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Update - a little progress on a personal front

 Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature -- the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.

Rachel Carson
 
 
This past week or so, I've been stuck for a topic.  Not much has really happened as I've dealt mainly with leaving one job and searching for/accepting another.  
 
Several quiet anniversaries were celebrated (we moved into our home 3 years ago this month) and I volunteered to man the Odd Fellows booth at the local Stoneboro Fair several days last week.   

Months ago I had applied for a Master Gardener class through the Penn State extension program.  I promptly forgot all about it as I have only done container gardening in the past, and I saw this as an opportunity to learn more.  
 

 
I was very surprised to have been accepted into the program.  This is NOT a degree but rather advanced skills aimed at public outreach and education.  I'm sure that this knowledge however will come in handy as I continue my search for a Green job and try to create my "edible yard."  This starts in October.
 
 I also found it ironic that I was accepted into this program as I didn't have much luck with our garden in our second year, we had issues with deer eating about 60% of what we planted.  


For what ever reason the zucchini and squash we planted would flower but never develop.  We did have some good luck with some strawberries, an abundance of tomatoes and a surprise crop of sunflowers.  I say surprise because we didn't plant them.  Since they were under our bird feeders, the seeds must have dropped and developed from there.   Nor did we plant any additional trees like I wanted to do this year, but instead had to take a few down.
 
 
I planted some native grapes and well and did some landscaping work this year.  It's not much but we are moving forward.  I'm not sure if I have a "passion" for gardening but I do think that every small step I make is only going to help our environment in some small way.   Again however, we are chalking this up to an learning experience and it does appear that I'll have to figure out a where and what I'll want to grow next spring to determine how much space and fencing I'll actually need.
 
So for now...everything is on hold.  I'm still going to try and update this blog once a week or so but right now, other things have priority.  
 
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What all the cool kids are reading.

Maybe we need to rethink invasive species???

Hi. As the writer of the post and feel that I need to clarify something. I do not advocate the planting of invasive species. The point that I'm trying to make, and clearly didn't, is that perhaps we should be thinking about an invasive species in a different light. Apples, figs and other crops are clearly non native to America and Europe but are widely cultivated because they have use to humans as a food source, animal feed, etc. Kudzu is an edible plant and although it is clearly harmful can it be used someway by humans? It's a food source, it's been used as a cloth and is showing some use as a building material. All I'm trying to do is to create discussion on how we can use invasive plants in new ways.   It's mid April here in Western Pennsylvania and so far it's been warm and wet.  The buzz of lawnmowers fill the air as I gallivant through my back yard collecting dandelions to make some tea and bread with them.  I had always known that they w...
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Honoring the past - Thinking more about "invasive" plant species.

 Recently I've been giving some thought to invasive species.  I had received both positive and negative feedback on the blog post concerning kudzu and recently I came across a very well hidden, and very small, wild cherry tree while doing some yard work.  Since it's against the house it would have to be removed since the root systems could damage my foundation.   A buddy of mine at work was asking if I was going to transfer it, his logic being that it was a fruiting tree that would not only attract a variety of pollinator's but that the deer would eat the bark and cherries, keeping them away from the garden (which Sue and I swore we were not going to do this year).  It occurred to me that I was going to have to do a slightly better job of identification, since black cherries are native to America , where as other types of cherries are not.  Being able to make a precise identification would be helpful.   I used to be able to identify all these tre...
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Random Parts and Pieces - Let's pretend we're dead

 Before my mother passed back in October of 2020, she and my dad has basically consolidated their lives to a small 2 room apartment building.   In the brutal logic that both my mom and dad practiced it made sense.   Less to maintain as they grew older meant less to worry about. Their sons were married and had moved away from home a long time ago. They didn't need much or wanted much.  They lived simple lives and would rather spend their days on things they enjoyed like watching a family of deer romp in a field that their balcony overlooked.  Going out to dinner and spending time with loved ones and family. When she passed unexpectedly and Gary, my brother, and I cleaned out the apartment, we were still amazed by the junk they had accumulated.   Somehow, we managed to get through the days.  When my dad passed , it was a little easier to not only deal with his passing, but to clean what he had left in his bedroom. The original paint and d...
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