Lady's Slippers and the Nature Conservancy

When I was a child, one of my many quirks was that I liked to earn money doing chores and then send it (in $5 increments if I recall) to causes that I believed in. The World Wildlife Federation and The Nature Conservancy were big favorites. (I also formed an organization called the ALS, the Animal Lover's Society, which had a membership of one--myself. I guess I wanted my charitable work to have an umbrella organization. Plus I could create an ALS logo, which was in marker with the lower curve of the "S" going back to underline the A and the L. Fancy!)

So this is to say that I have been interested in The Nature Conservancy (TNC) for a long time. Their work of acquiring and protecting land and habitats has always made complete sense to me. And in the last few years, I have started sending them money once again. 

I've also come to realize that I live very close to a TNC Natural Area. In fact it's one of my favorite places ever (I am loath to reveal it here, but you could probably figure out). We went there for a hike on Memorial Day recently, and enjoyed the quiet and the waters and the creatures of spring time.

Shelf fungi aka polypore

We brought a picnic of dilly beans, chocolate, crackers, and lots of sliced Vermont cheddar cheese.

Wildlife!

The woods are so lovely.

There was also a new TNC sign at the entrance to this natural area, and I saw that there is another area about an hour's drive away. It's called Eshqua Bog. When I looked it up later, I learned that it is famous for Showy Lady's Slippers that bloom around June 20. So on June 19th (Happy Juneteenth!) we packed up another load of snacks and headed off to the see the Bog!

You see the flowers by walking a boardwalk that travels above the squishy fen (this sign explains that Eshqua bog is actually mostly a fen, meaning it is fed by groundwater and not precipitation, like a bog).

There is a small parking area but also plenty of parking on the dirt road (Garvin Hill Road).

Here are the Showy Lady's Slippers! They are so elegant. I love that powdery stripey pink, and the white petals make it look like they're about to fly away.

I also saw my very first Sundew--a carnivorous plant I'd always noticed in plant books but had never seen in person. The Sundew was MUCH smaller than I had imagined, so easy to overlook. (I found it because it was marked with a sign.) Isn't it cute!?

I'm inspired now to visit other TNC Natural Areas in Vermont. Many of the others are also wetlands. Here's a slightly cropped map showing locations with orange dots, such as Equinox Highlands, North Pawlet Hills, Otter Creek Swamps, Chickering Bog, LaPlatte River Marsh, Barr Hill, and Butternut Hill on the Champlain islands.

How about you--do you like The Nature Conservancy? Have you been to any of their Natural Areas or similar places?

Groundations: Spring 2021

Hello dear reader! How are you doing these days? It seems like it's been one of the gentlest and most beautiful springs in recent memory to me, with flowers blooming extra long, the air perfumed with the scent of lilacs and apple blossoms and honeysuckle, and days of perfect weather that was not too hot or too cold. Now that it's June, the air smells like roses, particularly along the walking paths that border the West River here in Brattleboro, Vermont.

I want to tell you about a gardening project we have started NEW in 2021, and we'll see how it evolves for the rest of the growing season. I'm calling this post "Groundations" because it's a lovely word I heard ultrarunner Jorge Maravilla use in a podcast interview (it was the Morning Shakeout with Mario Fraioli). With all the nuttiness of the world, being able to work together on our garden and know that we'll have a little food coming our way from these efforts is very grounding and gives us foundations that feel good. It's all about the groundations.

So this year we are trying hugelkultur, which is essentially a type of permaculture-slash-raised bed that doesn't have a frame. I believe the word means "hill culture." Permaculture Magazine calls hugelkultur "no-dig raised beds with a difference," though we definitely did a lot of digging to set up our hugels. Today I'm sharing how we set up our two beds and how they're going so far!

First, we decided to let the original plot that I started back in 2017 go back to lawn for now. Instead we decided to dig two long beds--24 feet long it turns out--right across our front yard. We did this back in April when the ground had thawed but it wasn't yet blazing hot.

I am the "family forker" (I love using a digging fork) so I started things off by removing the turf in the area we wanted (turves are to the left in the photo above). Next we dug out more dirt to create two trenches below ground level.

The idea of hugelkultur is to put a lot of biodegradable material of different types into the structure of each bed. We had collected all of our maple leaves from last fall and wintered them in a bit of fencing. (Prof. Kitty trivia: the fencing we used was last year's cucumber trellis and tomato trellis wired together.) 

