Category: Interacting with nature

harvesting an oak tree and growth rings

I really am not into cutting down trees gratuitously, especially not an oak tree, which is one of my favorite trees.  When I made a road through the woods I selected a path which would require the fewest and smallest trees to be removed.  But this week I needed wood posts.  I did not wish to purchase the treated 4" by 4" posts because they are loaded with preservatives which will leach and be absorbed by the roots of my fruit trees, vines etc.  Composite posts deform and are expensive.  Even Read more [...]

why, in a forest, are the leaves of a small oak tree larger than a big oak tree?

Yesterday, while walking through the woods, I noticed a very large oak tree leaf.  Automatically, I looked up and around for the parent and saw just large pines and then, on the side, a smallish 14 ft oak tree.  Could this small tree have produced such a large leaf, I wondered.  It still retained some leaves and indeed they were very large. Now I know that oak trees will wait patiently in shrub form for an opening in the canopy above and then they spring to life.  I have found 1ft high Read more [...]

why metamorphosis?

If we accept that the living world around us did not just happen, but is the result of millions of years of adaptation and improvement the question rises for me - why do so many insects (and frogs etc.) go through metamorphosis?  I am referring to whole-change or complete metamorphosis where the juvenile form (called a larva) looks very different from the adult form.  Think of butterfly and moth caterpillars (larvae) which change into flying adults.  Or mosquito larvae which live and feed in freshwater Read more [...]

tasks for Fall

I am preparing for winter. cover crops - I cleared the tomatoes and weeds, added compost and sowed winter rye and crimson clover.  A few years ago I used hairy vetch, which worked well and next year I will order more since the local supplier, who originally sold me the seed, no longer carries it. firewood - during the year I cut a new 5 foot wide route through the woods and I steered the path to avoid the larger trees.  I had to uproot and remove smaller trees and I cut their trunks Read more [...]

from peaflowers to DNA

I never studied biology and as I pursue my "new track "in growing and interacting with nature I am at a disadvantage. I recently completed the excellent "Introduction to Sustainability"  MOOC provided by www.coursera.org entirely free, and learned a lot.  I enjoyed the experience and have now decided to study biology.  There is a coursera course starting summer next year "Introduction to Biology: DNA to Organisms" and the notes suggest acquiring "Biology" by Campbell Reece.  I was able to Read more [...]

welcome diversion and a bit of luck

My property is about 50 minutes (=50 miles) north of Atlanta.  Some 30 minutes into the trip I will often find a pretext to stop at the convenient Lowes DIY store for a "necessary " purchase as well as for the free coffee, friendly cashier and to ease springs.  The last reminds me of my army days when, after serious imbibing in the NCO mess, we would "request permission to ease springs" and then stumble over the tent guy ropes into the darkness of the night. So this morning was no different Read more [...]

earthworks – terraces, contour ditches and tree trunks

My permaculture readings have focused me on developing an edible forest garden and earthworks figure prominently in my designs.  Although I already have a number of different fruit trees in my orchard I decided to expand the selection and expect, by the end of November, to receive 2 goumi, 2 pawpaw, 3 kiwi (2 female, 1 male), and a medlar, aronia, sour cherry, and juneberry.  With these pending arrivals I have been at work preparing their planting sites on the side of the hill. The earthworks Read more [...]

brier vs. bramble

In my previous post I mentioned my battle with brambles and referred to brier in passing.  Coincidentally, that evening I happened to listen to the Ballad of Barbara Allen in which the suitor dies from unrequited love for Barbara Allen.  From his grave a rose grows and from hers a briar.  The brier I just dug out and photographed is from the genus Smilax and got its name from Greek mythology.  Krokus, a mortal man, tragically loved the woodland nymph Smilax and on his death he was turned into Read more [...]

lessons from the slope, including the war with brambles

The house I purchased a few years ago is on sloping ground and between the house and the tarmac road was a gully which the previous owner, a contractor, had filled with trash.  (Not as bad as contractors digging holes for landscaping dirt for a new house and then filling with tree trunks, which results in sinkholes, anguish and expense for home owners.)  I tried clearing the trash myself with trips in my pickup to the recycling center but made little progress.  I did not have my bobcat at the Read more [...]

benefits of organic milk – kefir

We have started making our own kefir fermented milk products.  Kefir originated when shepherds discovered that milk carried in leather pouches would ferment and produce a fermented beverage which has a pleasing taste, once your are accustomed to it. We were given a starter culture and the procedure is you add milk to the kefir grains and allow it to ferment for 24 hours at room temperature.  A tablespoon of the kefir grains is adequate for 8 ozs of milk.  After 24 hours the grains have converted Read more [...]