December 8, 2025

Home Grown Carrots




Artist Paul Cezanne said, “The day is coming when a single carrot, freshly observed, will set off a revolution."

I’ve observed that carrot - it came from my garden, and it set off a revolution of taste in my diet.

In my humble opinion, there is nothing better than fresh garden carrots. So crisp, so sweet, so easy to store and enjoy.

I have never tasted a store bought carrot as good as the ones I grow myself. 

Until I pulled a carrot from the ground, washed it off, and ate it, I  hadn’t experienced the true carrot taste.

The substandard ones from the store that I was use to were the right colour, the right shape, and the right size. But they lacked the robust, lively taste of carrots from the garden. They were bland and ho-hum. Carrot-ish.

Garden variety carrots are not only tastier, but also more nutritious. 

Speaking of variety, garden carrots have it all. Big ones, little ones, and in all kinds of shapes. There are orange ones, yellow ones, and purple ones - a rainbow of tasty beauty.

And my wonderfully diverse carrots are almost free. 

I had a moderate carrot harvest this year. Like everything else, this year's yield was affected by the months-long drought.

It seems too early, but I am nearing the end of my carrot harvest that has been stored in our unheated garage since I lovingly picked them in September. 

There are enough left to make a nice, big batch of carrot-ginger soup. Perfect on this snowy, windy, cold late Fall day.

I will miss my carrots when I have to go back to buying the store-provided industrially grown, all-the-same orange roots I call corporate carrots. They are built for profit, not perfection.

Because of that, I am grateful for my fresh, naturally perfect carrots. Planting, caring for, harvesting, and eating them makes me happy.

Start your own taste revolution - grow carrots! Your tastebuds, and pocketbook, will thank you.






December 5, 2025

You Are the Gift










Happy holidays simple livers. Once again we have the perfect opportunity to initiate a buy nothing Christmas. 

But it won’t be easy.

Suggesting leaving gift giving behind in our debt-funded consumerist economy is tantamount to treason, punishable by exclusion, banishment and ostracizication. 

However, it also just might save us from out of control debt and misery, not to mention overstuffed storage lockers and garbage bins.

Mainstream narratives confuse good will in the world with good loot under the tree. We can turn that around.

It is amazing what a search for ‘’no gifts, please’’ brings up. Tons of polite and gracious ways to let people know you are going gift free.

If you are present-free curious, right now is the perfect time for choosing a stress-free, gift-free holiday season.

Try one or more of the above suggested ways to communicate your desire to make this holiday season about relationships with each other, and nature rather than about loot.

Besides, the best gift you can give is your time and undivided attention. 

And that is free.

No material gift may be the best gift this year. It is exactly what many of us would like.

Thanks for nothing, except for you, just as you are, which I deeply love and cherish.

Be the most valuable gift you can give, then give freely.

The world will be a better place because of the gift of your presence in this very moment.

Happy Buy Nothing Christmas from your Scroogey friends at the Not Buying Anything Blog.

Thank you for your time and attention year round, for which we are infinitely grateful.