 

We also spent several weeks in March and April collecting sticks and branches and rotting logs, including getting a local work crew to drop off their yard trimmings one day instead of putting it in the chipper.

So after digging out the trenches, we built them back up with organic materials that will decompose over the next few years. First we put in the leaves.

Then we put in the newer sticks.

We topped that with older logs that had started to decompose already--the idea is that you're making an environment for both microbes and fungi to start their busy little communities.

We put more leaves on top of the wood, and then put the turves back on (trying to do this grass-side down). Finally we put the dirt on top while mixing in some bags of commercial compost.

In the photo above, the nearer left-hand hugel is done, and the right-hand one has the wood and leaves and is ready for turf and dirt. We were ready to plant! Except it was April in Vermont, so we needed to wait a few more weeks until the frost was done.

For the next part of the project, we got some wood chip mulch to cover the hugels and keep warmth and nutrients in and weeds down. In the above photo taken in May, the upper part of the frame shows a layer of the mulch on the hugel. We've never used mulch before, so this is a learning process--especially how to water a plant that buried in mulch as the water seems to just run down the side of our little hills. (We ended up clearing the mulch away from the plant stems, and we pour water into the little bowls that this created.)

Above are the hugels after we got the plants in at the end of May. We buy starts from local farm stands because we usually just want 1-5 of any particular thing. We planted beans, summer squash, a sugar baby watermelon, lettuce, spinach, parsley, onions, tomatoes, and cucumbers.

Below are the hugels today in June. (I don't know if "hugels" is the proper term, but we fondly call them our hugels.)

Three cucumbers plants are starting to take hold and flourish.

The tomatoes are growing nicely so far. Our next project will be to concoct a bamboo trellis for them--we're inspired by the setup that Jag Singh demonstrates in his Cheap & Easy Tomato Trellis video.

The lettuces on the near side of this hugel seem very happy. I'd like to plant some chard and kale on the other side.

That's the hugelkultur story so far! We're excited to reclaim more of our yard for food purposes! My understanding is that the soil will get richer after overwintering, which is a great time for microbial activity. I'll keep you posted on how the plants end up spreading out--we gave them a lot of space and I hope that it's enough!

How does your garden grow? Are you planting in new ways this year? Have you heard of hugelkultur before? How are your GROUNDATIONS?

Artful Ice Shanties in Brattleboro, VT

Here's a sign of spring in Brattleboro: when the ice fishing shanties start to disappear from their winter home on the frozen "Retreat Meadows." The spot, more properly called Wantastegok (the original Abenaki name for this area), looks like a small lake or pond, but it's actually part of the West River. In the wintertime, ice fishing shanties appear on the white expanse--these are the same shanties featured in the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center exhibit we saw in January.

Then in March, when warm weather starts (sometimes only for a few hours at a time before going back to cold), I start wondering how long the shanties will stay out on the ice. There's often a weekend day when the shore is a cluster of trucks and people and shanties being moved around. And there always seem to be some holdouts waiting for one more cold spell... still out on the ice until the last possible moment before the meadow is truly thawed and on its way back to lake-like tranquility.

This year we had something extra to look at--the Artful Ice Shanties exhibit that took place last month at Retreat Farm right on the outskirts of Brattleboro.

Inspired by the museum's exhibit mentioned above, this was a Design-Build competition that took place in late February (on land though, which I was grateful for). The art shanties were very cool and all quite different from one other! Here's a quick tour of what we saw.

This colorful shanty with paper 3D tentacles was inspired by the documentary "My Octopus Teacher."

This shanty was called "No Justice, No Peace" and made to confront systemic racism by recognizing the huge problem and its effects, and that black lives matter.

Breonna Taylor. No Justice, No Peace.

This gothic arch shanty is called "Icy Hue."

Icy Hue has a spacious and inviting interior with chairs, table, tiny woodstove, cooler, and pre-cut fishing hole. I wanted to get inside and cuddle up with a hot fire and a good book.

Here's the other side of "Icy Hue."

This shanty called "Curiosity" is decorated with natural materials like branches and bark and features a skeleton peering into a fishing hole. Presumably it is taking a while to catch a fish? Or maybe this is one enterprising skeleton.

 

This wood shanty resembling an ornate pallet project is illustrated inside and out.

 

You can see there are scenes and images burned into the wood on the sides.

This red and white shanty is called "The Wishing Well" and is intended to be a way to cast spells and set intentions by casting a stone into the well. By the way, each shanty had a unique award printed on its sign, and this one got the award for "IMPRESSIVELY OVERCOMING MERCURY IN RETROGRADE."

