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I have always considered myself a “back yard” kind of gardener. I love the peace and solitude, the hours of alone time that the back yard provides. Which is why, during these unusual days, as soon as my gardening day begins, I run out to the FRONT yard!!

We live in a neighborhood that’s good for walking and during the last few weeks, our street has become like a pedestrian mall. People! I love people! I love just seeing their masked faces, their awkward distance from one another, their dogs peeing on my flowers, it doesn’t matter. I’m just glad to see humanity streaming by in front of my garden.

I wave and chatter, call out to neighbors, compliment people on their babies and their dogs…….all of which is a little out of character but who IS in character these days? In between the chatter, I weed and move things around, spread pine straw, build cages to keep out the squirrels, clip, prune and enjoy the sunshine.

We’ve all had to make adjustments, especially the kids. My granddaughter’s 10th birthday was last week and her mother organized a parade of 13 cars to drive past with music blaring, horns honking, balloons and gifts thrown out the car window. What a fantastic use for my front yard!

Though I still love my cool, shady quiet back yard, I’m grateful for the busy excitement of the front. And who knows….. maybe I’ve just become a front yard kind of woman!

There’s nothing like sunshine after a storm.

We had another big tree go down on the hillside at the lake house during the Easter Sunday storms. A large oak which came up from the roots toppled everything in its path (which fortunately, did NOT include the house), leaving a mass and a mess of smaller trees and shrubs.

Which meant only one thing: time for the chainsaw. I’ll have to confess that using a chainsaw is one of my guilty little pleasures. On the surface a chainsaw is not a likely candidate for my love. It’s loud, it uses fossil fuels, it’s destructive and potentially dangerous. But, oh the power! and the glory! and the speed at which I can cut and trim and begin to organize the chaos.

My chain saw is the smallest one available and I’m sure a real lumber jack would consider it nothing more than a glorified toy. But I can handle it (though I’ve found that two hours is my limit) and am comfortable with it. And, I am extremely careful, not only to prevent injury but also because I’m afraid that even one slight mishap would result in someone (like a well meaning family member) taking it away from me.

I know my limits and only tackle the smaller branches and limbs. Even so, chainsawing takes total concentration. Not only is there danger from the machine itself, there is also always the unknown of how the trees and limbs will react. It’s sort of like a chess game. “If I cut here, it will (probably) fall there” sort of thing.

The hillside has changed and while I grieve what is gone, I am already beginning to plan how to go forward. While I’ll never again enjoy the shade of this mighty oak, I do have the opportunity to make a different kind of garden. There is fertile ground here for making some positive changes.

You know where I’m going with this. What are we going to do when the chainsaws have silenced, after this storm of the virus has passed and when the threat of contagion no longer dictates our lives? Inevitably, things will not be the same. There is fertile ground for change here as well. I hope that the lessons we learn from this global catastrophe include a new and lasting appreciation for one another. I hope that the renewed interest in gardening and cooking and nature remain. I hope that we reprioritize and find that the things that are most important are love, family and a simple joy of being alive.

Stay safe. Keep faith. Remain hopeful.

Laura

My husband, Jack, observed the other day that the Beatles have all the philosophy needed to get us through this current crisis. I think he’s right!

Maybe I’m Amazed at where we are right now. And for all my friends out there, I Want to Hold Your Hand!

But Sgt. Pepper is always shouting Help! or Get Back! Get back to where you once belonged.

Just think how difficult it would be to stay six feet apart if we were all on A Yellow Submarine.

Quarantine has been more difficult for some than others.

Jojo was a man who thought he was a loner
But he knew it couldn’t last

Jack and I talked about where to quarantine. There’s always Abbey Road or Penny Lane or even the Octopus’ Garden. I considered Strawberry Fields but didn’t want to stay there forever. Just as long as I’m not Back in the USSR. I think the best bet is to join Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. Jack says if he stays in quarantine much longer, he’s going to feel like Nowhere Man. Every morning I wake up and think Another Day and every week seems as if there are Eight Days a Week.

