We then took up “square foot gardening” (highly recommend for beginners!) and the next year, we grew a few tomato plants and some marigolds, but it was better than the previous year!

Each year, we just kept working with what we had, learning, and growing…

Soon, we were raising two babies in that garden, too.

After many more years of growing in urban Dallas, and then moving to Tennessee a decade ago to start a farm, another season begins.

This spring, we’ve sowed seeds for Napa cabbage (future kimchi!), a rainbow of tomatoes, multiple types of basil, peppers, and flowers galore, including several fun types of zinnias. 🌸 Wildflowers, sunflowers, and squash seeds will go directly in the ground after the last frost. 

After all these years, it still never gets old…a tiny seed that's been dormant for months inside a dark envelope can turn into a bright, thriving green sprout in just a few days time - just add soil, water, and sun. An absolute miracle. 🌱

I’m so glad we didn't give up that spring 20+ years ago…because now we're stewards of acres of land and have thousands of plants going in the ground that will flourish all spring and summer, nourishing many people in all kinds of ways. A lot more than a single cucumber. 😊

We still learn something new every year as the land teaches us.

Never stop trying and learning, friend. And never, ever lose your sense of wonder. ✨

our favorite seed sources:

• Johnny’s Seeds

• American Meadows

• Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds

I loved how creative the photography was in this book review of The Kindred Life! thank you so much, Two Fir Tea.

By the way, I continue to get photos from friend and family who find my book (outward-facing!) at Barnes and Nobles across the country! The most recent one was from the B&N in Greenville, SC. It’s always so fun to see, and I save them all! Remember you can always request The Kindred Life at any bookstore, local or chain, and they can get some in stock if they don’t already have it! Thanks for your support. ❤️🧡💛

I’m so honored to be part of the Needle & Grain Quarterly winter issue! Read my article on ❄️Wintering Well❄️ and be inspired to make the most of this last month of winter. If you’re craving analog content, this issue will help you slow down, be present in the moment, and embrace community. All local, no ads, written by real people. 🙌🏽 Rare these days, unfortunately, but we’re keeping real writing alive.

I’ve loved Needle & Grain’s local shop in lovely Columbia, TN since we moved to this area in 2016. In fact, I wrote all about them and other local gems in this article years ago for Art of Simple. A lot of those shops and businesses are no longer around, but Needle & Grain is still a touchstone in the community, and they keep growing. Grateful to support local whenever possible! Even if you don’t live in the area, their quarterly magazine will be inspiring.

Get your copy locally at their adorable shop in downtown Columbia or on their website.

Italian large-leaf basil

This Italian girl’s love for basil runs so deeply that I wrote an entire guide on how to grow basil and cook with it. (Get it immediately when you join my email list, or if you’re already on the list and missed it, contact me and I’ll send it to you!)

But I’m specifically in love with Italian Large-Leaf Basil. Because what’s better than a basil leaf? A basil leaf as big as your palm, that’s what.

It’s the middle of January as I type this, and I’m already calculating how many months it’ll be until I have fresh basil in my hands again. In the meantime, I’ll survive on the multiple jars of dried basil leaves I have in my spice cabinet - so I can crumble them up and add them to pasta, soups, and stir-fries. This luxurious Purple Basil too!

ZINNIAS

I don’t care if it’s one of the easiest flowers to grow - I will grow zinnias for the rest of my life, in all the colors of the rainbow. 🌈 Zinnias are practically fool-proof - you can even just scatter seeds in prepared soil, and they will grow!

I plant my giant zinnias in early spring (mid-late April) into holes in landscape fabric rows - specifically the Benary’s Giant Mix and Giant Dahlia Zinnias from Johnny’s Seeds. These photos below show their size - on the left, that pink zinnia is one of the largest I’ve ever grown!

I don’t even bother to trellis them anymore - I just let them do what they will. Make sure your soil is good and healthy, and a spring planting will take you all the way through to the first fall frost. If you do another fresh zinnia planting in mid-summer, even better, and you’ll have new, vibrant zinnias growing in your garden while the early spring ones begin to fade.

For some extra whimsy, try Unicorn Zinnias! 🦄 These are smaller zinnias but with otherworldly rainbow colors. If you’re looking for Unicorn Zinnias, you can check online sites like Etsy where growers save their seeds and sell them directly. I originally got my seeds from Floret, but they have a limited supply and are already closed for the upcoming season.

