Porch Paradise

This morning I said good-bye to my porch.

We have a long porch across the front of our house. The floor is made of wide, stained wood boards. White trim encloses it. Sitting there, I look out at at hardwood trees, pines, and ferns. I have seen a lot of wildlife from the porch -- deer, woodpeckers, wild turkeys, rabbits, hawks, black squirrels, bluebirds, phoebes, even a turtle. For several summers, a doe has used our yard as a safe place to leave her twin fawns while she searches for food. They are wary, but not alarmed, when we watch from our porch. We have a bench, some chairs, a rocker and various tables scattered around so that having "a cuppa" and a chat on the porch is inviting. It's a lovely place, a retreat, but not fussy in any way.

I purchased an assortment of pots on clearance at Home Depot and Lowe's. I filled them with inexpensive perennials and annuals. We had a small wall fountain already. I cleaned it up and set it on some canyon stone tiles next to the rocker. Suddenly, we were enjoying a little piece of paradise. Going to the porch was like taking a mini-vacation.

Last year, my husband built flower boxes that fit on the railings, and I filled them with flowers that added to the sense of being enclosed in a garden. We listen to classical music from a small, portable CD player. In the evenings, I light candles and citronella lamps. We can watch the sun set, enjoy dinner, have dessert, talk about things.

Container gardens are simply arrangements of pots filled with plants. Generally, they are placed around seating areas. You can have an entire "garden" built with these containers. The big idea that most people have about them is that they are labor intensive. I have found the opposite: container gardening on a porch is perfect for the homeschooling mother in the summer. First of all, there is no heavy labor. No rocks to move, no earth to till, no weeds to pull, no edging to build. Just put the dirt and the plants into the pot. Second, there is nearly no maintenance. Weeds do not grow in, deer and rabbits do not harvest, slugs do not devour plants that are up on porches. If you have a problem with bugs, you can buy a general insecticide at Lowes or Home Depot in a spray bottle for a few dollars. Apply it to the plants once a month. I do have some scissors that I use to clip away spent flowers and leaves once a week. But that's relaxing work, not heavy labor. Some people are concerned about the cost of container gardening. Let me be honest, it does cost a little more than buying a packet of seeds or a tray of seedlings. However, that extra cost depends largely upon your shopping. It doesn't have to be expensive. Better Homes and Gardens carries a line of plastic pots at Walmart that are very attractive. I have also found fabulous deals on sale at Home Depot and wonderful terra-cotta, clay pots at Lowes which are made in Italy and are very economical. Once you have bought the pots, you can use them for years. Just refresh them with some new peat in the spring and plant again.

The main thing about the containers is to stick with a theme -- a style or a range of hues that work together. Sage greens and browns, grays and blues, or clay pots are examples. This makes your arrangements look like they have been deliberately designed.

It's important to pick plants that are easy to grow and to keep the pots from drying out. Slightly moist, but not soggy, is the ideal. I water my plants every other day in hot weather, and once a week in rainy or cool weather. Some of my favorites choices for my pots are: petunias, impatients, alyssum, and English ivy. These plants need different amounts of light. When you choose and place your plants, be sure the light is right for the plant. Put shade plants in the shade and sun-lovers in the sun. If a plant seems to be less than exuberant, it could be that you don't have it in the right place. Petunias and alyssum need at least two hours of direct sunshine. The intense colors of the trumpet-shaped petunias contrast nicely with the lacey, delicate sprays of the alyssum. Impatients love a deep shady porch. Their pale colors glow in the shade. All of these flowers will produce an abundance of blooms until frost. I make my own potting mix by using 1 part peat moss to 2 parts of cheap potting soil. I also gleaned some great ideas from library books on container gardens and added a few perennials to my pots for variety. Small seedlings, which are perfect for pots, cost $2-3 each at Lowes.

I have to admit to you that I wasn't very scientific about the placement of my pots. I just kept adding more and moving them around until I felt like I had enough of them in the right places. It took me about a week to do this, but it was a great escape from the pressures of life and very restorative. I have no regrets about undertaking a container garden, and I now happily recommend it to weary mothers.

To the naysayers, I answer "ahem". Don't knock it 'til you've tried it.

Mud

"Why do they always put mud in the coffee on paddle steamers?"

- William Thackeray, writer and traveller, 1850

Is there mud in your cup? Is your coffee less than inspiring?

It could be that your coffeemaker is dirty. If your coffee tastes muddy or metallic, or if it brews too slowly, I suggest going to the local grocery store and picking up a comercial bottle of coffeemaker cleaner. Follow the directions on the bottle. Most of us have heard about the vinegar treatment for coffeemakers, but I have never been impressed with the results. Go for the strongest thing you can find.

