As I watch Tropical Storm Debby empty her massive reservoir across my gardens I am amazed that so much water can fall from the sky in such a short time. A few weeks ago we received a desperate plea from our water company that drought conditions dictated that we conserve water to extend the water […]
Clear the Forest
One year ago, we inked the agreement to buy a non-existent house on one of the last lots in a secluded neighborhood. Shawn and I fell in love with the site though we knew the homestead would require much heavy work to untangle the brambles, beat back the vines, and remove the damaged trees. Some […]
The Vicious Vines of Sin
We have been clearing the “jungled” portion of our land to make room for the shade garden. Rain or shine, cold or warm, we have been up there hacking and chopping to get this task complete before spring arrives and the creepy crawlies start moving. Here’s a preview (from my library window) of where we […]
Stop and Breathe
The last nine months have brought a swarm of frenzied tasks to our lists as we prepared to move and finally moved in December. And the pace has not let up with all the unpacking and decisions about the new space. I have more than 200 plants in pots which need to be installed in […]
Have Garden Will Travel
After thirty-plus years tending the gardens at Paths of Hope, Shawn and I are relocating to a new venue, the not-yet-existing Gardens of Grace, located thirty minutes south on the other side of Raleigh. In that move we will be advancing from USDA gardening zone 7b to 8A. Our mission will be to take a […]
Weed ’em and Reap
As I struggled to hoe the weeds out of the beans in our first serious garden in Winston-Salem in the early 1980’s the neighborhood’s highly successful gardener, Floyd, stopped by for chat. Shawn and I didn’t know that we had planted our beans too early, but Floyd knew. The landowner from which we rented our […]