Summer Break

Hi friends. It's been super quiet here for weeks, making it a little late to let you know I'm taking a bit of a break. Nothing is wrong... I'm just taking some time to focus on our family business and to enjoy summertime with my gals. We'll be swimming in the pool, riding bikes, playing with friends, making art, going to the beach, and working our way through Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. I wish you a wonderful summer!

PS - While I wont have regular blogs up, you can always check out one of my online summer course/camp offerings:



The At-Home Summer Nature Camp eGuide is packed with ideas and
inspiration to keep your kids engaged and happy all summer long.



Connect to "your place" in nature with this
self-paced nature journaling course. 

 

 

This self-paced, self-directed eCourse will guide and inspire
you as you record the details of your summer travels. 

Hug a Tree for Arbor Day... and 9 Other Ideas!

*Originally posted April 26, 2013.

Tomorrow is National Arbor Day, a special day set aside for tree planting, and a great day to recognize and discuss the important role trees play in our natural world. Here are 10 ways you can honor this over 135-year-old observance as a family, or an individual. (It's OK to spread these activities out over several days or weeks!)

1. The most obvious Arbor Day act is to plant a tree (or make a plan to plant one sometime soon). Be sure to choose the right tree for the right spot, and learn how to properly plant and care for it!

 

2. Go on a neighborhood tree walk. Stroll around your neighborhood, or a nearby park, and observe all the different types of trees. Bring along a field guide to identify what you see, or alternatively, take photos and use the Internet to identify your neighborhood trees when you get home (visit www.arborday.org/trees/treeid.html).

 

3. Stop by the library and pickup a few books about trees. Consider picture books for little ones, such as The Giving Tree or A Tree is Nice. Older children will appreciated non-fiction/resource books to learn more about trees; local tree identification guides; and even the classic coming-of-age story A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Adults, check out The Tree, a nonfiction look at how the natural world affects human lives.

 

4. Make bark rubbings using paper and crayons or colored pencils. Lay your paper over the bark of different trees and rub it with a crayon... watch the patterns and texture of the bark magically appear!

 

5. Make a list of all the different foods that come from trees (think beyond just apples and oranges to other edible tree products such as cinnamon [tree bark] and syrup [tree sap]). Pick a favorite from the list and make a tree-grown snack to enjoy and share in gratitude.

6. Find a spot to relax under a shady tree. Lie down and look up through the branches and leaves. Lean against the trunk and read a book. Pack a picnic to eat in the shade...

7. Write a poem about a tree in honor of Arbor Day and National Poetry Month. Pick a tree in your yard to write about... or conjure up an image of the most beautiful - or unusual- tree you can imagine. Be creative! Read some of these famous poems for inspiration.

8. Observe what animals, insects, and birds live in and around the trees in your area. Think about what role the trees play for the wildlife (shelter, food, rest). Consider starting a nature journal in which to record your observations.

9. Volunteer time or donate money to a local tree-planting organization and help grow trees and community! Visit www.arbordaynow.org to find out where and how you can make a difference in your area.

10. If nothing else, go outside and hug a tree today. It's a sweet and simple way to express your gratitude for all the benefits trees offer to you and your planet. Plus, it feels great!

 

***How do you celebrate Arbor Day?***

Help this list grow by adding a comment!

Enter to Win... 8 Weeks of Backyard Fun!



The At-Home Summer Nature Camp eGuide

offers eight weeks of guided fun, including outdoor activities, indoor projects,

arts & crafts, kid-friendly lessons, field trip ideas, recipes, and more.

Don't miss this fun & affordable family resource for summer!

 

**Enter to Win a Copy**

see below

 

Here are images from my family's adventures with the At-Home Summer Nature Camp

when it debuted (And an overview of each week's materials):

A Spot in the Shade Week

Simple Tent Making - Pack a Picnic - A Wishing Tree Basket

Nature Study & Play Bag: Insects! - Field Trip: Hop on the Bus, Gus!

pictured: wishing tree basket craft

 

 Ponds & Frogs Week

Raising Tadpoles - Pond Scum Smoothies - Five Little Speckled Frogs

Pond Dipping - Field Trip: Visit an Aquarium or Zoo

pictured: five speckled frogs on a log craft

 

