A Way To Garden

A Way To Garden

'horticultural how-to and woo-woo'
the source of organic gardening inspiration
margaret roach, head gardener

Menu
  • podcast
  • Plants
    • annuals & perennials »
      • groundcovers
    • bulbs
    • trees & shrubs »
      • conifers
      • deciduous
    • vines
    • vegetables
    • tomatoes
    • herbs
    • fruit
    • houseplants
    • taxonomy 101
    • decoding botanical latin
  • recipes
    • soups
    • entrees
    • side dishes
    • salads
    • desserts
    • pickles & condiments
    • freezing & canning
    • baking
    • guest chefs
  • how-to
    • weeds
    • pests & diseases
    • shade gardening
    • container gardening
    • water gardening
    • garden prep
    • composting
    • organics
    • pruning
    • garden design
    • from seed »
      • seed starting
    • lawn care (organic)
    • garden faq’s
    • for beginners
  • nature
    • bird sh-t
    • frogboys
    • insects & worms
    • jack the demon cat
    • mushrooms & other fungi
  • about
    • margaret and her website
    • my public-radio podcast
    • my books
    • 2019 events
    • my email newsletter
    • my garden
    • horticultural ‘woo-woo’
    • sponsorship
    • resource links
  • Home
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram
    • Pintrest
    • Feed
    • Podcast
  • my books
  • 2019 garden events
  • when to start seed
  • webinars
  • monthly chores
  • garden faq’s
  • top-50
  • andre jordan doodles
  • slideshows
  • Garden Tools Co

pre-sale begins: a trailer, a soundtrack, a new site

Tweet
Pin
Share
0 Shares

PROGRESS REPORT: “And I Shall Have Some Peace There”—the book I call my dropout memoir, about daring to walk away and start again—is actually now in what’s called pre-sale (hence the “Buy the Book” doohickey top left), and Version 2.0 of its little website is right before your eyes. Tada. The little tour that follows shows off some of the new stuff, such as the book’s video, its soundtrack (crazy, huh?), and even a couple of its main characters:

VIDEO: Yes, my book has a video—maybe you saw it up top on the homepage. My amazing publisher, Grand Central, who supported me in making it, calls it a “trailer.” My friends at Catman and Mary who shot it call it a “sizzle.” I hope you will call it “Like” or “Tweet.” (This is no time for me to be shy and not ask, right? I’m assuming I’m among friends. If it resonates, push the blue buttons after you watch, please.)

TUNES: My book has a soundtrack—the proof’s in the bottom of the left-hand column. There’s no actress signed to play me—and not even a screenplay, truth be told—but yes, I have a soundtrack. I made it myself. Here’s why:

One of the characters in “And I Shall Have Some Peace There” is the wi-fi radio I bought for myself when I moved from New York City to Nowheresville, NY, so I could keep listening to “my station” (WFUV from Fordham University) even though I’d no longer be in range. It was my constant companion, a familiar voice in an unfamiliar new life.

As I was trying to sort myself out it (the radio) kept saying really important things—or so it seemed, in the neither-here-nor-there state I was in when I left my long career. It must be a sign!, I thought, over and again, as helpful one-liners kept spilling out of its speaker as if just for me.

I wrote them down, week after week, and some became mantras, guides—and made it into the book. I paid a boatload of money to their authors and record companies for the rights to quote them, but it was worth every penny, as I hope you will agree when you “hear” them too, in the pages of “Peace.” Meantime, the tunes they come from are all here courtesy of my handy Grooveshark player. Enjoy. At least listen to Tom Waits sing “Young at Heart,” and you’ll get the idea: Yes, you can. Don’t be afraid.

IMAGES: I have time in my “new life” to take pictures. And so I do. When I was young I thought I would study to be a photographer (and a novelist, and a Peace Corps volunteer), but that’s just one of the million things I did not have time for in my old life. Now the camera (Nikon D700) and I are inseparable, and though I am no pro, it pleases me. Enjoy the little slideshow, top right, and I promise to add more peaceful moments that I see through my lens.

