The Cozy Corner by Steve Nauman

This weekend is the annual return to daylight savings time. As usual, some are talking about how they are going to be ‘messed up’ for days because of losing that hour of sleep. Some here in northern Indiana always seem to talk about wishing we could go back to never moving our clocks like we…

Something happens on about the third week of February here in northern Indiana every year. I have kept track of it for over 30 years and it has never missed. What is the event? It’s the return of the Red Winged Blackbird! Okay, so maybe you’re not a huge fan of spring, or love to…

Do you remember Barney Fife on the Andy Griffith TV Show? There were a number of times on the show where he would be yelling to another character “Nip It! Nip It! Nip It In The Bud!” Now, whether it’s flowers, vegetables or even trees, if you’ve ever had great plans for some type of…

Those years I spent growing up and working in my father’s general store taught me so much about people, business and how to enjoy life! It was a true country general store with a US Post Office in the back. There were individual mailboxes on the front side of the Post Office where people in…

Ever since I was about 5 years old, I’ve had an ongoing interest in growing things-vegetables, flowers and even trees. The first little tidbits of gardening knowledge came from paying attention to what my great-grandfather and both grandfathers had to say when they were planting or working in their gardens. Even my great-aunt taught me…

West Smyrna Baptist Church Smyrna, New York Families tend to develop traditions as to how they spend Christmas and surprisingly those patterns can remain for quite a number of years. Growing up in a large family, we had traditions at Christmas that many of us still talk about today. Perhaps your family has routines or…

Verne Sheldon my Great-Grandfather on his 87th birthday. Grandpa Verne my great-grandfather, sparked some of my first interest in vegetable gardening. Grandpa was born in 1880 so many of his methods would have definitely been considered “old school” but they worked! For instance, I can remember helping him plant his sweet corn…..mainly because I had…

Growing up in the country with dairy farmers for neighbors, it seemed like at least once a summer our large rain-soaked lawn would suddenly be full of cows that had somehow got out of their pasture! After helping to get them back where they came from, it was my job to “clean-up” the evidence left…

When I started school at five years old, I soon noticed a man working constantly inside and outside of the school building. This man looked like he really liked his job, and I could even tell that he was very good at everything he did! Although I didn’t know who this man was, I figured…

We have an orchard on our little farm. We have several different types and varieties of fruit trees, that have taken over 25 years to get to the level of maturity they are at now – yet we are still never guaranteed a crop of fruit! Once in a while we will get a late…