Winter 2018-19

Thank you. You see, I want you to consider this page as my personal thank-you note to you. You are the reason this quirky, warm, funny, and caring little journal exists. Exists? Heck, next issue’ll be the start of our 30th year!  READ MORE

Debbie Morris: Doctor and college professor, Debbie lives in rural NC. Her hilarious “Not My Day” was in GP No. 112, and her disturbing “Trespassing” ran the last issue.

Trish Dolasinki: “A school teacher and principal for 30 years, I have seven beautiful grandchildren—and just graduated flora cum laude from my first organic gardening class!”  READ MORE

Yesterday morning, I walked out to the vegetable garden and dug up the leeks. The crusty snow had insulated the ground before temperatures plummeted.  READ MORE

I pull into my daughter’s driveway with two baby goats in the back of the Honda Fit. Kahlista, my granddaughter, and two of her playmates run out squealing in joy.  READ MORE

Nonni, my grandmother, would call out to me from her small front porch while she rubbed her flour-laden hands on a big apron. The apron was usually covered with ruffles that disappeared behind her curly white hair.  READ MORE

When you taste homemade lemon curd for the first time, it changes you the same way that homegrown tomatoes change you, rendering you incapable of ever again confusing tomatoes with those rubber balls in the produce section.  READ MORE

To understand my egg-in-the-face horseradish mishap, first you must know about gefilte fish. Gefilte fish is an ethnic food that originated with Jewish folk of eastern European origin.   READ MORE

I am not the fanatic gardener in my family. I am merely my husband’s assistant. His cheerleader. And, yes, some-times his critic. He is undeterred. He just keeps planning and planting.  READ MORE

Snuffle, grunt, puff, squeak. That’s the sound of a British hedgehog eating food at night. I know because my husband puts out special hedgehog goodies—that he bought at the lo-cal pet shop—right below our bedroom window.  READ MORE

For me, one of the best things about Winter is that I don’t feel guilty about not weeding (as I do for most of the rest of the year).  READ MORE

For most gardeners, Winter is a time of rest, planning, and anticipation. After the holidays are over and the decorations stowed, we rest for a few days.  READ MORE

Yes, we spent the Summer under construction. The old porch—which my wife called “ratty” but I thought looked “authentic”—(She just yelled: “We’re both right; it was authentically ratty!”) came down, as did the old Cowboy Architecture deck out back—which would have needed quite a bit of improvement to deserve an adjective as lofty as ratty.  READ MORE

If you happen to be a celebration-prone type of person, as an American you’re in luck: The United States is awash in unexpected holidays. In fact, there’s at least one for every day of the year.  READ MORE

For the past 11 years, I have lived in a condominium. Having a condo definitely has its advantages. I enjoy lawns that I never mow. I expect to walk on shoveled sidewalks after Winter snowstorms.  READ MORE

When we took our first child to college, the school hosted a group-therapy session for the parents. We were encouraged to share our sorrow and what we were planning to do next.  READ MORE

It is December, and I am haunted by the ghosts of Christmas past—of holidays when our lives were consumed by medical crises. First there was the holiday season when Jim, my husband, was seriously ill from multiple infections after extensive surgery.  READ MORE