Experienced gardeners will laugh at my ignorance, but I’ve never seen a squash grow. Now that I have, I realize squash must be related to kudzu. You check progress and then, while you look away, it grows another inch.

As you probably know by now, we’re moving from a 2300 sq. ft. house in Vestavia Hills to a 600 sq. ft. apartment in the pole barn at Longleaf Breeze. That’s the scariest way to say it. Now let’s flesh it out and make it less intimidating.

My brothers all put cages on their tomatoes, and they grow magnificent tomatoes. I say that even though my middle brother Ruffin watches in frustration as squirrels run across his yard with their evil rodentian jaws stuffed with Ruffin’s and Cathy’s prize Sweet 100s.

We have prayed about it, we have dreamed and schemed about it, we have sacrificed for it, and yes, we have argued about it. This weekend it happened. We tasted the first fruits from our first ever vegetable garden.

I have wooed her; I have courted her. I have plied her with visions of roses and lilies. And this weekend Amanda murmured those words I’ve longed to hear: “You know, I’m kind of coming around to the idea of a composting toilet.”

Regular readers know that I have focused my attention sharply on how we subsistence farmers will grow, store, and prepare food in a post-peak-oil world. But as in so many other matters, my bride has a different point of view. She shifted our attention this weekend away from food and […]

I love cutting and splitting firewood. Even though I generally dislike tasks I must wear ear protection to perform, I make an exception for firewood. It’s uniquely satisfying to watch a stack build up on one of our pallets and know that it will keep us warm in the winter […]

We had a great couple of days this weekend at Longleaf Breeze, but the highlight by far was our first chance to use our weeding hoe.

It’s been 17 days now since we planted our summer garden, and so far, things look good for the veg, not so good for the herbs. Here’s the report.

After this summer, Amanda will be a retired professor. At 56, she is young to be leaving teaching, but her colleagues who have preceded her into retirement are unanimous: “Do it! You’ll never regret it.” I believe they are right; I believe we will be glad we have made the […]