Bees, birds, and butterflies
May 10, 2012 § Leave a comment
A little video I made for our Hungry Turtle facebook page. Here’s a look into our back yard.
Trillium, ramps, and other wild wonders
May 9, 2012 § Leave a comment
Trillium seems to me such a gently joyful flower. It was one of the first flowers I learned to identify as a child out wandering the acres of our farm in Minnesota. There we had a happy mix of woodland, field, and pasture, just as we do here at Hungry Turtle, where we are working carefully towards resilient health and better farm-habitat integration on this somewhat well-worn landscape.
Fortunately, the woods bordering the pasture nearest the learning center (where I live and work) seem to be fairly well left alone, since bloodroot and ramps and strawberries and raspberries and trillium are wild and abundant here. I feel as if I’ve stumbled into a trove of nature’s offerings, which she has quite finely brought about herself, thank you very much, and which are not necessarily meant for me.
I will likely harvest some berries, a handful of ramps, and a good helping of stinging nettles (they are invasively everywhere). The bloodroot and trillium can stay and bloom and I will scarcely touch them. The creeping charlie at the edge of the wood tempts me to try to make it into tea, and I think I will.
But I want to barely make a dent. These woods are just a little of what remains seemingly wild in this world, and if I can forage here it will – it must – be gently, in a way that allows them to remain so.
Low voices
May 6, 2012 § Leave a comment
“In that same lovely Maytime we took to the river in a canoe. Here she was the skilled one and I the crew. At night we would paddle far upriver, and then, sitting together, leaning against the rack, we would drift down, talking in low voices so as not to offend the peace of the night.”
– Sheldon Vanauken, A Severe Mercy
Robin’s eggs
May 4, 2012 § Leave a comment
I came across them in a nest tucked just inside the doorway of an unused shed, when I was bicycling around this afternoon taking photos of our farms. The mother robin flapped outside the moment I set a foot in the door – well, I did thump in heavily, as I was avoiding bristly weeds. And then I saw her nest, and peered in hopefully. There they were.
Four little eggs. So well-shaped. The loveliest of blues.
Mama duck
April 29, 2012 § 2 Comments
The ducks around the resort at Lake of the Ozarks had gotten remarkably comfortable around humans. We saw this little lady fly down into the bushes and settle onto her nest. Look how cozy she is in there. (Thanks to Elena for the shot.)
Little brother’s wedding
April 27, 2012 § 1 Comment
He still seems too young to me, but he always will, I think. He’s the little brother and it can’t be that he’s a grown-up. Even though he’s got a grown-up job, a grown-up apartment, and now, a wife. He makes his own decisions. He makes his own life. My job is to let him, and support him, and love him. (And sometimes play the big sister, even so.)
My sister and her husband and I hopped in their Taurus for a 9-hour drive down to Missouri, where we were met with heat and sunshine. We ate pasta with asparagus and white sauce out on the deck overlooking the Lake of the Ozarks.
Oh, water and boats.
The next day we had some time to explore Lake of the Ozarks State Park. (When you are the sister of the groom, as opposed to the sister of the bride, your wedding responsibilities are somewhat less extensive, so you can do these things!)
The day was misty and a little chilly, but it felt good to get out and hike together.
We saw dogwood trees and columbine. We scrambled up rocky bluffs.
Ah, green.
Some of us dawdled. Others were pressed for time: last-minute shopping for gift wrap and jewelry needed to happen before dinner!
I tend to resist rehearsal dinners, being a little on the shy side. They sometimes seem like an obligation to spend more time with people when the whole wedding day is going to be a crowd for hours and hours. And yet I’ve nearly always enjoyed the rehearsal dinners I’ve gone to. Know why? (1) They usually feel more relaxed than the wedding day proper. (2) You get to know people. Particularly, the family and friends of the person that is marrying the person you are really there for. In the best circumstances, this is a happy and encouraging thing! I don’t know my brother’s wife’s family at all, so it was great to spend dinner chatting with her aunt and uncle, talking about horses with their daughter, and listening to the grandmother’s stories.
Ah, and then the wedding day. This involved some reception set-up and some pictures. And moseying around while other people took more pictures.
We even had an early afternoon siesta on the beach.
Then, le mariage.
Laughter and tears, as always.
