Blog 1st Anniversary!, nature and art class, planting design, stewardship fieldwork, spring wildflowers, and more. Happy Spring!
I started my 2 blogs in May 2018.
My blogs: Daily Blog and Monthly Blog
Happy Blog 1st Anniversary.
Check out my daily blog for the month of May 2019 (Yeeyoet 2019). Each day shows some various activities that I do in science, art, nature, culture, land stewardship,
culture,
education, ecology, economy, health, and in learning about holistic
good, morals, and beyond. I post a photo every day. Enjoy!
See more photos:
This month of May 2019, the leaves have been growing on trees, and the Eastern Redbud (Cercis canadensis) is blooming. I ate some redbud flowers. Via the Galien Valley Nature and Culture Program, I'm teaching a combo nature and art class: "Nature and the Community Arts,"
at Fernwood Gardens, in Niles, Michigan. On daily blog, see photos of
nature classes activities. For landscape architecture (z-hub z-design), I worked on a planting design of native flowers. For ecological restoration, I started doing stewardship fieldwork. On daily blog, see photos
of spring fieldwork, including clearing, burning, seeding, and weeding. Happy spring flowers! My daily blog includes many May woodland native wildflowers photos, such as of mayapple, wild columbine, jack-in-the-pulpit, and more, as well as some exotic garden
flowers, such as tulips. Also, I have some native Michigan wildlife photos of a wood frog, a bullfrog, and spotted turtles. Enjoy your spring!
nature and art class, frogs and tadpoles, yellow-n-pink scarf, spring wildflowers, primitive bushcrafts, and more. Happy Spring!
Check out my daily blog for the month of April 2019 (Menen 2019). Each day shows some various activities that I do in science, art, nature, culture, land stewardship,
culture, education, ecology, economy, health, and in learning about holistic good, morals, and beyond. I post a photo every day. Enjoy!
This month of April 2019, yay! the plants are starting to grow again. I've been nibbling on the fresh new leaves of dandelions, plantain, violets, etc. Via the Galien Valley Nature and Culture Program, I'm teaching a combo nature and art class: "Nature and the Community Arts," at Fernwood Gardens, in Niles, Michigan. On daily blog, see photos of nature classes activities. For my ecological restoration work, I attended a spring wetlands wildlife workshop. On daily blog, see photos of frogs and salamanders. Plus, on my own, I found some frog eggs and newly-hatched teeny tiny tadpoles. It's spring, so I put away my red-n-purple winter scarf, and I started wearing my yellow-n-pink spring scarf, which I crocheted during travels, a few months ago. On my daily blog, see my scarf. Happy spring flowers! My daily blog includes many spring woodland native wildflowers photos, such as of hepatica, bloodroot, spring beauty, and more, as well as some exotic garden flowers, such as daffodils. Also, I worked on primitive bushcrafts such as grass mats, baskets, burn bowls, and cordage. Plus, I finally, for the first time, added a few photos to pages of my monthly blog. Have you seen Zoe's Monthly Blog's nature page or science and art page or other pages? Enjoy your spring!
eastern bluebirds mating, eastern tiger salamander, Lake Michigan ice thaws, and more. Happy Winter!
Check out my daily blog for the month of March 2019 (Shoover 2019). Each day shows some various activities that I do in science, art, nature, culture, land stewardship,
culture,
education, ecology, economy, health, and in learning about holistic
good, morals, and beyond. I post a photo every day. Enjoy!
My Daily Blog for 2019 March / Shoover: Daily Blog
Happy End of Winter. Now it's spring. But for much of March, it was winter. Here in southwest Michigan, we had snow and temperatures went down as far as 5 degrees F (-15 Celsius). Meanwhile, several signs of the oncoming spring appeared too. The snow melted away.
