Loving Nature's Garden » Thoughts & Quotes

Why it’s OK to cry over your garden

Alison Kerr — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 20:54:37 +0000

This morning my husband walked into the kitchen and found me standing with silent tears rolling down my cheeks.

“What’s the matter?” says he. “It’s my garden. I hate it! Here I am writing a gardening blog and I hate my garden. What am I going to do?” I replied.

When your garden makes you cry

Fortunately my husband is not prone to panic. He gave me a great big hug, which was just what I needed right then – a shoulder to cry on.

My tears soon dried up and I knew what to do. Life is full of ups and downs and gardens are no exception. I’m a firm believer in being sad when the time is right. But sometimes you just need to kick yourself in the butt. This was one of those times.

Why I had to kick myself in the garden shorts

Kansas has been in the grip of a summer heat bubble for a couple of weeks now – it’s been over 100F every day and it doesn’t cool down much at night. I’ve gone outside almost every day to water the plants on my deck, but I’ve still managed to lose quite a few. I’m not happy to have spent money on something which I let die. And weeds have taken over while I was cool indoors. I’ve watched the crab grass sprout on my front lawn; instead of growing tomatoes I’ve grown frustration.

My spring garden was pretty good this year. I especially enjoyed watching the baby birds. The robin pictured here raised two lusty babies, despite choosing a strange place to build her nest, and laying one egg totally outside the nest. But it’s been downhill from there. Unavoidable events conspired to stop me planting my summer veggies. I’ve spent more time mowing the lawn (my least favorite garden task) than anything else outdoors since the end of April.

How to take action in your garden

So, this morning all of my frustration just bubbled up. While part of me needed to be outside digging potatoes and pulling weeds my “poor me” would rather have stayed indoors and cried, moaning over the heat, and hugging every excuse I could find. As my friend Bethe Almeras says, it was time to “put on my big girl pants“. I simply told myself that I had to go outside.

No excuses. I applied insect repellent to stave off the mosquitoes and chiggers. I donned a cool vest. I grabbed and filled my water bottle, and I headed outside to suffer (if that was what it would take). Better to be outside baking in the heat than to be inside crying about not wanting to be outside! Sometimes you just have to make yourself do the right thing.

Problems are often less than we imagine

I’ll tell you right now, I have a pretty big imagination. While I imagined being miserable in the garden, in fact I was perfectly fine. I’ve been outside enough this year that my body knows how to react to the heat. What’s a little sweat when there’s the great outdoors to be explored? I pulled the flower heads off the crab grass in the front lawn, removing the immediate problem. I dug the potatoes and onions from my raised beds, and I watered all of the container plants on the back deck.

It’s still hot as H*** in my garden. There are still a ton of weeds. The plants which died are still dead. There are still no tomatoes or summer greens for me to enjoy. But I know I don’t need to hide from the heat and miss out on my Vitamin N. I cried my tears, then I did what I needed to do anyway. In my garden I watched a dragonfly dance, then I came indoors and enjoyed fresh garden potatoes and onions in my turkey stew for lunch. Mmmmm… life is good.

What are you putting off doing in your garden? Does putting things off make you feel even more miserable?

Kid tip: kids need to see adults enjoying the outdoors in all weather. While you need to be careful when the weather gets extreme you don’t need to lock yourself indoors.

Download your copy of Simple Sprouts ebook here (it's Free).

Why you need to sleep “naked” in your garden tonight

Alison Kerr — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 21:01:38 +0000

My Bed by whologwhy

Soft evening breezes kissed my hair. I reclined on my blue blanket, under the trees. No bugs were biting.

I was out at Shakespeare in the Park. MacBeth was magnificent, but Mother Nature stole the show. She drew me in and captured me.

“This time and place will never be again. Stay with me. Sleep under the stars tonight.”

Why be afraid?

I’d never slept outside without a tent before. What was I afraid of?

Last year when Karen Wilde tweeted with me about sleeping “naked” under the stars, I was afraid to admit that I was somehow scared of going tent-free.

How else could I explain that I’d never camped out “naked” in my own garden, with my house right there beside me, if I wasn’t scared? I mentally checked my list:

It might rain. Score off – unlikely without warning, and anyway I love the rain. It couldn’t be that.
Bugs or spiders might bite me. Since when was I afraid of bugs and spiders? Score off.
Scary men might come by and steal me. Um, I live in a really safe neighborhood. Besides, who would know I’m out there in my garden on this one specific night? Score off.