Zinnias are the cornerstone of every bouquet I make on the farm and a favorite in our Build-A-Bouquet station. They last for a week+ in vases as long as you keep the water full and fresh. They are beloved by all pollinators and birds and bring inordinate amounts of butterflies to the garden. LOVE YOU FOREVER, ZINNIAS.

Cosmos flowers

Oh my heart. Cosmos are just magical. The papery petals are actually really strong, and there’s nothing like a cosmos meadow in the early morning or golden hour sun shines through them. Pollinators love them, and their tall height makes for a great border area or variation to your landscape.

I had to make myself stop uploading photos because I have SO MANY of Cosmos. They’re just so photogenic.

I even added a full page spread of our Cosmos meadow in my book, The Kindred Life (get your copy here if you haven’t already!)

Have I convinced you to grow Cosmos yet? 🌸 If not, that’s okay - I’m planning to grow several kinds this year and sell them by the bucket!

STRIPED GERMAN TOMATOES

Striped German tomatoes are a glorious golden yellow color, are good producers, and they’re my favorite for tomato/mayo sandwiches on sourdough. The end.

BRANCHING SUNFLOWERS

Branching sunflowers from Johnny’s Seeds are the ones I order every year, because they keep producing blooms for several months as long as you keep cutting them. This is my kinda sunflower. I don’t have time or desire to plant flowers that produce one single bloom in a season and then look sad and droopy until you cut them down.

The above left photo is one of my favorite photos from the 2025 summer growing season. Is it because I’m perfectly posed or polished? UM, NO. It’s a quick shot in the garden, literally in the middle of harvesting, where I’m so sweaty that my hair is soaked. I love it because I look authentically happy. This is how I usually feel when I’m holding sunflowers (and have since 1995 when I chose sunflowers for my high school graduation dress and as the design theme for my college freshman dorm room ☺️🌻).

One more favorite pic from the 2025 summer growing season…our little farmhouse among the sunflowers. If my 90’s self only knew she’d live here one day, it would have bl🌻wn her mind.

Gomphrena (globe amaranth)

Gomphrena (Globe Amaranth) is adorable, hardy, and adds so much to both fresh and dried bouquets. The seeds I grew had a mix of white, light lavender, and magenta flowers, and it was so joyful to see these pom-poms of color in the flower garden outside my back door.

It’s hard to tell in these photos, but on each of those gomphrena pom-poms (the spiky things which are called “bracts”), there is a teeny tiny precious flower inside. See here…

Gomphrena is perfect for drying - I cut them into bunches and hang them to dry. Last season’s flowers are now stored in airtight plastic bins to use for dried flower arrangements and table decor - like this napkin decoration for a private dinner we did this fall.

Honey bee tomatoes

I’ve grown several of the “bee” variety of cheerry tomatoes from Johnny’s Seeds, including our favorite Sunrise Bumble Bee, but this was my first time growing the Honey Bee Tomato. Delicious burst of flavor and so pretty with the red and yellow stripes! You can see them above mixed in with a few other varieties.

JOWEY FRAMBO BALL DAHLIas

I’ve grown dahlias for several years now, and some work well in vases, and some do not. This new, super cute variety I got from American Meadows was a great producer and very hardy in vases! I realize perfection isn’t usually possible in life - but that’s why it’s so satisfying to see perfect symmetry like this every once in awhile. 😏

Pictured on the above right with the Cafe au Lait dinner plate dahlia.

tulsi (holy basil)

I’ve wanted to grow Tulsi (Holy Basil) for years now and finally did it! 🌱 It’s very similar to other types of basil as far as starting from seed and how to care for the plant, but Tulsi is unique in its benefits to our bodies. In addition to being one of the main ingredients in the delicious thai dish, Pad Kra Pao, Holy Basil has been used in Ayurveda for 3,000 years and has a host of health benefits, like lowering blood sugar, bad cholesterol, and inflammation. It’s also an adaptogen, which means it helps the body manage stress and anxiety. This summer and fall, I brewed it as a tea both fresh and dried. I added a little local raw honey for the perfect herbal brew that made me feel amazing. I wish I’d taken the time to dry more Tulsi so I could have it all throughout the winter!

We just completed 6 straight years of book club! I can hardly believe it! I truly treasure the many, many moments my close friends and I have spent discussing stories these last 6 years. I always loved fiction, but I found it hard to dedicate myself to sticking to a book. Since I began our book club, having the accountability and steady schedule has kept us all reading fiction consistently! We’ve also been transported to so many different time periods and places and grown in empathy.

I loved so many of our 2025 book selections, but this year held 2 of my favorite books we’ve read in the entire 6 years of book club. Keep reading to find out which!

