4 Rochester

There’s something so satisfying about cooking dinner with food from my garden. Dinner tonight - currently bubbling away on the stove — features tilapia (from who knows where) cooked in a tomato and pepper sauce. The tomatoes, red pepper and herbs all come from the garden. The green pepper...

I was walking to class a couple of weeks ago and was blown away by this view in front of the library. This despite the fact that spring is a bad allergy season for me, although Chinese herbs and dietary changes have made it more of a minor annoyance than the season of headache it once was. Speaking of...

I must like this...that feeling of preparing the soil, nourishing it with garbage that turns into luscious, nutrient-filled food for life...planting my little seeds, lots of them, which other creatures try to dig up and root out...watching the many seedlings come to life regardless...carefully plucking...

Sunday morning I learned that there was a freeze warning for the night. That meant I put aside some of my other plans for the day in order to bring in the harvest (but not without finishing that little pumpkin, from Curly Purly, that I felt compelled to make over the last couple of days.) Mostly herbs...

It really doesn't take a lot to bring me pleasure. No mood-altering chemicals, windfall of money, or adrenaline rush needed... Here's a non-inclusive list of tidbits from daily living to show you what I mean. October Dahlia A walk at Taughannock Falls State Park, complete with dozens of these...

So...in case you haven't noticed (and why not??)...I'm half way to two of my three goals. I have 21 projects (okay, that's not quite half, but close enough!) and many more under progress. Clapotis. Calla Coasters. Signs of fall-inspired socks and cross-stitch. The projects have slowed down...

A dear friend has asked for recipes for preserving. I am happy to oblige by sharing my favorite books. (These are linked to Amazon so you can get a good feel for them, but I encourage you to support your local library/independent bookseller/used bookstore.) My "bible" (somewhat literally, since...

Like me, the zinnias are pretty energized as late summer closes in! And the dahlias are right behind. A favorite knitwear designer, embroider, artist, blogger of mine is Kristin Nicholas. Check out her books and blog for lots of zinnia-inspired designs.

The garden is alive and it is created to endure just the way a human being comes into the world and lives, suffers, enjoys, and is mortal....Is the cycle any easier to accept in the garden, than in a human life? Both of them are hard to take! In both cases, there is a sense not only of obligation, but...