With the garage nearly finished, Dan, Sean and I have turned our attention to the larger project of extending the north wall of my mother’s house and converting our old garage into a cozy dwelling space. Building a house addition is a different beast than constructing something from scratch. Not only do designers and builders […]
The notion that an authentic assessment of value requires more than a cursory glance manifests in many forms: don’t judge a book by its cover; appearances can be deceiving; all that glitters is not gold; his beauty was only skin deep. My upbringing was riddled with reminders of this sort, but it was also clear […]
When I think about a roof, two words instantly come to mind: “gimme shelter.” It’s unclear whether this is a testament to the cultural staying power of The Rolling Stones, a vestige of the music that pervaded my childhood, or just a quirk of my connectome. Since I’m not much of a Stones fan, I […]
Unless you’re an orthopedist or someone who experiences bone-related pain, you probably don’t spend a lot of time thinking about your skeleton. A well-formed skeleton resides quietly in the body, providing freedom of movement, anchoring muscles, and protecting vital organs. Like so many of the subtle structures and processes on which daily life is predicated, […]
After last week’s unwelcome setbacks, I’m pleased to report that Jesse and I finished the new garden fence with relatively little trouble. With the posts already in place, we managed to run the fencing, hang the gate, and extend the existing retaining wall in just a few hours. The garden is now completely enclosed again […]
It seems an inviolable law of nature that people who spend a lot of time working on home improvements must deal with the issue of project overlap. Some endeavors take longer than expected, some require the help of people who are only available at certain times, and some prove so psychologically or physically daunting that […]
Since I started gardening, I’ve heard this adage more than a few times: “You’ll always want more growing space!” We are already producing so much food that we’ve begun hounding friends into taking home bags of greens and are also selling small amounts as well, but Ma and I are still committed to figuring out […]
Following up on my last journal, I’m now thrilled to call myself the proud owner of a fully functioning, timer-controlled drip irrigation system. This system covers all ten of our main beds––five in the old garden as well as the five new beds I’ve constructed since returning from Japan. I’ve held off on running lines […]
In this lovely time of year when blossoms burst forth, new leaves unfurl, and plants reach for the sun with great zeal, gardeners have to think seriously about water. Up to this point, it’s been easy enough for Ma to water the garden by hand. But now that we’ve doubled our growing capacity, that strategy […]
The importance of edge is one of the best gardening tips I took away from Gaia’s Garden, Toby Hemenway’s excellent permaculture guide. Loosely defined, “edge” describes all the parts of the garden that we don’t always think of as useful, especially for growing edible plants. Over the years, Ma has done a great job of using […]