secret: i never take medicine.

Well, sometimes I do. But not usually. I don't know why, really. Stubbornness, probably. An overblown belief in willpower, definitely. But even if I can be reluctant to pop Tylenol for a headache, I'm a big proponent of embracing natural remedies. Medicine of my own making.

Last week, I brewed a big batch of elderberry syrup to get me through flu season. I've sworn by the immunity-boosting concoction for the past three winters and this year, I made more than ever. Germs, you don't stand a chance. I've got spoonfuls of sweet, elderberry goodness to keep the doctor away all season long. Not to knock my own Fire Cider recipe, but elderberry syrup laps that spicy concoction in the flavor department. No need to hold your nose while downing this stuff. If you're like me, you'll have to stop yourself from drizzling the whole bottle onto a sundae. Mmmm.

If you'd like to make your own, the full recipe is on Gardenista.

And as always, I'm curious. What are you favorite immunity-boosters during flu season? Any fellow elderberry devotees out there?

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a sneak peek.

Photographs by Matthew Williams

There's a new book coming to bookstores on November 5th and while I can't claim to have been a part of any of its creation, I'm not above bragging that I've gotten to rub shoulders with the women who did bring the masterpiece to light.

The blog-to-book model is not always a successful one, but in the case of Remodelista: A Manual for the Considered Home, it's pure gold. 400 pages of gorgeous photographs that manage to inspire, without catapulting readers over the edge of lusty despair. And this from a woman who makes her home in a wee 240. Kitchen cutlery in an old filing cabinet? Why yes, I can do that. Keeping things simple and spare while still managing to be warm and personal? Well, that's just the Remodelista way. Head here to see the chapter-by-chapter guide to what you'll find inside.

The book is available for pre-order on Amazon, and if you place your order soon, I have a sneaking suspicion that you'll be rewarded with an early delivery. This just might be the best $22.50 you'll spend all month.

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wilderness gardening.

For your viewing pleasure, my sister Laura's wilderness garden.

Part magic-maker, part badass gardening guru, I'm bursting with all sorts of big sister pride over this one.

Head over to Gardenista to read Laura's tips for planting a garden in the middle of nowhere.

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midsummer magic.

It's a good time of year, this one we're in right now. It's not the midsummer of the summer equinox, but the midsummer that means it's the beginning of August and fully half the summer is still before us. The best half, if you ask me. The one with peaches and tomatoes and late afternoon thunderstorms. Let's agree to not wish it away.

I had drinks with two new friends last night. I learned what Mezcal tastes like. I vowed never to drink it again. There were string lights and love stories. Life is good off the internet.

When I was home a few weeks ago, I styled this tabletop for Gardenista. Queen Anne's lace and still green apples and all the pretty things I could round up from my mom and dad's house. I'd love if you took a look at the full story.

I'd love it more if you created a little midsummer tabletop of your own and raised a toast to the idea that summer's not over. Not nearly. Prost!, etc.

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summer buggies.

I'm paranoid about my woollies.

There have been too many winters where I've pulled a wool something-or-other out of a closet only to find that it'd been eaten alive in the off-season. Truth is: I'm still sans wool coat after an incident a few years ago when a particularly aggressive moth got its jaws on my go-to winter jacket. I can't even talk about my grandfather's beret.

Determined to rest easy about stowing my winter wools this summer (and knowing that mothballs are simply a non-option for reasons of toxins and odor combined), I embarked on something of a craft project.  And here they are, pint-sized sachets to keep the moths away and keep my closet smelling fresh, too.

The full how-to is on Gardenista. Along with another story about a bug I'm actually quite fond of. Coming soon: finding relief from mosquitos.

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evening walk, west coast edition.

I'm spending a few days out in San Francisco getting better acquainted with my new team at Gardenista and Remodelista. So far that's meant feasting on fava bean risotto and a fruit tart so dainty and delicious that I woke up this morning trying to figure a way to have another slice for breakfast.

Yesterday evening, a walk around Mill Valley as the sun was setting. It's good to be here.

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flowers and other things.

This week has been all about lessons in flower arranging and in biting off more than I can chew. Here's a very late afternoon that proves both things.

PS. Thanks to everyone who shared their after dinner rambles with the #afterdinnerwalk hashtag. You made my week and then some.

PPS: To read more about my adventures in floral arranging, head to Gardenista.

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adventures in urban gardening.

Okay, I did ask for permission. But taking over my building's gardens still feels just a little bit like going rogue. They don't belong to me, after all.  I've been fussing with these two crumbling window boxes for the past month or two and I finally have a combination of goodies in there that seems good enough to share:

There's breathless white euphorbia and Mexican heather for filling things out, tall spikes of hardy angelonia in white and pink for adding height and even taller spikes of salvia because I have a soft spot for it, and sweet alyssum that I'm hoping will cascade over the planters and hide the fact that they're on the verge of collapse. If you look hard enough, you'll see there are still a few zinnias that I planted when I was feeling nostalgic for my wedding bouquet. They're struggling, but I'm not ready to admit defeat.

If you have a little space you've been cultivating, you can enter a few photos to the Gardenista Considered Design Awards. The process is incredibly simple and the categories are broad enough that I'm pretty sure you can all find something eligible for entry: floral arrangements, window boxes, herb gardens, city gardens, country gardens, almost anything goes. Head here for the details.

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picking flowers.

It seems almost ridiculous to say it, but one of the things I miss about life outside the city is the flowers. If you follow me on instagram (and even around these tea leaves), this will surprise you. You might very well wish that I stumbled upon fewer flowers.

But it's not the market flowers that I miss, they're better here. And it's not the garden flowers, there are plenty of city gardens to rival their country cousins.

I miss the picking flowers. The flowers that you can see growing one minute and have in your hand the next. The kind that you don't have to count your pennies to buy, or figure out a complicated way to cart home. The trip home with this kind of flowers is quick, in just a few pads of your bare feet across the backyard you've arrived.

While I was visiting my parents last weekend, I took full advantage of my favorite kind of flower and made this unruly little bouquet for Gardenista. Lots more details over there.

PS. I recently stumbled upon this old post: me in a patch of sweet william, about a million years ago.

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secret: i'm terrible at drinking water.

James calls me a camel, imagining that I must be hiding water in a secret cavity somewhere, because he so seldom sees me drinking any.

I know I should drink water more often, and I'm trying to get better at it (I even bought an adult sippy cup!), but here's the thing: I don't really like water. Is that a preposterous thing to admit? Let me explain. I have a hard time drinking water right from the tap. If it's not really cold, I can't drink it. But to make things complicated, I'm not a huge fan of ice cubes in my water, either. Too cold!

To make up for my fussiness, we filter tap water with a brita filter and keep two glass bottles filled in the fridge so that there's always a fresh supply of water.

You'd think I'd be satisfied.

But the truth is, I think water needs help in the flavor department. This summer, I'm making a vow to ramp up my water intake by amping up the flavor.

Over the weekend I experimented with two different herbal combinations that are perfect for the season. I combined lovage, lemonbalm, and lemon peel to make a water that's sharp and fresh, and strawberry, sweet woodruff, and stevia for a water that's just a little bit sweet. You can find the recipes over on Gardenista.

But now I need to know: are you guys big water drinkers? What's your secret?

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growing things, etc.

As you've probably gathered from these tea leaves, since I left my job at the farm last February I've been winging a freelance career. It's been simultaneously thrilling and terrifying. In a turn of events that I can only hope sounds encouraging and not exasperating, a year and a half of ridiculous hard work has paid off.
Next week, I'll be joining Gardenista as Associate Editor. There are a lot of plant metaphors that I could use to describe my feelings about this new job, but I think something interplanetary is in order. I'm over the moon and then some. Without a doubt, this is the most excited I've ever been about a job and that includes working at a clam shack in high school where I could eat endless amounts of french fries and milkshakes.

I'll still be doing the same writing and picture-taking in this space and a few others, but I am incredibly excited to pour my energy into Gardenista and I really hope that you guys follow along in that space, too.

PS. If you have a garden-y space of your own, Gardenista just launched a garden design competition and we'll be doling out prizes in five different categories. So whether your spot is inside or out, edible for humans or for the birds and the bees only, you can send along photos and enter to win. All the details, here.

PPS. Details on these alliums &c. coming up later in the day. In the meantime, more of my Gardenista posts, right here. Update: Alliums!

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Lilacs, made glamorous.

At my parents' house in Connecticut the flowers are always late to bloom. My mom refers to our yard as "a funny little microclimate," where the forsythia pop a week behind everyone else's and the lilacs finally burst into color sometime in late May. But clipped from soccer fields and the sides of highways, our house was always full of whatever wasn't quite ready to bloom in our own soil. As a result, we had lilacs plopped into pitchers on mantlepieces and bedside tables for approximately twice as long as every one else.

These lilacs came into my apartment in the city way, slung over my shoulder and carried home from a nearby flower shop. Tasked with making a bouquet inspired by Daisy Buchanan, these plumes became part of an arrangement just minutes before the rain poured down and turned the Brooklyn sky black on Saturday afternoon. Yesterday, they made the perfect backdrop for a tiny mother's day gathering in our tiny apartment. Two moms, one sweet bébé and three admirers.

I'm still learning the arts of flowering arranging, but for a little peek into my process for this Gatsby-inspired bouquet, you can head over to Gardenista.

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an herbal foot soak for summer feet.

Photographing feet is tricky business. Photographing your own feet? Well, that's some kind of blogger rite of passage isn't it?

While we're still on the subject of clean floors and clean feet, I wanted to share this post that I worked on for Gardenista. It's a recipe for an herbal foot soak to soothe tired feet and it's delightful if I can say so myself. Since hauling home this enamel tub to use for the shoot, I've put this tub to work no less than five times. Storing a two foot wide enamel tub in a tiny apartment might be crazy, but getting to soak my toes while reading on the couch isn't so very bad.

Next on my list? An herbal foot scrub. Because after just a few days of sporting sandals around the city, I'm already in desperate need.

Full recipe for the foot soak, here.

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allergy tea

We're entering the glory weeks in New York. Yes indeed. Those spring weeks when you can actually feel the heat of the sun and the trees verily shout their exuberance with technicolored leaves and blossoms, they've arrived and I'm gobbling them up. Cherry blossoms: I will never get sick of you. Itchy eyes and runny nose? You guys, I could do without.

Confession: Until a few years ago I pretty much thought that seasonal allergies were made up. I know. I just didn't get it. I didn't suffer from them and I just didn't understand why anyone would choose to stay cooped up inside during the most beautiful weeks of the year. Your eyes itch? What does that even mean? And then.

A few years ago I started getting itchy eyes and a runny nose in the springtime and early fall. Rudest awakening. I was miserable.

Determined not to let springtime allergies wreck my vernal enjoyment, I turned to herbal remedies to help combat the the shock of my new condition. Last week, my new friends at The Herb Shoppe blended the tastiest and most beautiful medicine I've ever had the pleasure to consume. I've been drinking it by the quart ever since and so far, so good. In an effort to apologize to every allergy sufferer who I ever doubted, there are details on herbs and dosages over on Gardenista! Godspeed.

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starting seeds.

Even though today is the dreariest day on record--well if it it isn't, it must be awfully close--there's a tiny spot of spring in this apartment that I've been doing my very best to nurture. I started heliotrope, salvia, and lobelia seeds a few weeks ago and despite my dim apartment's best efforts to thwart their progress, a few tiny seedlings have sprouted. I sincerely hope you'll join me in rooting for their survival. Pun only mildly intended.

The full story's on Gardenista, including a little how-to for newspaper pots.

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