September 1, 2026
Labor Day Weekend Garden Projects (That Actually Fit in Two Days)
A short list of garden jobs that match a real Labor Day weekend, not a fantasy Saturday with eight free hours and perfect weather.
Read the story →From Beneath the Willow
Slow notes on gardening with little ones, the books we love, and life at Cottage Creek.
August 27, 2026
How to Divide Perennials (While the Weather Still Helps)
When the middle of a clump goes bare and the blooms get smaller, the plant is asking for a reset. Late summer into early fall is a good window to answer.
Read the story →August 25, 2026
A Garden Nature Journal for Kids (Pencil, Paper, Ten Minutes)
A cheap notebook and ten minutes outside turn "go look at the garden" into a habit a child will actually keep.
Read the story →August 20, 2026
How to Dry Herbs From Your Garden (Before the Season Gets Away)
Late summer is when the herb patch is full and the flavor is high. Here is the simple way to dry what you already grew, with no special equipment.
Read the story →August 18, 2026
A Late-Summer Garden Scavenger Hunt (No Supplies, No Prize Table)
Ten minutes, a short list, and whatever is already growing. A scavenger hunt that works in a yard, a few pots, or a walk around the block.
Read the story →August 13, 2026
Free Plants: How to Take Cuttings From the Garden You Already Have
August is the best cutting month of the year, and the difference between one lavender plant and nine of them is about twenty minutes of work.
Read the story →August 11, 2026
The Ten Minutes After School: A Small Garden Habit for the Busy Season
School is back and the evenings are about to get short. Here is the smallest possible garden habit, and why the ten minutes right after the bus matters more than a whole Saturday.
Read the story →August 6, 2026
Pressing Flowers With Kids: A Simple Way to Keep the Summer
A quiet, almost-free summer project that turns a fistful of garden flowers into something a child can keep long after the blooms are gone.
Read the story →August 4, 2026
How to Save Seeds From Your Garden (for Next Year, for Free)
The plants in your garden right now are quietly making next year's garden, free of charge, if you know which seeds to catch and how to keep them.
Read the story →July 30, 2026
What to Plant in Late Summer for a Fall Garden
The best gardening secret of the year is that late summer, not spring, is when you sow the crops that carry you into fall.
Read the story →July 29, 2026
10 Children's Books About Teamwork (Where Everyone's Job Matters)
The picture books we reach for when a little one is learning that big things get done together, including one of our own.
Read the story →July 23, 2026
How to Make a Garden Bees and Butterflies Actually Want to Visit
A handful of quiet, unfussy habits that turn any patch, bed, or windowsill into a place bees and butterflies keep coming back to.
Read the story →July 16, 2026
Summer Garden Activities for Kids (That Don't Need a Big Garden)
Small, low-effort ways to get little hands into the garden this summer, most of which need nothing you don't already have.
Read the story →July 9, 2026
The Underneath: What's Really Living in Your Garden Soil
The most important part of your garden is the part you never see. Here's who's down there, and how to keep them happy.
Read the story →July 7, 2026
Summer Garden Care: Helping Your Garden Through a Heat Wave
The quiet, unfussy habits that carry a garden through the hottest weeks of the year. Most of them are about doing less, not more.
Read the story →June 19, 2026
Garden-Themed Baby Gifts That Aren't Plastic
Gifts that last longer than the newborn phase. Rooted, gentle, and a little bit wonderful.
Read the story →June 12, 2026
Gardening With Kids: What a Tennessee Garden Taught Us
Dirt under small fingernails, patience by the season, and the lessons a garden teaches without trying.
Read the story →June 12, 2026
10 Children's Books About Belonging (That Kids Ask For Again)
The books about belonging we keep coming back to, including the ones we wish we'd written, and one of our own.
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