Editor’s Note: This column last appeared on 27 May 2020.   What to do this week Having got the early spring planting well underway, it is time for me to turn my attention to orchard chores. The trees are budding out and many are already at the green tip stage. ItRead More

Editor’s Note: This column last appeared on 20 May 2020, and it’s interesting that Michelle was talking about frost because apparently we’re in for some tonight!   What to do this week This week is the perfect time to plant squash seeds, and hopefully you will consider starting them inRead More

Editor’s Note: This column last appeared on 13 May 2020.   What to do this week This is the time for tending to bushes and shrubs, or perhaps dividing them, so let’s talk about that. If you have lilac, or elderberry, currants of course, rose bushes very often (especially theRead More

Part 2: Rojava The world of the 21st century faces the ruins of past and present. War has become a normal state, poverty and hunger marginal news that no longer merit headlines. Many people have lost the meaning and significance of being human, and the word ‘society’ means only isolatedRead More

Editor’s Note: This column last appeared on 1 May 2019.   What to do this week It is tempting on a bright sunny day to get out to the garden and start to dig. A psychiatrist friend once told me that soil contains natural anti-depressants, which made a lot ofRead More

Editor’s Note: The Spectator is reaching into Michelle Smith’s gardening column archive for some weekly advice that is as relevant now as when it was first written in May 2017.   What to do this week Okay, up off the couch! It’s time to plant trees. What’s that? It’s cold and rainyRead More

Editor’s Note: The Spectator is reaching into Michelle Smith’s gardening column archive for some weekly advice that is as relevant now as when it was first written. This column last appeared on 22 April 2020.   What to do this week This is a great time of year to talk about soilRead...

Part 1: Tigray The evil of modern states is their power to decide who eats. Russel Lawrence Barsh, ‘The Nature and Power of North American Political Systems,’ American Indian Quarterly (1986)   In mid-February, heads of state and government of the African Union (AU) convened at the organization’s headquarters inRead More

Editor’s Note: This column last appeared on 3 April 2019.   What to do this week It’s about time to start tomato seedlings inside to have them ready for transplanting at the beginning of June. Each year I agonize over the wide variety of colors, textures and sizes available. IRead More

Poker Face I haven’t enjoyed a TV series as much as I enjoyed Natasha Lyonne’s Poker Face in a very long time. It’s not a “Golden Age of TV”-style show like Deadwood or The Sopranos or Mad Men (all of which I also enjoyed very much), it’s a throwback toRead...