 An Edible Garden Week

Farmer's Market Photo Scavenger Hunt - Farmer's Market Recipes

Fruit & Veggie Stamping - Plant a Pizza Garden - Field Trip: Visit a U-Pick Farm

pictured: local fruit & veggie stamping craft

Rain, Rain Week

Make a Rain Gauge - Cheesy Croutons & Tomato Soup - After the Rain Color Quest

Raindrop-Inspired Watercolor Painting - Field Trip: A Puddle Walk

pictured: make your own rain gauge project & rainwater art

 

The Night Sky Week

Batik Star Maps - Honey Popcorn Planets - Star Mobile & Pins

Make a Telescope - A Virtual Field Trip: Blast Off to Space

pictured: star map project, honey popcorn planets treat, star pin board craft, virtual field trip

 

Sun Fun Week

Make a Pizza Box Solar Oven - Honey Herb Lemonade - Icarus Myth Peg Dolls

Make a Shadow Sun Dial - Field Trip: Take a Dip in a Swimming Hole

pictured: Icarus myth peg dolls (story telling, art & play!)

 

At the Beach Week

Beach Small World Play - Gluten Free Sand Dollar Snickerdoodles - Sand Candles 

Family Beach Mandalas - Field Trip: Dig Your Own Sea Turtle Nest

pictured: sand dollar snickerdoodle cookies

 

Wildflowers & Bees Week

Make a Native Bee Condo - Homemade Honey Ice Cream - Meadow Branch Weaving

"Wild" Flower Mud Pies - Field Trip: Go on a Wildflower Hunt

pictured: wild flower mud pies & bee condo project

 

This one-of-a-kind resource also includes two all-summer-long projects, and custom-selected book and media suggestions to accompany every weekly theme!

 

Learn More & Purchase for Instant Download Here

Giveaway over.
Congratulations to Megan Lunt!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A Place of Enchantment

I've written before about visiting the Cross Creek, Florida estate of author Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. After a third, recent visit, I remain enchanted. Something about this place just speaks to me, from the typewriters on the front porch and in the bedroom...

(The books on the shelf are all by authors who visited Rawlings at her Florida home - including Robert Frost, Zora Neale Hurston, Margaret Mithcell, and Thornton Wilder!)

...to the tiny kitchen showcasing cast iron, fresh eggs, and home-canned produce.

Nature collections in baskets on the porch included treasures ranging from antlers and gourds, to wasp nests and a turtle shell, to pinecones and sea shells. I even spotted a found nest tucked in a berry basket up on a shelf!

Fresh flowers, picked from the property, adorned every room.

And in the back, a gorgeous kitchen garden, chickens, and ducks. All this, tucked into an orange grove that was in full bloom - a scent that takes me back to memories of my childhood home, surrounded by a dozen citrus trees.

“I do not understand how anyone can live without some small place of enchantment to turn to.”

- Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings

 

I have more to say about this... about creating a "place of enchantment" for oneself... about writing and cooking and nature and flowers and gardening. Things I hold so dear. But for now, I just wanted to share this bit of inspiration via photos taken on a lovely weekend retreat with a dear friend.

 

xoxo - Liz



A Welcome Spring Celebration (+ Easter Basket Prep)

We had a little celebration of spring on Friday, the Vernal Equinox. When the girls came home from school, they were welcomed with fresh flowers (from our garden & yard!) and some favorite spring decorations. The spring books, a clear nature table, and baskets of plastic eggs awaited them. (My gals still love to play "egg hunt" - they take turns hiding and finding plastic eggs around the house.)

Our snack was simple, and all straight from Trader Joe's this year. It was a busy week, and homemade treats were forgone for colorful, sweet goodies (I love that TJ's uses fruit & vegetable based coloring). We had strawberry lemonade, chocolate sunflower seed drops, carrot cake cookie sandwiches, and gourmet jelly beans. It was a sugar-bomb of a party, followed by lots of outdoor play to burn it off! Later in the weekend, we planted the girls Easter baskets with wheatgrass seed - it's become a tradition to have real grass in their baskets. Here are last year's on Easter morning:

Need ideas for your baskets? Last year, ours included: Surf Sweets jelly beans, Eden dried fruit pocket snacks, Wild Friends chocolate coconut peanut butter packets, Glee Gum, Endangered Species Bug Bites, and Aura Cacia Cheering Foam Bath (all these came from our local natural foods store). Also: honey sticks, Play-Doh eggs, a votive candle, markers, wind up toys from Magic Cabin, Lindt chocolate bunnies, a book, and plastic bird water whistles.

