Hay: Everything Old is New Again
An old hay bale. Left over from last winter—we bought hay to feed the sheep, but the early spring weather brought early grass and that meant the sheep didn’t need all the hay. So this one stray bale just sat there, ignored. It got left out in the rain and weather all summer and fall. Now in December it’s still just sitting there. No good for sheep fodder. The hay is all dead and useless. Except it isn’t dead, because life is starting over on top of the bale. Some of the zillions of seeds baled up inside have germinated, and there you go. The seeds of grasses and...
Read MoreGrass: Winter Green
It’s November. Not a doubt of it. I can tell, because of all the usual clues. I can see my breath. There’s a skim of ice on the pond. I need mittens in the morning, because the steering wheel is like ice. The trees have bare branches. And the grass is emerald green. It’s the oddest thing about November, I find, the combination of brown shrivelled flowers, barren tree branches, and bright green grass. Grass, you see, is hard to kill. The leaves of many species of grass and lots of other low-lying plants, like clover, are highly resistant to frost. It’s hugely to the plants’ advantage,...
Read MoreLawn Sushi
A local plant nursery—just a quick stop for a look…No. No, no. I do not need to buy any more plants. But it’s like a candy store…just have to check it out. I’m looking for native perennials for my optimistically planned butterfly garden next summer. Anyway, I notice this truck in the parking lot. Odd. A lot of rugs rolled up and piled in the back. Someone must be moving. Only when I looked closer, of course they weren’t rugs at all. They were lawns, rolled up as neatly as a California tuna roll. Ready to truck to a new site, a housing development somewhere. All you have to do is unroll it...
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