I recently read Plenitude, a book by Juliet Schor. She came highly recommended by a fun financial blog I sometimes read – Mr. Money Mustache. Anyway, Schor is a leader of the Center for the New American Dream, and Plenitude is about living a more sustainable life, leaving behind the typical American consumerism, and basically…
We’re experiencing our first major storm of fall this weekend. No snow is falling here at our Utah home, but I can see fleeting views of Lone Peak and Box Elder Peak through the clouds, each with a little crown of white at the very top. Soon, it will freeze down here, too, and we’ll…
The flowers I grew from seed have done pretty well so far, and I added a few extras to the mix. I love how gaillardia grandiflora will flower the first year from seed. As I mentioned in another post today (about Crimean lavatera), that is a rare trait for a perennial flower. I like the…
I’ve blogged about this amazing flower before, and now I’m finally growing it at our new place. Lavatera tauricensis is a very uncommon perennial found in the mountains of Crimea. At some point, someone collected seeds and sold them to Thompson & Morgan, and I bought them way back in the 1990s. The flower’s name…
Here’s something cool, shared with me by a coworker. Did you know that trees make you happy? A study from the University of Wisconsin showed that people who live among more trees are more happy. I know that I am! The researchers examined survey data in Wisconsin about mental health and well being, and they…
We’ve only had this house since 2012, so we’ve seen two full winters here. We have two lovely Blue Atlas Cedars – one a tall, wispy tree in the front yard and one a small, weeping variety in the back. I was alarmed last year when many of the needles were brown at the end…
It’s the time of year when peas, spinach, lettuce, brocolli, and other cool-season vegetables can be planted. They can handle some spring freezes. But my worry since moving up on the ridge here at our Utah house is that that deer will feast on our garden bounty. There are a lot of articles on what…
I love forsythia! It’s always the cheery harbinger of warm days, and it’s one of those shrubs that in my mind is best left to look wild. It should be allowed to send its long branches out, covered with beautiful blooms, sometimes arching under the weight of those awesome blossoms. The example above is in…