There wasn’t any rational reason for me to be afraid of camping “unprotected” in my own garden. Maybe once-upon-a-time my mom had scared me indoors for the night, but I’m too old to be afraid of the bogey man.

Why you should sleep “naked” in your garden

I dragged my camping bed and sleeping bag outside. As I lay there listening to night sounds, the breeze caressing my cheek, it seemed the most natural thing I’ve ever done. Why exactly did I wait 50 years to try this? I felt my connection to life all the way back to the beginning of time. This was simple, and perfect – just nature, my garden, and me.

During the night I awoke to the sounds of wild animals fighting in a nearby yard and in the morning the bird chorus in the trees around me was almost deafening. I was not the least bit afraid. My senses were alive, I thrilled to the life around me. My garden took on a whole new dimension. I felt as though I could sleep outdoors every night. This beat National Park camping in a tent hands-down!

Are you ready to go “naked”?

Robin Easton writes in her book Naked in Eden about her own night-time experience with nature and how it changed her, “The brace I’d worn on my crippled spirit began to fall away, and I understood how to walk with my eyes and heart fully open. Although I still had fears, I recognized them as part of myself that I needed to fill with insight and wisdom.”

Are you ready for some “naked” garden camping? Life is out there waiting for you – don’t let fear stop you from growing. Sleeping out without a tent might be just what you need. If you don’t try it, you’ll never know.

Kid tip: what better way is there to connect kids to nature than to let them sleep out on the porch or deck, with your house right there if y’all need something?

Download your copy of Simple Sprouts ebook here (it's Free).

How to potter about in your garden

Alison Kerr — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 16:46:29 +0000

Pot-ter (verb): to do things in a slow and enjoyable way (MacMillan Dictionary).

Have you pottered about in your garden recently? It seems to me that pottering about is a neglected, maybe even a dying, art.

What is pottering about?

Online dictionaries describe pottering about with a variety of terms, many of them derogatory. Some say it’s the same as puttering about. I don’t think so.

Pottering about is fun, relaxing, and a gently productive way to spend your time. It’s not the same as mucking about, idling, being aimless, messing around, wasting time, or puttering.

According to The Free Dictionary pottering is to poke repeatedly and comes from the Old English word potian – to thrust. It’s what we gardeners do when tending plants during relaxing moments in the garden.

Why potter about?

Do you have a green thumb? One of the striking differences between those with green thumbs and those who aspire to is the way they garden. To get good at gardening you need to know your garden, you need to take a really good look at it.

The best way to learn the art of gardening is to visit with your garden every day. You don’t need to set aside daily work time for your garden, pottering about is more enjoyable and it’s what you need to improve yourself as a gardener.

How to potter about

The whole point of pottering is that it is not planned- remove a weed here or there, snip off a dead flower, notice any plant damage, look for bugs, push and prod your garden. If you are good at browsing the web you’ll be a natural at pottering.

While pottering defies planning, you do need to develop the habit of visiting your garden. I recommend either the morning or the evening. Plan to go outside right after breakfast, or at some other regular time each day. If you’re consistent it will soon become a habit.

Keep your must-have supplies handy – my shoes are by the garden door; my trowel, hand fork, and watering can are right outside the door on the deck, handy for a few minutes of pottering.

Pottering is therapy

I’m thoroughly convinced that a few minutes pottering about your garden every day is as good as therapy. Most of us don’t get Naked in Eden to connect with nature, but we do go outside. What do you even have a garden for if it’s not an enjoyable and therapeutic place to visit?

You don’t have to see your garden as just another task, just another place to work. Put your shoes by the door, prepare for teasing that you’re just time-wasting, then get outside every single day, for at least a few minutes, and potter about your garden.

Do you potter in your garden? Do you visit your garden every day?

Kid tip: pottering is just like spontaneous, unplanned, exploratory play. Young kids are natural potterers – let them teach you if you don’t know how!

Download your copy of Simple Sprouts ebook here (it's Free).

Why you should grow one tomato plant

Alison Kerr — Fri, 27 May 2011 14:36:49 +0000

I think Courtney Carver has the right idea when it comes to growing food. Earlier this week Courtney posted a mini mission at her blog Be More With Less. A mini mission is a small challenge. Here’s what Courtney had to say.

“Just grow something that you can eat. Even if it’s just one thing. Planting a seed or a small plant and raising it for food will do more than feed your belly.”