If you want to know how we structure our book club and how we keep it going for so many years, join my email list and get this book club guide for free, or listen to this podcast episode!

Here are the books we read together in 2025, along with my thoughts on each:

See what we read in past years…

• Books we read in 2020

• Books we read in 2021

• Books we read in 2022

• Books we read in 2023

• Books we read in 2024

You haven’t had butternut squash like this... 🤤 Slightly spicy, creamy, and naturally sweet…I don’t know if anyone ever described butternut squash as “decadent,” but this recipe sure is! We enjoyed making this recipe using butternut we grew on the farm this summer and fresh herbs from our kitchen garden.

Roasted Butternut Squash with Whipped Honey Ricotta & Chili Crisp

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

• 1 medium butternut squash

• 1-1.5 cups ricotta cheese (depending on size of butternut)

• 1-2 Tbs local raw honey

• A few Tbs grated parmigiano reggiano

• A few Tbs chili crisp oil

• Sea salt & cracked black pepper

• (Optional) Fresh (or dried) thyme & oregano leaves

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees or 375 convection. Peel butternut squash with a speed peeler. Cut off ends of butternut squash and then cut in half long-ways. Scoop seeds out and discard or save them. Drizzle both sides of the squash with avocado or olive oil and rub it in so all the squash is covered. Season with sea salt & cracked black pepper.

2. In a baking dish or on parchment-lined pan, roast squash halves skin side down for 25-30 minutes or until lightly browned.

3. Add ricotta to food processor along with 1-2 Tbs honey. Whip for a minute or so until light and smooth.

4. Once squash is done roasting, scoop ricotta mixture into the “bowl” of the butternut. Fill as much as you like - the ricotta is very rich, so we found that the amount we added to the recipe in these photos was plenty.

5. Drizzle chili crisp over the ricotta and in little spots over the squash, wherever you wish. Grate parmigiano reggiano over the entire surface of squash and put it back into oven for 5 min to melt the cheese.

6. Finish with a sprinkle of fresh herbs. Optionally, add a finishing sprinkle of sea salt and drizzle of raw honey.

7. Serve by slicing long-ways down the middle - you can serve at least 2 people from each half. Make sure to get some creamy ricotta with every bite of butternut. YUM! 🧡

Anyone else grow up eating Thomas’ English Muffins out of the cardboard sleeve? 🙋🏻‍♀️ Those were a staple for me as a kid in suburban New Jersey in the 80s. There’s just nothing like melted butter settling into the nooks and crannies of a perfectly toasted English muffin - am I right? With a drizzle of local raw honey…even better. And from our own bees! 🐝

Since I’ve gotten into sourdough (and by “gotten into" I mean dabbling here and there and fitting it into my schedule as I’m able 😅), I wanted to try to make my own English muffins with my starter so they would be more digestible and lower glycemic.

Now that I’ve made them, I have to say it’s way easier than I thought!

The recipe I used is from Chelsea Young's sourdough recipe book. You can also try this one by Kelly Welk of Ciderpress Lane. I make a dozen and keep half for the week and freeze the other half. My girls absolutely LOVE having one of these for breakfast with some added protein - you can fry an egg or two and make a breakfast sandwich with it or add any other protein on the side. Just make sure you slather it with enough butter for those nooks and crannies. 🤤🧈

MY TIPS:

• When it was time to griddle them in the dry cast iron pan, I found it was best to use lower heat for longer. About 5-7 minutes on each side with a tightly fitting lid on my cast iron pan seemed to be the sweet spot.

• Also, I’ve found that rolling out the dough to about 1/2 inch thick or less is best (rather than 1 inch) - if the dough is too thick before you griddle them, the inside doesn’t get all the way cooked.

• Once you make the English muffins, remember not to use a knife to slice them open! Use a fork to score holes around the edges of the “waist” of the muffin, and then pry it open gently. This preserves the texture inside the muffin and makes for those perfect pockets and ridges when you toast it!

I just can’t believe they look exactly like Thomas’. But gut-friendly, no preservatives, and a few real-food ingredients.

Enjoy!

P.S. For all things sourdough bread, listen to this podcast episode and see the links in the show notes, and I also highly recommend Kelly Welk’s Sourdough playlist on YouTube.

