American Meadows Order
Dec. 25th, 2024 08:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithThe seed portion of my order from American Meadows arrived yesterday. :D The plants are supposed to arrive in April.
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Carnivorous Squirrels
Dec. 21st, 2024 04:52 pmysabetwordsmithCarnivorous squirrels documented in California
First evidence of ground squirrels hunting and eating voles in Bay Area. California ground squirrels hunt, kill and eat voles, reveals a new study documenting evidence of widespread carnivorous behavior among squirrels.
O ... kaaayyy. That's weird. 0_o
If you live in California, you might want to watch for them raiding your suet feeders.
First evidence of ground squirrels hunting and eating voles in Bay Area. California ground squirrels hunt, kill and eat voles, reveals a new study documenting evidence of widespread carnivorous behavior among squirrels.
O ... kaaayyy. That's weird. 0_o
If you live in California, you might want to watch for them raiding your suet feeders.
Pocket Park in Snow
Nov. 30th, 2024 11:26 pmysabetwordsmithToday we went out for Small Business Saturday. I noticed that a downtown pocket park, which has been slowly developing for some years, had a small light display. (The town's main light display is in a much bigger park but wasn't turned on yet when we went past.) So I stopped to take some pictures.
( Walk with me ... )
( Walk with me ... )
Extinct Birds
Nov. 28th, 2024 12:41 amysabetwordsmithDiscovering the traits of extinct birds
Analysis of 216 extinct species by biologists found birds endemic to islands, occupied ecologically specific niche, lacking flight, with large bodies and sharply angled wings were the ones likely to disappear the soonest after 1500.
In other words, humans are lazy and hungry, also prone to bring pests. :/
Analysis of 216 extinct species by biologists found birds endemic to islands, occupied ecologically specific niche, lacking flight, with large bodies and sharply angled wings were the ones likely to disappear the soonest after 1500.
In other words, humans are lazy and hungry, also prone to bring pests. :/
Poem: "Earthlove"
Nov. 18th, 2024 11:05 pmysabetwordsmithThis is the freebie for the November 2024 ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
crowdfunding Creative Jam. It was inspired by a prompt from fuzzyred. It also fills the "green / yellow" square in my 11-1-24 card for the Sleepytime Bear Bingo fest. This poem is about autumn, gardening, and birds.
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crowdfunding Creative Jam. It was inspired by a prompt from fuzzyred. It also fills the "green / yellow" square in my 11-1-24 card for the Sleepytime Bear Bingo fest. This poem is about autumn, gardening, and birds.( Read more... )
Permaculture Around the World
Nov. 17th, 2024 09:30 pmysabetwordsmithI got to talking with a friend about permaculture in Great Britain and it kind of snowballed from there...
These are permaculture design principles. They can help figure out how to build a mini-ecosystem.
Here is a handbook for Midwest North America tree guilds. Some of these, like oak and ash, will grow in many parts of the world; and a fruit tree guild can be customized for anywhere.
Note that a food forest will definitely attract birds! If you want to keep some food for yourself, you will have to net some things like fruits and berries. Same if you want to save seeds from their favorite flowers like echinacea or zinnias.
( Read more... )
These are permaculture design principles. They can help figure out how to build a mini-ecosystem.
Here is a handbook for Midwest North America tree guilds. Some of these, like oak and ash, will grow in many parts of the world; and a fruit tree guild can be customized for anywhere.
Note that a food forest will definitely attract birds! If you want to keep some food for yourself, you will have to net some things like fruits and berries. Same if you want to save seeds from their favorite flowers like echinacea or zinnias.
( Read more... )
What I'm Growing
Nov. 12th, 2024 06:32 pmysabetwordsmithAlmost everything in the Charleston Food Forest is something I'm growing, would like to grow, or at least recognize from edible plant studies. So I thought it would be fun to break that down, listed in approximate spatial order moving through the lists of pictures ...
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ysabetwordsmithThis concludes the tour of the Charleston Food Forest. (See Part 1: Right Front. Part 2: Right Back, Part 3: Left Back.)
( Walk with me ... )
( Walk with me ... )
ysabetwordsmithThis continues the tour of the Charleston Food Forest. (See Part 1: Right Front. Part 2: Right Back.)