In March, this last month of winter, I saw many signs of the approaching spring and took photos of some of them. There have been chickadees, nuthatches, and juncos about all winter. They are quiet on frigid winter days. For example, Monday, March 4, was bitter cold and silent. No birds moved or made a sound, that day. The next day, the chickadees, nuthatches, and juncos were active again. On March 8, the 1-inch of snow covering the ground vanished in 2 hours. We haven't seen snow since. As far as spring birds go, about March 11th, I first heard robins and red-wing blackbirds. Wednesday, March 14, was a warm, wet, rainy day, enough so to bring out salamanders. Todd took some photos of a Eastern Tiger Salamander. Great photos! I posted the salamander photos on my blog. Also, on March 14, from inside my house, I could hear a male Cardinal sing all day, outdoors, to declare his territory, despite it being a rainy day. The next day, the weather
got cold again. Lake Michigan kept it's frozen surface throughout much of March. Yet, on Monday, March 18, the birds were active like crazy, like a spring day, although it was only 38 degrees F (3 Celsius). I watched a pair of nuthatches lovingly talk back and forth with each other in conversation. The chickadees were in pairs too. I heard Sandhill Cranes honk high up in the sky, as they are migrating back north. Eastern Bluebirds have migrated back to Michigan too. On Tuesday, March 19, in the throes of love, two bluebirds fell from a tree branch to the ground, right in front of me; they mated for a moment and flew off together. The Silver Maple (Acer saccharinum) flower buds are opening. The Sharp-Lobed Hepatica (Hepatica acutiloba) flower shoots are sprouting up, right next to the sprouts of native Wild Onion / Ramp. The rains on March 20 and the winds on March 22 broke up the ice, which covered Lake Michigan to the horizon, just a week ago. Today, March 23, only some small broken bits and pieces (6-inches-long to 3-feet-long) of Lake Michigan ice remains washed up in a continuous linear pile, along the edge of the beach.
Enjoy the changing of the seasons!
spelt bread, winter snow, holistic sustainability, 7 goals of education and economy, and more. Happy Winter!
Check out my daily blog for the month of February 2019 (Churoo 2019). Each day shows some various activities that I do in science, art, nature, culture, land stewardship,
culture, education, ecology, economy, health, and in learning about holistic good, morals, and beyond. I post a photo every day. Enjoy!
My Daily Blog for 2019 February / Churoo: Daily Blog
Happy Winter. This month of February 2019, my family got back into grinding grain and baking bread again. To try a different grain than we got before, this time we have spelt. We're making spelt bread. Our first two loaves were delicious.
In February, for landscape architecture, I revised and posted the 40 ways to sustain and enrich communities, people, and nature, that I originally made in 2012. I posted it in the Holistic Sustainability page. I use the word "holistic" not to narrowly mean herbal medicines alone, but to broadly mean whole culture, including economy, education, science, art, the way we live, learn, and work, etc. My blog website has several pages on holistic pursuits. Also I wrote about Changes needed in Education and the Economy: 7 goals and success indicators in culture, education, ecology, and economy, in order to help communities, people, and nature.
Plus, my February Daily Blog has several photos of winter snow, in Michigan, and outdoor snow activities: sledding, cross country skiing, etc. In February, Lake Michigan's surface froze into ice. Also, Michigan had some days that were subzero all day long. We got down to -18 degrees F. Wildflowers can still be seen in winter. The stalks are dead, but the flower species are still identifiable by its dead stalks and seed heads. They add visual and textural interest to the winter landscape.
Also, I posted a few snowy photos of Three Rivers, Michigan. This month, I visited Three Rivers, Michigan, for the first time ever. My aunt-in-law has some art in a Three Rivers art show. In Michigan, several people confuse Three Oaks with Three Rivers, because both town names have the word Three. Yet, they are very different. Three Oaks has 1 river near it: the Galien River. But, Three Rivers has 3 rivers (St. Joseph River, Portage River, and Rocky River) run right through the heart of town.
eating pecan nuts, winter snow, red and purple scarf, holistic landcare, and more. Happy Winter!
Check out my daily blog for the month of January 2019 (Wookooch 2019). Each day shows some various activities that I do in science, art, nature, culture, land stewardship,
culture, education, ecology, economy, health, and in learning about holistic good, morals, and beyond. I post a photo every day. Enjoy!
My Daily Blog for 2019 January / Wookooch: Daily Blog
Happy Winter. It's snowing outside, here in Michigan, as I write this post. This month of January 2019, I ate nearly-native-to-Michigan edible wild pecan nuts. Pecan nuts come from the pecan tree (Carya illinoinensis). The pecan tree is native to Illinois and further south. I ate pecans that my brother handpicked from his pecan tree, in his yard, in Texas.
