Stillness. As I sat down to write this, I was trying to think of a word to sum up the hours I spent in my greenhouse and garden over the weekend. That was all that came to mind. No grand revelations. No long-winded observations. Just blissful quiet. A peaceful, settled brain. It’s taken me a long time to get to this point with my garden. In years past, my growing seasons were defined by stress. Overwhelm. Never feeling ...Continue Reading
How to Fix Tainted Soil
I'm not stranger to dealing with poisoned and tainted soil in my garden. I wish that I could say that tainted and damaged garden soil has only happened to me once, but it's actually happened multiple times... --> The first time was when we accidentally bought contaminated non-organic hay for our Deep Mulch garden method (read more about that story here). --> The next time was when we accidentally tainted our compost pile ...Continue Reading
What I’ve Been Reading Lately…
Last week the ground was covered in a blanket of white. This week, it’s 70+ degrees and my kids are “swimming” in the buffalo wallow. A tinge of green is appearing across the prairie that’s been brown for an eternity. It’s coming. I'm looking forward to sun, soil, and long evenings spent outside. Although... a part of me will miss the peaceful nights curled next to the fire with a good book. But I know that time will come ...Continue Reading
Being Old-Fashioned on Purpose
Writing a book is weird. It's a multi-year project that takes everything you have. It transforms you, changes you, sometimes breaks you... but the people around you often don't even know it's happening. As some of you know, I spent the bulk of last year buried in book-writing. It's been beautiful... and often brutal. But we're in the home stretch. And I FINALLY have the green light to share more with you today about my new ...Continue Reading
Why Good Potting Soil is Important (and the Story of My Dead Tomato Seedlings)
Last spring, I couldn't get my tomato seedlings to grow. I tried everything. After using multiple different seeds and seed companies, trying different pots, changing the lighting, watering differently, and even replanting everything, I threw up my hands in despair. Maybe I just wouldn't be growing tomatoes for the year... But then I thought of the one variable that I hadn't considered before: the potting soil. Later into ...Continue Reading