( Walk with me ... )
( Walk with me ... )
ysabetwordsmithThis continues the tour of the Charleston Food Forest. (See Part 1: Right Front.)
( Walk with me ... )
( Walk with me ... )
ysabetwordsmithwww.thespruce.com/how-to-grow-marigolds-1402909My partner Doug spotted this place recently, and today we explored the Charleston Food Forest and its plants. (See Part 2 Right Back, Part 3: Left Back, Part 4 Left Front, and What I'm Growing.) It's a skinny rectangle, and not all that big. If you cut it in half and lined the halves up as a square, then it would fit in a typical town yard around here. It has a LOT of plants in it, thoughtfully chosen and arranged. I wouldn't call it a food forest myself, because while it has multiple layers, it is really short. I doubt anything is more than about 10-12 feet tall. That's sensible in a garden this small. But when I think of a forest, I'm thinking one that at least has a canopy layer. Mine has emergents, the main canopy, the subcanopy, and then all the shorter stuff as shown here (understory trees, shrubs, herbs, groundcovers, roots, fungi, vines, etc.). So I'd probably call this one a permaculture garden. (See the layers of a food forest and permaculture design principles.) I didn't spot actual guilds, but everything is arranged in logical order. Someone has done an amazing job setting this up in the space available.
The really subversive thing: it's not a garden to be looked at, it's a garden to be used, for free, by everyone. A little slice of Terramagne, or Turtle-Island-That-Was, especially since it's located right next to a government building with several human service offices. So I helped myself to some seeds. Sure, I might come back later for things to eat. But what I am really interested in is gathering things from here that I can grow at home.
I could only think of two things I'd really add to make this even better:
1) A Little Free Seed / Plant Library so folks could swap things.
2) A community bulletin board, chiefly for people to post their Have / Want lists for trading, but could also be used to announce things like plant swaps or sales, garden open houses, etc. There is an Events section on the back side of the welcome sign, but it's under glass.
( Walk with me ... )
The really subversive thing: it's not a garden to be looked at, it's a garden to be used, for free, by everyone. A little slice of Terramagne, or Turtle-Island-That-Was, especially since it's located right next to a government building with several human service offices. So I helped myself to some seeds. Sure, I might come back later for things to eat. But what I am really interested in is gathering things from here that I can grow at home.
I could only think of two things I'd really add to make this even better:
1) A Little Free Seed / Plant Library so folks could swap things.
2) A community bulletin board, chiefly for people to post their Have / Want lists for trading, but could also be used to announce things like plant swaps or sales, garden open houses, etc. There is an Events section on the back side of the welcome sign, but it's under glass.
( Walk with me ... )
Photos: House Yard
Nov. 2nd, 2024 10:28 pmysabetwordsmithToday I took some pictures around the yard. These are images from the house yard.
( Walk with me ... )
( Walk with me ... )
Adopt a Turkey Month
Nov. 1st, 2024 09:49 pmysabetwordsmithNovember is Adopt a Turkey Month. Instead of eating the turkey, you allow it to live out its full life. This provides a good alternative for animal lovers and vegan or vegetarian people; see below for alternatives to turkey on Thanksgiving. Farm Sanctuary is one place for rescued turkeys.
However, if you wish long-lived turkeys, especially to raise yourself, look at heritage breeds. In order to qualify, the turkeys must grow slowly enough to minimize health problems and be able to reproduce naturally. Commercial broad-breasted turkeys get so fat so fast that they often have health issues, cannot mate naturally, and are recommended for slaughter by 26 weeks due to mobility problems.
You could also support wild turkeys. These big birds need considerable high-quality habitat to thrive.
Here are some ideas...
( Read more... )
However, if you wish long-lived turkeys, especially to raise yourself, look at heritage breeds. In order to qualify, the turkeys must grow slowly enough to minimize health problems and be able to reproduce naturally. Commercial broad-breasted turkeys get so fat so fast that they often have health issues, cannot mate naturally, and are recommended for slaughter by 26 weeks due to mobility problems.
You could also support wild turkeys. These big birds need considerable high-quality habitat to thrive.
Here are some ideas...
( Read more... )