In January, for landscape architecture, I am doing holistic landcare, including holistic science and art, and community culture. I'm doing holistic landcare at Pond G. For instance, in January, I built a debris hut, which is beneficial to both people and nature. See debris hut photos in my January daily blog. I use the word "holistic" not to narrowly mean herbal medicines alone, but to broadly mean whole culture, including economy, education, science, art, the way we live, learn and work, etc. My blog website has several pages on holistic pursuits.
Also, for holistic landcare and my blog, I further explained community culture and its CEEE (culture-education-ecology-economy). Culture, education, ecology, and economy are strongly linked together and influence each other. One cannot change or be improved without changing or improving all 4 of them together.
See my webpage on CEEE: www.z-hub.org/zle-blog/nice-hol-ceee.html.
Furthermore, for holistic landcare and my blog, I mused on various ways of being nice. There are many ways (5+) to be nice. I wrote about 5 important ways to be nice. See my webpage on
5 Ways to Be Nice: www.z-hub.org/zle-blog/nice-hol-ceee.html.
Plus, my January Daily Blog has several photos of winter snow, in Michigan, and beautiful leafless trees silhouetted against a sunset sky. Furthermore, this month of Wookooch includes January and the end of December; hence, there are late-December vacation photos in my daily blog. For late-December, my family visited Pennsylvania to visit with family and friends. See the Pennsylvania photos. Also, while traveling, I finished crocheting my red and purple winter scarf.
eating native pawpaw fruit, holistic, Pond G, late-autumn landscape scenes, and more.
Check
out my daily blog for the month of December 2018 (Jaethaz 2018). Each day
shows some various activities that I do in science, art,
nature, culture, land stewardship,
culture, education, economy, health, and in learning about holistic good, morals,
and beyond. I post a photo every day. Enjoy!
My Daily Blog for 2018 December / Jaethaz: Daily Blog
Happy last month of fall. This month of December 2018, what edible wild plant did I eat? I ate pawpaw fruit, which is a native Michigan fruit! The pawpaw is Asimina triloba. Pawpaw fruit is ripe for harvest in early fall, but a friend had some that he froze and he was delighted to share.
In December, for landscape architecture, I started doing holistic landcare, including holistic science and art, and community culture. I started doing holistic landcare at Graceland Pond. See my December Daily Blog:
www.z-hub.org/zle-blog/z2018/18-12jaethaz.html
I use the word "holistic" not to narrowly mean herbal medicines, but to broadly mean whole culture, including economy, education, science, art, the way we live, learn and work, etc. My blog website has several pages on holistic pursuits. See:
www.z-hub.org/zle-blog/holistic.html
Plus, my December Daily Blog has several photos of December / late autumn scenes in
Michigan. Furthermore, this month of Jaethaz includes December and the end of November, so there are Thanksgiving photos in my daily
blog. For Thanksgiving, my family visited Colorado to visit with family and friends. See the Colorado photos.
Meanwhile,
by December, my work for Pizzo, an ecological restoration firm, ended
for the year. Also, my fall semester nature classes ended too. You may see the Galien Valley Nature
and Culture Program webpage of classes and photos at:
www.z-hub.org/galienvalleyncp/classes.html.
Happy End of Fall. I take down my fall decorations and put up my winter decorations on my season wall, in a few days, on the Winter Solstice.
eating acorns, colorful fall leaves, teaching nature classes, ecological restoration, halloween, and more.
Check
out my daily blog for the month of November 2018 (Zhazaw 2018). Each day
shows some various activities that I do in science, art,
nature, culture, land stewardship,
culture, education, economy, health, and in learning about holistic good, morals,
and beyond. I post a photo every day. Enjoy!
My Daily Blog for 2018 November / Zhazaw: Daily Blog
This month of November 2018, I boiled tannin out of acorns to make them edible. My fall semester nature classes are running. I
teach 6 classes this semester. I teach in Three Oaks, Michigan; at Fernwood Gardens,
in Niles, Michigan; and at the Benton Harbor Girls Academy, in Benton Harbor, Michigan. My classes are Community and Landscape: Environment Workshop (CLEW), Habitats
and Wildlife (HW), Nature and Community Arts (NCA), Nature Heritage
(NH), Outdoor Skills Level 2 (OSL2), and Wilderness and Culture (WC). See
class photos, throughout my November daily blog. The Galien Valley Nature
and Culture Program webpage of classes:
www.z-hub.org/galienvalleyncp/classes.html.
