The front and back yards are tangles of heirloom vegetables and wildflowers of many different types, and that draws a lot of butterflies, especially the large yellow tiger swallowtails. Mexican sunflowers (Tithonia rotundifolia) and various varieties of sunflowers dominate about half the area with full sunlight, with cosmos, coneflowers, and zinnias making up most of… Continue reading Sunflowers and Butterflies
Category: Pollinator Meadow
Flower Meadow & Rate of Change
The large maple in the back yard was home and pantry to all sorts of birds and animals, and so I wasn’t happy taking it down, but it needed doing. The maple was asymmetrical and leaning over the house. The issue was using a lot of energy to change things very fast and move all… Continue reading Flower Meadow & Rate of Change
Male Rhinoceros Beetle
This is a male specimen of the eastern Hercules beetle (Dynastes tityus), a species of rhinoceros beetle native to the eastern US. I saw one of these only a handful of times growing up, and I was amazed each time. I associate them with years when June is rainy, and the plants are fat and… Continue reading Male Rhinoceros Beetle
Biodiversity and Ecological Value
At least half of my time tending the pollinator meadow is spent removing invasive evergreen seedlings: monkey grass (liriope), Japanese privet, wintercreeper, English ivy. These plants might not feed most insects and other animals, but birds love the seeds and poop them all over creation. The problem is that these plants displace native species that… Continue reading Biodiversity and Ecological Value
Pollinator Meadow vs Garden
The ancestors made their gardens only in the rich damp soils of the bottom lands around rivers and creeks. My yard is mostly clay and sand and is well up the hill from a creek. Growing most vegetables would require unsustainable and wasteful irrigation using water from the municipal water supply which is taken from… Continue reading Pollinator Meadow vs Garden
The First Harvest 2018
Going into this, I explained to my son that we had several challenges and unknowns and that the goal for the first year might be merely to raise enough seed for next year, preferably enough seed that we could sow it in a thick tangle with enough left over in case a late freeze killed… Continue reading The First Harvest 2018
Native American Garden First Planting
Native American Garden We aren’t using any pesticides on our plants. We aren’t shooting the squirrels, although I have explained to my son that in a time of hunger, we wouldn’t have to worry about them because they would have already seen the inside of a pot. I only hope they leave us enough for… Continue reading Native American Garden First Planting
Seedlings
Germination Room 1: Formerly Known as the Dining Room Instead of buying plastic germination trays, I wanted to show my son how to reuse recycled materials like cardboard and the rolls from toilet paper in some totes on loan from the warehouse.