Category: Interacting with nature

when things go wrong

When I last mowed the grass/growth in the main chicken paddock, I left the center unmowed because the clover was in bloom and pollinators were busy.  So on Tuesday I fired up the lawn tractor (see prior posts on various repairs including welding of deck) and as I did the first outer loop happened to notice a clutch of eggs in a hollow at the base of a pine tree. Three hens participated and since no one was on patrol I assume convenience and the summer heat contributed to the decision - why Read more [...]

the beautiful and the ugly

This time of year we have at our feeder the residents (northern red cardinal, blue jay, mourning dove, chipping sparrow, indigo bunting, tufted titmouse, and our state bird the brown thrasher which has as many calls as a mockingbird) and the visitors (dark eyed junko, white breasted sparrow).  And this year a striking new visitor - the rose breasted grosbeak. I count the grosbeak and buntings among the beautiful. Next to the chicken coop is a mulberry I planted some 4 years ago and, tho Read more [...]

ferry service and spring seeding

Past week I have operated a ferry service for the ladybugs/ladybirds which hibernate each winter in the northeast bathroom.  Each day about 20 new ones appear and since the windows are screened it is easier for me to collect them in a small glass jar and carry them to the raised beds area where I release them.  It is easiest to catch them when they are on the ceiling - simply hold the jar below them and nudge them with paper and they topple into the jar where they may momentarily play dead before Read more [...]

cold weather returns

I won't complain about the cold, not when I know what is going down in the north east, I will just comment on conditions and how I am responding.  We had freezing rain 2 days ago and the result was more aggravated where my farm is 50 miles north of Atlanta, than Atlanta itself.  The trees off the highway look normal as you head north on the 515 from Atlanta until you pass Canton and then you notice a silvery, icy sheen on the branches.  Georgia has lots of pine trees and the pine needles are adapt Read more [...]

mystery of the trees

Last night I attended the premiere of the 1 hour documentary Mystery of the Trees which is about so-called "bent", "thong" or "marker trees" left behind by the Cherokee indians in north Georgia.   Young trees were bent horizontal by thongs before being allowed to resume vertical growth and many examples still abound in the area. I had noticed a horizontal shaped tree in the adjoining woods but assumed it was from natural causes, just like the tulip poplars I have previously posted which also Read more [...]

sweet potato, pests, a broody hen

I had my best harvests this year.  Everything did well and while the weather, rains and fewer pests all helped, mostly I think is I am getting better at growing.  (I mention rains because all my irrigation is with rainwater).  Last year, my first with sweet potatoes, I produced finger sized specimens.  This year, tho I left it a bit late, they are big. Pest pressure has been minimal which I attribute to increased biodiversity and natural predators etc. tho this week I noticed two instances Read more [...]

jujube, 3 Canadian aids, a feral bee colony

With unexpectedly cooler weather here in N Georgia in September, I am spending more time in the vegetable garden and orchards.  I had planted jujube saplings a few years ago in the terraced orchard and neither irrigated nor tended them until recently I noticed small round fruit.  At the time they were green and tasteless.  Now they are brown or red with wrinkled skins and a delicate flavor, a bit like an apple.  There are two small jujube trees - the Li Jujube provided just one fruit, the Lang Read more [...]

a 2nd use for old beer

In the past week I noticed my chard and toscano kale were being ravaged by slugs/snails or caterpillars, and I discovered in a cupboard, packs of beer with a January 2011 expiration date.  Adopting the permaculture mantra, the problem is the solution, last evening I buried an old cup at rim level in between the victimized chard and filled it with beer.  And this morning I was pleased to find a large slug: I scooped out the slug and small wasp and will visit the site again tomorrow.  And Read more [...]

what’s coming in

Before the harvesting roundup I must return to my favorite - the industrious bumblebee.    The Rose of Sharon, hibiscus, thrives alongside the deck and each morning their pollen offerings bring in the bumblebees. They scramble deep into the flowers and their activity sprays the air with pollen which bespeckles them. And they load their saddlebags with food. Much as I like my honey bees and appreciate their excellent honey, the bumblebees cannot be supplanted in my affections. The Read more [...]

a surfeit of tomatoes

This has been a good tomato year for me.  I made several big changes to the way I grow tomatoes and perhaps this helped.  The big challenge right now is to use them all. I pick the tomatoes a little early when they show an orange or yellow tinge and allow them a couple days to ripen, therefore the green ones in the picture.  I may sacrifice some taste but this puts me ahead of the line.  Of whom you may ask? These are the secretive ones which, like a squirrel, quickly move to the Read more [...]