In November, for landscape architecture, I designed a planting plan for a house's front flower garden in Galien, Michigan. (Last month, I did a planting design for Harbert.) In November, for
my ecological restoration work with Pizzo, I've been collecting
many seeds to spread back into the Pizzo sites. My month of Zhazaw includes the end of October, so there are Halloween photos in my daily blog. Plus, there are several photos of the height of fall color in Michigan. There are photos of
animals in the great outdoors too, including many birds: Wood Ducks, Nuthatches, Goldfinch, Chickadees, and more. Happy Fall! November is autumn, although, recently, it's been 18 degrees F, and it snowed a little. Enjoy your fall. It's still fall for another month.
teaching nature classes, design in Harbert, wetlands stewardship, beautiful fall wildflowers, bottle gentian, fringed gentian, and more.
Check
out my daily blog for the month of October 2018 (Faga 2018). Each day
shows some various activities that I do in science, art,
nature, culture, land stewardship,
culture, education, economy, health, and in learning about holistic good, morals,
and beyond. I post a photo every day.
This month of October 2018, my fall semester nature classes are running. I
teach 6 classes this semester. I teach in Three Oaks, Michigan; at Fernwood Gardens,
in Niles, Michigan; and at the Benton Harbor Girls Academy, in Benton Harbor, Michigan. My classes are Community and Landscape: Environment Workshop (CLEW), Habitats
and Wildlife (HW), Nature and Community Arts (NCA), Nature Heritage
(NH), Outdoor Skills Level 2 (OSL2), and Wilderness and Culture (WC). See
class photos, throughout my October daily blog. The Galien Valley Nature
and Culture Program webpage of classes: www.z-hub.org/galienvalleyncp/classes.html.
For landscape architecture, I designed a planting plan for a backyard in Harbert, Michigan. In October, for
my ecological restoration work with Pizzo, I helped to steward some Michigan wetlands owned by Chikaming Open Lands, a nonprofit land-conservation organization. My blog shows several October blooming
flowers, including the beautiful blue blooms of the Bottle Gentian and Fringed Gentian, and
of course the purple blooms of the New England Aster. Otherwise, most flowers have turned into seed. From Pizzo sites, I've been collecting many seeds to spread back into the Pizzo sites. There are photos of
animals in the great outdoors too, including beautiful orbweaver
spiders and a Woolly Bear Caterpillar. Happy Fall!
October is the first full month of fall. There were some hot days in October, but a week ago, the weather turned cold fast. Finally, the mosquitoes have disappeared. The leaves are just starting to turn color in the middle of October. I even found a fluorescent-colored leaf - fluorescent colors are fall colors also, besides orange and brown. Happy month of gourds and pumpkins too. My family went apple-picking too.
yay! it's still summer, teaching nature classes, orb weaver spiders, tree frogs, summer flowers blooming, cardinal flower, great blue lobelia, and more.
Check
out my daily blog for the month of September 2018 (Ingbing 2018). Each day
shows some various activities that I do in science, art, nature,
culture, land stewardship, and in learning about holistic good, morals,
and beyond. I post a photo every day.
My Daily Blog for 2018 September / Ingbing: Daily Blog
This month of September 2018, I made spicebush tea from the Spicebush, a native Michigan shrub. My fall semester nature classes just started, I teach 6 classes this semester. 4 of them I teach at Fernwood Gardens, in Niles. So far, I had only one class, during which we handmade soap, from scratch, from nature - using campfire wood ash (alkaline lye) and rendered fat (fatty acids). See photos. For landscape architecture, I started a planting plan for a backyard in Harbert. In September, for
my ecological restoration work, I helped to steward some wetlands at an apartment complex in Indiana. My blog shows several September blooming
prairie flowers, including the Cardinal Flower, Great Blue Lobelia, and of course the yellow blooms of goldenrods. I even display a native Michigan orchid, the Nodding Ladies Tresses. There are photos of
animals in the great outdoors too, including beautiful orbweaver spiders, a beautiful cicada, a toad, and a tree frog with toe suction cups. Happy Summer!
