On a beautiful sunny Saturday morning in Litchfield, South Carolina, a federally recognized Retirement Zone on the Hammock Coast of Georgetown County, the seagulls wheeled over the Bi Lo parking lot, waiting for Jo to take her seat at the bench under the live oak trees, as she did every morning, weather permitting. There, she sipped coffee from a stainless steel travel cup and threw crusts of bread and raw vegetable scraps which showed up sharply on the fresh blacktop that still smelled of kerosene. Large white gulls descended around her, screaming. The pecking order that was established during these feeding frenzies fascinated Jo. It was one of the highlights of her morning routine. …Read the rest »

 

 Sabato Sara [26:36m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

I am very excited to present this new showcase: a short story about a waitress who must make an important decision before she runs out of time.

It is written and read by Jessica Ullian, a colleague from the 2007 fiction program at Boston University.

Jessica Ullian lives in Boston. Her work has appeared in the Boston Globe, as well as Vibe, Columbia, and Bostonia magazines.

At long last, we are starting our first legitimate growing season. We missed the train on getting a summer garden going, but took the opportunity these past weeks to prepare the soil for a fall garden. Our composting method is simple, and unlike previous attempts at composting, (see vermiculture here) we are able to compost just about all our raw veggie and food waste (minus strong citrus), PLUS all our egg shells, coffee grounds, and tea bags. Quick aside: Tonight is Trash Night in Seneca, and I noticed when changing the bag that we were on our last bag from a box of 20 that we bought when we first moved here on May 15th. When you compost, you don’t need to change bags as much, and bugs are not attracted to your garbage. Composting with worms is cool, and is a good option for people without access to a yard that they can dig around in, but worms have a limit to what they can process, as well as a limited palate, compared to micro organisms. …Read the rest »

 

 Standard Podcast [6:34m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

My current writing project and a bit of memoir from the 90s.

(Home and Garden Section 8 will be up next.)