Dearest Readers, Okey dokey. Contest time! For the last two weeks I’ve been scouting around for plants that just might elude ready naming! I might be wrong. There are probably whiz kids among you who can Name Them All. Well, that would be a good thing for YOU, as you would be the winner of [...]
Posted on April 6th, 2013 by Kathryn
Filed under: Plants | 17 Comments »
Oh, my goodness! Only 21 days until Christmas! Christians around the globe are gathering their inner resources, making plans for the holidays. Some are out the gate! (I received my first Christmas card yesterday from Wisconsin!) One of the treasured practices of this special time of year is to tuck paperwhite bulbs into a simple [...]
Posted on December 4th, 2012 by Kathryn
Filed under: Plants | 12 Comments »
Long Island Cheese Pumpkin (Cucurbita moschata) When Antonia was a wee little girl and “making things from scratch” became a very high priority in my kitchen, San Francisco hippie woman that I was, I decided that November was Master Pie Crust month. And I made pie crusts over and over until I could make one [...]
Posted on November 5th, 2012 by Kathryn
Filed under: Plants | 18 Comments »
Happiest fall greetings and welcome to Plant Whatever Brings You Joy (and a fresh new look!). As promised I’m going to continue sharing the wealth of information I gathered from Anne, whom I met at the farmer’s market, who has a wonderful organic farm in Mendocino County. I was just astounded that she knows so [...]
Posted on October 9th, 2012 by Kathryn
Filed under: Plants | 10 Comments »
My favorite new discovery at our local farmer’s market is the magnificent collection of winter squashes and pumpkins grown by Anne and her husband, Chris of C & A Organic Farms, here in Mendocino County in Northern California. Anne has a deep passion for these varieties and is a wealth of information, which she most [...]
Posted on September 26th, 2012 by Kathryn
Filed under: Plants | 12 Comments »
sunflowers and zinnias Formal garden tours are wonderful and becoming increasingly popular and I’m glad for it. But sometimes all we need to do for a fresh look of inspiration is to walk down the street. Really. At least that’s what happened to me. For just a block away an elderly woman (no other way [...]
Posted on August 1st, 2012 by Kathryn
Filed under: Plants | 10 Comments »
Melissa Officinalis I continue to be fascinated not just with herbs, but with herbs that have been used by human beings for thousands of years. Lemon balm, or, formally, melissa officinalis, falls in that category. I think I first became aware of lemon balm through my dear friend Conny, who is German, and, apparently, lemon [...]
Posted on July 17th, 2012 by Kathryn
Filed under: Plants | 9 Comments »
One the basic tenets in my book Plant Whatever Brings You Joy is “Never pull up and discard what you cannot identify.” So when a soft grey-green plant emerged in the side garden, sporting a lovely green rosette, I was not inclined to pull it. I was more interested in identifying it, and exploring what [...]
Posted on June 12th, 2012 by Kathryn
Filed under: Plants | 15 Comments »
One of the marvelous advantages of long-term blogging is that one is constantly making new and interesting discoveries. One of my best and latest is Finnish herbalist Henriette Kress’s new book Practical Herbs. Indeed, scanning the Table of Contents I found myself so excited because, honestly, everything sounded like something I wanted to know more [...]
Posted on May 21st, 2012 by Kathryn
Filed under: Plants | 6 Comments »
Borage Honestly? Prior to moving here I had never heard of an herb called borage. I found it in abundance in the kitchen garden and had to inquire about what it was. To this day I call it BOR-age, as if were two clear syllables. And French. I have since learned that herbalists (around here, [...]
Posted on May 2nd, 2012 by Kathryn
Filed under: Plants | 13 Comments »
