Resources & Tools

Like every good Vermont kitchen, mine is a meeting place for friends who migrate to the stools at my counter and don’t want to leave. So I’ve made my kitchen a welcome center, and placed all of my favorite art on the walls. This includes three prints by my favorite wood cut artist, Mary Azarian, […]

  The annual Bioneers conference took place in California this past weekend, beaming live via the Internet to 23 cities across the US with 40,000 viewers. I was among a group in Montpelier, listening to a diverse group of passionate speakers who balanced traditional knowledge with science, looking deep into the heart of living systems […]

The morning glory arbor blew over again last night, sunflowers uprooted and the wheelbarrow is filled with rain water. Hearing the rain pummel the roof was once a welcome sound, but too much of a good thing is devastating. People are helping people across Vermont, dig, rebuild, feed their farm animals, and bring emotional comfort. […]

This morning I watched a butterfly lilt across the pond at the base of Equinox Mountain. At first I thought it was a small bird, fluttering in the sky until I looked more closely. I watched the paper-thin wings fight the light southerly wind and could only think how this small creature was not going […]

The calendar has moved into August and the pressure is off. Racing to get out to the garden with the wheelbarrow and weed bucket has turned into a leisurely pace of drifting with my camera to capture photos of the showy casa Blanca lilies wrapped up in a cascade of morning glory vines, the bee […]

My artichokes are at their prime, but I can’t pick them. Same with the lettuce, the tomatoes and the cucumbers.  Hosting a garden tour in the middle of the summer is pure torture. It’s not that I aim for perfection, an impossible feat when it comes to a vegetable garden, but I would like it […]

I’ve been skiing all winter, and running 4 miles a day, yet as I prepare for the garden season I am building yoga into my routine. Getting ready for endless hours of bending, lifting and digging takes more than just staying active. Stretching and keeping joints flexible helps to also build stamina, which is essential […]

If you crave a tidy bed of greens for an endless supply of the spicy, savory, bitter and crisp leaves that make a truly great salad, try growing a salad garden. It can be as small as a perfect square foot plot or a matrix of geometric designs. For new gardeners, lettuce and salad greens […]

Town meeting day in Vermont coincides nicely with when I work on my spring garden design. In between votes and the long-winded discussion of police salaries and library funding, I am doodling in the margins, plotting out my garden. Sure I am listening, but thinking about my garden not only keeps me awake, but at […]

If you are a plant person, be ready to break dormancy. March is the month for flower shows all across the northeast. Flower shows offer so much more than just beautiful flowers and colorful exhibits. Every day there are horticulture professionals who share their expertise that will inspire you to reach new heights with your […]

Seed catalogs may be the focus for most gardeners this time of year, because who can resist the charms of colorful vegetables, fruit and flowers when the white snow provides the perfect canvas for fresh ideas. Yet underneath all that snow is a garden waiting to be planted, and soil that is yearning to be […]

This morning, I ordered two cases of my new book, The Complete Kitchen Garden from Abrams Books. It’s an odd feeling to picture the cartons of books arriving in bookstores this week. All across the country, booksellers and their readers will open the green cover and flip through the pages to admire the exquisite photographs […]