Monthly Archives: March 2009


Shopping for a Toilet 3

I hope we will have a composting toilet one day, even if I’m the only one who uses it. Amanda has made it clear from the start, however, that she will not feel comfortable inviting people to Longleaf Breeze to use a composting toilet. So we’ve known since the earliest […]


Earth Hour – For Real 2

The rolling global one hour blackout that is Earth Hour has begun. As I write this on Saturday morning in Alabama, the lights have been turned off and are already back on in Sydney, Australia. Darwin and Manila are in the dark now, as the darkness moves westward across the […]


Transporting Compost (or not) 1

I’m an avid reader, if not an active poster, on the Yahoo! Gardening Organically group. And it won’t surprise you that the Gardening Organically folks are all about compost. So what do we do if we want to start a garden this summer but haven’t lived on the farm long […]


Depending On the Weather Report

It was sunny yesterday morning at our home in Vestavia Hills, Alabama. I knew it would rain for the next several days, though, so I got out and did a good bit of yard work that Amanda needed me to finish before a gathering this weekend. I knew it would […]


A Good Week 3

Amanda and I are finishing a week away from our respective jobs, during which both of us focused on the farm. If this is a foretaste of our lives on the farm, we will enjoy this next phase in our marriage.


Breakdowns 1

This started out as a post about our morning routine. But like our routine yesterday morning, it changed when the coffee maker stopped working. Now it’s about stuff that breaks.


But in an Emergency . . . 1

Amanda and I are spending this next week at the farm. More precisely, we’re spending days at the farm and nights at the cabin our family owns on Lake Martin. In preparation for a week away from home, Amanda washed and dried three large loads of laundry last night.


About Longleaf Pines 2

Two years ago, we had never heard of longleaf pines. Now we’ve learned to recognize them, fallen in love with them, and named our farm for them.  It’s time to tell you how this came to be.