Autumn 2021

Thursday, July 15th: I‘m beginning to close on this issue—and I’m having fun! I mean it. Putting this magazine together is a joy and a privilege. Picking the stories: choosing from so many wonderful pieces, trying to get just the right mix.  READ MORE

GreenPrints lives because people like you care about gardening—and about sharing your stories with other gardeners. Without your garden writing, the magazine simply would not exist. So, thank you! Now here’s a little tidbit about each of the authors featured in this issue.  READ MORE

Autumn is knocking at the door of Summer. She—Summer—does not want to open the door. But she knows that, if she ignores his knocking, soon enough he will beat down the door, and there is nothing she can do to stop him.   READ MORE

My husband Tim and I live next to a small lake in Minnesota. Migrating loons stop by our lake every April, hang out for a few days, hone their yodeling skills, and then leave to raise families elsewhere.  READ MORE

Trevor, why the $&@**!! did you do that?” I hear my neighbor yell at his 12-year-old son. I am on my back deck; they are in their front yard two houses down. That’s something I’ve never understood—cussing at a child.  READ MORE

Stealing is a sin and a crime, but what about picking up fruit that’s fallen in someone’s yard? This was a serious issue for me after I moved to California from Hong Kong, where there are no yards at all.   READ MORE

Once there was a lady who was determined to grow her own vegetables to feed her young family. She had no space at home, so went to her local allotment to ask about a plot.  READ MORE

It’s Autumn and “my” bees will be getting ready for cooler weather. Their new “owner” will, no doubt, leave them a good supply of honey to get them through the Winter—and, if they should run out, he may give them a bit of sugar, too.   READ MORE

Dad, I still don’t know where all those wildflowers came from the year you came to live with me in California.  READ MORE

No one should ever sell a house. I’m serious—it’s pure misery and stress, from listing all the way through to closing (Don’t even get me started on buying.)  READ MORE

Name a famous squirrel. Go on, try. And just for an extra challenge, make it a real-life squirrel.  READ MORE

The metal pig belonged to a neighbor. You could tell it was heavy because the wind and snow didn’t budge it. Ensconced next to a broken cherub, a squirrel, statues of cats, and even one of a rat, it made the alleyway special.  READ MORE

I was 30 years old when my father retired. Since he was a pastor, we had never really had a home: our family just resided in the church manses where we lived. On retirement, my father bought some land out in the country and built a small house in an empty field.   READ MORE

The garden we two “Gardening Fools”—Marge and Maggie—created at the house we now share in our retirement is doing well. All except for the front yard. There it is the Sahara.  READ MORE

The forecast predicted perfect working weather: a high of 70 degrees, partly cloudy, a slight breeze, one of those rare days in late Fall when the warmth from a Summer gone by resurfaces and lingers at the doorway one more time.   READ MORE

Redwoods: they’re the state tree of California and the whole world knows it. However, not many people, even Californians, live within a few feet of one. For 26 years I lived 15 feet away from three of them, here in our quiet Northern California suburb.  READ MORE

My cat Koko was such a soul. We were meant to be together. When Koko died, I felt lost. I went outside to walk in the garden.  READ MORE