Rachel Carson In Maine: The Salty Garden
At the end of her life, Rachel Carson was struggling to raise an adopted child, write a world-changing book, and battle terminal cancer, simultaneously. She didn’t have any spare time for gardening. Her backyard was the North Atlantic, and her garden was a salty one.
Read MoreLichens: What Are They, Anyway?
What is a lichen, anyway? It’s actually two things, two distinct and unrelated organisms—a species of fungi and a species of algae—living harmoniously together.
Read MoreThere’s Nothing More Beautiful Than a Dandelion
“It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.” Thoreau
Read MoreDo Dogs Get Poison Ivy?
Is it only us? Are we humans the only ones to get poison ivy’s dreaded skin rash? Or do other species of animals get poison ivy? When your dog chases a rabbit into the poison ivy patch, is the dog in trouble? Is the rabbit? Humans are the worst victims of the sneaky three-leaved plant, and as far as I’ve been able to discover, humans are the only species to have such an extreme dermatitis reaction. I suppose it’s possible that penguins or goldfish are highly sensitive to poison ivy, too, but this seems to be an area of science that is amazingly under-researched. In unusual...
Read MoreThree Rocks A Day
I’m going to build rock wall. That’s what I decided, three years ago. A long rock wall along the foundation of the house and another alongside our beat-up old garage. It will look scenic, rustic, picturesque. Classic New England, Robert Frost and all that. I love rock walls, and they’re easy to build, right? After all, how hard can it be to pile one rock on top of another? I started out one bright spring day with a pile of flat stones and a lot of enthusiasm. After ten minutes, things were still going pretty well. After twenty minutes I’d dropped a rock on my finger...
Read MoreLooking For Fern Seed
Fern seed doesn’t exist. Ferns evolved millions of years before seed-bearing plants like grasses and wildflowers, and ferns reproduce by means of spores. These dust-like specks are so tiny as to be almost invisible.
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