I agree with Courtney, starting to garden isn’t really about feeding yourself – it’s about something more. Growing one thing is the way to start. If you’re ambitious grow three things, not a whole, huge plot worth.

How to start gardening

It’s really easy to forget how we gradually learned new skills when we were younger. I think we’ve all felt that temptation to throw ourselves into a new hobby with gusto and to prove we can be great at something new. Now if you’ just retired, or your kids just left home for college, and you have space in your life for something significant, by all means throw yourself into gardening at full speed. Most of us have really full lives though and we’re liable to over-reach. Start small.

Grow one food plant

So, you want to grow food. Grow one tomato plant. Grow one jar of lentil sprouts. Grow one pot of lettuce, or your favorite herb. Just one. If you’ve dreamed of growing food start now, but start tiny. You don’t need to do it all at once. You don’t need to swallow a gardening book whole and digest it. Go to your locally owned garden center (not Walmart, Coscto, Lowes, or Home Depot), somewhere gardeners work. Find a tomato plant, and get advice on how to grow it. If questions arise when you get home, call them up, or come here and ask me.

Courtney has it right

Take a page out of Courtney’s book. Courtney knows her limitations and she’s not trying to grow enough to feed her family. That’s OK. It’s good. It’s great. We all have to start somewhere. Maybe you want to join Courtney in her grow something mini mission. Courtney has the right idea.

What’s the first ever food you grew, or what would you love to grow now?

Kid tip: kids need to see that failures are part of life. Gardening is a great way to make mistakes! Don’t let fear of failure stop you from trying new things.

Download your copy of Simple Sprouts ebook here (it's Free).

Dear reader, thanks for…

Alison Kerr — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 14:48:21 +0000

Lucy and Frank, Nov 2010

Dear reader,

The turkey is defrosting, Thanksgiving has almost reached Kansas.

I’m thankful for you.

This year through reading my blog you have given me:

insight into what holds me back, as I think about how to help you and encourage you

enthusiasm to take on new gardening projects so that I can share them with you

patience with myself and with my garden – how could I show patience towards your efforts without being patient with myself?

hopes and dreams of a garden which is more in tune with nature, more bountiful, and more beautiful – by helping me to write my dreams you have made them happen

courage to try growing herbs, houseplants, and lettuce indoors, even though I’ve tried and failed with herbs and houseplants before

Yes, dear reader, I’m very thankful for you. Please enjoy my photo of Lucy and Frank, my two new houseplants, which I would not have without you. What? You’ve never heard of naming houseplants? That’s a story for another time.

Thanks, and have a great day on Thursday. I’m thankful for you!

Regards, Alison Kerr

On Thanksgiving, some writers you might enjoy:

How to embrace what you already have by Arvind Devalia.
Stress-free entertaining tips from Simple Mom.
Minimizing the cost of holiday car travel at The Simple Dollar.

Kid tip: kids will be listening when you say what you are Thankful for this holiday season. Tell it from your heart.

Download your copy of Simple Sprouts ebook here (it's Free).

Reader question: Clara’s vegetable garden plan

You and I can change the world

Alison Kerr — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 12:55:22 +0000

Great white hunters by WireLizard

“You and I can change the world, it’s obvious, we (humans) already have.” Alison Kerr, 2010

First, a little history lesson.

It’s incredible

In 1813 John James Audubon made the following observations on the passenger pigeon (I quote from The Story of my Boyhood and Youth by John Muir).

“Not less exciting and memorable was Audubon’s wonderful story of the passenger pigeon, a beautiful bird flying in vast flocks that darkened the sky like clouds, countless millions assembling to rest and sleep and rear their young in certain forests, miles in length and breadth, fifty or a hundred nests on a single tree; the overloaded branches bending low and often breaking; the farmers gathering from far and near, beating down countless thousands of the young and old birds from their nests and roosts with long poles at night, and in the morning driving their bands of hogs, some of them brought from farms a hundred miles distant, to fatten on the dead and wounded covering the ground.”

What I mean

Now, stop and think about this for a moment. My purpose here is not to gross you out, nor to advocate the end of hunting, or convince you of the ruthlessness of some of our fellow humans.

Countless plants and animals are in danger of extinction as I write, but neither is it my purpose to persuade you to support the many worthy nature conservation organizations that exist. Plenty of people are writing about nature conservation more adequately than I.

I don’t even aim to give you a lesson in morality, or send you off on a human guilt trip about your personal impacts.

