If a bunch of cows is a herd, if geese gather in gaggles, and seagulls fly in a flock, what do you call a bunch of Greeks? A good time, of course! With lots and lots of food. Lots of food. Did I mention that there’s food?
Continue reading A Gathering of Greeks
It all started with a single pine tree on the side of the road. At first there were only a handful of them up in that one tree. But each year their numbers grew until that one tree just wasn’t big enough. So they spread. Then spread some more. Now there are dozens of them up in a cluster of at least 8-10 pine trees on the side of the road.
If you have ever harvested produce from your own garden, or brought in cut flowers from the yard, you and I have very likely had a shared experience. You’re washing off your prize when out crawls something unwanted. Maybe it has six legs, maybe eight (the WORST!), or, ewwww, no legs at all and is slimy. Whatever it is, it is now inside. Exactly where you probably don’t want it to be.
Continue reading The Garden Sink
We live not too far away from a stretch of river. As a result, we tend to get a variety of visitors to our neighborhood that make the trek from the river bottom, and on up into the suburbs. Some even decide they like it well enough and make our yards their homes. Some are welcome, some not so much.
Continue reading Just Passing Through
Let’s face it, plant growers lie. To be fair, it’s more like incomplete truths than all out lies, but no nursery is going to label a plant with “Under ideal circumstances this plant is great, but most of the time it really just sucks”. So you’re left with the task of discovering your plant’s dirty little secrets the hard way: after you’ve already had it in the ground for a good long time and it’s already caused a lot of problems.
Continue reading The “Joys” of Gardening
September 8th is the feast day of the Nativity (birth) of the Virgin Mary. In Greek Orthodox tradition, feast days are holy days that commemorate significant events related to the church. They may mark the births and/or deaths of saints, or other momentous occasions. This particular feast day marks the day that Orthodox Christians commemorate the birth of the Virgin Mary. In Greek she is called the Theotokos, or Mother of God.
Continue reading The Nativity of the Virgin Mary
As far as I can tell, Greeks in Greece don’t actually own pets. I will admit that this presumption is based on limited observations, but I’ve really never seen anyone there with the stereotypical pet. One of my cousins once had some small birds (parakeets, I think), but I just don’t recall ever seeing anyone with pets like dogs or cats. Now don’t get me wrong, cats and dogs are definitely there. They just don’t seem to “belong” to anyone.
Continue reading Greeks and their “Pets”
Welcome to Mostly Greek! I decided to start this site because I wanted to share my love for gardening, home made food, Greek culture, and living a sustainable and healthy life. The irony does not escape me that I got so caught up in figuring out web-page design that I had to resort to popping open a package of hot-dogs and a couple of cans of chili for dinner for my family. Oh well… Something about the best-laid plans.
I called this site “Mostly Greek” because that pretty much sums up what it is. I love Greek food, but I basically just love food. You’ll also find information on gardening and cultural traditions, recipes, stories, and more!)
Enjoy!
(The picture above is wee little me, not quite two years old, with my mom. Back when you could actually walk on the Parthenon!)
Mostly Greek 