I miss my friends, including Lovely Rita, Eleanor Rigby, Michelle, Jude, Dear Prudence and even Uncle Albert. But basically, I Feel Fine. I wish I could take the Long and Winding Road – to just about anywhere. But we’re content because every morning, Here Comes the Sun.

Imagine all the people and how happy they are going to be when we can Come Together. But in the meantime, We Can Work It Out. Just Let it Be and remember

All You Need is Love.

Thank you George, Ringo, Paul and John!!!

One of the good things about sheltering at home is that I’m spending almost all day every day outside. I never knew my garden was so versatile, but take a look!

My mother used to say that sunshine was good for whatever ails you. Not only is my shelter my garden but my garden is my shelter as well. Just looking at all the exuberant life in my garden makes me feel better. I hope that all of you are spending time outside, soaking up the sunshine. Mama’s right, It’s good for whatever ails you.

Stay safe. Be healthy.

Laura

I would really like, right now, to invite you all into my garden for afternoon tea. The weather is balmy, it’s too early for peak mosquitoes and the spring flowers in my backyard are in their prime.

But, it seems that today is not the day for a social gathering so instead, I’m taking you on a virtual tour of the garden. Enjoy! And stay healthy.

Laura

In a response that I’ll admit is more instinctive than logical, I planted a “Victory” garden over the weekend. During World War II when food supplies were scarce, everyone was encouraged to plant “Victory” vegetable gardens to help the cause. I don’t really think that food supplies are going to become scarce because of the virus, I really don’t. But, some sort of survival mechanism has kicked in and I find myself being more careful and appreciative of my resources and less prone to waste them. Chief among these is food. Thus the victory garden.

If I am successful with this venture, my “cause” will be defeating the squirrels. If you know me or read my blog, you’ll know that I place squirrels in the same category as cockroaches. Despicable little varmints.

A few years ago I was growing so much kale I couldn’t give it away. Then the squirrels ate them down to a nub. I switched to Swiss chard, which worked for a year until one morning I walked out and they were all gone. Totally. Since then, I’ve been buying my greens at the market, complaining and grouching every time I do, until last time, when I decided that no squirrel was going to best me. And I declared war.

Armed with chicken wire, metal stakes, shovels, and bird netting, I went to work. In the front yard, right in the middle of my beautiful flower garden I dug a trench about 6 x 2 feet. I placed stakes at regular intervals and carefully wrapped the chickenwire around the stakes, securing them with plastic ties and burying the bottom of the wire in the trench. I planted my little greens and closed off the top with bird netting and clothes pins. And sat back to wait. My prayer is that the squirrels will line up outside the cage and look longingly at what’s inside and won’t be able to get to it. Ha! That would make my day. Despicable little varmints.

Now, a few days later, it’s looking good. Kale, collard greens and bright green lettuce all seem to be perfectly happy and untouched by despicable little varmints.

It feels good to have something real to fight these days when so much of our time is taken up by simply waiting and worrying. I would declare my little venture a complete success except, I have yet to see the squirrels lining up at the fence, looking miserable. Sigh. I can only hope. Then I truly would have a victory garden.

I hope that you are all safe and healthy. Do some gardening while you have a bit of time at home. Try building a fence around your plants. If you’re lucky you can make some squirrels absolutely miserable. What a victory!!

Bloodroot is one of the first wildflowers to pop up and bloom in spring. With it’s starched white blossoms and golden stamen, it’s easy to spot in the still brown woods.

Bloodroot has an interesting protection system. Until the blossom has been pollinated, the leaf stays curled around the flowering stem, offering extra protection from cold or insects. I’ve never thought to be envious of bloodroot before, but I have to say that the thought of being cocooned by something protecting me from the outside world sounds very appealing these days!