At the reception we told stories about growing up with these crazy kids that had now just married each other. And you know those baby-to-wedding photo montage videos? I know everyone does them, but they still get me. Especially, of course, this one. Flashes of memories of my brother over all this time that I’ve known him. Realizing that our lives, because we’re siblings, will always be intertwined. We shared childhood. And seeing Kim grow up gave us a glimpse into her experience of the world. She and Chris made the cupcakes (my favorite was the chocolate with cream filling) and after we all scarfed dessert, the newlyweds headed off for the Virgin Islands.
Where they still are, probably standing knee-deep in turquoise water. Lucky ducks.
And we, their friends and family, are back here, waiting to support and love them in this new journey. Congratulations, you two!
Dandelion
April 25, 2012 § 2 Comments
I’ve known for quite a while that dandelions have some valuable characteristics. No, they are not native to the U.S. and yes, they have invasive tendencies. But did you know: that this plant growing freely in your yard has edible leaves, rich with vitamins and minerals? That the flower petals can be used to make dandelion wine? That the root can be roasted and made into dandelion coffee, or put into a supplement, rumored to aid in clearing skin? (I actually took this supplement for several years and found that it did, in fact, make a difference).
Still, there is that cultured instinctive response to see dandelions in a yard and want to remove them, isn’t there? We didn’t put the plant there and so we don’t want it to be there. Rather than taking advantage of this abundant and hardy little flower, we go to great (and sometimes toxic) efforts to eradicate it. I confess that I wouldn’t want dandelions in the middle of my carefully planned scenic garden, just as many people don’t want it in their well-groomed lawns. I’ve pulled dandelions out of many a vegetable plot. But when we pull it out, could we make a point of using it, at least sometimes? Can we go back even a little bit to our foraging ways?
In all honestly, I hardly ever do anything with the plucky little dandelion (the first picked flower of many a child – isn’t that enough to endear it to us?). I sort of ignore it, other than appreciating those conveniently bottled, easily popped supplements that made my skin so nice. Until now, when I find myself appreciating each bright, sunny, nectar-offering bloom. You know why? Because approximately 9,000 New World Carniolan bees now live several yards from me, and it is early spring, and they need to build comb and start building up their brood. And the dandelion is one of the first spring flowers. We are feeding our bees a bit of fondant and sugar-water and pollen patty to help them get started, but the real nectar is the best stuff. And who’s there? The dandelion.
So, dandelion, with your sunny face, you may grow widely and well in my lawn, and down along the path, and all around the beehives. My bees need you; and as you share your sweetness with them, I hope they’ll one day be able to share theirs with me!
A country lad
April 22, 2012 § 2 Comments
The Passionate Shepherd
Who can live in heart so glad
As the merry country lad?
Who upon a fair green balk
May at pleasure sit and walk,
And amid the azure skies
See the morning sun arise;
While he hears in every spring
How the birds do chirp and sing;
Or before the hounds in cry
See the hare go stealing by;
Or along the shallow brook
Angling with a baited hook,
See the fishes leap and play
In a blessed sunny day;
Or to hear the partridge call
Till she have her covey all;
Or to see the subtle fox,
How the villain plies the box,
After feeding on his prey
How he closely sneaks away
Through the hedge and down the furrow,
Till he gets into his burrow;
Then the bee to gather honey,
And the little black hair’d coney
On a bank for sunny place
With her forefeet wash her face:
Are not these, with thousands moe
Than the courts of kings do know,
The true pleasing-spirits sights
That may breed true love’s delights?
– Nicholas Breton
Snow in April
April 16, 2012 § Leave a comment
After that somewhat strenuous drive home through a pouring thunderstorm, and a much cozier evening tucked under the covers, and a very nice sleep, I woke up to see white out the window.
What?
I did know, actually, that flurries were in the forecast, but I thought that meant petty little flurries. Rain that just briefly, for a second, turns into snow. Not enough to be completely white and flying sideways with the wind.
Only later, after a solid morning’s work, did I get out for a walk to snap some shots, so the melt had already begun. Even now there is little left. Though, tonight is still supposed to be cold.
Oh, funny spring.
Come walk through the woods with Tassie and me:
After driving through a thunderstorm
April 15, 2012 § Leave a comment
“The rain plays a little sleep-song on our roof at night-
And I love the rain.”
-Langston Hughes, “April Rain Song”
Kinds of Honey 