In the Garden

It’s time to save seeds for next year’s flower garden.  These datura or Devil’s Trumpet seed pods will dry out and turn brown. That is the time to harvest them. Georgia O’Keefe liked Devil’s Trumpet or Jimson weed as it is often called. ~~~~~~~~~~~ To everything there is a season. It’s late September and, like… Read more

Late summer evenings in Big Mill B&B’s garden are filled with sweet scents The show begins in the afternoon at 5 o’clock, when the Four O’clocks start blooming. They are an old flower that my mother and grandmother raised and shared with their friends. It is a wonderful plant and each flower can have several… Read more

I first tasted Gazpacho in the sixties when I was a young student in Spain. It was in a little cafe in Toledo and I still remember the cafe, the handsome young man and the Gazpacho. It seems there are as many Gazpacho recipes as there are barbecue recipes. I finally found one that reminds… Read more

Sweet cucumber pickles are as southern as iced tea Not just any pickles either – they must be homemade and preferably homegrown. It is alright if someone gives you the cucumbers, or you pick them up fresh from your local Farmers Market. We all have a family recipe that has been passed down and it… Click here to get Chloe’s Sweet Cucumber Pickle Recipe

Big Mill B&B’s Watermelon Punch  Refreshing libation for sultry summer days Southerners love watermelon. If you want a real treat, make watermelon punch. And don’t wait for the party – serve it up for just the two of you – for romance or just for good friends. (Photo credit: Chloe Tuttle) Watermelon Punch Recipe for… Read more

Our Evening Primrose, wildflower and beautiful King’s cure-all, is often considered a weed Evening Primrose photo by Chloe Tuttle But here at Big Mill Bed & Breakfast, Evening Primrose is glorified, photographed, written about and touted as entertainer – watching it bloom is a great way to spend an evening in the garden. Take a… Read more

Spiderwort – Big Mill’s “Canary in the coal mine” This wonderful blue flower that grows in my eastern North Carolina garden is Spiderwort (Tradescantia), pronounced  trad-ess-KANT-ee-uh. Each day in spring and early summer I am greeted with the vibrant blue of these odd beauties. Then about noon, they close. My mother loved these flowers –… Read more

“Miss Sadie” James ran the Big Mill gristmill for as long as I can remember. In the 1940’s prior to when she and her husband, Columbus, bought it, it had been a water-powered sawmill. It was converted to a grist mill, the stones to grind the corn were shipped over from England. Sometime later in… Read more

It’s late summer and figs are ripe… so gorgeous and luscious, they hardly look real. Each one is a work of art. After I take many photos of these just-picked figs, I make Chloe’s Fig Preserves. One of my favorite ways to eat these preserves is with warm, creamy brie. This dish makes a great presentation… Read more