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pies and peonies

15 Monday May 2017

Posted by home, garden, life in Charlottesville, city market, environment, flower farming, garden, key lime pie, Lifestyle, shop local, spring flowers, sustainable lifestyle, Virginia

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Charlottesville, Charlottesville City Market, farmer's market, garden, key lime pie, May, sharing bounty

Saturday’s market began as a quiet, misty morning. Following many days of rain, the variation was agreeable. Being Mother’s Day weekend, I took many pies and buckets of fragrant peonies, conditioned all week-long for prime time.

Early sales were unremarkable and I was beginning to fret. Then a high school friend of my older sister and trusted real estate broker in this area arrived to collect the KLpie and peonies I reserved for her as a gift. After battling breast cancer, endless chemo, and reconstruction in the past three years, her cancer had returned with a vengeance and she told me during a phone conversation that she is terminal. This morning her walk was strong, her eyes bright, and she greeted me with a warm hug and a joke about the side effects of medical marijuana. That was an emotional visit. She is the mainstay of her large family and will be greatly missed by family and young grandchildren who will never know her sense of humor. I will never understand why bad things happen to good people. Never.

Later that morning, I noticed a couple who I recognized from television. I had never seen them at market before. They were the parents of a Virginia Tech student who was brutally murdered after a UVA concert in 2009. When the remains were finally discovered in a field south of town the family had closure, yet the mother has never stopped petitioning for her foundation Save the Next Girl.
This morning, the mother was dressed head to toe in black and looked so profoundly sad. When they passed me for the second time, I reached for my clippers and trimmed a few of my prettiest peonies and caught up to her. Not knowing what I would say, all that came out was, “we have never met…” and I choked up, gave her a hug and walked away, but not before she said, “God bless you.”

Returning to my booth with tears in my eyes, I quickly spotted the owner of the restaurant where I sell my KLpies. He was with his new wife and their one month old daughter, who slept snugly at her breast. He is a big fan of my pimento cheese and came for another tub. Why he did not spring for a sleeve of my beautiful peonies, I do not know. After they walked off, I grabbed another bunch of my peonies and caught up with them. She was delighted and he seemed touched too. Some men can be so —.

Back at my booth again, a three-generation family arrived asking details about my Key Lime pie. Following my spiel and their purchase, I noticed the rather frail elder in the group was clearly disengaged. I pulled out a pretty single flower and walked to her and said, “Happy Mother’s Day!” Her face lit up, she nearly blushed, and the entire family grinned from ear to ear. Flowers are amazing mood boosters!

I ended this day of intense pie and peony sales at noon. In fact, when I later counted my till, this was the largest grossing day in my entire seventeen years at City Market! Furthermore, I cannot remember a more emotional one.

Simple gestures reap great rewards and today I was reminded of this rule. I recuperate with a warm heart and hope that both my gardening and kitchen efforts made a small difference in the lives of those who I encountered.

I am blessed to know health, the simplicity of routine choices, and delight in greeting the wild birds who have sanctuary in my gardens.

The Best Key Lime Pie on the Planet 2009

2015 Peony city market May

Copyright © 2017 by Diane LaSauce All Rights Reserved

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April brings flowers and…chores!

10 Monday Apr 2017

Posted by home, garden, life in Albemarle county, environment, flower farming, garden, harvest, home, season, spring, spring flowers, sustainable lifestyle, Virginia, Virginia spring flowers

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daffodils, garden, home, home chores, life, spring flowers, spring house chores, tulips

If you are a homeowner, April not only brings spring flowers, but lots of chores…check out this link below…just click the photo:

To-Dos: Your April Home Checklist

 

Yesterday was the second time I mowed this month…and edged, and weeded.  Sadly, it appears that I will be fighting wild violets again this year in the turf…Boo! Although violets (not the edible violas or Johnny Jump Ups) are pretty, they will spread rampantly and kill all turf in its path. I learned the hard way…last season. I am not a fan of turf, yet since I own 3000SF, it must be cared for. Since the use of chemicals is taboo here, one must be extra clever to stay ahead of undesirables that blow in and take root.

idea for rear turf garden 2015

I dream that my gardens and turf look like this, yet alas.

My neighbor’s field is awash with wild violets and the explosion of seeds manages to permeate my stand of thick cypress trees and attempts to conquer my tidy gardens. Last year I resorted to drastic steps. Did this fix the problem? One stroll into the turf last week, showed a healthy stand of the dastardly plants…all abloom and happy. Oh how lawn care products lie!

Three years ago, I nicknamed my house “the needy box.” This month marks sixteen years here (where does the time go??) and always, always, there is something to do. Can one actually divorce one’s home? IF so, I want one…a divorce.

