The shallots I planted last July are blooming now, and replacing the lost nodding onions up on the hill. The sky has noticed. Welcome, Sky! These blue beauties were in the mariposa […]
The Day the Sky Came Down to Earth
A Lousy Apple Year for Vernon
In the local royal gala orchard, long past the renewal date of 10 years for slender spindle high density, high-capital orchards, a snowball bloom has settled out into a lousy crop. The […]
How to Read Your Mind
When reading wild roses, out of focus… … is focus!
A Bee in the, um, Lettuce
Alfalfa flowers make exquisite salad, with a bright green flavour drenched in honey. Let us just give a little leeway to our fellow diners! There’s enough to share.
The Leaf People and the Stem People
Stem People on the left: Ants: the great climbers and farmers. Aphids: their herds. Leaf People on the right: Leaf Miners: the great wanderers, mapmakers and historians of what is passed but […]
June: Deep Autumn in the Grasslands
On open hills in the grassland, it is Autumn now. At the bottom of the slopes where water collects among cattails and wild lettuce, too. In a couple weeks will come the […]
Please, Please, Please Don’t Plant That Lavender!
If you plant that lavender, the crab spiders will have nowhere to go, and they are the wolves of this ecosystem. Removing the top predator from a chain, in this case a […]
We Are All Dressing in Our Finery Now and Waiting for the Feast
We are all just waiting now … … waiting… waiting…waiting… …turning around and waiting some more …… OK, sure, maybe getting a little impatient … … and thin … … maybe a […]
Grey Dress, Silver Cape and Very Cool Shades: Dressing for the Summer Sun
I want eyes like that.
Little Quail Climbing Everest
A clutch of a dozen quail eggs hatched this morning, and I surprised the chicks and their parents at the bottom of some rocks put in to eliminate life from a small […]