My purpose is to convey the power we as humans have over our environment. And that environment includes, at the most basic and intimate level, our gardens.

The passenger pigeon

It is estimated that as recently as 1866 (just 144 years ago) passenger pigeons numbered upto 6 billion and at one time could have comprised as much as 25-40% of all the birds in North America. This time I quote from The Passenger Pigeon by Jerry Sullivan.

“The passenger pigeon may have been the most abundant bird since archaeopteryx fluttered its first feather back in the late Jurassic. John James Audubon rode the 55 miles from Henderson, Kentucky, to Louisville one day in autumn 1813, and through the whole long day, he rode under a sky darkened from horizon to horizon by a cloud of passenger pigeons. He estimated that more than a billion birds had passed over him. In 1866, a cloud of birds passed into southern Ontario. It was a mile wide, 300 miles long, and took 14 hours to pass a single point. Latter-day estimates suggest something in excess of 3.5 billion birds in that flock.”

Yet by 1900, within just 44 years of the sighting of this 3.5 billion strong flock of birds, the passenger pigeon was extinct in the wild. Is there any doubt in your mind that humans can, and do, change the world?

I have the freedom, and so do you

Never before in the history of the Earth have so many humans had so much freedom to control their lives and their surroundings. If I wanted to I could walk out my door, legally purchase approved herbicide and insecticide, and spray my garden until nothing much was left alive. Then I could plant a host of readily available, potentially invasive plants which support practically no desirable life.

I have the perfectly legal option to create a virtually sterile wasteland of the area surrounding my house, known as my garden. It would effectively be an extension of the controlled indoor environment of my home, albeit subject to the vagaries of the weather. It might look pretty, at least in the eyes of many, but it would barely be alive.

With freedom comes responsibility

You may have heard it said that with great freedom comes great responsibility. Whatever freedoms you have over your garden, that little patch of dirt, grass, trees, or flowers surrounding your home, are matched by the responsibility of accepting the consequences of your choices.

Pesticide manufacturers are not responsible for what you choose to spray. Seed developers are not accountable for the lawn seed you put down. Garden centers are not responsible for what you purchase and put into the ground. Lawn care companies are not at fault if you add to water quality problems through your desire to have a beautiful lawn. The responsibility over your garden rests with you.

If you want to change the world start in your garden. Grow safe food. Support creatures which depend on natures garden. Take responsibility for the environment right outside your door.

Kid tip: kids need to connect with nature to understand and value it. Visit Marghanita’s blog for more inspiration and tips on connecting kids and teens to nature.

Download your copy of Simple Sprouts ebook here (it's Free).

Gardening Patience Brings Rewards

Alison Kerr — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 12:48:08 +0000

Hummingbird_0001 by striderp64

There is no patience like that of a gardener, unless it’s the patience of a parent.

Both kids and gardens take a long time to truly bloom; there is really no substitute for the time and energy you need to invest to do the job properly.

You’ll Be Rewarded

While your garden, just like your kids, may never end up being precisely the way you first dream of as a new gardener, there will be plenty of rewards along the way.

Story of a Rain Garden

I first heard about rain gardens several years ago. And for the last 11 years I’ve dreamed of seeing a hummingbird in my garden. So, last fall I was out in the garden hauling on ropes and pulling down cedar trees to make space for a rain garden and to let in the sun to plant something for the hummingbirds.

Then today I was out in the garden admiring the red blooms on the Lobelia cardinalis (cardinal flower), just thinking how neat it would be if a hummingbird flew in, but not expecting to see one, when zoom, in flew the cutest, little, skinny, ruby-throated hummingbird. He looked very like the one pictured above.

Rain Garden - August 2010

Just Right Imperfect

Now, my rain garden doesn’t exactly look picture perfect. It’s not something you’d see on the cover of a gardening magazine.

But my garden was just perfect for that skinny little hummingbird who needed a few nectar-rich, trumpet-shaped, red blooms to feed on.

Do Just One Thing

My friend Carole Brown is a great believer in doing just one thing for wildlife in your garden. These few blooms in my rain garden may not look like much, but to that little hummingbird they may have made all the difference in the world.

Don’t worry about building a massive, beautiful, picture-perfect native flower garden. Do new parents put off feeding their kids until they are perfect parents? I hope not! Don’t be put off by the covers of gardening magazines. It doesn’t matter that you don’t really know what you are doing yet. The butterflies and hummingbirds won’t know the difference, or care. Just be open to adding one or two native plants to your garden. After that you will surely want more!

