Garden State of Mind

Tag: urban homestead

  • Sprouts Is Bankrupting Me

    Sprouts Is Bankrupting Me

    This past week I was off Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. It wasn’t quite as satisfying a staycation as the one I had in August. I had dreams about work from Friday night right on through, frustrating dreams in which nothing was going right. But it was still relaxing and peaceful. I got some things done…

  • Closing Time

    Closing Time

    This was a catch-up, clean-out, clean-up, fix-up, and shut-down kind of weekend. Tom did the fixing up: unclogging sink drains, setting up the new dehumidifier, and attempting to fix the back screen door. The kids and I cleaned up: the bathrooms, the kitchen, changing sheets, the cat box, and more. The garden moved a bit…

  • Home Is Where the Plants Are

    Home Is Where the Plants Are

    Soooo happy to be home from Arizona! I took a red-eye home on Saturday, leaving AZ at 11:45 pm and arriving in Philly at 7 am. The flight felt surreal, the quiet and the dark; I would nod off for a bit, then jerk awake. There was a period of turbulence that was a little…

  • Calm Before the Storm

    Calm Before the Storm

    Sitting here getting my grays covered up and my hair cut, ahead of my work trip to Arizona. I leave next Sunday. Trying to enjoy fall in New Jersey before heading to the desert. However, we’ve got a nor’easter blowing in today, so we can’t do much outside. The worst of it will be tonight…

  • Growing Onions in Zone 7b

    Growing Onions in Zone 7b

    I have grown onions. Not every year, and not always with great success. It can be done, but it’s not as easy as, say, tomatoes (in my opinion). And since supermarket onions are cheap, it doesn’t always seem worthwhile. But according to my husband, it’s worth it. He always raves about our homegrown onions and…

  • Growing Garlic in Zone 7b

    Growing Garlic in Zone 7b

    I purchased some garlic at a nearby farmers’ market recently, and the seller apologized for the price, and explained it was due to the fact that “garlic is so hard to grow in Jersey.” Is it, though? IDK. I have grown it a few times with no problem. Of course, growing 12 plants is not…

  • The Suburban Semi-Rural Sweet Spot

    The Suburban Semi-Rural Sweet Spot

    I have been watching a lot of homesteading videos. I’ve never been one to sit and watch YouTube, but in an effort to stop doom scrolling on my lunch break, I looked up the videos of More Than Farmers, an Ohio family I follow on Instagram. I have since watched quite a few of their…

  • The Trying

    The Trying

    Lots of crawly friends in the garden this week: The swallowtail caterpillars are growing. And this spider, perhaps a cross orb weaver or spotted orb weaver, built a web between two of the garden posts and now has a tasty treat stored there. Sunsets are creeping earlier and I have to rush into the garden…

  • Mad Scientist

    Mad Scientist

    Hold up… do Ted Cruz and I agree on something? Cruz called the FCC chairman’s threats to media outlets “dangerous as hell.” Yep, Ted has gotten it right for once. ABC can do whatever it wants as far as Jimmy Kimmel is concerned, but the FCC has zero business getting involved. So zip it, Brendan…