Feel free to share basket filler ideas in the comments below!

xoxo - Liz

Spring = Strawberry Picking

Spring is the height of strawberry season here, and it's become an annual tradition for us to visit a local u-pick and gather a few berries straight from the source. Over the weekend, we checked out a new hydroponic farm nearby, where rows and rows of vertical planters dripped with juicy, red jewels. It was an idealistic setting and a gorgeous cool, sunny morning - a perfect ending to a full week of spring break fun.

My niece, my gals and a friend, my husband, and my mother all joined in. After filling our baskets, we explored the farm and took a little swing in some shady hammocks next to the chicken coop. On the way out, I stopped at the market stand for some produce and a few potted herbs & bell peppers to put in the garden. This is my kind of place!

We've been enjoying fresh baby spinach, radishes, and lots of strawberries (sliced and sugared) all weekend long. Spring!!

 

Read my Strawberry U-Pick It Guide.

And get recipes for

Quick Strawberry Jam Hand Pies

and Strawberry Poppy Seed Vinaigrette!

 

xoxo - Liz

  

PS - It's not too late to join A Natural Nest, the eCourse ... we're kicking off Week 1 today! And a group is gathering over on the A Sense of Place Community page where we're ramping up for some spring nature journaling. You can get the self-paced course guide here. Join in one, or both, for more spring goodness!

It Starts Next Week!

The inaugural session of A Natural Nest, the eCourse, starts Monday, March 16th! Join in as we focus on creating a holistic home.

I'm pretty excited to start the first session of A Natural Nest next week! It's a six-week eCourse packed with information, guidance, ideas, tips, projects, recipes, and more to help you create a seasonal, family-centered home. Will you be joining in?This course:

▪ Gives you building blocks to lay the foundation for a beautiful and functional home.

▪ Offers the framework to develop your family culture and create meaningful and memorable family time.

▪ Provides direction in strengthening the heart of your home by creating a conscious kitchen.

 

▪ Shares basic ideas for growing some of your own food right outside your home.
 

▪ Helps you foster creative expression as a family, including making space for creativity in your nest.

 

▪ Encourages you to build a community that will support your family, and ideas for gathering your tribe.

PLUS: fun ideas for family time, decorating with nature, hosting a potluck, a unique DIY meal plan calendar, a welcome spring party plan, homegrown smudge sticks, a family creativity journal, creating a peace center, and SO much more!

 

Don't miss out on the inaugural, spring session of

A Natural Nest. Learn more and SIGN UP now!

Gardening at School + A Kale Feast

A couple months ago, I shared my adventures nature journaling at school with my daughter's class (4th-6th grades). We also did a bit of gardening in the fall. They have four garden beds in their classroom's yard; we filled them with starts of lettuce, spinach, kale, a mix of herbs, green onions, tomatoes, and peppers. We also planted seeds for beans, radishes, and some edible flowers.

Soon after planting, visiting rabbits nibbled away most of our tender green starts. But a few things survived... and thrived under the care of these young gardeners. To my pleasure, kale was one of them, along with parsley, mint, arugula, and green onions. 

On Tuesday, we had a harvest party and feast. Two large bowls of kale were collected from the garden, as well as a hearty amount of fresh mint. The kids were super excited to see the abundant return on their efforts over the past months.

Working between their classroom kitchen and back porch, they split into groups and washed, tore, "ribboned," and massaged the kale. They crushed the mint and added it to lemonade. We made a kale salad for 30, dressed with fresh squeezed orange juice & extra virgin olive oil, and topped with roasted sunflower seeds. We also made three trays of kale chips, coated with olive oil and liberally dusted with sea salt.

It was a kale feast, washed down with minty lemonade. I was so very impressed with these kids - they have skills in the kitchen! And almost all of them (my gal not included) scarfed down the kale. Every last bite. Next up from the upper-class kitchen - green onion & mushroom quiche and frittata. And a tabouleh salad. I do believe some spring planting is on the docket too!

