The Birds and the Peas

by | Apr 24, 2011 | Talk Dirt to Me

The Birds and the Peas Garden pic The other morning the older of our two indigent boarders noticed a “black thing” near the swingset. Closer examination revealed a decapitated robin. Good morning, happy spring! Bird watching was not a popular past time for...

Fagus sylvatica

by | Apr 26, 2011 | Talk Dirt to Me

Fagus sylvatica Thus far in my ruminations about plants, I have kept my dorkitude focused on smallish plants. True Welwitschia (https://valleyadvocate.com/blogs/home.cfm?aid=13287)can get pretty big, but it’s kind of a weird shrub really. The dominant plants in...

Peas in a cup

by | Apr 28, 2011 | Talk Dirt to Me

Peas in a cup The peas are in a cup because they germinate much better if I soak them overnight. This seems to work with all the big fleshy legumes: beans and peas. I mentioned the peas last week because I’d been worried about birds. One variety has come up. The...

Critters

by | May 1, 2011 | Talk Dirt to Me

critters According to most dictionaries, the word “creature” was pronounced “critter” in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries — when the colonies were being founded. It now has a sort of jokey valence and brings to mind creepies,...

Trillium erectum

by | May 5, 2011 | Talk Dirt to Me

This spring beauty has some very peculiear adaptations and some really lovely common names. Pointy-headed taxonomists call common names “trivial names.” Some don’t strike me as trivial in the least. These names are often informative. TheTrillium...