Lawns? My philosophy is this: If it’s green and you can mow it, it’s a lawn. Dandelions? Who cares? Their blossoms are cheerful. Creeping Charlie, plantain? Pests, but not awful. And so on. I love a lawn with some biodiversity. But bare and thin spots I like to fill in or over-seed. Now is the […]

The path of a military career, for both the service members and the families supporting them, seems less like a straight line and more like one with peaks, valleys and curves. My husband, Dustin, and I have always called it a “long and winding road,” and it’s why our wedding song was the Beatles’ song […]

Erin French runs a 40-seat restaurant called The Lost Kitchen in an old mill in a tiny town in central Maine. She began accepting reservations for the season at midnight April 1, expecting a few dozen calls overnight. Instead, she got 10,000 in 24 hours. Calls came in so fast that it overwhelmed her three […]

I’m ready for spring. I’m ready to start growing and eating fresh veggies. Most years I wait until the soil warms up, but this year I planted lettuce, cabbage and spinach in April. I did it in a cold frame, and so far my plants are doing fine — despite some nights in the 30s. […]

The commercials begin roughly the same — forest sounds, a child’s voice, anthropomorphized animals — and I brace myself for the shame that is about befall us all. It’s the “Discover the Forest Campaign” brought to you by the USDA Forest Service and the Ad Council, and although I agree with the basic message (mainly: […]

When Greg Verlander’s father came home from rehab after having a stroke, he was upset to find a hospital bed in his room. The bed’s institutional appearance made him feel unhappy and unhealthy, his son said. Verlander never forgot that, and when he learned of a family friend who had constructed a headboard and footboard […]

Mushroom and cheese burritos are a delicious vegetarian dish hearty enough to satisfy even the most die-hard carnivore in your family: a burrito stuffed with portobello mushrooms, chiles and cheese. It’s perfect for Meatless Mondays and — bonus! — all the ingredients are cooked together in a single rimmed sheet pan, which means cleanup is […]

NEW YORK Clouds of white smoke rise into the black sky from outdoor grills. The night air is scented with the fragrances of dozens of cuisines from around the world. Vendors in tiny stalls stir noodles, toss crepes and fill dumplings as lines of hungry customers stretch into the dark. That was the scene at […]

I’m already eating a few of my own fresh vegetables: ramps, dandelion greens and sorrel are ready, and soon will come those perennial delicacies, asparagus and rhubarb. It took me nearly 10 years, but I now have a patch of ramps that produces enough of these wild members of the onion family that I don’t […]

There is a popular belief in military-spouse culture that things are always the hardest as soon as our loved one leaves for deployment. And maybe this is true for my fellow military wives. I certainly heard my own Navy-wife mom mention the phenomenon: as soon as Dad left for deployment, the air conditioning would fail, […]