Monthly Archives: November 2013

Took the wind-blown ferry from coastal CT to the North Fork of eastern Long Island to the site of some extraordinary perennial gardens; ate very well, drank some nice Chateau Neuf and moonshine, conversed with the finest of friends (new … Continue reading →

Victory attained by violence is tantamount to a defeat, for it is momentary. –Gandhi

I went out to pick the flotsam of my vegetable garden yesterday, before winter blew in hard, and it was rather like rooting about under a Christmas tree. A shopping bag of broccoli and cabbages I found, all the tastier for having frosts turn their starches … Continue reading →

One of the most time-consuming things to have is an enemy. — E. B. White

Among the morning’s correspondence was a note from a traveling lady who says she grew more eggplant than she could possibly deal with this year. She loves Venice, and maybe they eat eggplant there, but why else would anyone grow … Continue reading →

 Having been married for years to the Queen of Stone Soup (aka “Bride”), I was nervous about cooking after she died, sticking verbatim to the Fannnie Farmer bible my mother gave me upon college graduation. Last night I seem to … Continue reading →

Among my correspondence today was a note asking how deeply to mulch garlic cloves. Some advised two inches, she wrote. Others, six inches. The right answer is, it doesn’t make a damn bit of difference. Just plant the garlic. Years … Continue reading →

Without clarity of thought, there can be no clarity of writing or speech.

This man, whose words I relish, was a writer for the “New Yorker,” a farmer in Maine, and the author of such as “Charlotte’s Web.”  Among other thoughts, he leaves us with — taking life right down to the nub … Continue reading →