Mid-September marks the start of hazelnut harvest season in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. Turkish farmers grow a large majority of the world’s hazelnut crop, but Oregon hazelnut growers produce five to seven percent of the world total, making this area a significant player on an international scale. Because of some losses from freezing temperatures in Turkey […]
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Henry goes elk hunting a few days every year, and though he hasn’t yet shot an elk, he always brings home collections of mushrooms, seeds, and other flora of interest. For him, elk hunting is just a good excuse to hike around new territory, exploring sites and foraging. He does bring a gun along, but […]
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This is my husband Henry refueling our tractor (a rubber-tracked ASV skid steer) with off-highway diesel. He’s using a hand-crank fuel transfer pump inherited from his grandpa that once served it’s purpose on the family’s island property in Minnesota (circa 1940). Henry […]
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Cody Younger is a third generation seed farmer living and working with his family in the heart of Oregon’s Willamette Valley. We joined him for the closing hours of day two in a three-day wheat harvest. Cody, his dad, Norm Younger, and his grandfather (now retired) own wide swaths of ground in and around Shedd, […]
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We found a rubber boa (Charina bottae) yesterday under a piece of black plastic that was covering a huge pile of mint mulch. (Oregon’s Willamette Valley is a big mint-growing region. Mint oil is locally distilled, and then what’s left of the plant’s organic material is sold by the truckload to area farmers and gardeners.) […]
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The following are a few of the native wildflowers that have been blooming on our property in the last couple weeks. The common and scientific names were identified by my husband who knew them off the top of his head because he’s that kind of genius/nerd. I have to admit that I only knew three […]
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