How to handle winter driving emergencies
from Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning Despite all your precautions, you find yourself stopped or stalled on the road. Whether your car has broken down, run out of gas or is stuck in the snow, don’t panic. GENERAL EMERGENCY SAFETY RULES From the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration: Stay with your car. Unless you […]
August 2025 Gardening Advice
by Jennifer Fairfield, Garden Mill I’m having a hard time believing that July is over, but I’m kind of glad that it is, since we seem to have left those miserable temperatures and humidity behind with it. With the coming of August comes the real work of harvesting all of the lovely things we have […]
July 2025 Gardening Advice
by Jennifer Fairfield, Garden Mill If you were hoping that our lovely little heat wave was a thing of the past, I hate to break it to you, but the forecast for the rest of the summer is much of the same – higher than normal temperatures and rainfall. That should make keeping up with […]
June 2025 Gardening Advice
by Jennifer Fairfield, Garden Mill OK – what the ever-loving heck is with our weather?! Never mind – it’s Michigan. I know that Michigan weather is never predictable, so I don’t know why I let it get to me when it does exactly what it always does at this time of year — mess with […]
May 2025 Gardening Advice
by Jennifer Fairfield, Garden Mill I apologize for the tardiness of this month’s newsletter. We have been so incredibly busy receiving deliveries lately that I haven’t had the brain cells to even think about trying to make any sense out of what we need to be doing in our gardens now. The good news is […]
April 2025 Gardening Advice
by Jennifer Fairfield, Garden Mill Five years ago, we were in the throes of the COVID pandemic, and many people were starting gardens for the first time, for a variety of reasons — because it was hard to get out and get groceries, because stores didn’t have as much available as usual, or because people […]
Poetry: When is a grave not a grave
When is a grave not a grave by Spenser Swanson Concave Hole in the ground in the wall in the window pane cracked with the force of god empty husk like the seashells on the shore line up north where the water always runs cold It opens like a mouth and says “When it feels […]
March 2025 Gardening Advice
by Jennifer Fairfield, Garden Mill I have heard more than a few people saying that they are really ready for spring, and I can’t say I blame them! The bitter cold we saw for much of January and well into February have made getting outdoors a challenge for many of us – who wants to […]
February 2025 Gardening Advice
by Jennifer Fairfield, Garden Mill Well, I didn’t get my wished-for “January Thaw” this year, so my daffodils are still not planted. But I’m not giving up hope. Those daffodils have been living in a box in my garage, where it’s been cold enough to give them the chilling time they need, so I am […]
January 2025 Gardening Advice
by Jennifer Fairfield, Garden Mill This year, I am resolving to spend more time in my gardens. While that may seem like an easy New Year’s resolution for me to keep, it’s not as easy as it sounds. There always seems to be something else that needs to be done that keeps me from getting […]
