Vegetable Garden Lessons from 2022
If I had to pick a word to describe this year's vegetable garden experience, I think it would be along the lines of "underwhelming" - but that's on average. There were still some highs to balance out the lows, and many lessons learned as always
The Birdsong Challenge
One day, we drove to a farm across the valley from us in Videmonte, to go and visit the farmer who would end up selling us our goats. As we got out of the car, I was surprised to hear birds singing. And I was surprised to be surprised by what I had always considered a normal part of "the soundtrack of nature". I remember saying to Francois, "Do you hear all those birds? I don't think we have any at home, but is that even possible?" Once home, we listened
Lessons from the 2021 Vegetable Garden
This past growing season was my best yet - and that despite my being a new mom who was squeezing in planting, weeding, and harvesting into 15-30min increments for the better part of the season! We got more things, in greater quantities, more frequently. It's the first year it felt like I was truly supplementing our diets with homegrown goodies. It made me feel like a superhero. I even had enough tomatoes to make a few batches of sauce that I froze! Happiness. We grew lots of carrots and garlic for
Vegetable Garden Lessons from Year 3 & Plotting and Planting for Year 4
In 2020, it was my third year managing our vegetable garden. (As a recap, here's a summary of Year 1 and lessons learned from Year 2.) A lot of things went right this season; it felt like I went from baby steps in the right direction to taking a leap forward. There were still blunders and learning curves, but then that’s something I don’t anticipate ever changing! We continued making overall improvements: adding raised beds, improving the soil by mixing in aged goat and donkey manure, and an automatic sprinkler
Celebrating Forests Today and Every Day
On the 21st day of March, the world celebrates the International Day of Forests! While we try to celebrate trees and forests every day through our lifestyle, we think it's a great idea to dedicate a day to highlight why this is so important. Even if you live in the city, and venturing into the woods is not your cup of tea, you – like any other living being on the planet – rely significantly on forests. Even if you don't know it. Woodlands provide us with most of the
Kiss the Ground: A Must-Watch (Review)
The trailer for the Kiss the Ground documentary emphasizes the narration by Woody Harrelson – I don’t know much about him, but he is not an actor I particularly like, and he definitely doesn’t strike me as a champion of the environment. That’s why my initial assumption was that the whole documentary was a bit of a marketing gimmick. So why did I watch it? The preview (see below) makes it clear that this film is about investing in soil as a key solution to fight climate change and mitigate
The Biggest Little Farm: A Review
Have you ever noticed that sometimes, you hear about a thing – a word, a book, a movie, a person – and suddenly, it’s everywhere? That’s what happened with me and The Biggest Little Farm. Since it came out, I have gotten emails, WhatsApps, and had it mentioned in conversation as a must-see “because it’s a lot like what you’re doing!” At long last, on Earth Day (a happy coincidence), we watched The Biggest Little Farm documentary. If you’re too lazy to read to the end, here’s my big take away:
Lessons from Year II of our Vegetable Garden
It’s April 2020, and this blog is about what we learned in the growing season 2019 – so yes, I should have done this recap earlier. Better late than never? Our first year was incredible, fun, and a massive learning curve. Last year, we made a few changes up-front: We expanded the size of the garden and the number of beds Three of the beds were turned into raised beds by lining them with old ceramic roof tiles What used to be the tomato bed got converted into an asparagus
The Farmstay Sustainability Manifesto
Earlier this fall, I finally met Antonella Notari – the cofounder of an agriturismo in Italy, Podere Trafonti – in person. A mutual friend connected us, and was spot on when she said we had a lot in common. Regardless of the age difference between us, with years of “corporate life” behind us, we have both opted to shift to a simpler life. A life closer to nature, on a farm, and hosting guests. In our first conversation, over coffee and a hot chocolate (piled with whipped cream, my
Playing Catch-up: A Fall 2019 Update
Somehow, even though "write a blog for Casa Beatrix" is often on my to-do list, it just as often gets bypassed in honor of other commitments and to-do's. I am working on changing that, but in the meantime, something else that is preventing me from posting blogs is the feeling that there is so much I want to share with you (ironic, I know). So, to take the proverbial bull by the horns, here's a quick and dirty all-around update to reset my feeling of guilt on not sharing