Today my wife and I went out to the lower meadow to pick blackberries with thorns. About 20 minutes later, we made a fresh blackberry cobbler, and I wrote this poem about the experience: It reminds me of the time I visited a rose garden in Freiburg, in the southwest corner of Germany, just south […]
Category Archives: Nature’s Garden: Gardening and Land Management
Trouble In Paradise — Dealing With Pests And Problems
Every place has pests and problems to deal with, its own Trouble In Paradise. Wisconsin mosquitos and cold, Arizona’s oppressive heat and poisonous bugs and snakes, Washington state’s rain and mold and rain and dampness, Georgia’s bugs and heat and humidity and CHIGGERS! As part of the #LightTheWorldNow #BuildHisKingdom project, I was thinking about the […]
Get ‘Er Done: Vashon Island Treehouses Starts Growing
A New Project: Vashon Island Treehouses My brother Gene Kuhns Jr. has always been a “doer”. With his wife Jan by his side (and often, slightly in front of him), they get more done in a week than many folks get done in a year. That’s why I’m excited and anxious to watch the progress […]
If You Look For Mushrooms, Will They Appear?
It’s a dream to find edible wild food, but you have to really look for mushrooms. Gene and Jan are interested in putting up tree houses on their acreage on Vashon Island, WA, and running a bed and breakfast. They also enjoy foraging for wild food (and creating their own, where possible). Dreaming of oyster […]
Identifying Plants In Our Yard
Identifying plants — especially native ones — can be a somewhat difficult process, especially if you’ve moved (as I have) to a bio-zone different from where you’ve lived before. I was talking about this issue with my brother Gene, out in Washington State. He’s gotten very good at identifying native plants on Vashon Island, where […]
Using Carpet as Mulch and Weedkiller: Video How To
Rather than throwing old pink shag into the landfill, I decided to use carpet as a weedkiller and a mulch. As my dad said: Deprive weeds of light, and they will die. Four months ago, when I ripped out some old pink carpet from my house, I put it over a large rectangle of my […]
Finding And Completing A Cedar Circle
When my brother moved to Vashon Island, WA, he became friends with a couple who studied Native American traditions. One thing they did on their property was plant a group of cedars in a circle, creating a sacred space cedar circle. I’ve tried to respectfully learn more about this tradition, but haven’t found much. This […]
Fresh Seeds: What A Concept!
Being the frugal guy I am, if I don’t use seeds one year, I try them the next. Not that there is anything wrong with that, because seeds usually germinate for several years (although the germination rate goes down the longer you keep them in storage). My wife has A LOT of old seeds, so […]
Plant In The Ant Hill: Gardening Experiment
Northwest Georgia is notorious for several things, including large fire ant hills and thick, sticky red clay. The clay is so thick, it is hard to imagine any plant can grow in it without a lot of compost or some other organic material to break it up. However, the fire ants make their hills in […]
Stung By Nature’s Plants? The Cure Is Nearby
Stung by stinging nettle and need a cure? Native American lore says that if there is a plant that can hurt you (stinging nettle, thistles, poison ivy, poison oak, etc.), the cure is always nearby. Of course, the best part of the cure is to avoid “poison plants” (i.e., plants that sting) by wearing gloves […]