Here’s my farm-fresh sourdough focaccia - before and after. ❤️💚 All the toppings - tomatoes, basil, onions & dried oregano - are from the garden. I got creative with our large-leaf Italian basil leaves and fresh red onions straight out of the ground. 😍 I couldn’t resist making flower patterns - flowers always, and always. Halved cherry tomatoes and dried basil and oregano from last year’s garden were sprinkled on top, along with a generous sprinkle of cracked black pepper and sea salt. It’s so fulfilling to know how local this is - even the sourdough starter is made with wild yeast started from scratch in our farmhouse kitchen. It was absolutely delicious! My girls really loved the thinner focaccia made on this cookie sheet, but next time I’ll also try making it in a cast iron skillet so it’s thicker.

After I did this trial run, I baked it in a cast iron the next time, and it was perfection. I’ll always bake it in cast iron moving forward.

SOURDOUGH FOCACCIA RECIPES

Here are the two recipes I’ve used for sourdough focaccia:

• My friend Melissa’s Sourdough Discard Focaccia

• Chelsea Young’s Sourdough Focaccia with active starter - this is the one I will keep using moving forward because I like using puffy, active starter

DRIED YEAST FOCACCIA RECIPES

If you don’t want to try sourdough starter, you can make focaccia with regular store-bought dried yeast. I previously shared the Farm-to-Table Focaccia I made from Samin Nosrat’s recipe using dried yeast, and it was great!

You can also sub your own sourdough starter for the dried yeast in a recipe using this ratio: 100g of sourdough starter = a 5-7g packet of commercial yeast. So a 1/2 tsp of dried yeast weighs approximately 1.4g. (Time to use proportions - this is why we learned simple algebra, friends!)

For all things sourdough, check out this post and podcast episode where I share the method and recipe I use for feeding sourdough, using the discard, and making bread.

It's summer's last hurrah...let's make good use of the tomatoes still hanging on the vine. Straight from The Kindred Life book, here's my trusted recipe for Heirloom Tomato Bruschetta - a staple all summer long…

HEIRLOOM TOMATO BRUSCHETTA

 from The Kindred Life Book

This recipe is as simple and rustic as it gets, yet it is a stunner on a plate. 🍅✨🍽️

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients:

• 2 large heirloom tomatoes, diced (could also use halved or quartered cherry tomatoes)

• 2 teaspoon sea salt

• 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided

• 1 large garlic clove, minced

• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided

• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

• 4 large, thick slices sourdough bread

• 6 large basil leaves, cut into thin ribbons

Directions:

1. Place a colander over a large bowl. Put the diced tomatoes in a colander and sprinkle with the sea salt. Mix and let the tomatoes sit in the colander for 30 minutes, so all the juices run out of the tomatoes. This removes the moisture and concentrates the flavor.

2. Add 2 tablespoons of the olive oil to a large skillet and pan-fry each slice of bread until it’s golden on both sides, approximately 2-3 minutes on each side. Once you remove them from the skillet, sprinkle 1/2 of the Parmesan cheese on each slice.

3. Transfer the tomatoes to a large bowl, and add the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil, garlic, the remaining 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, red wine vinegar, and basil. Stir gently until well combined.

4. Evenly spoon the mixture on top of each slice of toast, garnish with a few more leaves of chopped fresh basil and another sprinkle of grated Parmesan cheese,  and serve immediately. This recipe is best served fresh. If you make it ahead of time, the tomato mixture or bread can turn mushy. No one wants mushy bruschetta!

Check out this sweet reader’s story of how she and her friend enjoyed the Heirloom Tomato Bruschetta recipe and others from The Kindred Life book!

5 straight years of book club. There are few things I’ve done every single month consistently for 5 years straight. 😅 But what a journey. I began this book club with 4 other girlfriends in January 2020, just before the world shut down. Now, there are 3 of us, but we’re in it for the long haul - what beautiful memories, conversations, and journeys we’ve had together through the stories we’ve experienced in the last 5 years!

If you want to know how we structure our book club and how we keep it going for so many years, join my email list and get this book club guide for free, or listen to this podcast episode.

Here are the books we read together in 2024, along with my thoughts on each:

How the Penguins Saved Veronica by Hazel Prior ⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was a fun, light-hearted winter read. An inspiring story about a woman in her 80s who decides to go after a dream of seeing penguins in Antarctica. She discovers and heals from some deep truths in her life in the process.

The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

LOVED IT. I actually think about this book often. SO well written and a story that really draws you in. It was heart-filled, maddening at times, and with such a clever ending.

Cutting For Stone by Abraham Verghese ⭐️⭐️

Ick. NO. This book was disturbing. I truly enjoyed The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese, but this one was a total miss for me. Too much medical talk, did not enjoy the relationships in the book.

