. . . at my house on Saturday. Our log cabin "Brown, dirty snow," Handsome Hubby ("HH" from here on) said. It appears he was unimpressed with my simile. As you can see from this picture, we live in a log cabin in the backwoods. Blackjack oak (a/k/a Scrub oak) and Post oak trees surround our house, giving us great shade in the summer and lower utility bills. However, in autumn and late winter, we get two sets of leaf fall that cover our property in a brown blanket smothering the Crossfire Fescue I've planted and patiently watered. Note: we only keep Fescue around the front of the house. The rest of the yard is Bermuda and native prairie grasses to lessen the need for watering. Before I planted shade grass, I think we ignored the leaves. Then, after a conversation with a gardening guru of mine (thanks Wanda,) I...

No, dear friends, not agape, that group of Greek words meaning Christian or brotherly love. Agave, as in nectar . . . of the Gods. There is nothing brotherly about my passion for the liquid sunshine contained in this bottle. I have to thank Erin McKenna of Babycakes Bakery for introducing me to my love. She shared a recipe for a wonderful allergy free bread she prepared on Martha Stewart's show. (You can find this episode on Babycakes' website under "Press.") In this bread was agave, which at first, made me think of tequila, thus fostering bad memories of a certain party we won't discuss. Agave is related to gardening, or, at least, the plant world. Most people are familiar with agaves as ornamental plants, sometimes called century plants because they live to be very old, although not 100 years old. They are from the family Agavacae and are related...

Last Saturday, my youngest daughter and I attended an Oklahoma Centennial Event in the heart of Edmond. It was to celebrate our state along with ninety-five years of Girl Scouting in Oklahoma. This statue, of a girl scout planting a tree, was created by Shan Gray and was unveiled during the festivities. For those of you who live close to Edmond, it is located in Mitch Park behind the softball fields and in front of the pavillion. Mitch Park is at the intersection of Covell and Kelly streets. I wanted to know more about the statue so I contacted Susan Bohl, Service Unit Director for the Trail Blazers Service Unit. The statue cost $25,000, and Susan told me that the girls themselves raised a lot of the money. "We sold bricks, had car washes, a huge garage sale, a mother/daughter chocolate dreams event, handed out flyers, and partnered with Papa...

Sounds like a 50's B-movie just in time for Halloween. In my wildfires post, I discussed the fire danger posed by cedars and promised you more information. Not long ago, like most rural residents, I considered cedar trees to be weeds that appeared on my acreage and in my flower beds. Irritating, but not dangerous. I changed my mind when I realized how invasive they are. The Oklahoma Redcedar Task Force was formed in 2001 to come up with some solutions to this ever growing problem (pun intended.) Per the task force's report published in 2002, although there are five different native junipers in Oklahoma, the one causing most of the problems is the eastern redcedar (Juniperus virginiana.) The other natives are Ashe juniper (Juniperus ashei), oneseed juniper (Juniperus monosperma), Pinchot juniper (Juniperus pinchotii) and Rocky Mountain juniper (Juniperus scopulorum.) As gardeners living in a dry state, we're always thinking...