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Choosing Buttons: Help Wanted
Posted on | April 8, 2011 | 4 Comments
I find myself on the horns of a dilemma (I’ve always wanted to use that phrase, “horns of a dilemma,” but never had an appropriate occasion until now. Just what does horns of a dilemma mean, anyway? I envision a gigantic rhinoceros and some poor hapless individual – me, in this instance – sitting astride it [...]
December Showers…
Posted on | December 12, 2010 | No Comments
… bring winter flowers. Lest you think the garden is asleep for the winter, let me correct that impression. There are a few spots and pots where even my mostly-green thumbs can’t make anything grow spontaneously, and it is necessary to import the color from our local nursery. For those areas, cyclamen do the job nicely, being both [...]
A Recipe for Plum Jam – Or Shouldn’t That Be “Yum” Jam?
Posted on | September 1, 2010 | 2 Comments
My plum tree overfloweth with fruit this summer, no thanks to me. Mother Nature is not to be underestimated. We may have had only 5 pears on the Bartlett pear tree this year, but the Satsuma plum tree more than compensated for it. These jars are just a few of the three dozen I’ve made [...]
Vacations Are For Fun…
Posted on | July 11, 2010 | No Comments
…but there’s no place like home. My knitting is off-camera for the moment, so nothing new to share there. While I’m away from the blog, thought I’d treat you to a few photos snapped in the garden just before I left. Peaches still hard as rocks, but should be ripening by the time we return. [...]
Sprout
Posted on | November 27, 2009 | No Comments
Nobody was more surprised than I to return from my mom’s 80th birthday weekend celebration to the sight of paperwhites already in full bloom in the late November garden. Just when all the leaves are down from the trees back east and the earth seems barren and cold as it awaits the full force of winter, [...]
In Every End, A Beginning
Posted on | October 30, 2009 | No Comments
One of the eternally perplexing mysteries of California to this East Coast native is the change of seasons. I simply have to give up my inclination to measure it out by the calendar, because after nine years here I know, at least, that the calendar has nothing to do with the seasons as I know [...]
A Final Flourish of Figs
Posted on | October 8, 2009 | No Comments
This year’s fig harvest has been outstanding. I think this year’s harvest is the largest we’ve ever had, and the tree has been productive for a longer period than in earlier years. This, even though our single dwarf fig tree shows no signs of dramatic growth that might account for its prolific output. The tree is still pumping them [...]
Fig Mutant
Posted on | August 25, 2009 | No Comments
Yes, this fig IS the size of an apple. But unlike those softball-sized peaches we’ve all been seeing in the supermarket this summer, these specimens have fig flavor to beat all, in an unctuous, chewy texture that is truly sublime. Paired with a bit of blue cheese pressed into the center of each half, they [...]