"Look at that! How did that get there?" My husband was pointing to a Grandpa Ott's morning glory flower, which had planted itself at the base of an autumberry bush, that had planted itself in the raised beds that made up the retaining walls near our front door. Nary a sprinkle of rain had fallen in some days, and the bed was filled with gravel and a thin topping of soil, but that volunteer flower was tenaciously clinging to that volunteer plant like it was climbing up the finest trellis in a...

"Fall started with an armload of giant zucchini, stacked up in my arms like cordwood. I thought back to the beginning of the growing season, and wondering if three plants would be enough. As it turns out, even after one of the plants died of mysterious circumstances, the remaining two plants lived up to their reputations as providers of garden abundance." I had to laugh the other day. I went out to grab a zucchini to cook for breakfast (we often make up a pan of sautéed zucchini and a pan of...

"And so passed a good man, slipping away quietly in the night, surrounded by family. There was no fanfare, just a simple service and meal, as he had requested." We bid farewell to my father in law, Gus Neverman (August Neverman III) this week. Grandpa Gus had struggled with an assortment of health issues in recent years; now he is not hurting anymore. You may remember me mentioning his last visit here with grandma about three months ago. They came out for an afternoon and we treated them with...