These Two Hands

The peonies aren’t the only things growing like crazy around here. Seven weeks to go! And only 19 pounds gained so far. Woo hoo!

It rained again yesterday. It’s raining again tonight. It’s supposed to get down in the mid-40s another three nights in a row. Even though that means that my next batch of annuals (yes, I succumbed and went to the nursery for seedling replenishment –sigh-) may never make it into the ground before we all drown […]

Just got back from a recon of the Patch, and things are definitely not looking good. Downright bad, actually. I don’t think I’ve had this hard a gardening season… well, ever. Plant casualties so far this Spring at the Patch: Weather (death by drowning): Tomatoes (10 of 20) Shallots (10 of 10) Sage plant (1, […]

I don’t know if the weather’s trying to make up for last year’s drought or what, but it seems like an especially cold and soggy spring so far. We’ve had several thunderstorms in the past two week – two dumped three inches of rain on us, and the last one (from which the garden is […]

It’s May and, even if the weather refuses to recognize it, that means it’s rose season. Abraham Darby All of my roses are rebloomers, which means they’ll keep sending out sporadic blooms throughout the year, but the first flush is always the strongest. After three or four years of waiting, it’s so nice to see […]

I can’t believe I’m already bad at posting pictures and Taco isn’t even born yet. Here are some sonograms from when she was only 20 weeks old – she’s a whole 50% older than that now at 30 weeks! – that I finally just got scanned in this morning. Raising her hand to her mouth […]

Can you believe this article from the LA Times? The State of California is fining motorists for tax evasion: they haven’t been paying the 18-cents-per-gallon-of-gas road tax that’s included with gas purchases. Here’s the catch, though; these guys haven’t been buying gas at all. They’ve been running their cars on recycled vegetable oil, which they […]

Planting a dogwood in the back was one of the best gardening decisions I’ve made – that and the lilac. Every spring it breaks out into a ridiculous froth of flowers nearly as big as my hand; every fall we get leaf color and red berries; and throughout the winter it anchors the structure of […]