It is often so/ that when we clear dross and junk,/ we find wonderful. Using a loping shears to clear underbrush and non-native privet from around the hardwood trees in my back yard reveals an undergrowth of black-eyed susans and other hidden wildflowers. Sometimes you have to burn the grasses and weeds from large fields, […]
Category Archives: Nature’s Garden: Gardening and Land Management
Peach Is Terrible To Waste: Wasting Fruit Lesson
In my world, wasting fruit seems to be a travesty of the highest order. I can’t seem to throw anything out. Even if it’s molding or rotting, I’ll yank it from the fridge, scrape the mold or rot off, throw it in the blender, and make a smoothie out of it. I might cut it […]
Peel Peaches Perfectly Prompt! Cooking Hack
Why peel peaches? If you’re making a smoothy or blending peaches for fruit leather, I don’t recommend it. But if you’re making a peach cobbler, peach crisp or peach ice cream, maybe you don’t want that skin floating around! You need to peel peaches. But wait! PUT DOWN THAT KNIFE! There’s an easier way. In […]
Fruit Trade Everyone Wins– Haibun
The old couple’s peach tree up on Mowbray Mountain deep down in Tennessee was so overloaded that a giant limb split off the trunk and crashed to the garden floor. That still left more than two-thirds of the tree that they had planted intact and covered with delicious freestone fruit. A Good Fruit Trade Our […]
Reconnecting With My 27 Backyard Tree Species: Haiku
Hi, my deep-rooted/ woods friends. I’m sad I’ve not been/ near. I’ll tread barefoot.
Missing Wildflowers: Nature Haiku
Folks look at my yard/ and see lots of grass to mow./ They miss wildflowers.
Killer Gardening Mistakes: Haiku
When planting gardens, / you shouldn’t confuse okra/ pods with Orca pods.
Trees In My Yard, Peaceful Evenings, Improv Piano, And Learning
This evening, just before the sun set, I walked around the edge of my driveway, taking photos of tree in my yard (specifically on the edge of my property). I was stunned by the bio-diversity of this small plot of land. within the distance I can throw a baseball (which isn’t very far), I have […]
Cheap Chicken Coop, Free Fowl, First Farm-Fresh Food: Lessons Learned Setting Up Chicken Coop
Chickens Incoming! We did it! A few months ago I found (Facebook Marketplace) an old, sturdy, used, well-built hen house and run for $50 (and the guy delivered it!). Then we asked around, and got 4 laying silkies (hens) from friends of ours who needed to trim their flock (I like free!). We went over […]
Wildflowers and Butterfly Beauty: Three For The Price Of One
Wildflowers and butterfly beauty is one of the best parts of rural life. As people go back to the woods or the fields, focusing on being self-sustaining and off-the-grid, one of the first questions they ask is: “What should I DO?” One of the most vital things I tell them is what they should NOT […]