 

xoxo - Liz

 

****************************************************

 

Our Garden-Harvest Kale Salad

 

2 large bunches of kale (we grew lacinato, aka Tuscan, black, or dinosaur kale)  

Juice of 2 medium oranges

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup roasted sunflower seeds

Sea salt and fresh ground pepper

1. Remove kale leaves from stem. (Hold leaf upside down; grasping top of stem in one hand, pull downwards on the leaf with other your hand, stripping the leaf from the stem).
2. Stack 5-6 leaves at a time and roll them up longways. Slice the "roll" into 1/4-inch-thick ribbons. Repeat with all the kale. Place kale ribbons in a large bowl.
3. Whisk together fresh squeezed orange juice and olive oil in a small bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste. Pour the dressing over the kale.
4. Massage the dressed kale with your hands, working to break down the fiber in the leaves, and rendering it more tender. Massage for 2-5 minutes, until the kale looks wilted and feels tenderized.
5. Sprinkle sunflower seeds over the salad and toss to combine. Add additional salt & pepper to taste. Enjoy! 

Quick Garlic-Dill Pickles for Busy Mamas

Since January, I've been back working at my husband's business 3-4 days each week. Although my passion is writing, my education and background is in communications and public relations. And over the past 15 years, I've been in and out of the scene at the office, handling marketing & communications. Right now, I'm back in as the company is expanding. I'm also still maintaining my freelance gigs, and my eCourses/blog, and my household, and well, you know, all the things life with kids entails. So needless to say - I'm busy!



I find myself squeezing in the extras in all sorts of odd moments. Yesterday, during the span of time between after-school snack and my youngest daughter's dance class, I made pickles. I also ran a load of laundry, changed the water & filter in the aquarium, emptied all the trash cans, and cleaned out the fridge. But back to the pickles... I had to make a jar because my dill had gone to seed (a plus of a neglected garden), and I had this magnificent seed head begging to join some cukes for garlic dills. So I made 1 jar of quick refrigerator pickles. It took about 10 minutes, including time to photograph them. Here's the recipe, in case you want to squeeze in a jar too!

 

Quick, Refrigerator Garlic-Dill Pickles

 

1 tbsp. kosher salt

1 1/2 tbsp. organic cane sugar

1/4 tsp. black peppercorns

1/4 tsp. black mustard seeds (or any color, I just had black on hand)

1 tbsp. chopped garlic*

2-3 sections of dill + 1 dill head

1/2 cup white vinegar

4 pickling cucumbers, quartered

warm filtered water

 

Place the salt, pepper, mustard, garlic, dill, vinegar and cucumbers into a 1-quart mason jar, and then fill it to the top with warm water. Screw on the lid and shake the jar until the sugar and salt dissolve. Refrigerate for 24 hours for maximum flavor. Store up to 3 weeks, in the refrigerator. 

 

* TIP: I recently bought a jar of pre-peeled, whole garlic cloves. I love having these on hand in the fridge. It seems silly, but peeling fresh garlic always seems to add time in the kitchen and this has been a real help.

 

After dance class last evening, I came home to a very active sourdough starter that I'd pulled out of the fridge and fed right before I made the pickles. It had bubbled up and spilled all over the counter, which my girls found hilarious. So as I cleaned up the mess, and boiled water for a pasta dinner, and urged the girls to take their showers... I mixed up a batch of bread dough and left it to rise on the counter overnight. This morning, while packing lunches, I shaped the bread and preheated the Dutch oven while it rose. Shortly after, I did my morning workout to the smell of sourdough baking in the oven. Here's to another day of squeezing it all in!

 

xoxo - Liz

The Back of the Bus

It's particularly cold here in Florida this morning - 36 degrees. Just a few minutes ago, bundled in my warmest coat and, cradling a hot mug of coffee, I opened the side door of our minivan and watched my girls scamper toward the school bus, their breaths puffing out before them. My 7-year-old wore her warmest coat - a big, puffy, purple number she was delighted to adorn on this rare cold day. My 10-and-a-half-year-old donned only a thin, long-sleeved shirt under her uniform T-shirt; her lightweight hoodie just slung over one arm. Too cool for enforced warmth.

So, as I sat in the warm silence of my car, I watched my little one's blonde, curly head bop down the aisle to her seat in the middle of the bus. And then I saw my first-born, so tall and lanky, make her way to the very back row. This is where the big girls sit - the older girls. I watched as a 4th grader vacated a back row seat; my girl stood watch and then slipped into place next to her fellow fifth-grade friends. She had rank.

The pony-tailed heads of the girls in the back rows bent low and close toward one another. This is coveted time - a sacred 20 minute drive to talk and laugh and share. I know how much my daughter craves and cherishes social interaction right now. Her friends are top priority.

