Jim Angrabright

To paraphrase Alexander Chalmers "The three grand essentials of happiness are: Something to do, something to love, and something to hope for” and for me my garden hits all three marks. 

With the holidays over, are you noticing gardening thoughts creeping into your consciousness?

If you have been to a farmers’ market recently and purchased some tomatoes, you know what a real tomato tastes like. With their greenhouses, hoop houses and other tricks local farmers have been harvesting tomatoes for weeks now.

With all do respect to those like my fellow garden blogger, the English Gardener, I prefer to leave the growing of vegetables to the experts. Aside from a rosemary or a few basil plants I prefer to focus my gardening time on ornamentals. And yet nothing temps me more than a tomato picked at the peak of ripeness or a potato so fresh that it juices when you slice it. And this is why I've been frequenting local farmer's markets since I first encountered them in the early 90's.

The Japanese have been celebrating Boy's Day on the movable lunar calendar - the 5th day of the 5th moon - since the early 7th century. But, with their switch to the Gregorian calendar in the late 1800s, Boy’s Day was permanently attached to May 5th. 

The recent discovery of a bald eagle nest within the city limits, the first one sighted since the 1880s, points to the success of the ban on DDT and protection granted by the Federal and State laws. But it also reveals how, if given a chance, nature will fill in the niches of our built environment.

On a recent buying trip to the Rebuilding Exchange a rehabber made the following purchases: 9 doors: solid wood, walnut veneer, no hardware, various sizes, excellent condition; 24 windows: double pane, sealed, unframed; 1 vintage bathtub, stainless steel, therapeutic, with bubbler and built-in thermometer. Total tab: $555.00.

We live in an urban forest and traversing a tree-lined street with its leafy canopy can be quite calming. But if one of those trees is dead, its bare branches bleached white as bone, it can be quite jarring.

In Japan a term often used for the ranking of 3 items is matsu take ume. The Japanese may speak this using the Chinese pronunciation sho chiku bai. It doesn't matter what you're grouping or by what means: oldest to youngest for three daughters; highest to lowest for Kendo swordsmanship; largest to smallest for bento lunch boxes.