IF I continue to stay, most of my major improvements since 2001 will need a redo beginning in six years. I admit, I am not ready, willing, nor is my pocketbook. “I ain’t in love,” as some country song wails. With real estate currently a seller’s market, I regularly fantasize about moving, even catch myself steering the car into new parts of the county…looking for eureka! Yet the dilemma remains…where to? Little real estate remains affordable in the US (under 300K), and regional taxes or health care deficits can take a bite out of the relocation dream.

When I shop for converted warehouses around the country, they are there. But who wants to live in the snow belt? If the warehouses here in my area are ever converted, they will become, as most other real estate here, half-million dollar abodes.

So for now, I remain on my little half-acre, not far from town, where birds, flowers, quiet, and sunshine are regulars. Deep in my soul, I wish for continued inspiration and stamina. Today, the growing season begins again…in central Virginia, zone 7a.

Let it be gentle.

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A rare daffodil in my gardens…Thalia

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This is Honeymoon, a fringed tulip which customers fight over at market

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And this is a newbie to my gardens…Akebono, a Japanese double tulip. I had high hopes for this beauty, yet the stems don’t seem to support the peony-like blooms.

So I am off to open closets, vacuum velvet and linen draperies, wash cabinets, and polish silver whilst thinking of Cinderella when she “…wakes to find sunshine bright and all the meadows white…”

What does spring look like in your part of the world?

Copyright © 2017 By Diane LaSauce All Rights Reserved

this is why I grow daffs and tulips…

03 Sunday Apr 2016

Posted by home, garden, life in Albemarle county, environment, flower farming, garden, garden textures, home, Lifestyle, shop local, spring garden, sustainable lifestyle, Virginia, Virginia spring flowers

≈ 24 Comments

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Albemarle County, Central Virginia, flower farming, garden, home, life, sustainable living, Virginia

These images show a glimpse of what is blooming now at Swallowtail Cottage. The real challenge remains with capturing the essence of each flower…

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Another face not seen in my inventory. I am thinking Thalia, based on the catalogue photograph, c. 1916

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These tulips have survived for fifteen years here. Moved numerous times, they were inexpensive, yet provide dramatic, elegant color in the late March gardens. Greigii Queen Ingrid.

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These two beauties are new to my gardens this spring. I must refer to Brent & Becky’s Bulbs catalogue to name names, as they quickly became a blur.

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Last fall I converted all five raised beds from veggies to heirloom daffs and tulips. These two are newbies to Swallowtail Cottage. The white is Erlicheer, a sweet smelling heirloom; circa 1934.

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Notice the cup of this miniature newbie…the delicate rounded edges…awesome! As I check my inventory, I do not see this one listed…can anyone identify?

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This daffodil is so old nobody can identify it…they are prolific here and I am delighted to admit I rescued them…Any ideas? The white daff is Mount Hood, c. 1937.

P1050898

This wild-child tulip’s name is Honeymoon. I may need to add more to my beds, as they sold immediately at market yesterday.

Although Mother Nature ruined the first day of the farmer’s market yesterday with cold and rain, these flowers brightened my day as I shivered in place. About one third of the stems came home, so sadly, what I don’t give away, will become compost…ah the life of a flower farmer…

Stay tuned for more images of my gardens. Afterall, home, garden, life is what it is all about.

Copyright © 2016 by Diane LaSauce All Rights Reserved

Check out HGTV where two of my garden designs are featured…

I was featured on HGTVGardens.com!

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Essay Titles

  • Another blueberry spring
  • Spring garden projects
  • Chocolate Ginger Molasses wafers
  • Winter warmer when we pause
  • The twilight zone is real
  • Projects keep coming…
  • Feeling it
  • the journey continues
  • My food journey
  • Brownies, Keto Style
  • Keto almond crackers
  • If you are climbing the walls…
  • Three hours of sun
  • “this too shall pass”
  • there is no place like home…
  • the perfect Tiny House
  • Miracles everywhere
  • And so it goes…
  • Transform, transition, resilience
  • An Artist’s Way
  • Sunday’s monster project
  • Meanwhile
  • how fragile we are
  • what I learned about Keto
  • small steps
  • do no harm…
  • will this convince you?
  • Plastics…a soapbox tale
  • Let’s clean up our act
  • 2020…are we ready?
  • All I want for Christmas
  • Thanksgiving…remembering love
  • At last
  • Keto “potatoes”
  • When critters call
  • Keto bread revisited
  • My report on Keto
  • for the love of rock, II
  • give a gardener a cool summer day…
  • Oh July, July
  • Kale, the ultimate chip
  • gone Keto
  • she’s baaaack!
  • Perhaps missed
  • for the love of rock
  • the anatomy of a popover
  • the garden visitor
  • what blooms this week
  • porch envy
  • Summer in Virginia

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