I heard them before I saw her—my mother’s determined size-five footsteps slapping across the kitchen linoleum. I already knew she’d be wearing her red-and-white kerchief, tied with military precision. She  …

“How will you grow a garden and take care of two little children?” my mother asked, just days before I gave birth to my second child. It was a fair  …

My birdbath is like the hot new spa in town. Every day, it's packed with birds splashing, chirping, and fluffing their feathers in what can only be described as "avian  …

They say people and their dogs tend to resemble each other, sharing not just looks but quirky traits and habits, too. A stroll through the dog park often makes you  …

Nearly every plant in the garden reveals evidence of bees. Honeybees, long-horned bees, and cranky wasps walk across the faces of sunflowers. Semicircle-shaped holes in leaves indicate that a leafcutter  …

One fine morning, I was on a mission, banana peel in hand, ready to toss it into the compost box. Simple enough, right? But as fate would have it, a  …

Early every Spring, Dad would drive my Uncle Clarence to the Red Mile racetrack to collect a trunkload of manure. Clarence didn’t live out in the country. He was smack  …

They say beans are the "musical fruit," and well, we all know how that tune goes. Who could forget the iconic “Blazing Saddles” campfire scene where a group of cowboys  …

Gardening is something I always admired from a distance—largely because I had a knack for turning green things brown. Once, I even managed to kill a cactus. Despite my lack  …

My Italian mother-in-law, more feisty than a jalapeño and as mellow as honey, sat in the shade of the pergola in full bloom and shouted at me. "Why do they  …