Eden of Garden

Yooper Life

Life in Michigan’s remote Upper Peninsula. I like to refer it as the “second world”.

  • Planning for Abundance

    We migrated back to the Eden of Garden three weeks later than usual this year. This typically would not be a big deal to me — May in the UP sucks. May in the UP is like going back in… Continue reading

    Planning for Abundance

  • Willy-nilly

    Willy-nilliness will absolutely not be tolerated in the Eden of Garden. And this is a source of many a tense moment between the Boss and me. He is a carpenter and a builder with the mind of an engineer and… Continue reading

    Willy-nilly

  • Garlic Scapes and Walleye Cheeks

    The Upper Peninsula is always a bit behind the times compared to the rest of the country. Just turn on the radio or walk into one of the restaurants along Highway 2 and you’ll think you stepped back into the… Continue reading

    Garlic Scapes and Walleye Cheeks

  • Varmints

    “I’m going to have to go Mr McGregor on the rabbits that took out my beets,” a gardener friend recently told me. (In the UP, it is probably more like Elmer Fudd, but I digress.) When I asked him if… Continue reading

    Varmints

  • The “F” Word

      The possibility of frost strikes fear in gardeners all the way to the tips of their green thumbs. Frost warnings are serious shit. Like tornado warnings for your plants. Batten down the the hatches or risk death. Our head… Continue reading

    The “F” Word

  • Our Cash Crop

    Garlic is our cash crop (not the typical cash crop the Garden Peninsula is known for). It didn’t start out that way. But when the public started getting a hold of our garlic and then  coming back for more and… Continue reading

    Our Cash Crop

  • The Third Best Farmer’s Market in Michigan

    Some of our farmer’s market vendors are threatening to defect. They’ve experienced the greener grass of another farmer’s market, and by “greener” I mean more lucrative, and are feeling under appreciated at our market. They’ve been complaining that the Garden… Continue reading

    The Third Best Farmer’s Market in Michigan

  • Strangers in Paradise

    This weekend we celebrated the 25th annual “Portage Bay Invitational” — our weekend-long solstice celebration/golf party and the best way to lure our friends out here to the hinterlands. People come from far and wide to camp, party, and play… Continue reading

    Strangers in Paradise

  • Exactly how much pig would that be?

    I was a vegetarian for many years. After a stint as an editor at a cattle breeding magazine, I had learned a little too much about commercial beef production. Then I moved to the U.P., tried an especially tasty venison… Continue reading

  • Harvest Till You Drop

    Tis the season of late-night canning sessions. Saucing tomatoes before the fruit flies take over the house. Preparing plums for drying until my fingers are purple. Making pesto cubes until I can’t stand the smell of basil. Yanking the squash… Continue reading

  • Eating Season

    Gordy sleeps with his tomatoes. At least that is what he told me. That way he can feel what the tomatoes are experiencing. Are they getting too cold? Too wet? Maybe too lonely? He plants them six feet apart. His… Continue reading

  • Communion

    Last day of July already. No wonder the harvest is becoming more and more bountiful each day. I’m overwhelmed by its abundance and most appreciative. One thing all of us who attend the weekly Farmer’s Market, to sell and to… Continue reading

  • The Lull

    A quick visit to the farmer’s market can be so inspiring. Continue reading

  • The Big Solstice Shindig

    I still don’t see myself as a gardener. I garden.   Certainly, the farmers market has increased my role as a gardener — I appreciate the harvest. I love the food and I’m willing to work for it.  But, I’ve never… Continue reading

  • The Other Side of the Picnic Table

    Thing is, around here, there is nothing to do next. Continue reading