The Plant Hunter  – A Scientist’s Quest for Nature’s Next Medicines  (Viking-Penguin)  is an fascinating book, coming as it  does in these two years of a pandemic. We  have had doctors and scientists  working to find a cure for COVID-19 and now for variants like Omicron. We do not get to see how the scientists work, but in her book Cassandra Leah Quaves provides great stories and information as well as about her life as a plant hunter, searching  for plants that will heal. (more…)

Christmas brought me wonderful gifts – one of them being a big book of The New Pie: Modern Techniques for the Classic American Dessert. So far I have only made one pie from this book. My pie, Spiced Apple Cider is from the New Fruit Pies category, and there are many beautiful pies to make. (more…)

On the twelfth day of Christmas it was time to take the Christmas tree down. One final look – and a sigh as we begin. (more…)

Winter is here, but that doesn’t mean that there is no  color in the garden. My garden is still very green. I walked through this morning and I could admire many green plants like this green creeping thyme. It grows in a small herb bed next to  the house. (more…)

Books are my favorite gift and this Christmas I acquired lots of reading. The Book of HOPE by Jane Goodall  and Douglas Abrams – with Gail Hudson is one. We all know about Jane Goodall and her work with chimpanzees, but there is more to her work than that. Goodall, now age 87, is considered the world’s most famous naturalist, and her concerns are not only with animals. In The Book of Hope she focuses on ‘Four Reasons of Hope – (more…)

During these pandemic years I’ve done a lot  of reading – and a lot of cooking. A dear friend who also likes to read, and cook and eat gave me a marvelous book – an early Christmas gift. O frabjous day! I have already begun planning to make Louise Penny’s Madame Benoit’s Tourtiere, Harlan Coben’s Myron’s Crabmeat Dip, James Patterson’s Grandma’s Killer Chocolate Cake and Lisa Scottoline’s A Tomato Sauce for All Seasons. Cooking and baking is a great way to get through these pandemic days. We have just received the order to put our masks back on. (more…)

Once I consulted an astrologer. He examined my chart, hesitated and spoke with some puzzlement. “You have your whole family in your hands?” I was stunned. I had just come from a major family reunion and was fully aware of the vast numbers of aunts, uncles,  cousins, spouses and children surrounding me, their lives  leading in a hundred different directions. (more…)

Before the ground freezes I was determined to get my soil tested.  I think the result will be pretty good because we had to bring in 60 yards or more to create raised beds that would permit good planting spaces. As you all know, our yard/garden is a swamp when there is rain.  If we are  going to have a garden with lots of different plants we need to have good soil for raised beds.   Martin’s Farm (https://martinsfarmcompost.com/ was a dependable supplier of good soil and compost. (more…)

On this Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day I will begin with a familiar English Holly. Very prickery, but beautiful  red berries. Everyone is familiar with English Holly at this time of the year.  However – (more…)

Three years  ago I planted grape hyacinth bulbs in our new garden. I had never planted Muscari before and didn’t know it’s proper name – or how it would grow. The bulbs bloomed in the spring and I was delighted. The foliage continued after the blooms died, and then died itself in early summer. As  summer progressed I was shocked to see some weedy thing come up. Those shoots grew bigger and bigger and I  thought I must have planted them at the wrong time. I didn’t really pay attention to the notes that came with them. Surely they would be killed by the cold over the winter. (more…)