficiency, Not All-By-Yourself-Sufficiency
I was attempting to turn and loosen one of my most heavy-soiled beds this weekend. I needed a good stout garden fork. Sadly, I had not yet replaced the fork I snapped in half while transplanting asparagus crowns a few months ago. Without a garden fork, I was hacking at my soil with a pick-mattock. Doing…
We Have Chickens! Meet The Girls!
As you may have heard through the Facebook page, I adopted a pair of chickens on Wednesday. As little as a week ago, the plan had been to hold off on chickens until next spring to give us time to finalize our mini-orchard and the gobs of other things around the ol’ homestead. And then…
It’s Called Gleaning. No Relation To Glee.
I have a friend, the Shoreline Fruit Lady. Today is her birthday, so in her honor I thought I’d talk about one of her favorite things: gleaning. Fruit Lady is a neighborhood gleaner. She walks around her ‘hood with kids in tow and if she notices a big overgrown plum or apple tree in someone’s…
Audrey the Rhubarb Monster
Did you know Washington State is the leading commercial producer of rhubarb in the United States? It grows really well here. Sometimes it grows so well that it’s a little intimidating. Such was the case with Audrey the Giant Rhubarb of Ballard. Our best friends moved into a great 1950s house near Ballard a few…