A lump formed in my throat and my stomach tightened a bit as I watched and realized there is no going back. A decade made up of long, often-trying days has flown by in the blink of an eye. The cliché smacked me in the face - they grow up so fast. I searched to see my younger one's head among the rows - she still snuggles up on my lap, and craves mama time the most. I know how truly short-lived this is now, and I'm grateful for her middle-of-the-bus position.

I'm home now, and my nest will be empty and quiet for the next seven hours. This is not new... but on this unusually cold Friday, it feels different somehow. I feel the space, the silence, the stillness a little deeper. It's bittersweet. This alone time I used to crave with all my being has become, well, more commonplace. And I wonder, will I blink again and find myself yearning for the closeness, the noise, the chaos of these fleeting days?

In no time, I'll be back at the bus stop, collecting my girls, who will be hungry and happy to start the weekend. Tonight, we'll make and eat homemade pizzas together. We'll snuggle under blankets by the fire and finish the last couple chapters of Harry Potter. I can hardly wait!

Happy weekending, friends!

xoxo - Liz

Sunday, At Dusk (+ a 2-for-1 Deal)

The gorgeous Florida-winter weather of sunshine and cool breezes drew us all outdoors over the weekend. The girls played in their backyard play space for hours with neighborhood friends; and I spent some time in the garden cleaning up and preparing for spring. As the sun set on Sunday, a sweet contentment fell over me.

While my eldest lingered in the backyard, my husband fired up the grill, and my youngest swung in the hammock chair on our back porch. I sat with a glass of wine, enjoying watching the descending sunlight illuminate my little world, and snapping pictures.

 

It was a sweet moment. One to pause and take in the beauty of nature, the bounty of my garden, the warmth of my family, and the promise of what's yet to come. My cup runneth over.

 

xoxo - Liz

 

*******************************************************************

Join in A Natural Nest, the eCourse... 2-for-1!

 

I'm super excited about the wonderful group of women forming for A Natural Nest, the eCourse. This 6-week, guided course is all about creating a family-centered, seasonal home. Beginning March 16th, we'll be harnessing spring's energy of renewal and growth to explore the themes of: Nest - Nurture - Nourish - Grow - Create - and Gather. I'll offer simple, yet meaningful, ways to build a holistic home that runs smoothly, supports a conscious lifestyle, fosters creativity, and honors nature & the seasons.

 

I would really LOVE for you to join us! In fact, I've decided to extend my 2-for-1 newsletter deal through the end of February. That means you can bring along a friend for free, or you and a buddy can split the course cost! (Just include your friend's name and email address in the notes when you register... or contact me direct about a split payment option.)

Learn more and sign-up now!

Handmade with Love

This year, I'm committing, as much as possible, to only giving homemade, homegrown gifts. Partly for budget reasons, and partly for the principle. There's something about giving something you have crafted with your own hands, or nourished over time... Even the smallest, simplest items feel special when they are handmade, infused with love and intention.

Last weekend, we had my parents over to honor my father's birthday. This man loves plants. As a child, I spent many a Saturday alongside him, pruning and weeding the meticulously crafted landscape around our home. Over the years, he's maintained glorious orchid collections and practiced the Japanese art of Bonsai. His love is deep - even after suffering a debilitating spinal chord injury over a decade ago that left him with the use of only one arm, my daddy is still propagating and styling bonsai trees.

So when I saw Japanese moss balls - a planting style derived from bonsai and known as kokedama - on my Pinterest feed, I knew what I wanted to make for my father's gift. They were super easy (I followed the directions here) and affordable to make; and he absolutely loved them! I used young ferns that I dug from my yard, and potting soil I had on hand. My purchases were peat moss, new garden twine, and sheet moss - about $12 at Lowe's. Of course, I practiced first and made one for myself with a bulb I had on hand. Kokedama can be hung with twine, like I did the ferns for my dad, or they can sit in a bowl or on a saucer, which is how I left mine. I just love these, and I even have materials left to make more!

At our gathering, I had a (belated) birthday gift for my mother too. For her, I embroidered a flour sack towel with a cute little hen and chick design from Doodle Stitching: The Motif Collection. My mother is an avid cook. To her, making a pot of soup from whatever is on hand is the definition of pure joy! I spent as much time by her side in the kitchen as a child as I did by my father's in the yard. She taught me how cooking and creativity go hand-in-hand just by doing what comes naturally to her. Hence, a kitchen towel, stitched with love for her French-country inspired kitchen, seemed an ideal gift. I wrapped it simply and tucked a small bag of saved loofah seeds into the ribbon, as my mother has raved about the homegrown sponge I gifted her at the holidays. A gardener herself, now she can grow - and ultimately gift - her own!

