ode to the mouth-perking persuasion of pear and ginger butter.

something like fruit butter is bound to have its own song, especially when it's as seasonally-pulling as pear and ginger butter, prepared with love built right into it during the whims of winter weather. and this palate-hugging medley certainly sings, on key, too, with a flavor-set and texture so exacting that it easily wins an eat-this-by-the-spoonful distinction.

phoebe canakis, the naked food home cook behind phoebe's pure foods, kindly dropped off a little jar of this for me to pick up at a coffee shop while i was in fleetwood this weekend. 

after i'd told her about bauman's apple butter and the pennsylvania dutch family's cherish-worthy line of fruit butters, and once she'd finally discovered a few jars in her own food-travels, this creative kitchen mistress whipped up her own sampling. 

the delightful lure of an autumn-plucked crop, along with hints of the warm south asian-known spice, quickly reminds the palate of sudden comfort taken straight from the leggy limbs of nature.

homemade catnip-- a cinch and stitch of an effort.

i wanted to do something nice for my little fur kid quasi-niece named iris, a cat of a close friend of mine. she isn't too savvy on kitty treats, so her papa suggested i use the catmint in my garden to make her another play toy.

once the catmint dries out after i separate all of the leaves from the thin stems, i'll stuff it into this wildly pink-striped monkey sock with some cotton balls, tie it up sewing-wise with some string and a needle, and gift it to the adored iris.

catmint, the perennial known for catnip-makings, is hardy for our region in pennsylvania. it can sometime take over in gardens, so if you don't want that effect, keep an eye on it and prune it back or thin it out, when need be. it's probably easily transplantable as something to gift to others or relocate in your garden space, too. look for it at garden centers and nurseries from spring to late fall for possibilities in grabbing up this easy-to-grow plant well-capable of tantalizing the inner-temptresses in kitties.

november half-slumber: a quick-witted greeting.

quick words. willow wood ones.

and smokebush speckles, a glimmer into autumn's appetite.


brevity can say a lot.

with much long overdue affection, the garden harlot.

august greetings from the garden harlot.

long time no flower ? it has been an incredibly busy set of life-weeks for the garden harlot across the expanse of many jobs, but luckily, they are wonderfully fulfilling ones. 

in the meantime, here is a sampling from my tumblr page of positives, which i have also semi-abandoned for instead working on so many other projects. here, a night embers daylily from my garden graces oxygen and its other friendly elements.

i currently have a fun lil' 10 week series about farms premiering each wednesday on the limerick-royersford-spring city patch site. so far, beyond the introduction, i've featured discussions of the farm to school program, renninger's farm in royersford, and dream come true farm in spring city.

and i started writing for copper in the arts with the copper development association, recently featuring an artist named david burns from california with his rough and ready moniker, copper gardens.

this afternoon, i'm traveling down to spring city to photograph some sweet cows at kolb's farm store.

lots of fun and work is spilling me away from the blog, but news, not blues is still a monthly must.

thanks for stopping by, and remember to soak up the sky a good bit in your days.

hydroponic tomato-children are now for sale at butter valley harvest in bally !

all i have to say is thank lordisa !

after no available supply since the end of december, butter valley harvest in bally finally has some hydroponic (pesticide-free by default) tomatoes for the taking !

my adored quasi-grandmother kindly picks up salad greens for me each week now that i'm back to work with my seasonal full-time job because i can't get to the market during its hours. she noticed that these plump little healthy-for-the-popping reds were available for sale and amiably grabbed some for me.

i ate half of the container once i came home, with some pink salt and then crushed feta too.

feel free to test out some mimicry.

butter valley harvest is located at 1690 route 100 in bally, pa 19505. market hours are wednesday, 2.00 to 5.00 p.m. & saturday,  9.30 a.m to 1 p.m. a selection of butter valley harvest produce is also available at redner's warehouse markets in boyertown, freed's supermarket in gilbertsville, and other grocery stores outside of this little stretch of area.

the icy persuasion of grass & sky.

last friday, temperatures boasted loudly of 70+ degrees. this morning, snow packed lightly on windshields of cars, and my low and green set yard blades are littered with the icy persuasion of grass & sky. expect no less of nature ! she has her reasons.

it's more intense a bit up north.

a sunday morning deed.

this morning, i woke up bright and early (by my standards) and zoomed over to ott's exotic plants to pick up what would eventually be a nice and full kalanchoe in a flurry of pink, to drop off at the house of a woman in gilbertsville who just had a thankfully benign tumor removed from her brain.

the woman is a garden center customer of my brother scott's, and her stepmom from tennessee wanted to do something nice for her since she's recovering from a rushed surgery after a quick diagnosis following stroke-like symptoms. the stepmom phoned my work yesterday, and i said that while she wanted something of a spring reminder for the stepdaughter, who is in her 30s or 40s, our supply isn't too impressive yet. so i decided to visit ott's for a suitable and easy houseplant, and this delightful succulent won out with some assistance from nancy larkin of barnside mulch & compost who showed up to eye-peruse with me.

i also prepped a gift card from the stepmom for my place of work for the woman to use when she is better and would like to dazzle up her yard space with the therapeutic way of flowers or even new shrubs. i wrote a note from the tennessee-types too, and then i dropped it off at the stepdaughter's house this morning on my way home before heading out to interview the mayor.

the invisible lines of connection in life lately and helping people to help others has really had the healthy kind of hold on me lately.