The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer ⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book was like a kids book for grown-ups, with a fun mystery set on an island off the coast of Maine. I didn’t want it to end! The ending was actually great, though. Very imaginative and different from what we usually read in book club. Only thing I didn’t like were the random, unnecessary curse words that did not add to the story at all. If not for those, I would probably recommend it to my teenager.

The Women by Kristin Hannah ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Another brilliant offering by Kristin Hannah just has a way of pulling out every emotion you have in you. I have to say I didn’t love this as much as some other Kristin Hannah books (like The Nightingale and The Four Winds), but it was still excellent. I loved the way she celebrated the heroic female nurses of the Vietnam War - and shows how their lives were forever changed because of it.

The River We Remember by William Kent Krueger ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is our third novel we’ve read by William Kent Krueger, and he hasn’t let us down yet. This is another great mystery by him in an immersive setting. I haven’t been to Minnesota yet, but I feel like I have such a strong sense of it from his novels that are set there (This Tender Land and Ordinary Grace are the two others we’ve read, and I loved them even more than this one). The river and landscape are like actual characters in the book, and his writing is beautiful, as always.

The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters ⭐️⭐️⭐️

It was okay. I liked learning about the Mi’kmaq people of Nova Scotia, and the elements of racism were disturbing and important to know. The story just seemed like it took forever to unravel and it was kind of predictable. Not one of my favorites, but I’m glad I read it.

Tom Lake by Ann Patchett ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I feel like people either loved or hated this book, and I really enjoyed it - the slowly unraveling pace, the setting, and the story. It made me think about the decisions and paths we choose in life and how those decisions affect generations. And now I really want to visit a Michigan cherry farm in spring.

Here’s a sweet moment from this past year when my husband left us some homemade chocolate chip sea salt cookies with a note. It’s the little things.

Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Loved it. I didn’t expect to love this as much as I did, but I was completely drawn into the modern-day world of the Padavano sisters, who are apparently a nod to the sisters in Little Women. The love of sisters is a complex one, and as I hope for my own daughters, a bond that will ultimately never be unbroken. This book is a layered saga told in the voice of each of the sisters about their choices in life and the wounds that can tear a family apart - or not if you seek reconciliation. The cover of the book means even more once you finish it.

I Cheerfully Refuse by Leif Enger ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Leif Enger wrote one of my all-time favorite fiction books, Peace Like a River, so I was really excited when he released this! It’s dystopian though, which I don’t tend to enjoy reading. I was willing to go for it, because it’s Leif Enger, and I was SO pleasantly surprised how much I loved it. The symbolism and treatise on our modern times and the potential consequences of our future were so thought-provoking. The main character was endearing, and I felt like I was immersed in the chilling, mysterious Lake Superior setting. The title is a perfect one - that we can choose to see the good gifts and hope in our lives amidst truly harrowing times and circumstances. Leif Enger’s writing pierces the soul and is unforgettable. This one will stay with me.

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Yes, two Amor Towles books in one year! Ok, listen. So many people told me this is one of their favorite books. And I believe them. But it took me 300 PAGES INTO THIS BOOK to understand why. You have to be willing to make it through the Russian words and history that in my opinion, were very hard to follow. and the pages and pages and PAGES detailing the daily workings of the Count’s life on house arrest at the Hotel Metropol. That being said, I saw the immense beauty threaded throughout the story and lots of gems. I actually dog-eared a massive number of pages in this novel, and many of the things I underlined were one-liners that really hit me deeply. In the end, I absolutely loved how the story turned out, and I’m glad I persevered until the very end to find out! The most beautiful and meaningful things our lives really are the simple ones.

Anxious People by Fredrik Bachman ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Made me laugh, pulled at the heartstrings, and was a fun mystery set in Stockholm. I’ve never read anything like this, and it made me want to read more Fredrik Bachman for sure!

See what we read in past years…

• Books we read in 2020

• Books we read in 2021

• Books we read in 2022

• Books we read in 2023

Thank you so much to Breanna Fabbie at Belmont University, my alma mater (1995-1999!), for featuring me and Kindred Farm in The Belmont Vision! What an honor and full circle moment it was to host Breanna at our farm store on a recent Saturday, to introduce her to our famous cinnamon rolls, and share the story of my journey from Music Business student at Belmont to writer/farmer/podcaster at Kindred Farm. A funny coincidence was that some of my BU college friends, Mark & Jonna Dancer, were also visiting the farm store that morning and got to be quoted in the article too. What a full circle moment!

I absolutely loved my four years at Belmont and am thankful for my business degree and internship experience that help me everyday in our own business. Go Bruins!

