Author: Cara St.Hilaire

thank you, mother nature

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Every spring, I prune and prod and weed and water.  I spray my roses to ward of thrips. I do my best to fight grubs and move plants around to fill areas out.  I spend a lot of time plucking new maple seedlings from the ground and fertilizing, fertilizing, and fertilizing with worm poop and Neptune’s Harvest (though eek – just realized Neptune’s Harvest is fish-derived, so I guess I may need to find a new one).  Very time consuming, but oh how I love looking at the fruits of my hard labor every year. This year, mother nature realized that I just had bigger priorities, so she helped me out. Everything simply exploded this year. I am not talking about vegetables or annuals, but rather my perennials.  Bit by bit, I’ve accumulated lovely plants.  Many came from my childhood home in Upstate New York.  Rather than leave their beloved perennials when moving, my parents potted them up and I drove back to Boston one April day with a small SUV LOADED with our family’s favorite …

Blackberries, Cancer, and Love

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I never declared myself a good writer.  I can’t write witty fiction or profound essays. However, when I saw an essay contest in Real Simple about understanding the meaning of love, I felt compelled to write something just because I have so much to say about my mother and the love I have for her.  Naturally I didn’t win (the winners are always amazing and often actual writers in life…you can read the winner here), so I thought I’d paste the essay in as a celebration of my mom on Mother’s Day.  Not that any real-life words can describe the love and adoration I have for her. Blackberries, Cancer, and Love, written in August of 2011. Funny, I always thought love was just something I was really good at. Can you be “good” at love?  I could hug and send care packages and give pep talks and do good deeds for my  friends and family.  I said “I love you” a lot, so I had to rank higher than the average person when it came …

vegan chewy chocolate and coconut granola bars

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I mentioned our obsession with using food up that we have in a recent post.  This isn’t just to save moola (though all savings are helpful as I head into unpaid maternity leave time).  Ethically, it makes me ill to throw food away when there are so many going hungry.  Also, why should I contribute to greenhouse gasses by allowing my extra garbage to break down in a landfill? Click here to read more about this.  It has been even more challenging with a new baby.  I’m lucky if I have time to actually eat let alone cook anything. I had a bag of sweetened coconut left over from a coconut cake as well as half a bag of chocolate chips.  A lactation consultant told me to eat oatmeal to boost milk production, so I had the hubby grab a whole big container of oats recently.  I had this crazy idea that I’d try to make a sweet, soft, chewy granola bar.  I’d love to say it is uber healthy and full of dried fruit and nuts (and …

happiness and one sweet baby moon

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After my last post, I thought I had lots of time until le petite bebe would join the world.  I had all of these posts I planned to write during my week at home pre-baby life wrap-up. Pair that with the work (like actual “at my job” work) tasks that weren’t yet complete, the car that wasn’t yet cleaned out, the few last baby tasks that weren’t done, the seeds I was going to start (still haven’t), the clothes I was going to unpack in anticipation of having my body back right away (ha!), those extra hours of sleep to stockpile, the thank-you notes that I still haven’t finished, and the list goes on.  Um…yeah.  Right. Well, nature had much better plans for me and taught me a great lesson: some things are simply far more important than a to-do list; some things are completely impossible to plan perfectly. This I couldn’t possibly have know until my child took his first breath and stole my heart. How quickly I went from this just a week before the big birthday. And this, on my last …

“use up the veggies” risotto

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So, nesting is a real thing I’ve discovered. The desire, no the overwhelming NEED for the closet to be organized is something you just can’t put into words. I do feel like a momma bird who is getting her nest ready for a special little birdie’s arrival. That includes making sure there is a place for everything, cleaning and then cleaning again, and making lists upon lists and lists of lists. Hospital bag packed? Check! Washed the clothes for baby to come home in? Check! Make sure the car seat is in? Check! This could go on and on (and it has). Chris even has his daddy bird nesting going on. He’s been tirelessly putting coats of paint on the bureau for the baby’s room. He bought an erasable calendar for the fridge so that we would know exactly how the next weeks are scheduled. He put the stroller together (which apparently was no easy task). He even took it upon himself to take inventory a few weeks ago of what is in our pantry …

I’ve been gone for a while…

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and how I’ve missed blogging.  You wouldn’t even believe it.  I’d still blog in my mind and take photographs and compose new and interesting posts in my thoughts.  Yet, they didn’t even make it to my fingertips. So, where do I start?  A recipe for tomato salad I made with homegrown tomatoes and my beautiful shiso?  My last harvest where I pulled up all of my lovely carrots?  The day after Thanksgiving when I found myself outside with my family tearing down the garden and putting it to bed for the winter?  The series of photographs I took to discuss seed foraging?  These things aren’t exactly timely anymore. I don’t think I can actually go back now.  I think I have to move forward.  There is so much ahead. So, I truly could blame a huge chunk of my blogging negligence on work.  My job changed which added significantly more responsibility, longer hours, and more stress. However, I’d be lying to you if I used that and only that as an excuse. I could tell …

happy anniversary for us

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Just taking a moment to celebrate a very important day!  Two years ago today, I married one of the most amazing people on the planet — Chris. © Bree Bailey Photography Here are just a few reasons why he is so perfect. 1. He loves animals.  More than the average person.  Picture this.  Just this past week, I was sick.  I mean SICK.  He ran out to the store at 5:00 am to pick up some medicine after being up with me for hours.  On his way back to the house, he saw a “kitten” on the side of the road with a yogurt cup stuck on its head.  It appeared to be struggling.  He got out of the car to help and realized it was a skunk right around the moment the poor little guy got the yogurt cup loose from his head.  I asked Chris what he would have done if the skunk had not gotten the cup loose.  He said–without pause–that he still would have helped it because the poor thing would …

my father-in-law the hero

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One of my top favorite things to do besides garden of course?  Write posts for this blog.  You know life is over-the-top when several weeks go by with no post.  I’ve been a negligent blogger.  My most faithful reader–my wonderful father-in-law, Steve–sent me a text message the other day that made me sad AND made me want to hug him at the same time. “2 weeks no Veggie post??  Is everything OK?” So, now that I have a moment to post, I would like to tell you animal lovers about something wonderful that Steve and his wife, Lisa, did.   Yesterday, their neighbors found a kitten in the woods near their house in Maine.  They couldn’t keep the kitty, so they brought him over to Steve and Lisa.  Instead of bringing him to a shelter or saying no, the St.Hilaire’s took him in as a new addition to the family. One less kitty in a shelter! Here is a cell phone photo of the kitty eating a healthy indoor meal, safe from the dangers of the …

Mojito Monday!

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It is SO hard to find date night when you live with someone (whether it be boyfriend, husband, girlfriend, wife – whatever).  Chris and I have started a summer tradition that I sense will last for a long time.  Mojito Monday.  Why Monday?  It is the roughest day of the week, so give yourself something to look forward to. We have a back deck where we can sit together and have our cocktail while enjoying the garden (when the weather is nice).  When the weather is not so nice, we can sit out on the front porch.  Really, who cares where you are sitting if you have a yummy mojito in your hands? We have mint growing specifically for this purpose.  We really added some zing when we picked chocolate mint up at Rosaly’s. Recipe by bartender Chris Summer Mojito ingredients per drink -1/2 of a lime -a healthy handful of washed mint – 2 tablespoons of sugar (I highly recommend an organic, unbleached sugar) -2 oz. of Captain Morgan Lime Bite rum -1 cup to 1 …