INSPIRATIONS: I love books. Even ones I didn’t write. :) I buy a lot of them; call me old-fashioned. That’s why I posted some favorites on my new GoodReads sidebar widget (right column). Click on the little headline “Margaret’s Bookshelf: Read” and you’ll see some more that I adore, books that have made my life richer, more fun, more connected. (Or hey—open a GoodReads account yourself and put “And I Shall Have Some Peace There” in it.)

AND YES, ONE BAD-ASS CAT: I am not a cat person (as you will learn when you read the book). But I am a Jack person (as in Jack the Demon Cat—another important character in “Peace”) and he and I are happy together here, in an “Odd Couple” remix kind of way. He was sent to me on the morning of September 11, 2001, when I arrived at 70 miles an hour from downtown Manhattan, and has never left since—except each night, when he disappears to hunt from dusk until dawn. I don’t ask for details; it works better that way with a guy like Jack.

MORE, MORE, MORE: There will be more enhancements and enticements: More excerpts, for instance, besides the one in big blue letters in the right column. And starting next month we’ll have giveaways of advance copies of “Peace” and other fun things, but for now, a trailer, some tunes, and some images.

Sign up for my free newsletter to keep alerted to goings-on, or just stop back anytime.

Related

Frog with headphones
Don’t Miss Out!

Get my award-winning podcast...

Listen on Apple Podcasts

...and my ribbiting free newsletter.

2 comments
September 10, 2010

comments

  1. Kelly Hagan says

    September 13, 2010 at 10:01 am

    I’m pretty darn savvy ’bout that soundtrack Ms. M…

    Reply
  2. Marion says

    September 17, 2010 at 11:41 am

    Loving the music. Just loving it.

    Reply

leave a reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

JOIN US ON FACEBOOK

facebook-1

Podcast: Soups, Soups & More Soups

I’VE FOLLOWED a vegetarian diet for decades, but it wasn’t until just a few years ago that I mastered a really good vegetable soup. Now I’m learning variations on vegetable-based soups, plus ones with beans and even ideas for mushroom soups, too–all thanks to Alexandra Stafford and these recipes. (Stream it below, read the transcript or subscribe free.)

https://robinhoodradioondemand.com/podcast-player/6211/vegetable-soup-ideas-with-ali-stafford-november-5-a-way-to-garden-with-margaret-roach.mp3

Margaret Recommends

My picks of garden gear, books, and mulch, mulch more, all things I use myself. (Disclosure: includes affiliate links.)

AFFILIATE DISCLOSURE

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

RECENT FAVORITES

  • david lebovitz's french onion soup (from 'my paris kitchen')
  • 'the way through the woods: of mushrooms and mourning,' with long litt woon
  • in a time of bird decline, counting and feeding them, with emma greig of feederwatch
  • spice it up! flavorful new cookbooks, with alexandra stafford
  • talking pests, with clemson entomologist j.c. chong
  • growing and blooming clivia, with longwood's alan petravich
  • must read: 'late migrations,' with margaret renkl
  • winter squash-coconut milk soup with garam masala
  • when inner conifer needles turn yellow or brown
  • pumpkin custard: holiday pie, minus the crust

awaytogarden

mad gardener, nature addict, award-winning writer & podcaster, rural resident, corporate dropout, creator of awaytogarden dot com and matching book.

