Healthy Gardens. Healthy Planet
Mesquite is marvelous in myriad ways. Mesquites grow into large and lush shade trees. Mesquite wood adds special flavoring to foods over a barbecue, plus it is a dense wood, ideal for hot, slow burning fires. Native peoples long ago discovered that mesquite trees provide wonderful wood for building homes and shady arbors. The early [...]
Is it bad for a writer to admit when they’ve got nothing? For days. I had a break in my contract work on Friday and I spent it trying to figure out some kind of brilliance I could spout for this article. No. Nothing. Not happening. I went out with my camera to wander the [...]
Natural Lighting Conditions Light is one of the most important and influential factors when it comes to filmmaking. No light, no filmmaking. Light is not only important to be able to film your subject, but the direction and type of light can play a huge role in setting the mood you are trying to convey [...]
What to plant? We have a sizeable bed of soil and want to get a crop in before the season slips by. But what should I plant in our sidewalk veggie bed? I don’t usually get too involved with shoulds in my garden but there are some mindsets that are starting to rule me. Native [...]
I was out overlooking the pond that has swelled just over the banks with the help of Tropical Storm Andrea and our wondrous afternoon downpours. I love when the dry season ends and the seasonal dry sections become one with the main pond again. I began to think about how my yard has changed since [...]
Last week while in Albuquerque I discovered a wonderful native plant demonstration garden at the Rio Grande Nature Center, which I stumbled upon quite accidentally as I was driving to meet a friend for lunch and then go birding on Sandia Crest. I had spent a lovely morning at the Butterfly House at the Albuquerque [...]
From chestnut to yellow ’A Bestiary . . . Tales from a Wildlife Garden’ moves on with sparkling songbirds . . . featuring our favorite warblers . . . this time the Yellow-rumped Warbler Setophaga coronata perches before us. This little songbird may have traveled a great distance from Central America or simply flown up [...]
Eastern Nebraska’s drought has broken this spring. Last week we had 5” of rain, several times the amount we saw in almost three months last summer. The garden is thick and lush. The lawn is growing far too fast for my taste. In the side garden (an 8’ by 30’ space) we have nesting cardinals, [...]
They did it again! The plants in my garden have migrated from one part of the garden to another. Plants that I had purposely placed in the partially shady area thinking that was the best place for them have suddenly sprung up in hotter, drier spots. Plants that I thought would be great specimen plants [...]
June is the time to honor pollinators for all the benefits they bring to us and to the ecosystems. We often hear that we owe them one bite out of three of our food. What is rarely mentioned is that much wildlife also owes them a significant amount of their nourishment. Just think about all [...]