September is summer and part of the beach season, it's been hot here in Michigan in September, there are Lake Michigan beach photos
too. Michigan is just as beautiful as the Caribbean. I even saw a rainbow this month!
butterflies, outdoor classroom design, stewarding prairies and woodlands, robin's nest, summer prairie flowers, and more.
Check
out my daily blog for the month of August 2018 (Doipoil 2018). Each day
shows some various activities that I do in science, art, nature,
culture, land stewardship, and in learning about holistic good, morals,
and beyond. I post a photo every day.
My Daily Blog for 2018 August / Doipoil: Daily Blog
This month of August 2018, I saw many butterflies. Look at my many butterfly photos this month. For landscape architecture,
in August, I met with Carol to discuss her permaculture farm and general design concepts. My fall nature classes begin in September. In August, for
my ecological restoration work, I worked
on prairies, woods, and wetlands, including Indiana DNR's Grand Calumet River wetland. Also, August is the height of prairie flowers blooming. See many photos of prairie flowers in my August daily blog. Plus, in a robin nest, I
saw robin eggs, a robin the day it hatched, and when it grew bigger. Additionally, I even visited a local labyrinth.
eating edible bee balm flowers, stewarding prairies, summer wildflowers, butterfly milkweed, rattlesnake master, queen of the prairie, and more.
Check
out my daily blog for the month of July 2018 (Siloi 2018). Each day
shows some various activities that I do in science, art, nature,
culture, land stewardship, and in learning about holistic good, morals,
and beyond. I post a photo every day.
This month of July 2018, I ate edible wild native plants, such as the Bee Balm flower petals. My spring nature classes finished in May, my
fall nature classes start in September. But, in July, I volunteered taught a nature class at a summer camp, Camp Hazelhurst, in Harbert, Michigan. In July, for
my ecological restoration work, some of it included planting native plants at a naturalized residential yard; plus, I sicklebar mowed an aggressive grass at a prairie. My blog shows several July blooming prairie flowers, including Black-eyed Susan, Butterfly Milkweed, Rattlesnake Master, and Queen of the Prairie. I even have a photo of the plant that has the world's smallest flower! There are photos of animals in the great outdoors too, including a dragonfly, a caterpillar, blinky butts, a frog, a mommy and baby deer, and birds. Furthermore, July is part of the beach season, there are Lake Michigan beach photos too.
eating native wild Juneberry fruits, baby bluebirds, prairie stewardship, removing weeds, late spring flowers, and more.
Check
out my daily blog for the month of June 2018 (Hoehee 2018). Each day
shows some various activities that I do in science, art, nature,
culture, land stewardship, and in learning about holistic good, morals,
and beyond. I post a photo every day.
This month of June 2018, I ate edible wild native plants, such as the Juneberry fruit and the Elderberry flowers. For landscape architecture, in June, I met with Jody to discuss her permaculture farm, design plans, and site details. My spring nature classes finished in May, my fall nature classes start in September. In June, for my ecological restoration work, I worked
on prairies, removing invasive exotic weeds. My blog shows several June blooming prairie flowers. Plus, in a prairie, in a bird nest box, I saw baby bluebirds, the day they hatched and as they are growing. There's even a photo of a snapping turtle, that wandered into a laundromat.
teaching nature classes, prairie stewardship, spreading native prairie flower seeds, many spring wildflowers are blooming, and more.
Check out my daily blog for the month of May 2018 (Yeeyoet 2018). Every month shows some various activities that I do in science, art, nature, culture, land stewardship, and in learning about holistic good, morals, and beyond. I post a photo every day.
This month of May 2018, I finished up teaching the my spring semester classes: "Nature and the Community Arts," and "Wilderness and Culture," at Fernwood Gardens and Benton Harbor. On daily blog, see photos of nature classes activities. For my ecological restoration work, I worked on spreading native prairie flower seeds onto prairies. The permaculture farm is slowly but surely moving forward, still in the planning stages in May 2018, but construction will begin in a few months. Plus, the month of May photos exhibit several spring flowers budding and blooming.
