Author | Lightnews

Alder Burns @adiantum.bsky.social · 1d

My great grandmother outlived all four of my grandparents, dying when I was about 12. As a young woman she survived the Galveston hurricane of 1900 (arguably the worst natural disaster in American history). Even her house survived. She also lived for years with a man she wasn't married to.

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Alder Burns @adiantum.bsky.social · 6d

Sweet potatoes out, garlic and onions in! The one neighbor stops and asks, surprised..."What in the world are you planting this time of year?" "Garlic!". It's the time to plant garlic every year. He's one of those who "puts the garden in" one day in the spring, and that's it.

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Alder Burns @adiantum.bsky.social · 6d

Oh wow! I had forgotten this plant completely! I still recall seeing it in the distance in North Carolina years ago, and exclaiming "what is that?", since most common things I know on sight, even at a distance. Another one to add to the seed list!

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Alder Burns @adiantum.bsky.social · 7d

They are a staple for me, and they like a long hot summer. But so long as I get them inside and it's not actually raining on them, they should dry out and be fine. They will store under my bed till well into spring.

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Alder Burns @adiantum.bsky.social · 7d

No more highs over 60 in our forecast, so, frost or no frost, rain or no rain, sweet potatoes come out!!

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Alder Burns @adiantum.bsky.social · 10d

Perhaps you could trench in a barrier around the house, like heavy plastic, vertically into the ground, as both a root and a termite barrier, and then apply the poison only on the inside of it, between the plastic and the house. I've personally dealt with termites in multiple sites with hot borax.

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Alder Burns @adiantum.bsky.social · 10d

Still a good deal better than an unexpected encounter with poison ivy, especially without leaves to recognize it by.

Alder Burns @adiantum.bsky.social · 11d

Oh always good! It's Jo Hickey Hall's "Modern Fairy Sightings Podcast". Listening to it every day again now while I sit and hull black walnuts out in the sunshine!

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Alder Burns @adiantum.bsky.social · 17d

And drink water! don't forget the water!

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Alder Burns @adiantum.bsky.social · 18d

The far west of the country has it's own species (Lysichiton)---now an "invasive exotic" in many parts of Europe; and there are other relatives in East Asia. But of course if you go back far enough all those places have colonialism in their past as well. Skunk cabbages rock!!

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Alder Burns @adiantum.bsky.social · 19d

Looks more than a bit like a tiger she's on! Just like all those images of the Hindu goddess Durga and others! I wonder if some ideas and images went traveling....

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Alder Burns @adiantum.bsky.social · 19d

It's also been recently discovered that common milkweed, at least, is an important forage for adult fireflies! Yet another of it's ecosystem benefits!

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Alder Burns @adiantum.bsky.social · 20d

Listening to podcast about fairies sitting in the warm sunshine while taking the new small pressure canner on its maiden voyage with dumpster chicken curry in the jars! Gratitude!

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Alder Burns @adiantum.bsky.social · 22d

inhospitable climates that are so happy elsewhere they are reseeding (like Florida torreya in the southern Appalachians). Assisted migration (to quote Connie Barlow) will become more and more important as climate change sets in..

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Alder Burns @adiantum.bsky.social · 22d

Would that I had more budget for such adventures! But it's a good thing when endangered species find their way into recovery in numbers through becoming popular garden plants! There are some that no longer exist in the wild (Franklinia) and others that were "stranded" in progressively

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Alder Burns @adiantum.bsky.social · 22d

There are definitely reply bots and troll accounts here in Bluesky. Liberal use of the block button is the default answer here as much as elsewhere...

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Alder Burns @adiantum.bsky.social · 25d

And by growing and eating them, I'm participating in their long relationship with us humans. They are one of the Polynesian canoe crops, taken from island to island over vast distances. And they are the first proof of their early contact with the Americas (since validated by human DNA).

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Alder Burns @adiantum.bsky.social · 25d

It's my staff of life. If I had to be turned loose in a temperate or tropical landscape and could only take one cultivated plant with me, it would be that. I eat them daily, sometimes 2-3 times daily, for much of the year (especially now that I've discovered grating and drying them)...

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Alder Burns @adiantum.bsky.social · 26d

If you have some sunny yard space you will get a lot more, especially if you make a raised bed with light fluffy or sandy soil, without a lot of manure or fertility. Sweet potatoes are truly magical, with a magical history and tradition. Also, eat the greens! Cook them up just like spinach!

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Alder Burns @adiantum.bsky.social · 27d

Yeah it's that time for hard choices! Just how many needy potted plants do I want to crowd in here for the winter. Especially competing with 2 cats for sunny window space!

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Alder Burns @adiantum.bsky.social · 29d

One of my favorites!! It has escaped and grows wild in some parts of the east and south USA. It's closest relative is Iris dichotoma, and their hybrids, called pardancanda, are all kinds of colors. Wikipedia says this iris is also a Chinese medicinal.

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Alder Burns @adiantum.bsky.social · Oct 2

Meanwhile most native people around the world have always used local plants, and most climates offer several, whether wild or easily cultivated. In many temperate climates, the various cedars and cypresses, sweet grasses, and various species of Artemisia come first to mind.

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Alder Burns @adiantum.bsky.social · Oct 2

This reminds me that many of the world's popular incense plants are becoming rare and endangered in their natural habitats, partly due to over-harvesting for commerce. These include the Indian sandalwood, frankincense, some types of palo santo, white sage, and more....

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Alder Burns @adiantum.bsky.social · Sep 27

Went up the road just a mile or so to grab bags of milkweed seed from a certain spot I've had my eye on....we have almost none of it on our site, and now we will, and the welcome it will bring to butterflies, fireflies, and more!

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Alder Burns @adiantum.bsky.social · Sep 24

what happened? The post got deleted....

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