Dear Mom,

My whole life, November 1st has been your day. And November is a month we always shared because it’s your birthday, then my birthday, then Thanksgiving. I wish more than anything that you were here today, eating breakfast in bed in our guest room. Instead, you’re eating endless bowls of ice cream while dancing around Heaven with your parents.

It’s hard to believe your life on earth is over, that there will be no new memories with you. It’s hard to understand, but I know that where you are is better for you than here. It seems like I could reach out and touch you in these photos - you’re still so real to me.

We released 4 shimmery purple balloons into the sky this evening at sunset. Don’t worry, they were biodegradable! 😬 And we wrote messages for you on them, just in case they would reach you, and you could read all the things we wish we could still say to you. I still think it feels temporary that you’re gone, that you just might appear again on the farm, helping me harvest tomatoes or petting the cats on the front porch and telling me (again) how you think cats should be living inside instead of outside. 😆

And what are we going to do without your Christian rap songs and Christmas carols played on the piano at our holiday gathering with friends?

I honor your beautiful life today and miss you more than words can say. I still see the threads of Creation care that you wove into my life. I remember you in every honeybee and hummingbird and cardinal and coneflower that I see. I think of you when I fill the bird feeders outside my living room window. I’ll never stop being thankful that you taught me so many good and beautiful things.

Happy 78th birthday in Heaven, Mom. 🫶🏽

A few photos of your birthdays past…Poppy always sent you a huge vase of chrysanthemums (the November flower) on your birthday, and then he did the same for me. Our home was always filled with them the entire month!

A favorite photo of us from one of the last times you were able to visit us in Tennessee…

YOUR MOTHER IS ALWAYS WITH YOU

Why yes, I did dress as a Jersey tomato one year for my elementary school Halloween parade.You're welcome. 😂

My mom handmade this costume and was so proud of it! I actually found the red fabric part of the costume in a closet at my parents' house in New Jersey recently, still intact with my mom's hand stitches.

Guess I was always meant to be a tomato farmer! 😬 ❤️

Random fact: Did you know that the reason New Jersey tomatoes are so famous is because of the well-drained, sandy loam soil that comes from ocean sediment? Apparently the slightly acidic soil gives the tomatoes incredible flavor.

Here are a few of my favorite tomato images from this season. I grew 13 different varieties! Here are links to the seeds I purchased so you can plan for next year…

• Amish Paste - these were huge and perfect for roasting and making soup or sauce.

• Speckled Roman - these were okay - not the best production this year.

• Mountain Magic - one of my all-time favorite medium-sized tomatoes, always come out perfectly.

• Supersweet 100 - produced so many! more than I could harvest due to their smaller size.

• Cherry Bomb - these were lovely and delicious, easy to harvest - will grow again.

• Green Bee - NO - didn’t like at all!

• Purple Bumble Bee - incredible producer - still going strong in November in the greenhouse!

• Citrine - I didn’t plant enough of these, but they were delicious and a gorgeous orange cherry.

• Striped German - one of my all-time favorite slicer tomatoes - gorgeous color!

• Orange Accordion - SO FUN and huge - see below!

• Thornburn’s Terra Cotta - lovely, unique color, beautiful in salads.

• Brandywine Sudduth’s - probably won’t grow this one again - it was solid, but just okay.

• Black From Tula - unique darker, rich color - great for salads or sliced on a plate.

This was my first year growing Orange Accordion tomatoes, and they were SO fun…they look like mini pumpkins as they ripen and are so unique on a plate…

What are your favorite tomatoes to grow? Let me know in the comments! I’d also love to hear your craziest childhood Halloween costume. 😊

P.S. Don’t forget to try my Favorite Creamy Homemade Tomato Soup Recipe.

What would you do if you had all the time you needed?

Join me in this fascinating episode with my friend Christine Wilson, mom of six, licensed professional counselor-turned-coach, and the founder of the first whole brain planner on the market, the Think Time Planner. And she is also now my neighbor!  

After creating a pen + paper neuroscience experiment in her garage, Christine developed a whole-brain process to help people get their brain on their team, fight distractions, and start living their dreams. As one who struggled with ADHD, distractions and overwhelm, Christine knew how hard it was to find time for what mattered most, and she wanted to help herself and others overcome these obstacles.

For 8 years now, Christine’s company, Think Time, has been changing lives and equipping people to get more of the right things done in less time.

LISTEN IN, and let Christine teach you how to “get your brain working like a Tesla rather than a 1950s Ford.” You’ll learn some surprising strategies for overcoming overwhelm and living your dreams - whether in your business or day-to-day life. 

