Finally, signs of spring!

A mild winter day was welcome after the deep freeze of January (and the natural gas bill that accompanied it -- yikes, it was at least a third to a half more than we'd ever paid before!)More importantly, signs of spring are popping --dandelions are in flower and the early yellow jasmine (the Asian shrub,...

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Spring is in the air!

Some trees and shrubs are already producing their spring growth.Spring is beginning to show itself with new growth on some of the plants and the extreme busyness of the little birds. It's too early to plant the tender crops because we are still likely to experience more frosty weather, but the rest...

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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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