the french laundry garden

wandering around in yountville last week, i came across thomas keller's french laundry gardens. beautiful. was particularly enamored of the aptly-named lancelot leeks.

oh to have a large kitchen garden like this. a dream come true. reminds me of another thomas, mr. jefferson and his garden at monticello. also dreamy and gorgeous. i read recently that mr. jefferson was frequently in debt. so often in life, practical matters get in the way of big ideas and architectural aspirations. 

in other news, two good articles in the new york times today, both dear to my heart, one with frank bruni discussing a gaggle of artisinal pizzerias opening up around nyc and the other on the productivity of working parents in lisa belkin's motherlode blog. love hearing the positive results of wasting time. read about artisanal pizzas here. read about parental time-wasting for greater productivity here.