The day after Thanksgiving, and I’m still thankful. I’m thankful for the Dane County Farmers Market, which moved indoors a few weeks ago and made our table groan yesterday. We have been able to feast on mostly local goodies for the past few years, since we started to tune into […]
Here is another way to stay out of the malls on Black Friday while finding some nifty gifties which which you can give those you love an easy way to do something green. Last time I posted about green clothing from Fair Indigo. This time I’m going to focus on […]
When Doug was a freshman in college, one of his roommates brought home a puppy, then quickly lost interest. Doug found himself in a human/canine partnership with an amazing mongrel. Raised in a household of male college students in the 70s, Yama was given free rein to explore his inner […]
“The world made with wood and the world made with coal and oil. One lasted twelve to fifteen Millennia; the other has lasted about 250 years so far.” The first tree I remember hanging out in was a maple. My dad built us a platform at the place where […]
I think I live in bike heaven. There is a bike trail that passes a few blocks from my house in Madison and travels to within a mile of my land in the Driftless Are:a. The Military Ridge Bike Trail runs along the Chicago and Northwestern Rail corridor that […]
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, […]
ASK NOT FOR WHOM THE REFRIGERATOR HUMS – IT HUMS FOR THEE If your fridge has ever been on the fritz – then you know what a truly handy appliance it is, and how messy life is without it. My grandmother used to tell me how just about everyone in […]
I attended a panel discussion by four Master Gardeners this week and listened to their take on the fall tuck in. It’s so primal – the urge to tuck in one’s garden beds under a leafy blanket as winter looms. I see a lot of similarity between the down comforter […]
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 […]
Digging in the Driftless 