Finally, A Delicious Way to Prepare Brussels Sprouts!

Source: blomsterverkstad.blogspot.com via Robin on Pinterest

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Are You Pinterested?

I confess that I have reached a point of near-saturation as far as social networking goes. There are only so many sites you can check in on, post on, and maintain some interest in in order to connect with people you may or may not actually know. But I recently discovered a site that I'm truly having fun with: Pinterest. Pinterest is a virtual pinboard that functions as a social network. It allows you to "pin" things that you see on the Internet to "boards" that you create on the topics that interest you. Your pinned items are seen by others and can be "repinned" so that a lot of sharing goes on. As with Twitter, you can choose to follow people with similar interests to see what they're pinning and, likewise, people can follow you and see what you're pinning.

When I first heard about Pinterest, my initial reaction was, "what's the point?" But it only took me a short time of playing around in Pinterest to get it. Pinterest is a place where ideas can spark and catch fire. As I started pinning garden-related photos, I found lots of ideas swirling around of things I wanted to try in my garden, things I wanted to write about, things I wanted to research further. I'm interested in Mexican and Spanish style in the garden and I spent some time looking for images of that. I've also been thinking about fairies lately and I had a lot of fun exploring photos of fairy gardens. And naturally, I'm interested in edible gardening so I looked for those images too. All of them went onto my "Garden Scenes I Love" board. And there's no limit to the boards you can have, so I'm also working on boards for "Crafts", "For the Home", and "Places I'd Like to Go."

I think Pinterest could be a fun and worthwhile place to play around. If you'd like to follow me on Pinterest, just click the following button:



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I'm Back (Though I Was Never Really Gone)

It's hard to believe I haven't posted here since June 28th. This summer seems to have passed in a blur and we're already well into autumn. All I can say is that this blog has been up and running for five years now and this was a much-needed break.

In case you're wondering what I was doing while I wasn't blogging, the bulk of my time went into writing the book I announced last May:  California Fruit and Vegetable Gardening. This is my first book and writing it was really fun and really, really exhausting. It will be published in February so I'm now working on marketing plans. In a distant past life I was a marketing communications writer for a few years, so this process is a little like using muscles I haven't used in ages--exhilarating and painful. In the next few months I'll be developing a website for the book, but for now you can go to Amazon.com to check it out and pre-order it. And to follow the process to publication and beyond and also pick up lots of links to great edible gardening sources, you can Like the Facebook page for the book.

Besides writing the book I traveled to Indianapolis in August for the Garden Writers Association Symposium. I met lots of terrific fellow garden writers, toured some beautiful gardens, and discovered that the myth of Midwesterners being exceptionally nice people is really true. Then I went to Michigan to visit my dad and stepmom and explored my dad's native habitat in the U.P. I also left a few dollars behind in the Indian casinos. Enough said.

If there's one thing I wasn't doing during my blogging break it was gardening and it shows. My gardens are a weedy disaster right now. But I'm anxious to clear out the debris from this year's garden and start planning next year's garden. I got started this weekend and there's much work ahead. I have plans to redo my front yard with a mix of edibles and ornamentals and I'm hoping to return my back yard to some kind of order and make it a place to really relax. More on that in future posts.

It feels good be blogging again!

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Slow Gardening

Check out my review in the New York Journal of Books of Felder Rushing's new book, Slow Gardening: A No-Stress Philosophy for All Senses and Seasons. Rushing offers the anti-HGTV approach to gardening and it's a great read.

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Reason #1 to Grow Your Own: Avoiding Shopping at Whole Foods

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Sad Story of Chicken Slaughter

This is very sad and way too close to home. If the kids that have been arrested are responsible, I hope they get the help they need. Killing animals like this is a bad, bad sign.

If you want to donate to the Growing Youth Project to help them replace the chickens, you can do so on their web page.

(Hat tip: Paolo Lucchesi, SFGate)
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What Fashionable Gardeners Are Wearing

In case you were wondering what to do with all your excess flora...

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