Timeless tools for writers of every genre I work with a lot of writers who are just beginning to publish their work, and though their steady flow of amazing ideas blows my mind on the daily, I notice a handful of…
A writer who critiques her own work has a fool for a critic. We fear honest critique, but it is possible to learn how to critique writing in a helpful way. But a critical fool wielding careless words at a writer…
A perfect blog post is equal parts niche, quirk, facts, assets, and carefully-targeted SEO keywords. Anything less will get lost in the abyss of the internet within minutes after you post it. There are a million articles on this topic, but…
Why you should cut your ego out of your writing…but still let your strong female protagonist live to tell the tale. “Whenever you feel an impulse to perpetrate a piece of exceptionally fine writing, obey it — whole-heartedly — and delete it before sending your…
Is There Such a Thing as a Feminist Trope? What do you think about these ideas? Check out these references: Start here with this awesome video by a man (gasp!) discussing feminist film tropes to celebrate. A lot of these characters…
By Heather Jo Flores I recently received an interesting question from a reader,and it seemed like a great topic for this month’s column. She writes:“I just bought a house whose lovely raised garden beds are being strangled by invasive bamboo.…
By Heather Jo Flores I am primarily a food gardener, but there are a handful of flowering medicinal plants that I always include in my garden. Not only useful for home remedies, they provide beautiful cut flowers, improve soil and…
By Heather Jo Flores By no means an exhaustive selection of great plants for gardening with children, the following twelve plants can all be direct-sown, grow quickly and easily, and are fun to harvest for food, cut flowers, or seeds.Corn.Popcorn…
they’re easier to build than you might think By Heather Jo Flores Ten reasons to build a greenhouse: Start seeds early (and late!) Many seeds need warmth to germinate and develop into healthy seedlings. If the growing season is short, getting…
By Heather Jo Flores What Weeds Indicate About the Condition of Your Soil “Weeds are weeds only from our human egotistical point of view, because they grow where we do not want them. In nature, however, they play an important and…
By Heather Jo Flores Tips for cloudy skies tomato gardeners In a foggy, temperate climate, most of us know the drill: Start seeds indoors in early spring and use grow lights if you have ’em. Plant in fertile soil with…
By Heather Jo Flores a little ingenuity goes a long way If you’re a gardener and you feel like melons are easy to grow, please, message me! I want to learn your methods. I have found this crop to be one…
Why you should be growing marigolds in your permaculture garden By Heather Jo Flores What do you think of when you hear the word marigold? Maybe you imagine those 6-inch-high borders of orange and yellow flowers that your grandmother planted…
By HeatherJo Flores Gazpacho is often called a “cold soup” by gringos, but around here, it’s served over ice as an afternoon drink on hot summer days. Delicious and refreshing! Here is a quick rundown of everything you will need…
A baker’s dozen of easy to grow and disease-resistant perennial hedge plants. By Heather Jo Flores No garden is complete without a yummy patch of edible, perennial shrubbery! Even a small garden can squeeze in a few brambles, berries or ‘chokes.…
By Heather Jo Flores Most basic pruning, especially on young trees that haven’t been previously damaged or badly pruned, can be done by anyone with some basic information Should I Stay or Should I Go? The main reason for fruit…
