An Early Harvest - Berry Go Round August 2011

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August, on the edge of September, is the beginning of the time of harvest. At least that's how it is here in the upper Midwest. Around here, home gardens and local markets have been filling up with produce. The bounty of another summer season has begun, which leads into autumn, my favorite season.

So, welcome to the August 2011 edition of Berry Go Round. It was a real pleasure to be asked to host this blog carnival, and I hope you enjoy this early harvest of botany and plant related blog posts. We have a wide variety of topics, but first I want to give a shout out to PatternMart.com for the following image of an "early harvest" :

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We'll start with the theme of art. Christine Kane is an artist living and working in Illinois, and I dare say that she gets the very best out of local natural scene. (Not easy in a metro area with millions of people!). Her blog is Let's Paint Nature and for us Christine has offered a lovely sketch of a Black Walnut - as well as her musings on a potential harvest of said nuts. Good luck with that harvest Chris and go easy on the squirrels!

The artistry continues with the work of Colorado landscape architect (and fellow hedgerow fancier) Nancy Eastman. Her firm, Art of the Land, recently collaborated on a green roof where the harvest will be measured in energy savings and reduced water runoff. These types of innovative ideas are becoming the norm - finally.

Now, if we can only build those post-modern hedgerows......hmmmm!

Our harvest continues with The Scientist Gardener who gives us a fine history lesson in agriculture in the post Putting up Hay. Who among us hasn't wondered about those long windrows of cut vegetation and plastic covered bales that populate the pastures? His fine essay connects modern times with our farming past, and I was especially interested to read about how hay stacks were so functional even as they were consumed by farm animals.

Oh yeah, this is probably a good time to remind you readers of the gleaning work of the Society of St. Andrews. If you're able, donate early and often....Waste not, want not as my parents used to say!

And oh yeah (again!) often times when I read about the agricultural past I'm reminded of the work of The Land Institute (you've heard of them I'll bet) and their efforts to merge the benefits of food grains with perennial native grasses. This is revolutionary work that will help feed the world of tomorrow.

Sigh. Well, if there are heroes (like those folks above) there must be villains, right? Well, who among hasn't just loathed the Japanese Beetle? Note: I personally in 2011 have squashed hundreds (yes, hundreds!) of them. Well, a nice round of applause for uber-blogger Bug Girl, who will enlighten us on the relative worthlessness of those yellow beetle traps. And she will do so with great humor and wit. (It's in her contract)

The early harvest of insect and plant related mystery and wonder continues at Gravity's Rainbow, where sarcozona shares with us the mystery of inquilines - I'm pretty sure that Japanese Beetles do not qualify for inquiline status!

As I think about the word harvest and the wide variety of topics touched on in this issue of Berry Go Round I want to conclude with a success story out of Detroit, Michigan: growtown.org. (I have blogged previously about their work here) When I see projects like this get started it gives me hope about the future of people, nature and cities.

It may not be this way for everyone, but my affection for the natural world has tended to build off of other things. I'm now in my early 50's and I can look back over my stages of learning as if they were chapters in a book. It may not seem immediately obvious but my interest in prairies, birds, hedgerows, astronomy, trees, insects, and so on all relate backwards to when I was a kid fooling around in my parents garden and back yard.

I love the work I do, and I know I am fortunate to be able to say that. These are exciting and important times for anyone interested in plants and nature. There are many, many problems that need attention, that need advocates. That need you. One could even say there is a virtual harvest that could be gleaned through!

The internet can provide information and inspiration. Berry Go Round is one such source of inspiration, so stay tuned: the September 2011 edition will be hosted by A DC Birding Blog.

On Water, and now Wind.

Hatteras Island, 2011

Just a week ago we were vacationing on the barrier islands along the coast of North Carolina. Here I was all ready to write about water. The joy of water in the various forms that it was presented to us: in the ocean, in the sound, and even in the hotel pool. This was a new destination for E and I, and we enjoyed it immensely. It was difficult not to fantasize about living in such beauty.

Hurricane Irene is now providing a most dramatic wake up call just as I’m putting away my swim trunks and flip-flops. Her fury is surely editing many lives at the moment, and so in that spirit I will edit my intended watery musings. I wanted to write about water and nature, but lately I’ve been thinking about the people and animals that we met in our travels.

The Ocracoke Ponies. When she was a little girl E was a huge fan of horses, and the lives of the barrier island horses became quite dear to her through the writings of Marguerite Henry in stories such as Misty of Chincoteague. So, the remnant herd of horses now penned on Ocracoke was a must see on our trip. The horses were beautiful, stocky creatures. They are now cared for by the National Park Service, so I suspect their mood is somewhere in between wild and zoo-kept. What happens to this herd in such moments? Are they shuttled off the island or are they left to their stables until Irene blows over?

The Hotelier and the Bulldog. The manager of our hotel had trained a bulldog to ride a skateboard. This is cool beyond words. ‘Nuff said.

The People at the Grocery Store, the Bakery, the Shell Shop and the Bookstore. In hindsight these were the folks (along with the hotel staff, of course) that we interacted with the most.

They fed us, informed us, and amused us in the way that any good neighbor might. In short, they made us feel at home.

The Man on the Boat Named Baum. On the ferry boat to over to Ocracoke we spoke to one of the boatmen about the boats. His last name was Baum - one of two on our ferry that afternoon - and one of the eight boats is named after his great-grandfather. The name Baum was also inscribed on the old site of the Cape Hatteras lighthouse. We weren’t sure if that was the same man, but the family clearly has a name on the islands. During our sunny transit over Pamlico Sound Mr. Baum related to us the assorted procedures they go through in the event of a storm.

Procedures I have no doubt they’re executing as I type this.

Seaside!

Hatteras Island,2011

Hover Craft

. Cook County, 2011
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Dream a Little Dream

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Daydreams often lead me back to 70.8%.
Hmm. I think it's time to get back to the sea!

Berry-Go-Round

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If you need a green minute take a look at the July edition of Berry-Go-Round hosted this month at Beyond the Brambles. BGR is a monthly blog carnival devoted to all things botanical, and the next edition at the end of the month will be hosted by yours truly here at osage+orange! If you wish to submit something relevant, please do so by 8-25-11!

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