There were SO MANY great quotes from this episode - don’t miss those below! 🔥

Here’s a photo of Christine and I at our fall 2023 farm dinner here at Kindred Farm. 💜

Here’s an exterior view of the Think Time Planner, and a preview of some of the inside pages - so unique and different than any other planner out there!

Episode links:

• Christine Wilson on Instagram: @thinktimeplanner

• Free download of The Dream Sheet: think-time.com

• Buy a Think Time Planner for 10% off - enter code “kindred” at checkout.

• Think Time Membership Community

• The Power of One More by Ed Mylett

• Simplicity Parenting by Kim John Payne

• Boundaries by Henry Cloud

• Wild + Free

• The Kindred Life Podcast Ep. 45: Meaningfully Busy

• Grab a copy of my book, The Kindred Life: Stories and Recipes to Cultivate a Life of Organic Connection.

• Join my email community at ChristineMarieBailey.com and get some fun freebies for signing up, including a free guide to starting your own book club and the first chapter of my audio book!

• Follow me on Instagram @organicstine and @thekindredfarm.

• ⁠Visit my Amazon storefront⁠ for all the things I talk about on the podcast, fave books and more. As an Amazon influencer, I earn commission from qualified purchases.

Goodness, I love this town. I recently blogged about our first visit to Blowing Rock, NC after our family trip last summer. We couldn’t wait to visit again this summer!

This previously-scheduled trip occurred one week after losing my mom, ❤️‍🩹 and what I needed from this trip to the mountains was time to rest and process and reflect. To be surrounded by the beauty of nature. To be given the space to savor the moments with my family and appreciate all the goodness that life has to offer.

This time, we stayed in the Linville area which was only a 30-minute drive from Blowing Rock. The day we visited Blowing Rock, the mountain air was absolutely life-giving - slightly warm with a breeze and the clearest blue sky.

We had packed our own picnic lunches and ate them in Memorial Park in downtown Blowing Rock, which our girls (14 and 10) and their cousins (ages 4-12) all loved. They didn’t want to stop climbing and playing and running around for hours. I absolutely love seeing kids and even teenagers having the space and time to play outside without the need for screens at all.

When they were finally worn out, we walked down Main Street and and went inside some of the local shops and then found ourselves in Blue Deer on Main to get one of their incredible ice cream sandwiches. We had been to the Blue Deer in downtown Boone another time and were overjoyed to see that there was a new location in Blowing Rock! You choose both the ice cream flavor and cookie flavor, and they assemble it in front of you. I got their vanilla bean with gluten-free chocolate chip cookies. I mean, just look at this…I’m still dreaming about it.

On our last visit to Blowing Rock, I couldn’t believe there wasn’t a local bookshop - this town was just asking for one! But we looked again on Google Maps this time, and there was one on Sunset Drive, just off Main. FireLight Book & Candle is owned by a local family. One of the owners, Lucy, was working the register. I asked her what it was like to live in one of the most delightful tows in America and also own a bookshop?! She said they’d been in the area for 25 years and couldn’t imagine leaving. While they’ve been making candles for several years, their shop had only been open for a few months and had an excellent selection of popular fiction, nature-themed books for adults and kids, gift items, and - of course - their own candles. I purchased a copy of A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles, which I’m excited to finally read for book club this fall. Yay for supporting local!

The gardens all over the downtown area were once again breathtaking. This whole afternoon reminded me of one of my favorite quotes…

Can’t wait to return…

My precious mom, Dawn Angel Piccione, went home to Heaven just before sunrise on August 12th, 2024. The rest of the day in New Jersey was 73 and sunny with a light breeze and bright blue sky. The exact kind of day she loved.

I had a mother who loved me unconditionally, who encouraged every dream I ever had, who showed me faith and led me to Jesus. My mom gave me the gift of writing, a love of reading, and inspiration to be brave and adventurous. Her prayers carried me every single day, and I know they will continue to.

She fought so hard to live. Now, she is healed and whole and dancing with Jesus. But oh, the hole that is left here. I'm just going to miss her so much. 💔

Every time I feel the warm sun on my face, I’ll think of you, Mommy. I love you forever and always. 🕊️

Here is my mom’s obituary, which I had the honor of writing.