The most important thing is to be patient with yourself. Start somewhere and little by little you will start to reap the rewards.

Download your copy of Simple Sprouts ebook here (it's Free).

Six Paths to Finding Happiness in a Garden

Alison Kerr — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 14:14:03 +0000

Squash Blossom by ILoveButter

Today’s post is by guest Eileen O’Shea, author of Threshold Place. While we think we are caring for our gardens, perhaps gardening is just as much about finding happiness.

In 1975 I suddenly inherited a vegetable garden. My sister Rose had started the garden. I’d watched her read library books about growing vegetables, sift the backyard soil through a sieve till it was smooth and fine, and plant neatly labeled rows of seeds in a small backyard plot. Little did I know that I, the bemused spectator, would soon adopt the garden as my own.

Rose Goes Traveling

Shortly after all the seeds were planted friends invited Rose to travel with them in Europe. She wanted to go but was reluctant to leave the garden she’d so carefully nurtured. She had even created little cheesecloth shades to protect her tiny lettuce plants from the ferocious mid-day sun.

Would I take on the care and feeding of her precious seedlings? I agreed, making sure she knew that I had no gardening experience. The closest I’d come was the care and feeding of a flourishing spider plant in my living room. I knew I was up to the challenge. If I’d learned what it took to help my “spider” thrive, I assumed I could do the same with the vegetable garden.

Six Paths to Finding Happiness – Rose’s Garden

To my surprise, I became passionate about that garden and fully invested in the well being of the vegetables. Here is what I learned from tending it:

1. BE IN THE MOMENT: I’m drawn to large and dramatic gestures and to dreaming of the future. My tendency is to live in my imagination to the detriment of the present moment. The slow process of watering, weeding and shading became its own reward. In the garden I stopped thinking about outcomes and stayed in the moment, caring for the garden.

2. HAVE FAITH in YOUR OWN ABILITY TO LEARN and GROW: When I agreed to care for the garden, I knew nothing about growing vegetables. I told myself that, if others had learned to be successful gardeners, I could, too. I borrowed books from the library and talked with experienced gardeners in my neighborhood. Soon my knowledge and competence began to grow, along with the garden.

3. PERSEVERANCE: When slugs arrived I was briefly tempted to give up. I felt momentarily overwhelmed by the presence of these annoying, slimy invaders but I also felt strongly that I didn’t want to use pesticides. Once again, the library was my salvation. I learned about attracting the slugs with small containers of beer. Many of them crawled in and drowned – population control the natural way!

4. TRUST a PROCESS LARGER THAN YOURSELF: When the outcome was uncertain and invisible, I reminded myself that planting, growing and harvesting are as old as humankind. I had a small part to play – watering, shading, weeding – but beyond that, nature knew what to do.

5. REACH OUT FOR NEW EXPERIENCES: I often say “conduct the experiment”, meaning “why not try something new when the opportunity comes along?”. I’ve found that the best way to know about something that seems interesting, but is new, is to try it. I didn’t expect to grow vegetables, yet I gained a whole lot from saying yes to my sister’s request for help.

6. YOU CAN’T ALWAYS PREDICT WHAT WILL MAKE YOU HAPPY: I have often found that it is the small, everyday details of daily life and not the grand moments from my imagination that provide the greatest happiness.

Meditation teacher Jon Kabat-Zinn (1) calls this “the bloom of the present moment”. If we stay open to what we’re feeling and experiencing right now and let go of worrying and planning for the future, the now holds many treasures. And now is all we have. I’m glad I got to experience the “now” in Rose’s garden.

Eileen O’Shea loves living in New York City and staying connected with the natural world. She is the author and editor of Threshold Place a blog about finding happiness despite adversity.

Does your garden help to bring you happiness? Does gardening help you to stay in the “now”?

(1) Jon Kabat-Zinn – “Wherever You Go There You Are – Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life”, 1994. Find books by Jon Kabat-Zin at Amazon.com.

Download your copy of Simple Sprouts ebook here (it's Free).

A Gift from the Rabbits

Alison Kerr — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 14:30:45 +0000

Little Yuba by AlishaV

No bunnies were harmed during the making of this story.

This week the bunnies brought me a “gift”.

My two kitties were at their annual physicals, cowering down on the table, as is their wont, when all of a sudden, “A flea!” exclaimed the vet. “I really didn’t expect that,” she proclaimed, as she frantically tried to squish the couple of fleas she’d pulled out of my cat’s coat with a flea comb.

