I listened to Dr. Don Waller, UW-Madison professor of botany and environmental studies and editor of “The Vanishing Present: Wisconsin’s Changing Lands, Waters, and Wildlife” give a presentation on long-term changes in Wisconsin forests last week as part of the UW-Arboretum Winter Lecture Series. He shifted my forest focus from […]
How are you feeling today? Good? Glad to hear it! How is the wildlife in your area feeling? The U.S.Geological Survey National Wildlife Health Center needs to know, and they have created two new programs to find out. “Avian influenza, SARS, West Nile virus, and rabies are just a few […]
Everyone who takes care of land from square foot gardeners to those of us trying to manage multiple acres has their most wanted list of invasives plants. The lists are getting longer. According to James Reinartz of the Southeastern Wisconsin Invasive Species Consortium , the cost to the U.S. economy […]
I just came across an amazing quote by John Adams, our second president. He is known for many things. He and Jefferson opened the rift that our country divides along to this day, but they shared a passionate love for their soil. I have to share Adam’s musings on his […]
I walked up to my first prairie smoke plants last summer in Allerton Park outside Monticello IL, and it was love at first site. The Wisconisn Master Gardener Program has a comprehensive and beautifully illustrated page that will tell you everything you need to know about this gorgeous prairie gem […]
Composting is a rich and fertile topic, and there is always something more to learn. I got my most recent lesson at a presentation on Sheet Mulching by Kate Heiber-Cobb, a Permaculture Designer and founder of the Madison Area Permaculture Guild. The beauty of compost! Heiber-Cobb says that sheet mulching […]
It seems I live in a bad neighborhood, roamed by a destructive gang. The authorities are helpless. The gang has become too big and too powerful. When I see the wreck they are making of so many promising young lives, I am strongly tempted to buy a gun. I’m talking, […]
I caught the end of a radio gardening show in the car last week, and heard the tree expert tell a caller that transplanting young oaks from the woods was a touchy business. First you must dig under it and cut the tap root. Then leave it in place for […]
Tiffany Wildlife Area at the heart of the Lower Chippewa River Basin is a natural wonderland where sloughs and old river meanders create a soggy maze of ephemeral ponds and wetlands along the river. From soaring riverside bluffs where eagles nest to swampy deeps that harbor night herons, bitterns and […]
We astonished our friends and family 7 years ago Labor Day weekend when we purchased 44 acres of Driftless Area ridge side that we had first walked only a week before. We wanted to settle on its south-facing slope and care for this bit of land Then we learned, as […]
Digging in the Driftless 