Like the “Boy Named Sue” the flower named “Pansy” is anything but. These cheerful, brightly colored early bloomers are some of the hardiest plants available – especially this time of year, when little else can withstand the cold nights. Pansies love cool temps and are...

Have you seen those small, greenish pumpkin-like squash in the grocery or farmer’s market? Like many strange, hard vegetables, you may be tempted to pass this by, but you would be missing one of the sweetest, creamiest squash there is.

The Japanese kabocha has gained po...

It was like packing a Christmas box and stuffing it full of all the goodies you know the person would love, only we were filling waxed boxes with beautiful, ripe veggies that had just been picked and washed to be delivered to the CSA participants.

“This week we have a g...

Lightly dusted in rich, red dirt, I joined my daughter and a dozen other young folks underneath the dappled shade of a big, live oak for a lunch break. We pulled ball caps from our sweaty heads and stretched out against hay bales to unwrap home-made lunches packed in r...

Can I admit something to you? I love free stuff. I always have. In fact, I love it so much that when I was young and limited in my means, I… well… um… I used to steal stuff.

Please don’t hate me. There’s just something thrilling about getting something for (seemingly) n...

What sets New Your City apart from every other city in the world? Blaring horns, bright lights, assaulting sounds and smells from who-knows-where. Re-branded as “The Big Apple” by John Fitzgerald writing in 1970 about the prizes in the city as "the big apples" of compe...

I lost her. It’s not all that uncommon these days for me to misplace things, but my grandmother in her grave?! My suspicious hairs got raised this summer when I finally visited my “Bobchi” (Polish for grandmother) in the last place I saw her and she was nowhere to be f...

We’ve turned the corner; summer is half-over and this year’s garden knows it. The hopes and plans that were born last winter and spring have come and gone. Oh, there’s vegetables to pick and a few showy flowers that love the August heat, but most of the shine has rubbe...

What a show! Our peas have outdone themselves this year. The 4-foot trellis I bought for them proved to be too short, but the peas didn’t seem to mind bending over and reattaching. The flowers look like mini-orchids and their beautiful magenta color is stunning.

I had h...

A syncopated beat pipes through tiled walls. The city is still asleep. Only a few souls have made it to the coffeehouse. Seated across from a thin, dark Moor - his straight black hair pulled back in a ponytail from an attractive, mustached face, I am intrigued by the c...