Down Home Blog

Margaret Boyles lives in a wood-heated house in central New Hampshire. She grows vegetables, keeps chickens, swims in a backyard pond in summer, snowshoes in the surrounding woods in winter, and commutes by bike whenever possible.

Making an Herbal Tincture

June 17, 2013

Last week I came across some Internet sites about herb-based first-aid kits.

June 5, 2013

Ironically, the day I began writing this post, our local paper featured a front-page story titled, “The end of home ec.”

May 26, 2013

The world has burst into bloom. The forsythia and daffodils have faded, but azaleas, lilacs, flowering quince, cherry and apple trees (both wild and cultivated), the invasive but sweet-scented autumn olive, dandelion, lawn violets and many more have exploded with color and fragrance.

May 19, 2013

Arriving for an out-of-town funeral a couple of weeks ago, I parked my car, stepped out to walk the short distance to the church.

April 23, 2013

After staggering, stumbling, and appearing prematurely a couple of times, spring finally arrived around here.

April 9, 2013

Most do-it-yourself bodycare articles seem to aim exclusively at women.

March 27, 2013

Witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana): A humble, but amazing native North American shrub. Consider:

March 21, 2013

I live in a hardscrabble landscape, where the soil’s freeze-thaw cycles break up and thrust rocks deposited by the last glacier to the surface every spring.

March 12, 2013

All natural! High-fiber! Multigrain! Only 2 grams of fat per serving! Contains real fruit!

March 4, 2013

There's a famous New Yorker cartoon from the early 1990’s (click on image to enlarge) about recycling.

February 22, 2013

Everybody needs a food garden.

February 13, 2013

I’ve found I can’t do much to prevent the rise of strong negative emotions—anger, panic, fear, anxiety, frustration, sadness, hopelessness, resentment.