USING OUR INSECT PALS TO BATTLE INSECT PESTS
Last Friday Doug and I got a ton of technical advice and hands-on experience about FARMING WITH BENEFICIAL INSECTS; CONSERVATION BIOLOGICAL CONTROL when we participated in the inaugural Xerces Society […]
SNOWY OWLS PHONE HOME
For the second year in a row, scores of snowy owls spent the winter in Wisconsin, delighting bird watchers. While those owls are now flying back to the Arctic, some are communicating their whereabouts to every cell tower they pass. One of those is a bird named Goose Pond, who was released near Madison as part of a national tracking effort called Project Snowstorm. – See more at: http://www.isthmus.com/news/news/high-tech-transmitters-snowy-owls/#sthash.hDHpk0zr.dpuf
THE BIRD WE’LL NEVER HEAR CALLS TO US THROUGH PROJECT PASSENGER PIGEON
The Passenger Pigeon – who in their billions used to blacken the skies but were driven to extinction in 40 years — is a sobering parable. Last week I learned much more […]
GIVING GARMENTS THEIR TIME IN THE SUN – TO SAVE ENERGY AND YOUR CLOTHES
We designed Underhill House to be energy efficient, and this week we finally whittled down our energy use a little more with an umbrella-style clothesline.
HANGING UP A BAT HOUSE AND HANGING ONTO HOPE
We feel blessed by the bats in our barn, but with White Nose Syndrome now present in Southwest Wisconsin – how much longer will they survive?
A PATH ALONG OUR ICY PAST
Walk the Ice Age Trail with the Badger Science Writers and learn about Wisconsin geography in the terminal-moraine landscape.
UNDERHILL HOUSE BECOMES A CLASSROOM
We hosted Highland Middle School’s 60 students for a tour of Underhill House last Friday. Highland is a nearby village with 842 residents, and its school system is pushing the […]
SAYING IT WITH FLOWERS CAN CURSE THE ENVIRONMENT
Doug and I have just returned from a week of visiting his mom in Seattle. Dorothy loves flowers, and when she lived in Wisconsin, we used to bring her bouquets from the Dane County Farmers Market throughout the growing season. I normally do not buy flowers through commercial outlets because […]
PAINTING WITH FIRE AND PRAIRIE PLANTS
Living in Underhill House is a many-faceted experience. Moving about among its unmilled, branching timbers never seems to lose its charm, and gradually working my way through all the finishing projects is very satisfying. But what we are loving best is that now we are living on our land and […]
IN THE EASTERN U.S., SPRING FLOWERS KEEP PACE WITH WARMING CLIMATE
Here’s an interesting press release I just got from the University of Wisconsin-Madison MADISON – Using the meticulous phenological records of two iconic American naturalists, Henry David Thoreau and Aldo Leopold, scientists have demonstrated that native plants in the eastern United States are flowering as much as a month […]
Digging in the Driftless 