A gardening community

One of the hardest things for some gardeners to do is to let people in to help. Since I’ve been teaching about gardening in the last couple of years, I’ve gotten better at this. After all, the plants know what to do; someone’s “mistake” in a garden is not going to have that big an [...]

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Real clean round up: end of the month

Last week we spent several days cleaning my (Xan) mother-in-law’s apartment. Before you get all sad on me, this was not because she passed, but because she invited friends from the Old Country, whom she has not seen in nearly 60 years, to stay with her. Mom’s apartment is the subject of rueful, affectionate…,well, I [...]

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Weekend photos

We’re changing the scheduling a little bit at Not Dabbling. You’ll have noticed this week’s “round up” on Monday, and our contributors Tuesday through Friday. On weekends you’ll find our photos. We may end up posting them all at the same time, or we may drop in bit by bit and show you what we’re [...]

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REAL itchy

Well, I have proven once again that I am allergic to poison ivy. While string-trimming out around the newly planted (and recently flooded) fruit trees at our farm I found myself knee deep in poison ivy, mid-weed-whip. I looked down in horror to find myself covered in itty bitty little flecks of green, some of [...]

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Link Love

I have had a whirlwind of a month and admittedly have not had the chance to try all of the fun recipes and concoctions that I had planned on. I suppose that’s what happens when you do so much on impulse and forget that there are only 24 hours in a day. That, and I’m [...]

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REAL Deodorant + Giveaway

Deodorant is probably one of the hardest things to find a REAL version of that you like and that works for you. That’s probably because as humans we’re made to sweat – there’s a reason that we do – it’s not just some random thing that happens. It takes a lot of pretty serious chemicals, [...]

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An act of courage

Sometimes the most mundane activity inspires the most profound thoughts. After gathering a spring harvest of radishes and early onions, I slipped a piece of bright red crunch into my mouth and experienced the most revelatory moment: I made this. Urban Americans are so disconnected from food origins that it takes a profound act of [...]

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Real Clean Roundup

Our weather this week presented me with a new real clean dilemma: garden dirt. Winter laundry tends to be light on the grime, but once that warm gardening weather hits, everything gets covered in dirt. As I (Xan) was looking at a shirt and wondering if anyone would actually NOTICE that it wasn’t terribly clean, [...]

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My REAL Clean Pets

Holy cow, sometimes having animals is a chore. Our dog Basil loves anything stinky. She takes delight in anything putrid, rotting, fermenting… it could be as simple as deer poo, or as exotic as rotting raccoon carcass. This morning alone she came up twice with cakes of goo all over her neck. My God. It’s [...]

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REAL Clean Housekeeping

Here at Chiot’s Run we’ve been using homemade cleaning products for a long long time. My mom always used vinegar and baking soda for cleaning, so I grew up using them. Here are a few of the products I love and use for keeping my house clean without all those harsh chemicals & toxic products. [...]

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