Stardust Dispatch #6

Happy Spring, dear star-people! It's an unseasonably warm vernal equinox in my corner of the world, with the outside temperature in my yard hitting 90° F. The weather oracles indicate that the weather will calm down in a week or so, but until then I'm doing what I can to protect my seedlings and new plants from the sun's harshest hours. Then at night, of course, I do my best to protect them from the slugs, earwigs, and pill bugs that love a good, soft leaf for dinner! A gardener's work is truly never done...

My tiny piece of land that I steward has been predominantly given back to the native plants of this region, but I kept a small portion of the backyard for some raised beds, and there this year I'm growing two kinds of garlic (Inchelium red, a softneck variety, using some of the bulbs I grew and stored last year, and Music, a hardneck variety), tomatoes (mostly of the heat-appreciating cherry variety), hot chiles (jalapeño, habanero, serrano, mirasol, and black dragon), blueberries, and a mess of herbs and greens. This might also be the year our young feijoa trees bear fruit!

Out front, the sages and redbud have sprung into full bloom and the first of our chonky California bumblebees have been seen carousing among the blossoms. Soon, the palo verdes and desert willow will do their best to outshine all of the other plants and win the bees' affections.

I've recently learned that the California sagebrush (artemisia californica) I planted has long been used in this region in liniments as a pain reliever, among other things. I found some information on how to make it, and the process will take about 4 weeks, so look forward to the results in next month's newsletter!

For those of you wondering where the hell the Breakfast Serial is these days: I apologize for the long pause. I've been wrestling with a complicated relationship to food lately, and although I've got a backlog of recipes to work through on the blog, it's been difficult to center food as a source of joy and creativity, even in this small way.

But now that I've worked through some stuff (and have, to my delight, finally been prescribed HRT for my perimenopause!) I promise the Breakfast Serial is coming back soon and cozier than ever.

What I've been reading:

The Wildcraft Drones
I had the delight and good fortune to get my hands on an advance copy of T.K. Rex's new short story collection. Usually I read short story collections in little portions over time; a story on the train, a story before bed, a story on a lazy weekend, you get the idea. Star-friends, I could not put The Wildcraft Drones down and read the whole thing cover to cover over the span of a couple days.

The Wildcraft Drones shows us a richly imagined future where machines, influenced and programmed by our very human nature, insist upon foisting that human nature back upon us as we try to navigate the mess we've made out of our collective best intentions, fears, and limited foresight. With Bay area wit, insightful heart, and drawing from a deep well of empathy for each hapless, stumbling character in this collection, Rex has created a possible future for us that feels so vividly realized it at times felt as though I were witnessing actual memories from lives fully lived. Pre-order The Wildcraft Drones by T.K. Rex and head into the Grungle this May

Tea and Treachery at the Infinite Pantry - pre-order giveaway!
I got insanely lucky this past month, because I got my hands on not one but two amazing ARCs. This second one is Jo Miles' latest book, Tea and Treachery at the Infinite Pantry.

Star-friends, I loved this book SO much. It was exactly the book I needed this month and I'm grateful I got to read it when I did. The Infinite Pantry is a cozy fantasy triumph of healing through nourishment and a love-letter to every kitchen table. Reading it played no small part in helping me work through my own food writing issues, and inspired me to commit to restarting The Breakfast Serial.

There exists many a fantasy book that describes sumptuous feasts, but rarely can a book capture the heart of what it means to gather and share cherished foods with a community, or the essential healing powers that such care and creation can bestow on the feasting participants. A place like that needs protection, and the caretakers of the Infinite Pantry are up to the task. By the end of the book, I felt like I'd known Glendevyn and Irdruan for ages. I'll miss them until book 2 comes out. Tea and Treachery at the Infinite Pantry invites you to take a seat at the table and savor every magical sip and morsel.

As a bonus, Jo Miles is offering a delightful Infinite Pantry care package to one lucky winner who preorders the book before it comes out on April 21! The care package includes:

• A selection of loose-leaf teas, curated to go with the book
• A personal-sized glass teapot for brewing (perfect for your sip & read)
• A sweet snack or two to go with your tea (because this book is guaranteed to make you hungry)
• Some book swag (bookmarks etc)

Pre-order Tea and Treachery at the Infinite Pantry now and then enter the care package contest here.

That's my update for the month! Until next time, I leave you, as promised, with a video of Dante in absolute ecstasy for belly rubs: