When you have school- aged children, the last week of August marks the unofficial end of summer. Sharp new clothes replace the sun-faded shorts and salt-worn bathing suits. Flip-flops take residence in the bottom of the beach bag and crisp notebooks pile the kitchen counter where sandy seashel...

In my garden I breathe slowly. I learn from the buds unfurling in their own time and only in the right conditions. I have come to know that I do not train the soil; the soil trains me. As I peek under leaves and stems I am watched by snails, beetles, and birds who give me a nod and return to...