What are your favorite handmade, homegrown gifts to
give (or receive)? I'd love to hear your ideas!

A Nature Walk, a Picnic, and a Possum Stick

We went on a picnic and a nature walk over the weekend at a favorite park. The weather was divine - cool, crisp, sunny. We packed a mash up of what was in the fridge and pantry for our picnic: tuna salad, leftover kale salad, crackers, peanut butter, oranges, pears, and cheese sticks. We call this a "snack lunch," when you have a little bit of this and a little bit of that. Snack lunches are best enjoyed picnic style, outdoors.

To go for our walk in the woods, my girls both wore dresses... I wished they wore play clothes, but I said nothing. They really like dresses, and I'm practicing not nagging them. They also both carried huge water bottles onto the trail, despite my warning that I was unwilling to carry them should they get tired of lugging them around. I'm also practicing setting boundaries.

Kids have minds of their own, for sure... and their own ideas of how a nature walk should go. My girls decided to bring along a huge "walking stick," a fallen branch they had brought home from Nana's yard a couple of weeks ago. It was loaded in the car and traveled with us... and from it they hung two stuffed possums. Yes, possums. These guys joined us for our picnic, and then the smaller one went with us on our hike, hanging from the stick.  I once again warned I was unwilling to carry the possum stick at any point. Boundaries.

Toward the end of the walk, both the stick and my youngest gal's water bottle became a burden. No big surprise. My husband carried the possum stick for a while; I assured him it wasn't too weird as we passed other non-possum-stick-carrying families. My daughter whined and kicked her water bottle along the path dramatically; I bit my tounge and said nothing. When the bottle was left on a bench, I didn't pick it up. She went back for it, and kicked it along a bit more. She never once asked me to carry it. I held her hand and talked to her of other things. And she made it the whole way, responsible for her own bottle. (She did tell me next time she will leave it in the car.)

From the path, we saw five deer back in the canopy. We stood watching them for some time and they watched us back. We spotted a pileated woodpecker on a tree, a hawk on a fence, and regal ospreys soaring overhead in clear blue skies. Along the way, we admired wildflowers with zebra longwing butterflies flitting about them, Spanish moss dripping from the oaks, and the sun peeking through the fronds of tall palm trees. This is Florida in January.

The day was an odd mix of magical, weird, ordinary, irritating, and deeply fulfilling experiences. Which pretty much sums up parenting. As we returned to our car, there was a man down near the water playing a flute. Yes, a flute. So strange, yet so beautiful. He faced us in the parking area and played us out as we packed up and pulled away.

Life is never boring, friends.

xoxo - Liz

Garden Harvest + Inspired Meals

I feel like I've been pretty negligent in tending my garden this season. Yet, it's still producing. I went out on Friday to harvest some collard greens, which were to be part of a meal I was preparing for a family going through a very challenging time. The lighting was great, so I ran back in to grab my camera and shoot a few pics. 

So, I ended up harvesting a lot more than collards... the bounty filled my dining table: collard greens, kale, mixed greens, swiss chard, tatsoi, green onions & chives, cauliflower, tomatoes, nasturtiums, herbs, zinnia, and a couple of loofahs. I also picked a few oranges and lemons, though clearing those trees is another day's work.

I feel so blessed to have all this fresh, homegrown food - and happy I could share some too! I cooked up the collards southern style, along with some slow-cooked honey BBQ ribs, a sourdough bread boule, and apple crisp. The meal - and an edible bouquet of nasturtiums, basil, rosemary, parsley, and dill - was all packaged up and delivered to my grateful friend and her family. Yesterday, I roasted the cauliflower and turned the kale into a house-favorite, massaged kale salad - perfect with backyard-lemon-and-herb roasted chicken. Harvest inspired meals to come: tatsoi, basil, & feta quiche (love this with a creamy tomato bisque); pasta with swiss chard, tomatoes, & chicken sausage; and quite a few mixed greens salads.

It's a good time to live in Florida! (Somebody please remind me come July.)

xoxo - Liz

PS - To me, keeping a basic kitchen garden & growing fresh flowers are important parts of creating a holistic home. I'll be talking about this - and more - in my upcoming new eCourse A Natural Nest. Won't you join in? Learn more and reserve your space here.