The black shanty with moon images is called "Moon Die^TM." I didn't actually figure out that it was a giant die until I read its name on the sign. This shanty is definitely the most noticeable from the road!

 

Here is Moon Die with Icy Hue in the background, and Retreat Farm behind that.

We really liked the Artful Ice Shanties! There was a nice number of shanties to look at, and each was thought-provoking and very creative.

Afterward we walked out on the ice itself. I've never been here in the wintertime, though I kayak here often in the summer. It was amazing to STAND right where I am used to floating. It was beautiful.

I ran past Wantastegok two days ago and it looks like the shanties are gone. The ice is still there though (it's been cold again) and someone was out on the ice in the bright sunshine, flying an enormous red kite.

Gratitude for Tea

February is... not my favorite. I think, "When will winter end?" And I think, "I guess never." And then I think, "Well, I'll have another cup of tea." 

 

In wintertime, tea is my placeholder for many other things. Like going outside, or having any kind of inspiration to get something accomplished (maybe working on my knitting project, or cleaning something). Instead, I have some more tea. Tea gives my hands and my heart something to do, and makes me feel warm outside and hugged from the inside. I think tea is getting me through the winter, really. As February finally draws to a close this weekend, here's a little tour of my tea shelf and some thoughts about this wonderful substance.

Let's start with caffeinated teas. I have learned from trial and error that I should only drink this kind of tea before noon, or else it will keep me awake past midnight. My favorite black tea is Red Rose: such a classic. Red Rose has been the go-to tea in my family for as long as I can remember. Remember when they used to put little collectible figurines in each box? Apparently you can still get figurines in specially marked boxes or if you order directly from Red Rose. I think Red Rose (Original) has a nice, soft mouth-feel--similar to a Darjeeling tea (it's actually Orange Pekoe). I like it with milk and sugar.

I'm also working my way through a box of Lemon Lift black tea and a box of Chai black tea (which is black tea with spices in it). I like the latter with a big spoonful of sweetened condensed milk.

If it's afternoon, a nice fruit tea is good. I recently got two Bigelow teas--the Perfect Peach is great (it says that it's supposed to taste like peach pie, and I'm a fan of that). The Red Raspberry is OK but it has a bit of hibiscus-y tartness that's not very raspberry-like.

 

Next, inspired by the peach pie tea, I started looking for other interesting fruity or dessert-y options, and found these two from Tazo. The Wild Apple Sarsaparilla claims to be "Inspired by the Midwest" which I think is hilarious. It's a little apple-y but also has a spicy-woody twist that is nice. The Glazed Lemon Loaf tea is lemon-y but also has notes of liquorice or anise, which I presume is to make it more robust and... loaflike.

 

 

If it's evening and I'm still craving black tea, I really like Twinings' Lady Grey decaffeinated black tea. It has that same "soft sip" that I enjoy in the Red Rose. I'm also a big fan of Nighty Night Extra with Valerian in it from Traditional Medicinals. I swear it really does help me get to sleep. One of my favorite weekend treats is a mug of Night Night Extra and a slice of cake.

I do have some tea goals. I would like to get my hands on Strawberry Cheesecake tea (made by Red Rose), to see what that's like. I'm on the lookout for white peach tea and mango tea. I also found a Sweet Rhubarb tea by Taylors of Harrogate that sounds pretty delicious.

 

There are some teas I don't like--I'm not a fan of rooibos. I also don't love teas that are essentially a base of chamomile or green tea with other flavors added.

If I ever get to Japan, I'd like to get some Karel Capek tea. (Yes, it is named after the Czech writer who coined the word "robot.") Karel Capek tea packaging is gorgeously illustrated by the founder Utako Yamada, who opened the Karel Capek tea and sweets shop in Tokyo in 2002. The flavors are fascinating like Milk Caramel, Fruits Party, and Girls Tea (Strawberry), and I would love to learn more about Thank You Tea, Birthday Tea, and Pancake Tea. Please watch this Rainbowholic video about the store and Utako Yamada if you'd like to learn more!

 

 

 

So tell me about you and tea. Do you love it? What flavors do you like?

Ice, Hair, Shoes, Words: Brattleboro Museum & Arts Center visit, January 2021

Maybe you recall the "specials" that I blogged about last spring (the first in the series is Mammalogy Lessons, from March 2020). This was when my two children and I did various projects and went on various adventures during the time when they were remote schooling and I was working from home because of the COVID pandemic. 

