The work of her hands

October 28, 2013.Reading time 1 minute.

By Amanda Cleary Eastep As a child, my grandmother worked in the truck patches of vegetables her family grew on their rented farm in Southern Illinois. Whether from planting or harvesting or picking off bugs to drop into buckets of kerosene, the calluses that lined her palms like small pebbles were a source of pride. […]

A mother’s ode to wayward green children

July 10, 2013.Reading time 4 minutes.

As I dig in the dirt and plant seeds, yank weeds, water and watch things grow, I can’t help but consider how gardening is so much like raising children…the trials and the joys. I’m disappointed in my tomatoes. I started them from seeds. Watched amazed as they poked through the soil and cheered them on […]

How does your garden grow?

May 20, 2013.Reading time 3 minutes.

By Amanda Cleary Eastep The kale is in the ground…some of the plants–including tomatoes, peppers, and chamomile–that I started from seeds then transplanted several weeks ago when it STILL looked like this outside: Coincidentally, the last of this week’s planting marked the end of my husband’s first week at a new job and moving in […]

Putting Down New Roots–in dirt and in life

March 29, 2013.Reading time 3 minutes.

By Amanda Cleary Eastep Have you ever been transplanted? I was following my divorce in 2005. I couldn’t help but see an analogy today as I was transplanting the delicate seedlings that more quickly than expected outgrew the mini-starter trays. A few weeks ago I started seeds for kale, two varieties of tomatoes, hot peppers, and chamomile. The kale […]

Spring has sprung in my kitchen

March 21, 2013.Reading time 3 minutes.

By Amanda Cleary Eastep Last week, I filled out a planting schedule I found on Mother Earth News and started my two varieties of tomatoes, hot peppers, kale, and chamomile. I scheduled what to start indoors and when to transplant, and what seeds to plant directly in the soil and when. I would have posted […]

Here there be seeds

March 10, 2013.Reading time 2 minutes.

By Amanda Cleary Eastep Hobbits like gardens. And eating. Two things we have in common. I thought about this as I mapped out planting the small garden plot. Mapping it out made me realize how gardening is a journey in which you start out one place and end up somewhere completely different. Without the traveling, […]

True Grit is under your fingernails

December 30, 2012.Reading time 5 minutes.

By Amanda Cleary Eastep The bunny is looking at me with black eyes from it’s fuzzball face. My heart begins a slow melt that seems to move to my mouth, which turns down at the corners, the lower lip protruding in a “that’s so cute I could cry” pout. My daughter and I have wanted […]

Gentlewomen of the Road–camping with Mumford and Sons

September 1, 2012.Reading time less than 1 minute.

It is 4 a.m. While 3,000 other campers sleep, one rowdy group has been up all night and is now bellowing the chorus to “Awake My Soul,” one of Mumford & Sons’ most popular songs. Awake me closer to 9 a.m. … Read more about this intergenerational concert experience. Or are you more of a […]

Creatures of Habit–Ways to knock it off right now!

August 11, 2012.Reading time 2 minutes.

You’re driving when suddenly you realize it’s Saturday, and instead of going in the direction of the new restaurant to meet your friend, you’re headed along the route you take to work Monday through Friday. We are creatures of habit. That’s why I took Tuesday off. Crazy, I know. What will she do next? It […]

Do you feel lucky? Well, do you bookworm?

June 29, 2012.Reading time 3 minutes.

It was my lucky day. At least that’s what the neon yellow piece of paper sticking out of the library book said. Your Lucky Day Collection The medieval mystery I snagged from the New Arrival shelf just before the library closed appeared to be the perfect book for a weekend in Michigan, so, with unexpected […]