Author Archives: susanmsink@gmail.com

Blizzard Warnings and Polar Vortexes

I hear there are places in the country where the snow is gone. Here, we have this going on: The ditch that runs along the side of the road– a pretty deep ditch, I might add– is filled with snow, … Continue reading

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Urban Gardening

Anyone who gets organic garden magazines has been subjected to the “garden porn” of California raised beds overflowing with herbs and vegetables and other gardens at their peak. The false sense they convey is that if everyone did this, we … Continue reading

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Seed Swap

Last Saturday on my way to the college library, I passed through an area where a conference on sustainable farming was taking place. Everyone was in session, so I wandered around and looked at the exhibits and came to the … Continue reading

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At Home in the Body

I am part of an online group of women in their 50s, most of whom went to college with me, where we can talk freely about midlife issues. It has been a wonderful space to talk about all sorts of … Continue reading

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My Favorite Book

I have given away more copies of The Snowy Day by Jack Ezra Keats than any other book I’ve ever read. And even though my early reading was dominated by Dr. Seuss, it is The Snowy Day that has stuck in my imagination. I … Continue reading

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Ricky Jay, Magician

Happy February 1. It is still winter. January was a blur of days and days below zero and evenings watching movies on Netflix. I’m not surprised to see I didn’t keep up my twice a week blogging schedule because, well, … Continue reading

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Kimchi Fried Rice

My friend Connie, a fellow vegetable gardener (and newly minted Master Gardener) who knows many, many wonderful things both from her upbringing in Western Minnesota and from paying attention, wrote on my Facebook link to the fermenting post: “You’ll love … Continue reading

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The Year of Ferment

I’m expanding the repertoire this year by joining the fermenting trend. It’s a bit of an odd choice for me because I don’t really like pickles or sauerkraut. But I’m just sure that, like beets, I will love all things … Continue reading

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Seed Freak

It’s come to this. On January 1 I sat down with my remaining seed packets (in their shoebox labeled “Seeds”) and my lists from last year’s order, and my catalogues with new things marked, and placed two big vegetable seed … Continue reading

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Pirate Films

It has been too cold to do much except watch movies lately. We are always looking for good Scandinavian films, so I was excited when Netflix turned up a few, including A Hijacking, (Kapringen), a Danish film about Somali pirates. In the fall … Continue reading

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