I Am Not Hamlet

It's spring (in the northern hemisphere)--so that means about a billion different things.  One thing it means to me is garlic mustard is sprouting again; soon to stretch to adult heights.  So, on Thursday, 4 April, we trekked off to the Martin Hollow to survey that damned plant.  The bad news?  It's still around.  The good news is, thanks to two years of intensive pulling there is a heck of a lot less on our property this year.  In fact, we weren't very diligent, but we only pulled about a half pound or so of that stinking weed.  One of my areas of concern only had about 20 plants in it--that's good considering each adult can contain about 900-3,000 seeds depending on whom you consult.  Now, we make forays on to the neighbor's land--the person is absentee, so you can grumble about trespassing all you want, but he or she is NOT stewarding the property, and if I don't do it, it'll only be back on my land soon enough. public domain photo This s...

autumn olive berries     What does cutting down the invasive shrub autumn olive (Elaeagnus umbellata) on a cold Saturday in January have to do with the Gospel?  Quite a bit, it turns out.      My family has been trying to figure out a way to incorporate community service (a bland phrase, if ever there was one) into our monthly schedule.  So, for our first attempt I took my wife and children to Island Lake State Park in SE Michigan to help restore (in a very small way) an oak savanna.  An oak savanna (or as the old timers called it "oak barrens") was one of a few landscape types found in lower Michigan prior to European/American settlement.  Essentially, it's a prairie with some oaks scattered here and there.  The Indians maintained prairies by setting the land afire occasionally to keep them relatively treeless.  Thus providing habitat for the largest food source available--the American bison.  The Western way of farm...

Dana Gioia, poet, former NEA Chairman, and USC Professor on spending time on his property in Sonoma County: I have twenty hilly acres of oaks, redwoods, and madrones, and there is always work to do.  I'm trying to restore the landscape to its natural state and protect the native species.  No one really cares about this goal but me.  My neighbors think I should tear out the trees and plant grapes.  But I prefer the way God landscaped it. I couldn't agree more. (From  Image #73)

Wendell Berry once wrote something to the effect that the beginning of stewardship is to know what is there.  Many of us talk a good game about caring for the Earth, but what does that mean?  Do you even know what inhabits the ecosystem of your backyard?  It is difficult, at least for me, to care for abstractions.  If you can concretely know what is around you, you might be more inclined to care for whatever is around you.  Here is my challenge: Clearly identify six to ten different species of plants and animals (and even rocks) that spend some time in your yard (your front yard counts too.)  You should include at least two plant species two insect species and two mammal or bird species.   You may not count pets plants that you planted yourself (or someone in your family) anything you can't identify So, for instance, I have a shagbark hickory, an American beech, three American elms, two mulberries, and a couple of red oaks all in various sta...

The two go hand in hand don't they? If you're not already sick of this piece (because it was first posted by me on FaceBook) here it is again: http://flourishonline.org/2010/05/the-flourishing-church-transforming-a-church-yard-one-blade-of-grass-at-a-time/ For some reason I can't make this link "live."

This article appeared in the 26 June 2008 edition of the Observer and Eccentric paper. http://www.hometownlife.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080626/LIFE/806260427&SearchID=73322560451007 The writer conflated a quote of mine with the pastor in the fourth paragraph. She also didn't use my "Anti-Christ turf monster:" appellation of our eight acres of grass. For a laugh at the expense of a crazy person read the comment after the article.