Instagram post 2190297402408409324_444552553 Snow day. To be followed by a snow night. #awaytogarden #wavehillchairs
Instagram post 2177779417009402040_444552553 No matter that it was 11F and 17F on mornings this week; my lifelong companions and I are all tucked in, each in our respective offseason spots. Three giant pots of #cliviaminiata that are actually pieces of my long-gone grandmother’s original plant from many, many decades ago, love the offseason bright cold of the mudroom, and get no water till around the new year or so. They need a chill (under 50 but above 35) for about 40 days to trigger timely bloom in late winter/early spring (without it they will bloom whenever, later, like June or even summer). The #alocasia reacts to the cold of the mudroom by shutting down and going dormant and leafless, and then I’ll let it sleep till late winter, when I give it a drink to see if it awakens. That one sleeps and wakes on its own timetable because I do not have a proper spot for it (ideally warm, like 60 or 65 at least, and humid and bright...no can do the humid part here). We have been together probably 10 years anyhow, despite my shortcomings as a #plantparent . #alocasiaamazonica #clivias #houseplantsofinstagram #houseplants #awaytogarden
Instagram post 2172580656557749859_444552553 Gardener: “I raked all the leaves!” Nature: “Oh, really?” (Cue sound of demonic laughter from on high.)
Instagram post 2170506606641504178_444552553 I wanna tell you how it’s gonna be You’re gonna give your love to me I wanna love you night and day You know my love will not fade away Not fade away Nope. Not this #cotinus leaf’s fiery hot love at least. Like the 1957 #buddyholly song I first heard by #therollingstones in 1964, it keeps going. #awaytogarden #fallfoliage2019 #cotinusgrace #notfadeaway
Instagram post 2168987273989949378_444552553 “Jack Frost nipping at your, er, geraniums...” And here it comes.
Instagram post 2166837817953503284_444552553 Constant companions: If you want to keep good company all winter, grow some good keepers. My house is stuffed with piles of #cucurbita awaiting their time in the oven or soup kettle. Each one is a character, distinctive. On one chair in the mudroom two close cousins in #cucurbitamoschata — the horse collar-shaped one called ‘Tromboncino’ or ‘Tromboncino Rampicante’ snuggles with some ‘Butternut.’ The ‘Tromboncino’ are better eaten green and small as #zucchini but I can’t resist their eventual mad size and shape, big enough to wear around your neck. I use their meat for enriching vegetable stock; the ‘Butternut’ are far more rich and delicious. Seed respectively from sandhillpreservation.com #sandhillpreservationcenter and @turtle_tree_seed (whose ‘Butternut,’ selected for “lastingness” for decades, will keep and keep into next spring or more). #wintersquash #awaytogarden #goodkeeper #cucurbitaceae
Instagram post 2162565040882902064_444552553 Furry fall friend: I look forward to crossing paths with this woolly caterpillar of the #giantleopardmoth this time of year, when its fiery intersegmental bands and plush coat seem to be just the right autumn-into-winter look. Miraculously this tiny animal will overwinter in a woodpile or in the leaf litter, even here in the North, building up a concentration of antifreeze (glycerol I think?) in its cells before the worst weather begins to avoid disaster. (Reminds me of the super-hardy #woodfrog who does similarly. Such heroes.) Swipe to see a beat-up pic of the adult moth, tattered with scales missing at its wing margins, but still dramatic. Unlike various spine-covered caterpillars that can sting you, this one’s hairs (or setae) won’t, but he will roll up tight if touched, in self-defense. I am in awe of such complex strategies of survival, I am. #mothsofinstagram #caterpillars #awaytogarden #hypercompescribonia #hypercompe
Instagram post 2161992098629435854_444552553 Beans are life. I mean, not only do I live on them daily (as I have as a vegetarian for 40+ years) but each one is a seed, a living embryo, a distinct and gorgeous little DNA miracle. I have been inspired by the hashtag #31daysofbeans by @lukasvolger lately, loving watching someone unknown to me (um, who shares my oatmeal thing too apparently...also see his #28daysofoatmeal) dish up the #phaseolus. We both admire bean ambassador Steve Sando @rancho_gordo and this photo might be my fave bean of all that I “met” via Steve years back, big and flat and chestnutty ‘Christmas Lima.’ My advice: don’t wait till Dec. 25 to dig in.
Load More...

SEARCH ANY TOPIC

Welcome! I’m Margaret Roach, a leading garden writer for 25 years—at ‘Martha Stewart Living,’ ‘Newsday,’ and in three books. I host a public-radio podcast; I also lecture, plus hold tours at my 2.3-acre Hudson Valley (NY) Zone 5B garden, and always say no to chemicals and yes to great plants.

  • © 2008-2019, Margaret Roach Inc.

  • contact
  • sponsorship
  • privacy policy
  • terms of use
built by WebDevStudios; design by Kenneth B Smith