Whether they’re in the ground, in window boxes, in pots, or in a vase on your living room table, there’s such a thing as flower power. Often the way our environment looks gets pushed to the bottom of our to-do lists. Yes, it would be nice to add a little beauty to our homes or…
I love brainstorming for solutions. That’s why I started this blog. I wanted to ponder answers to some of the questions I was asking myself after my first son was born, like how can my husband and I create a healthy, happy, sustainable family life? How can societies redesign communities for health and happiness? Four…
In 2010 and 2012, I shared the magic moments when I heard or read something that surprised or inspired me. Moments that made me say, “aha.” As we say farewell to 2013, I have 13 more for you: Cooking might be the most important factor in fixing our public health crisis. It’s the single most…
This weekend we harvested all that remained in our three sisters garden. The boys and I dug out the ten-by-ten plot and planted it at the beginning of May on a bit of a whim, and I wrote about our adventures in polyculture in June when it was in its infancy. Since then we watched…
Have I mentioned that I’m in love with gardening right now? I’m finding it hard not to gush about my spinach, chard, kale, salad greens, and snap peas. We’ve also already harvested a couple of artichokes and lots of strawberries, and the hop plants are conspiring to take over our back fence. It’s thrilling to…
Here’s my review of Paradise Lot by Eric Toensmeier and Jonathan Bates, which appears in the current issue of YES! Magazine. How Two Plant Geeks Grew a Permaculture Oasis in an Ordinary Backyard by Abby Quillen In “Paradise Lot,” two residents of an inner city write about how they transformed less than an acre of…