I often feel hemlock trees around me before I look up and identify them. I’ll be hacking my way through the woods, sweating in summer heat. Then the underbrush opens, the light dims and a slow, refreshing breeze washes over me. I’m under the tight canopy of a hemlock standing alongside a stream. I love
MoreUrban farmers do more than simply grow food, explains attorney Amy Laura Cahn. “These people are building community. They are providing resources for their communities in terms of food, but also in terms of value of property,” she says. “They’re creating community spaces and creating opportunities for education and cross-culture, cross-generational communication.” Urban farmers are
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FACT
The average lifespan for a curling iron is one to two years.
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Hunting Park, which sits among North Philadelphia’s Hunting Park, Nicetown/Tioga and Logan areas, was one of the first neighborhood parks to join the Fairmount Park system, but for decades the 87-acre green space has been better known for crime than community.
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During our very happy, almost 15-year marriage, my wife Sheila and I have given each other every possible gift. Some, like my drum kit and handsomely battered briefcase, are revered. Others have been loved for a time or shelved and then, kindly dispatched to Goodwill. To avoid ending up on the TV show “Hoarders,” a
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Quality never goes out of style, and nothing says quality like handcrafted garments from your local neighborhood artisans. Do yourself a favor and visit Philly’s charming boutiques instead of clawing your way through the big department store crowds. And the best part? You’ll find better gifts! You know she deserves it.
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What do you do for the literati on your list? You gave them all Snuggies® last year. Well, Philadelphia has no shortage of cozy bookstores to spend a little quiet time on your shopping spree. Complete the scene with a blanket and cup of tea and you’ve just made winter somebody’s favorite season.
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Winter can be a trying time for the gardener, but you can give the gift that keeps on growing. Cultivate some holiday cheer with gifts from Philly’s best local garden centers. Keep it up and you’ll be a perennial contender for Santa’s favorite little helper.
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The Simplest Pot Roast Ever
This recipe is from Long Way on a Little: An Earth Lovers’ Companion for Enjoying Meat, Pinching Pennies and Living Deliciously, by Shannon Hayes (Left to Write Press, September 2012, grassfedcooking.com).The secret to this recipe is a good sear, followed by time in the slow cooker with very little liquid, resulting
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How lucky we are to live and shop in Philadelphia. We can bypass box stores and their buffet of bland and cheaply made goods and instead, we can choose thoughtful gifts, sold to us by our neighbors. When we give our gifts, we’ll know our family and friends will recognize the thought and care taken
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