Once the blossom has been pollinated, the leaf unfurls and begins to grow and will continue to do so until mid – summer, when it can be 5 – 6 inches across. The seeds are surrounded by a substance called elaiosome, a rather slimy substance which ants love much more than the seeds themselves, which they just discard. As the ants often will travel a bit of a distance before spitting out the seed, they serve as a very effective mechanism for dispersing the seeds.

Bloodroot received its name from the bright red sap found in the stem and root. Even though the sap was used (sparingly) as medicine by both American Indians and pioneers, it is quite toxic and should not be taken internally.

For a while there was great hope that active alkaloids within bloodroot could be used in modern medicines to fight cancer and other diseases. At one time it was included in toothpaste and mouthwash to help fight plaque but this was discontinued when it became clear that it was doing much more harm than good.

American Indians used the sap from the plant, mixed with bear or other animal fat, as a dye for coloring baskets and blankets, or as war paint. It is still used as a natural dye but by far the best use of the plant is to raise your spirits with the knowledge that spring is here again after a long, wet winter.

I hope that you are all taking care of yourselves and staying safe in the midst of all this craziness. If nothing else, go out and enjoy the sunshine and look for the little bloodroot in the still-brown leaves. It is guaranteed to make you feel better.

Though her real name was Zilpah, we always called my father’s sister Aunt Zip. She was about as different from my father as you could imagine. Dad was calm and steady with mathematician’s mind. She was…not. She was short and plump with (usually) red hair, always wore dresses that were (usually) pink. She loved to write, especially poetry and I am absolutely convinced that if she were living now, she’d LOVE Facebook and she’d be writing a weekly, if not daily, blog.

She had no children and was single for most of her life, marrying late and often. Once she had a taste of marriage, she must have liked it because she tried it several times, losing husbands to both death and divorce.

During our growing up years, she was single and lived in an old brick, two story apartment building on Briarcliff Road in Decatur, Georgia. Her apartment was upstairs, heated with old clanky radiators with all the accoutrements of a spinster; lace doilies on the dresser, her “Mama’s” silver coffee set, carefully polished every week, photos of the family everywhere and her collection of African violets under grow – lights near the windows.

I love all plants. I really do. I just think that some are worth more trouble than others. And African violets, for me, are just not worth the effort. But, I learned one of my first gardening lessons with Aunt Zip and her African violets. I learned that you had to be “very careful” not to get water on the leaves, that they needed to be precisely the right distance from the light, to be at the right temperature, to be fed just the right amount of fertilizer. I almost gave up gardening before I got started but once I learned you could toss some plants in the ground outside and let Nature take over, I was sold.

I actually have an African violet plant that someone gave to me years ago. It’s crammed into my window greenhouse with the other porch plants, waiting until it’s warm enough to go outside again. I don’t give it any special attention. And sure enough, it doesn’t actually look that good and it hasn’t bloomed for years. So, why do I still have it?

Because it reminds me of Aunt Zip and I think about her almost every time I look at my poor little African violet. As I dump water over it, including the leaves, and put it back into its corner, I can hear her careful instructions in my mind. They were like children for her and even though at the time, I thought that was silly, now, so many years later I understand it a little better. It doesn’t matter what you look after and care for, be it a dog, a child or an African violet, the most important thing is that you love something. And Aunt Zip loved her African violets. God bless her.

The magic of a geode is that you’re never quite sure what you’re going to get when you open it up. What looks like just a plain old rock on the outside may be nothing more than a plain old rock on the inside OR it could be stunningly beautiful, colored crystals that seem to have appeared by magic.

You just never can tell about things that look ordinary on the outside. For example…..Ellie (almost 10) had a day off from school (teacher workday) and since I’m on the First Responder list of babysitters, my daughter called and asked if Ellie could spend the day with me. Of course I said of course. It doesn’t matter what I had planned or what I needed to do, I’m well aware that these days with grandchildren are fleeting so I was happy to set aside everything to spend a “plain old” day with Ellie.

