pacific northwest

The Great Bigleaf Maple Syruping Experiment of 2013 has begun.

January 30, 2013 · 43 comments

First off, we don’t know what we’re doing. Secondly, THIS IS SO MUCH FUN! A few weeks back, Henry and I were standing around the kitchen, and maybe it was because I’d been reading too much Little House in the Big Woods to the kids or admiring archived posts on Amanda’s blog, but for some […]

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A Bumblebee Queen and Some Chittum Seed

October 5, 2011 · 5 comments

While harvesting potatoes the other day, Henry found a queen bumblebee attempting to hibernate in some straw mulch. From the look of her markings, she is probably a member of Bombus griseocollis. Coming across a queen here on the homestead this time of year is a good sign. This lady has mated and will hunker […]

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Pacific Madrone and the View from the Homestead

September 11, 2011 · 1 comment

                          In the woods behind the house where I grew up (and where my parents still live), there is a single Pacific madrone (Arbutus menziesii) tree. It looked so exotic and out of place in the dominantly Douglas fir forest. I remember wondering […]

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Poison-Oak and Tecnu

August 11, 2011 · 4 comments

I have a poison-oak rash on my face right now. It’s also on my neck, both arms, and splotched unevenly up and down my legs. I’m not surprised about the appearance of this condition because I knowingly tromped through a patch of poison-oak while traversing one of the more wilderness-y areas of our property the […]

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