When people find out I do some free lance writing, they immediately ask what it is I usually write about, assuming most of the time that it’s food. Actually, it’s gardening. Which then leads to them saying something like, ‘oh you must have a wonderful garden’. Actually, no I don’t. Things get neglected and crowded and weeds take over and there is absolutely no plan to it whatsoever, in fact, sometimes I’m liable to just walk out and randomly dig holes in which to plant things because I just feel like digging. But this spring I decided that I going to start trying to take my own advice, I’m going to try to be the sort of gardener I wrote about. Continue reading
Greens, it’s what’s for dinner.
The farmer’s market is overflowing with greens these days – cabbage, chard, kale, arugula, lettuces galore – as well as with lovely root vegetables with their greenery still attached – beets, radishes, carrots, turnips. How to use it all without wasting it? I am often asked how I go about doing that this time of year.
Lazy, hazy days are here.
It’s officially summer. The calendar reads June, the heat and humidity have arrived and most importantly, school is out. Continue reading
Lemon cake and berries.
A few years ago now, we were at a Memorial Day BBQ at a neighbor’s, when one of the guests showed up with this wonderful lemon cake. The rest of us brought various forms of strawberries, as they were gloriously in season. The resulting pairing of fresh strawberries with strawberry ice cream and lemon cake was a nice twist on the idea of strawberry shortcake.
This is how it happens.
I needed a new raincoat. I didn’t want anything fancy, a simple old-fashioned rain slicker would do. Something I could wear in the summer months that wasn’t overly expensive. It didn’t have to be a name brand, it didn’t have to have a lot of bells and whistles, it just needed to be something sturdy and water repellent to wear in the rain. The bar was pretty low. I did a google search and after looking around the interwebs, I kept going back to this one particular rain jacket, a floral lined rain slicker by a company whose name I recognized as one that was frequently carried at The Bon Ton, the local department store in the town I grew up in. Not a fancy label, but the sort of label your mother purchased as a good, dependable, tasteful, well priced brand. You know the type. Continue reading
Pause.
The rain of the last few weeks paused over the weekend, letting the sun come out for a few days.
May Showers
I have decided to credit the last 16 days of rain for the miraculous recovery of my blue hydrangea. I walked out there the other day and noticed buds forming. They still look a little rough around the edges, but they are quickly making a come back. I really think it’s due to all the rain and this is how I’ve come to peace with the current and apparently, ongoing weather. Continue reading
Three is my favorite.
On a recent visit with my friend Walker, he accompanied me on a trip to the nearby Urbanna Market to pick up some essentials. There were of course, certain conditions for this excursion laid down by Walker- one, he was going to ride his bike and two, I was going to buy him cotton candy. Done and done.
Pink and green and blue.
After a few false starts and some hemming and hawing, it would seem that spring has finally arrived here in Charlottesville. Continue reading
Lessons.
I suppose it started when I found myself saying “Yes” to every kid from Charlottesville High School Band that asked me to buy fruit in their fundraising drive late last fall. We’ve always bought fruit to support the local high school marching band, because my better half, having done that himself, likes to support the local band, although I have to admit that these last few years I’ve been a supporter knowing these are the same families we’re going to hit up when Edie starts fundraising for orchestra next year. Some of our family are big citrus fans and eat it up rather quickly, but I found a few pieces languishing in the drawer (no doubt a testament to how many times I said YES), so I thought I’d get crafty with it and try my hand at baking with it. Continue reading