Well it's months later, and our circumstances are much the same. Both kids are still going to school remotely, and I'm still working from home. And we still do some specials! Here is an exciting one we did recently. We put on our facemasks and went out for a socially distanced trip to the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center. I loved it, even though it seemed that I was dragged through at high speed by my children who wanted to get home again as soon as possible. (Not because of virus concerns, but because they get to have screentime at 3pm and apparently did not want to risk missing one moment.)

Here's a little bit of what we saw. If you're interested and live nearby, the shows are up for a few more weeks. (They vary, so do check online. Also you can see the shows virtually if you do NOT live nearby--just visit the link above and start clicking. You do need a certain type of browser like Safari or Chrome.)

Ice Shanties: Fishing, People & Culture by Federico Pardo

Every winter when the ice is solid, people put up ice-fishing shanties on the shallow waters of the West River. I have driven by this area for years and wondered about the people who put them there and what they're up to. Filmmaker Federico Pardo did more than wonder--he spent two winters photographing the shanties and the fish bounty, too. The shanties are ingenious constructions and each is unique.

The Vermont Folklife Center also interviewed members of the fishing community that gathers here. Each shanty photo has an information sheet that includes excerpts from the interview. You can dial a phone number to hear even more audio. (We think this feature might be due to social distancing--you don't want to have communal headphones during a pandemic.)

Ice Visions by Erik Hoffner

Photographer Erik Hoffner noticed that when fishing holes start to ice over, it creates interesting designs, and he has been documenting this phenomenon for 20 years.

In the exhibit program Hoffner writes that he sees these as eyes, galaxies, stars, cells... what do you see? He has also noticed a difference in the way the ice has been forming recently (it has bubbles, like the photos above), perhaps related to climate change.

Overboard by Andy Yoder

Andy Yoder discovered the story of 5 shipping containers blowing off a Pacific vessel back in 1990, and their cargo of Nike shoes started washing up on the beaches of the Pacific Northwest. I regret not getting a wide-shot of the installation that he created from this starting point. It was floor-to-ceiling shelves of shoes in a shipping-container-shaped space. There were also gentle ocean wave sounds. Each shoe is made from reclaimed materials, such as cardboard for recycling. These photos were some of our favorite shoes.

 

 

Hair Portraits by Rachel Portesi

Through tintypes and other techiques, Rachel Portesi explores identity, commemoration, and mourning through hair. I was interested in her reference to the practice of keeping locks of hair as mementoes, particularly during the Victorian era. Most of the exhibit were much larger tintypes than these, but I was drawn to these little album-type images.

Our Storied Landscape: Revealing the Brattleboro Words Trail by Cynthia Parker-Houghton

Did you know that Brattleboro has a rich literary history? We have an annual literary festival, yes. Maybe you've heard that Rudyard Kipling lived here for a few years. But there is much more! A book has just came out called "Print Town" about the legacy of this place in both writing and physically producing literature. (Did you know the first American edition of Harry Potter was printed in Brattleboro? I just learned that!) You can visit the Brattleboro Words website for information about the book, about local writers and spots of interest, and for an audio tour of the area. 

There's also a brochure-type map that you can pick up at various spots downtown, and it is not any ordinary map--it is photographs of a map carved and fired in clay by local artist Cynthia Parker-Houghton. She uses a sgraffito technique that has the look of a woodblock print. It is very cool! In addition to the maps, she created portraits of some famous Brattleboro writers, including Kipling as well as Tasha Tudor, Saul Bellow, and others.

Figuration Never Died: New York Painterly Painting, 1950-1970

Finally, the large gallery that is the front hall of the museum was dedicated to Figuration and Painterly Painting, a New York movement through the 50s and 60s that was a reaction to or evolution from Abstract Expressionism. Artists like Robert De Niro Sr, Wolf Kahn, and Lois Dodd painted actual people, scenes, and objects, which was seen as a departure (or throwback) at the time.

This painting is by Lois Dodd. I was attracted by the "caca d'oie" green color. You can watch a video of her recorded this month in connection with the exhibit: A Conversation with Lois Dodd.

Honestly I had no idea there would be such a wealth of interesting stuff at the museum itself, and online in relation to the work (not to mention the ability to tour the museum virtually if you wish). It seems that the museums and artists are getting better at taking advantage of multimedia experiences, and I like it!

Have you been to a museum lately? If it's a virtual one, will you leave us the link below?