Hello again, dear friends and readers! Contrary to what you may have (understandably!) surmised from my general social media absence and lack of blog posts for the last couple of months, I haven’t hopped on a ship departing the Grey Havens or boarded a Corellian freighter bound for the Outer Rim. Still, a bunch of ‘life’ has happened that’s demanded nearly all my time and attention, and I thank you for your patience.

With that said, the exciting part of all this recent craziness is that (drumroll please)…I now actually have a yard! And a garden! That I can dig around in to my heart’s content! AMAZING!

That’s right; we bought a single-family home and are in the process of shifting our lives – and our all-too-numerous worldly belongings – a few miles north. Nothing drastic: still the same metro, same good ol’ Zone 4b, same late springs and early frosts; now just featuring greener commuting options.

One of our main criteria for choosing a home, besides having a fenced yard for the dogs, was that it included the opportunity for a small garden. I wasn’t looking for anything extravagant or even for a large space. After all, one of the great things about herbs is that many of them don’t have to take up a great deal of room! 

It was a trying search in a miserable real estate market, but I truly feel that we landed where we’re supposed to be. This cozy Craftsman bungalow is challenging my creativity when it comes to storage space, but its character and charm win me over again every day. The backyard features a modest U-shaped raised bed and the option to expand in-ground garden space along the fences on both sides. 

I fully anticipate this first growing season to be one of experimentation as the space and I get to know each other, so I am limiting my harvest expectations. Still, even just the past few weeks have been a delight discovering the landscape and the resident plants whose home I’ve now joined. 

I look forward to sharing all kinds of updates with you; I’m sure I’ll be learning something every day, even if I do it the hard way. And rest assured: while I’ve been physically occupied with moving boxes (so…many…boxes…), my mind has kept itself occupied with numerous historical topics. So there will be more to come on the history side of Plants & Plantagenets as well – including an exciting announcement! Stay tuned!