Our Happy Acres

The Villager is retired and lives on a 1.5 acre plot in southwest Indiana. I share this space with my wife and 3 cats. I am a Master Gardener and a graduate of the Purdue Master Gardening program. That doesn’t necessarily make me a great gardener, for you can be a wonderful gardener without formal training. Actually, I gardened for most of my life before I took the MG classes. The classes do help make you a better gardener though, and are certainly worth considering wherever available.

I stay busy with gardening, cooking,  photography and volunteering my time with various local organizations. I enjoy traveling, but always look forward to coming back home.

Happy Acres has a large vegetable garden, a smaller kitchen garden near the house, various flower gardens, an asparagus patch, a growing iris collection, plus herbs, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries and strawberries. An old orchard is being replanted with new varieties and should begin bearing in a year or two (if the deer don’t eat the trees). An 8×12 greenhouse grows food, seedlings and cuttings year round, and provides a summer home for many tropical plants.

We garden organically, using sustainable and responsible practices. We compost all organic materials from our household in compost bins made of recycled wooden pallets. We practice integrated pest management (IPM), using prevention and monitoring for pests first, then using the least harmful and organic methods for pest control when necessary.

PHOTOS:

All photos on this site have been taken by me, unless otherwise specified. All images and text are protected by a Creative Commons license. My work may not be used for commercial purposes, may not be copied, distributed or displayed without my permission, and must always be attributed to me. Please contact me using the form below if you have any questions.

RECIPES:

All recipes on this site have been tested by me – usually many times. All recipes have been created or adapted by me, unless otherwise specified. Please feel free to print, use, share, or adapt them to suit your own tastes or needs. I use Living Cookbook 2008 recipe management software to manage my recipe collection. The nutritional information, limited as it is to our current understanding of macro nutrients, is provided by the Living Cookbook software, and is mostly from USDA nutrient databases. It is provided here for informational purposes only.

ERRORS:

Even though I do my best to avoid them, mistakes happen. If you find typos, broken links, or downright errors please let me know!

CONTACT ME:

If you have questions, comments or suggestions please fill out the form below and I will get back to you as soon as I can. All correspondence will be kept confidential.