Smalltropolis

Blogher 2013 was this weekend. It was the first blogging convention I've ever attended (I'll post more reports in the coming days.) Though I was excited, I wasn't exactly at my best about getting ready. I knew I needed business cards for it but I waited until, oh, uh, the night before to make them. And then I was super tired, having gardened like a maniac all day. I woefully asked Jay to help me. For a few minutes we silently sat cutting. (Well, OK, I was lying on the floor. What can I say, I'm pretty adept with sharp objects.) Finally (irritated) Jay said, "How many did you make?" "200" "You're not going to need 200 business cards!" "Alright. This stack will make 100. We'll stop there." "I think that will be plenty." "And I could take my scissors and cut up the rest while I'm there." He stared at me for a moment, then—adopting a fake voice—"Yea, there was this really weird woman who

A better return on investment that tech stocks in the '90s, the six 50¢ strawberry plants I purchased five years ago have yielded probably a hundred pounds of strawberries. They've also created a wild, unpickable bed. In the photo below, you can see the bed in 2009. The strawberries are just above where it says "Smalltropolis". Here's what the bed turned into: Time to show these things who's boss! I'm reigning this mess in, and and adding some paths for access! Day One: I mark out the borders of the bed and where the paths will go. I clear the first section. It kills me to throw perfectly good strawberry plants away but I have a bazillion of them and trying to move them or give them to neighbors will make a big job even more monumental. Globe arborvitae will make a little hedge in the back section, which will mirror the boxwood hedge at the front of this bed (not shown in this picture.) I mark out where the plants will go. By the time I g