I was able to be in New Jersey and with my mom in the hospital for 4 days before her passage to Heaven. It was a severely disturbing experience to watch my own mother go through such unbearable suffering. Yet, it was one of the greatest gifts of my life to be with her in such a sacred space, as she approached closer and closer to Heaven. I won't forget the special moments I had with her and my dad in the hospital and the many hours I spent just sitting with her, gazing at her face freckles, 77 years of smile lines, the striking hazel green of her eyes, memorizing the way her skin and hands felt in mine. These are all things that no longer exist in this world but were landmarks of the woman who brought me into the world.

I took this photo the day before she passed, after I read her the picture book, My Mother Gave Me the Moon, a book I’d given her in 2008 for Mother’s Day. It had been on her coffee table, and I brought it to the hospital to read to her. She couldn’t talk well and was drifting in and out of a confused state, but she held the book carefully in her hands and said, “Oh yes, that’s one of my favorites.”

My mom passed at 5:15am on Monday, August 12th. Here are some other photos I took that day, after leaving the hospital.

My mom loved surrounding herself with beautiful things in her home. Here are some stained glass hangings from her windows: “I ❤️ Jesus” overlooks the front yard, and the hummingbird overlooks the backyard. Hummingbirds were everywhere in her home, and they will forever remind me of my mom. There was a hummingbird on the cover of the last note she sent me in the mail on July 18th (I had a feeling it would be the last thing she ever mailed me). I’ve had a beaded hummingbird hanging from the mirror in my car for several years. When I went to look inside my mom’s car in the garage after her passing, I found a hummingbird hanging from the mirror of her car as well.

This card I had mailed my mom several months before was hanging in her kitchen, and it brought a whole new meaning as I reflected on my mom finally meeting her Savior face-to-face in the early morning hours.

I’m excited to share that I have a written piece featured in the NEW summer issue of Truly Crunchy Magazine! Truly Crunchy is a beautiful quarterly holistic wellness magazine created by women, for women.

It's such an honor to be included among incredible creators like Emily Toups of Toups & Co. Organics, Tim & Sophia Eng of Sprinkle With Soil, Jillian Margaret Wellness, and more! 

Don't miss my piece, "An Embarrassment of Riches," at the very end of the issue.  I truly loved writing this and can’t wait to hear what you think. 🌸

Subscribe to Truly Crunchy and get the summer issue and future issues. If you’re local, we’ll also have some copies of the summer issue for sale at The Kindred Farm Store on Saturday, July 27th!  I’ll even sign my article for you. ☺️

In a world of home design influencers and Pinterest perfection, it’s easy to look at our homes and highlight the imperfections or things that need to be fixed...rather than see the beauty that’s already there.

JOIN ME, and let’s reframe things a little bit. Let's look at our homes in a different way. This episode is a celebration of the places in our homes where our beautiful daily lives are lived - all the cracks, creaks, and unfinished places. 🏡

More links:

• Grab a copy of my book, ⁠The Kindred Life: Stories and Recipes to Cultivate a Life of Organic Connection⁠.

• Join my email community at ⁠ChristineMarieBailey.com⁠ and get some fun freebies for signing up, including a free guide to starting your own book club and the first chapter of my audio book!

• Follow me on Instagram ⁠@organicstine⁠ and ⁠@thekindredfarm⁠.

• ⁠Visit my Amazon storefront⁠ for favorite books, things I mention on the podcast, and more! As an Amazon influencer, I earn commission from qualified purchases.

What's a dream you haven't pursued because you're not sure how to move forward?

JOIN ME in this episode where I share a story about not giving up on a dream that began almost 10 years ago of growing wildflowers in my urban Dallas backyard...to my current day-to-day on a Tennessee flower farm. This is a story of a journey...of putting one foot in front of the other, learning, growing, and finally seeing the harvest. 💐

At the end, I also provide you with lots of tips if you want to grow your own wildflowers in your own space, whether you live in the city, country, or suburbia.

Here they are…my trusty red gardening Crocs that I first started gardening in so many years ago…why don’t they still make this Mary Jane style?!

And here I am with my first bed of “wildflowers” in my urban backyard…

And now today on Kindred Farm…

More links:

• ⁠American Meadows⁠ ~ my favorite wildflower seeds source

• Grab a copy of my book, ⁠The Kindred Life: Stories and Recipes to Cultivate a Life of Organic Connection⁠.

• Join my email community at ⁠ChristineMarieBailey.com⁠ and get some fun freebies for signing up, including a free guide to starting your own book club and the first chapter of my audio book!

• Follow me on Instagram ⁠@organicstine⁠ and ⁠@thekindredfarm⁠.

• ⁠Visit my Amazon storefront⁠ for favorite books, things I mention on the podcast, and more! As an Amazon influencer, I earn commission from qualified purchases.