Only Ellie had plans and an agenda. She wanted to bake a geode cake that she had seen on some show or some site or something. It’ll be simple, she assured me, you just bake cakes, pile them on top of each other, ice them , cut out a slice and make it look like a geode. Right. Her idea of simple and mine are not even close.

But, I’m game so we began by making an all-organic, from scratch yellow cake. We cut parchment for the pans, dusted them with flour, blended everything perfectly and divided the batter into thirds so we’d have 3 layers. And they came out really, really well. And really thin. No question about it, we needed more cake. By this time our “from scratch” enthusiasm was wearing a little thin so we went to the store, forked out $1.75 for a cake mix and came back and threw it together.

While the cakes were cooling, I took a look at the site or show or whatever and realized that we were missing a few ingredients. So off we went again, to Michaels to get roll out fondant($$), to Party City to get rock candy ($$$), back to the grocery to get icing ($).

Back home, the cakes were nice and cool so she began stacking, putting a thin layer of icing between the layers. But when you have four layers, it uses up a lot of icing. Back to the grocery for more. ($)

Once the cake was iced, we looked at the box of fondant and tried to figure out how in the world it was supposed to cover our cake. I’ve baked a lot but I’ve never used fondant before. But, in for a penny, in for…..well, the cost of this venture was increasing hourly. I rolled it out super thin, then rolled it up on the rolling pin to transfer it to the cake. Which was fine but no one told us that fondant sticks to itself so part of it kind of tore and it wasn’t big enough to cover the back and….well, we were just “creative” in making it all work.

Ellie set out to make it look like a geode. She cut out a big slice, dabbed in more icing and stuck in two different colors of rock candy, edged with gold. Oh, did I mention buying the edible gold powder ($$$). I just let her do the decorating part all by herself.

But, and by this point you may not believe me, but it worked!!!!! It was amazing and beautiful and we did it and it took all day and a stupid amount of money but it doesn’t matter because we had a blast and Ellie had a dream and we made it happen.

So, when I broke open this plain old day babysitting with Ellie, I found magic. I’m so lucky. But, I do know why Mother Nature takes so long to form a geode, those suckers are a lot of work!

One of the funniest movie scenes I’ve ever watched is in UP! when a pack of dogs sees a squirrel and Dug the talking dog yells “Squirrel!!!” and bedlam ensues. My own dog, Sadie, doesn’t have a pack to back her up but she pretty much reacts the same way. Which means there’s a lot of bedlam at my house because there are A LOT of squirrels.

One of our favorite spectator sports is to watch squirrels try to get food out of a (very effective) squirrel proof bird feeder. The motorized perch is triggered by weight so if anything heavier than a song bird (read Squirrel!!) tries to get on it, it spins pretty quickly. We have yet to watch a squirrel hang on and spin around like a top and get flung half-way across the yard like they do in the very funny videos but we keep hoping.

You may like these fuzzy little varmints but they have lost their appeal to me. They eat everything! I had all kinds of lovelies on my front porch this past summer and they all but destroyed many of them. Such as Christmas cactus!? They even ate the thick, tough leaves of my orchids. (Did you know that a squirrel’s teeth never stop growing?)

I kept up a running battle with them as they dug up the planter boxes on the porch. Every morning I would sweep up scattered potting soil and the dug up plants and patiently replant everything until I got impatient with being patient. The solution came in the form of chicken wire, which I put over all the planter boxes, cutting holes for the flowers to grow through. So far so good with that one.

I used to grow kale. I used to grow so much kale that instead of asking what we were going to have for dinner, my husband began asking what we were going to have with the kale for dinner. But then the squirrels found my kale plants and ate them to a nub. The next year I planted Swiss chard, which they didn’t seem to like. For a while. And then one morning I walked out to find chard nubs. So now Jack is back to asking what we’re going to have for dinner.

I know everything has a role in the Bigger Picture and that everything deserves their own space and their own life. But does that include everything?? Even Squirrels!!!! Every time I think about it, bedlam ensues.