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 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 […]
Though I think that the expanses of turf that constitute most lawns have all the classy appeal of Astroturf, and are an generally an environmental travesty, there are some things to be said for this stuff: Prevents erosion Slows down runoff Filters water Is better than a non-permeable surface So, […]
If bugs wrote books, they would probably begin their book on the human era, “It was the best of times. It was the worst of times…..” They would probably consider it a slightly scary book. I thought the Master Gardener Volunteer program (see my post Becoming a Master Gardener ) […]
I have come upon fawns lying still as statues in a stand of grass on our land. Their survival strategy seems to be to freeze, allowing me to walk right up and study their perfect ears, finely chiseled hooves and delicately dappled camo patterns. Baby animals always bring out our […]
Before we build a house on our land, we will need a septic system. The land has already passed its perc test (Doesn’t that sound cheerful? It’s 6 a.m., and at the moment, I’m not sure I feel perky enough to pass any test.) Our land is not only perky– […]
I garden like I cook – using a mix of intuition, inspiration, opportunity and random readings. This system works better for cooking, where any totally “out there” idea produces just a single adventure for the taste buds rather than a failed crop for the year. This spring I finally enrolled […]
We call it The Pond, but that term probably evokes a much grander water body than it actually is. The previous owner built a little dam across the end of a ravine and lined the basin with clay from the neighboring field. He never actually found the spring he expected, […]
Let’s here it for Volunteer Environmental Monitoring! Volunteers are our eyes and ears into what is happening in the natural world. With dramatic cuts in government-funded monitoring programs, volunteers have stepped up to the plate. Grassroots environmental groups continue the monitoring that would have to be abandoned if it depended […]
Digging in the Driftless 