The second most common reason coffee is unsatisfying is that it is being brewed improperly. For most coffee makers, you should start with good cold water. Water that is hard, full of iron, or loaded with a lot of chlorine will make bad coffee. More often than I care to remember, I have been horrified by the results of brewing with hotel tap water. If you have any inkling it might be your water that's making the coffee brackish, try brewing a pot with some natural, bottled spring water. You will know right away if that's the problem. The difference will be dramatic.

It could also be that you need a new coffeemaker. Some coffeemakers don't heat the water hot enough to extract all the flavor from the beans. But most often, coffeemakers which make anemic coffee simply send the water through the grounds too fast and don't get them uniformly moist from the beginning. Ideally, a basket filter should have a mechanism that sprays the water like a small shower head onto the grounds, and the water should drip through into the pot slowly. I have a small Mr Coffee machine which makes four cups. I bought it for the size and the price ($10). When I found that the coffee it brewed was too thin, I simply added an extra filter. This causes the water to pass through more slowly, and now it makes a flavorful cup. My husband's favorite coffeemaker is a Black and Decker which we bought on vacation in Washington for $20. It pours easily without spilling and makes solid coffee, reliably, brew after brew. My oldest son Joshua started adding one extra scoop of grounds to each pot. That small change worked wonders for the quality of the brew. My preferred coffeemakers, however, are the ones made by Gevalia, which are also offered as free gifts for customers who sign up to receive shipments of their coffee. These coffeemakers are designed to produce a luxurious cup. They have cone-shaped filters, which are the perfect shape for capturing flavor; the water is heated to the ideal temperature; and everything is carefully designed for the optimum results.

The third reason coffee is unsatisfying, brackish, thin, bitter, or just tastes like mud lies in the beans themselves. Many supermarket blends use lower quality beans. Most coffees are a blend of beans, but the less scrupulous manufacturers use larger quantities of cheaper ones. The result is a cup of flat, thin coffee, entirely forgettable,or worse -- like ashes on the tongue. This type of coffee is common in large gatherings, chain restaurants, church fellowship dinners, ball games, offices, convenience stores, and yes, hotels. As I said before, when offered some of this variety of brew, I just drink water.

There's no reason for you to make that kind of coffee at home. For a few more pennies per cup, you can enjoy coffee that inspires. Experimenting a little will help you find your personal favorites. Walmart sells Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts coffee in their food section. Okay, I admit, Starbucks does get pricey if you use it all the time. But if you prefer darker roasts, it's a great way to make coffee you can love. My husband really likes Starbucks coffee, but we are also trying to be frugal. I started adding one or two scoops of their House Blend to each pot of ordinary, supermarket coffee. The transformation is pretty impressive, and the cost fits our budget. If you are solidly American in your coffee tastes, then Maxwell House has a number of new grinds that work fairly well. I've been pleased with their Columbian and South Pacific blends. A large can of these has been selling at Walmart lately for $6 to $8. That price is hard to beat. For my own finicky taste buds, my favorite everyday brew is Dunkin Donuts coffee, which I purchase by the pound at their stores. I buy two pounds together to get a discount. I make this coffee strong. It's warm, buttery notes are very satisfying to my palate and perfect for the soy milk I add to it.

For a dreamy cup of coffee that feels like dessert, I turn to Gevalia. Their Costa Rican Peaberry and Kona blends are some of the best coffee I have ever tasted in my entire life. Brewed just right, they are fantastic. But all the Gevalia varieties are excellent. I have relished their Antiguan, Kenyan, Peruvian and Columbian blends, too. You can sign up for their coffee delivery and space the packages as far apart as you like. My husband gave me a subscription for Gevalia coffee that comes every 8 weeks. I use it sparingly and thoughtfully, because it is expensive. But it still costs a lot less than a cup at Starbucks, Panera Bread, or the local bookstore.

So, this is my best suggestion for a heavenly cup. Go here to find out about how to join Gevalia. Sign up for a pound of their coffee and get the free coffeemaker. I guarantee you will be amazed by the quality of the brew in your cup. If you aren't satisfied or decide to discontinue, you can cancel at any time. They stand by their promise, their product, and their vision for great customer service. I have been a customer, canceled, become a customer again, had to cancel, and become a customer a third time over the last five years. Recently, I had to "suspend" my deliveries while we relocate. Through all of this, they have been pleasant and understanding. And in my opinion, their coffee can't be beat.

For motivation, I will leave you with a quote from Balzac in his Treatise on Modern Stimulants:

The coffee falls into your stomach, and straightaway there is a general commotion. Ideas begin to move like Battalions of the Grand Army on the battlefield when the battle takes place. Things remembered arrive at full gallop, ensign to the wind.

See? Coffee that inspires.