What do sunflowers and zucchini have in common? Not much, really. It’s a trick question. After all, sunflowers grow UP while zucchini plants grow
I went on a slug patrol the other morning. This means setting my coffee cup down and snooping around the garden in search of slimy gastropods. I collected them with bare hands and then
Dear readers, For today’s column, I’d intended to dive into composting and how to harvest and store potatoes. Then my copy of GreenPrints arrived in the mail, and I changed my mind. Oh, yes, I promise
Tomorrow is the first day of autumn, when, for a micro-second, we teeter-totter at a perfect point between 12 hours of day and 12 hours of night. Back on Earth, it’s time to make jam, put up pickles, smoke fish, and
The summer of 2020 has been like no other: Good weather plus more time than usual to spend in the garden; or fish for silver salmon, go for long hikes, and… okay, so the berry harvest wasn’t so great. Yet, more than once
What’s the most popular vegetable in the world? Potatoes. So, what’s Number 2? Carrots. If you’re like me, you adore carrots but struggle to find new and interesting
When I was young, I hated most vegetables. So when Grammie came to visit, there were issues. Oh, she dished up hot biscuits and gravy, salad, and fresh peas. But then… “Eat your greens,” she’d say. “Then you can have dessert.” Groan. I couldn’t bear the thought
I spend many hours at my home computer, writing articles, and processing images. I’m not fussy about dress codes (I draw the line at bathrobes and bunny slippers) but I am fussy about
The sun was shining but the damp breeze felt like ice cubes rubbing my cheeks. A typical spring morning in coastal Alaska. But this morning would not be typical. A surprise was waiting…
Gardening feels like a bosom-hug from my Grammie. She loved to grow beans, putzing quietly in the dirt. Now it’s April 2020 and COVID-19 has gifted me with
There’s a silver lining in every crisis, from the economic meltdown of 2009, to cancer, to the COVID-19 issue. Tough times are reminders that we live within circles—family, nation, world. So, what’s our relationship with
I went to a garage sale recently in search of a used shovel. No luck. But I did find a used book of hysterical gardening stories. (More on that in a second). Okay, I know you’re here for
Sometimes you have to cover many miles to discover relief during troubled times. For me, I traveled from Alaska to Antarctica, camera gear in tow. Little did I know, I’d be forced to focus on more than cute penguins…
I live on Kodiak, the second-largest island in the U.S. Did you know that it’s mostly a wildlife refuge for coastal brown bears? What does that have to do with Christmas cactus? First of all, Merriam-Webster set me straight. Again. Because the plural of cactus
It became my job to make the gravy the year my husband and I hosted Thanksgiving dinner. Easy-peasy. I’d made enough gravy to fill a hundred gravy boats. Little did I know, my gravy adventure would—oops,
Have you ever seen those drawings in National Geographic of what Alaska looked like in the days of the dinosaurs? Far from a frozen wasteland. We’re talking a lush, tropical
What do red bell peppers, broccoli, and papayas have in common? They’re awesome sources of vitamin C. But there’s another source of vitamin C that blows these guys out of the water…