Covering Ground
I live in a coastal town with abundant freshwater wetlands that drain to Long Island Sound. Beavers live here, too, and given their penchant for taking down ornamental trees and flooding driveways, their presence is not without controversy.
They weigh less than a pound, in most cases much less, and they make few sounds. Yet frogs, toads, salamanders, turtles, and snakes have a big presence in the landscape.
Don’t mistake their small size for lack of importance in our quality of life. Queen bumblebees are among the earliest insects to emerge in our area, and their pollinating activity is critical to both them and us.
Big bursts of yellow forsythia call out to us in late April, like billboards for spring, easy to see as we fly by in cars, trains, or on bicycles.
If I told you there’s something green sparkling in the February sunlight just outside your door, you might be tempted to take a look. Don’t be disappointed if all you find is moss. It sometimes pays to notice the familiar.
Suzie Flores had no professional farming or maritime experience before 2016. Then her husband, a veteran of the U.S. Marines, purchased the Mechanic Street Marina on the Pawcatuck River in Pawcatuck. He’d been around boats all his life, but was not a farmer.
Perhaps you know someone you consider a master gardener, someone whose skill with plants and flowers is far above average.
How did grains, nuts, kernels, pulses, and pips conquer the plant kingdom and shape human history? If you find the question intriguing, you'll find some answers in this thoughtful look at the multiple ways societies interact with plants and seeds. As science reading goes, it is easy to follow.
My grandma knew something about weeds that too many have forgotten: Hot composting is one of the best ways to kill the seeds. Better yet, hot composting does this without making ash, without a trip to the town dump, and without adding methane emissions at a landfill.