I’m with the vet. I didn’t expect it either. My kitties have not been out of doors for more than ten years and they’ve not been with any other animals for a whole year. In fact I’d been feeling pretty relaxed, self-satisfied even, as I surveyed the vet office notice, “Fleas are bad this year.”

I threw the vet a puzzled look as she continued to talk. “Rabbits can bring fleas into your garden which hitch a ride on your clothes indoors.” “The fleas don’t want to be on you so they jump onto the cats.”

Thanks a lot rabbits. I don’t know whether to be disappointed that the rabbits have brought me another problem, or to feel sorry for the bunnies who can’t get any anti-flea meds.

Is it a bad flea season where you are? Have you, or your kids, seen any little hoppers?

Download your copy of Simple Sprouts ebook here (it's Free).

The Wonder Potato

Alison Kerr — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 14:33:29 +0000

Yukon Gold Potatoes by Summer Tomato

With St Patrick’s Day almost here it seems appropriate to pay tribute to the wonder potato, or should I say the wondrous potato.

Later this week I’m going to post an article on everything you need to grow potatoes, but today I just want us to think about the amazing potato, the wonder potato, and to share how potatoes have always been part of my life.

Gold Straight From the Earth

When explorers set out to discover the New World perhaps they didn’t expect to bring back gold in the form of potatoes. “…the Spaniards failed to realize that the potato represented a far more important treasure than either silver or gold” writes Jeff Chapman on The History of the Potato. To me potatoes are synonymous with the earth – they come from the earth, smell of the earth, and a good potato even tastes of the earth.

Potatoes Twice a Day

Kids growing up in Scotland in the 1960’s had to love potatoes. Potatoes were an absolute staple. Most days I ate them for two meals – boiled potatoes at lunch and deep-fried potatoes, chips (known in the USA as french fries) for dinner. I don’t remember tasting rice or pasta until I was a teen; it took me quite a while to acquire a taste for them.

Golden Wonder Crisps

And when I had money to spend on a snack at the corner shop, my first choice was always a bag of crisps (potato chips). In fact I measured currency by crisps – I still remember the British conversion to decimal and how a a bag of crisps changed from being 6d (sixpence) to 2.5p (two and a half pence). One of the brands of crisps was called Golden Wonder. They’re still in business today – you can read more at that link.

The Best New Potatoes

There’s something magical about new potatoes, potatoes harvested for eating right away, early in the season, small and with thin skins, rather than for storage. Every spring in Scotland my mouth would be begin to water at the idea of them. My family would embark on a virtually endless quest to find the best new potatoes. Usually the best were Ayrshire potatoes, if we could get them.

Living by Potatoes Alone

I’d never have wanted to be dependent on potatoes like the Irish or the Scots when the potato famines arrived, but, until I left the home of my parents, I was perfectly happy to eat a meal of good-tasting new potatoes with nothing more than butter and salt, a sprinkling of shredded cheese, chopped up fresh mint, or even oatmeal. Who needs meat when you have a big bowl of wonderful potatoes?

The Potato Quest Continues

Since moving to Kansas I’ve been rather disappointed by the taste of potatoes, even new potatoes from the farmer’s market, they all seem to have a bitter under-taste. The only potatoes I can recommend are the ones I’ve had from the Rolling Prairie Farmer’s Alliance farm share program. This year I’m going to try growing my own – about 3lbs of delicious potatoes in the year is nowhere near enough for me!

On the other hand I have been quite satisfied by the crisps (potato chips) here in the USA, but for health reasons, and for my grocery budget, I’ve pretty much sworn off them. My favorites are crunchy, salt only, kettle chips.

Getting Back to Potatoes

I have to say that potatoes hold a special place in my heart, even though I have no Irish blood that I’m aware of. Maybe this is my humble attempt to claim back the potato from the Irish. My husband and I are both fans of the wonder potato, unlike my two teen kids who have been raised on much more bread, pasta, rice, and corn. I have many treasured potato recipes. I look forward to the day when I’ll be cooking potatoes, maybe twice a day again, for the two of us to enjoy, or at least once.

My favorite potato recipe book is Country Collection by Lyn Smart, which is available used through Amazon.com for as low as $0.25! What do you have to say about potatoes? Would you like to grow them?

Download your copy of Simple Sprouts ebook here (it's Free).