🌿 March in the Prescott Garden
Your Monthly Garden Keeping Summary from The Whiskey Porch

​March in Prescott still brings chilly nights and the occasional winter weather, but the season is waking up fast. While spring temps tease us, remember our frost risk lingers—so hold off on tender plantings and take this month to prepare for the busy season ahead.
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That late winter restlessness? It’s real.

The light lingers a little longer each evening.  The seed catalogs are dog-eared.  The garden shed is calling.

​And yet — winter isn’t quite finished with us.
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Especially here in the high country, spring has a way of arriving slowly… and sometimes teasingly.

I recently wrote about my  late winter checklist  “All the Spring Fever Feels.”

Inside, I share 10 thoughtful, practical ways to channel that restless energy into gentle preparation - at home and in the garden - without rushing the season.  

If you’re feeling the pull toward spring but know it’s still wise to pace yourself, you can read the full letter here:

​Swedish Lagom will help you embrace a simpler lifestyle.

There’s a Swedish word that doesn’t translate neatly into English — but it may hold the key to a calmer, more balanced way of living.

Lagom means “just enough.” Not too much. Not too little.

In a culture that constantly pushes us toward more, this gentle philosophy feels surprisingly radical.

In today’s Porch Journal, I explore what lagom really means - and how it shapes the way I think about home, work, and daily life.

👉 Read the full Porch Jounral here on Substack.

I would love to have you join the conversatin there.

With contentment & possibility,

🌿 February in the Prescott Garden
Your Monthly Garden Keeping Summary from The Whiskey Porch

February feels like the stir of spring in Prescott. It's the month to plant bareroot trees, roses, and shrubs; start sowing early annuals; and prepare the soil and systems before things fully awaken. This is a proactive month—plant, prune, and plan with purpose.​
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I explore this idea more fully in my latest Design Dispatches letter Small, Not Tiny, where I reflect on what “just right” looks like in real homes- and why the missing middle matters.

👉 Read the full letter on Substack → That’s where I share ongoing reflections on home, garden, and thoughtful design rooted in real life and lived experience.

With contentment & possibility,

For years, the conversation around home size has been framed as a choice between two extremes: bigger houses with unused rooms, or tiny homes that promise freedom through radical reduction.

But for many people, neither option truly fits the way life unfolds.

A right-sized home isn’t about square footage alone. It’s about proportion, livability, and how well a space supports daily routines, changing needs, and long-term comfort.

Designing smaller - without going to extremes - often means focusing on flow, flexibility, and rooms that work harder without feeling overworked.

With contentment & possibility,

​The American Dream has virtually always been:  more + bigger = better.

The fad and trend that's predominated the last many decades has been to stretch yourself to the limit in order to acquire the most impressive home possible.  This home would prove that you were successful, and obviously make you comfortable and happy.

Over many decades, that's turned into crazy-big homes which required large incomes to buy and maintain, along with massive consumption of resources to build and live in.

​Tiny is fine if that's what you really need or want, but it's pretty extreme and unsustainable by most standards. 

​A more manageable and still meaningful downsize might mean reclaiming older, smaller homes and shifting to a less consumerism mentality, while still participating in a mainstream community and lifestyle.
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🌿 January in the Prescott Garden
Your Monthly Garden Keeping Summary from The Whiskey Porch

​January in Prescott offers a peaceful, productive pause in the garden. While things may seem sleepy outside, it's actually the perfect time to plan, organize, and lay the groundwork for spring growth.
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Happy Solstice!
I’ve written a much richer and more personal version of this piece over on my Substack publication, Letters from The Whiskey Porch.

You can read the full updated essay here, and join the conversation:
👉 Santa Lucia: A Celebration of Light for the Darkest Days

I’m keeping this page online to preserve your lovely comments from years past - they’re part of the story - but the new and expanded version now lives in its’ true home.

Thank you so much for following along, and for celebrating the beauty of midwinter with me.  I'm glad that you stopped by and I hope to see you over on Substack where you can see the whole story!

Peace & contentment,
~Miriam