Brrr, it's been cold, and snowy!

January has been a month of extremes in the Carolinas (and beyond).  We've had the (normally usual for February) days in the upper 60's that remind me why it's so great to live in the Southeastern U.S., but more significantly, we've also experienced deep freeze temperatures in the teens and below. It hasn't been so COLD in decades. We visited last weekend with a naturalist/artist couple...

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Modified recipe with edibles from the garden

Winter harvest includes*: (clockwise starting at the knife)3 small cabbage leaves, 5 meadow garlic plants, 3 bunches ofgarlic chives, parsley, rosemary, 3 come-again broccoli crowns,1 sprig of dill, and 1 sprig of oregano.Cream of crab soup--modified!I've modified the standard cream of crab soup in...

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Florida's Arbor Day

Hard-working native trees are also beautiful and add value to your property. While most of the country celebrates Arbor Day in April, both Florida and Louisiana celebrate on the third Friday in January. It’s a much better time to plant a tree because deciduous trees are dormant and others are less...

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Cartagena market

Cartagena market sceneThe produce/meat/fish market in Cartagena was far from the "old town."  It was a chaotic place (and definitely NOT on the normal tourist map either).But, we're always interested in visiting traditional market places so we headed there in an ancient taxi, and were dropped off...

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The amazing power of colonizing plants

  Plants colonizing a tile roof in La Candelaria, Bogotá, Colombia It was remarkable to see plants colonizing a couple of (very old) tile roofs in the old colonial district of La Candelaria in Columbia's capital city. It meant that 1) enough organic matter had accumulated that seed...

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Fun hiking... in the Valle de Cocora

Valle de Cocora hiking (Los Montanas)We had a great day hiking over the "Los Montanas" pass and down, in the Cocora Valley -- a great place to hi...

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Yard-long beans in Cartagena

Colombia was not a trip for admiring vegetable gardens.  I didn't actually see anything resembling a vegetable garden (outside of a "modern" demonstration edible garden at the botanical garden in Bogota).So not surprisingly, there aren't many vegetables to be seen in markets, either, aside from...

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Views from Salento

Salento view down the main streetWe totally enjoyed Salento, a "tourist" town locked in a time warp;  the colonial buildings are filled with shops, but still evoke the feeling of a Zona Cafeterra town from years ago. Salento fruit stand It may have been an accidental time to visit --...

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Valle de Cocora

LW and decorated "Willy" jeep (a traditional form of tourist transport)A primary "tourist" destination for Columbians and foreigners alike was the historic town of Salento and the nearby Valle de Cocora.It made for some great hiking.View from Los Montanas passValley viewLooking down the val...

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Wonderful tropical fruits

One of the delights of traveling in tropical America (especially Colombia) is all of the amazing fruits.  Mango, papaya, bananas, and pineapple were regulars on our breakfast plates.A diversity of tropical fruits (from Uncover Colombia)But maracuya (passion fruit), mora (blackberry), guanabaya,...

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Traveling in Colombia

Wax palms (Colombia's national tree) in the Valley of CocoraGoogle thought it was "suspicious" that I wanted to sign into my blog account in Colombia.  Hmm. And the only way to verify my identity was to receive a text message on my cell phone (which didn't work in Colombia) or answer a series...

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Green gardening DOES matter

A bluebird at sunrise in my yard. Bluebirds are important bug predators in the ecosystem.At the beginning of a new year, there are many speculations on what might happen and to-do lists of what you could do to improve your own situation.  Normally, I shy away from making such proclamations, but...

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