🥒 Nouveau langage des fleurs, ou, Parterre de flore: Bruxelles: Chez Th. Lejeune …, 1832. Original source Image description: Vintage botanical illustration from 1832 showing a small bouquet of flowers on aged paper. The bouquet includes a prominent pink and a deep red rose, surrounded by delicate light pink jasmine blossoms, vibrant blue anemones, and small green leaves. Each flower variety is labeled below with handwritten French text describing associated symbolic meanings. The illustration features fine details in petal textures and leaf veins, typical of early 19th-century floral art. The background is pale beige with slightly worn edges, reflecting the book’s age.
Pollinator Paradise Garden in Pittsboro NC
July 25 2026
Went to visit Debbie Roos' incredible pollinator garden in Pittsboro. Debbie Roos is a huge reason why pollinator gardening is such a thing in NC. She's an extension agent trained in agriculture stuff and was helping beekeepers who kept asking her what were the best plants for pollinators in NC.
At the time, there weren't a lot of good resources or information. So in 2008 she got some grant money and started a little pollinator garden that has spread over time. It's on the grounds of an interesting space that has the local food coop and it sort of acts as a cool local event center? The soil was shit and the temps are hot as fuck, whatever was going to survive needed to be sturdy and resilient.
It's now a series of beds winding through an asphalt-laden parking lot, with Debbie happily giving tours and local volunteers helping with the management. 85% of the plants in the garden are native, and all the plants are testaments to what can survive in not-great conditions. She has inspired gardeners throughout the state - and beyond. The piedmont of NC has been even more insane drought than we've been through.
Some of my takeaways were:
- She insisted on ample water for the first year of life, even for perennials, and after that, they're on their own.
- It was something of a relief to hear both the history and the future all at once, she'd be all 'we're going to redo this bed...' an awful lot. It made me feel a lot better about my own projects.
- I went with work and it was a big deal to her that we attended, I guess she didn't fully comprehend we've been inspired by her, have been following her work and sharing her resources on our website for years. But it was also a sign that more in the industry need to show the fuck up. I honestly think a lot of this has to do with pollinator gardening being heavily a woman or gay male gardening thing and not a straight male gardening thing, and straight males still run so many hort/plant/landscape companies.. and they honestly don't take this sort of thing seriously even though the sales are there.
- I learned about some new-to-me plants, which is always extremely cool, there's actually a gazillion native plants out there just most aren't actually in the horticultural trade (for a variety of reasons). Unfortunately I didn't bring a pen to get the names, but left enough clues I can follow the bunny trail. Hopefully.
- There were so many birds!! They were singing throughout the garden tour, as a light rain drizzled down, it was truly a magical experience.
Highly recommend visiting if you can!
Gumbo time! I've had hundreds of bowls of gumbo in my life thanks to my floridian shrimper heritage, but I've very rarely made it myself- but seeing as I'm absolutely flush with okra, I decided to brew up a pot and take you all with me.
First of all- use any recipe you like! Any meat, any thickener, any stock, gumbo is a state of mind. Season as heavily as you like, even with the bare minimum it's a delicious hearty stew.
For best results, use fresh shrimp instead of frozen, and shell the shrimp yourself to make a stock! You can still use chicken/vegetable stock, but seafood gumbo is really fantastic with shrimp stock. I have frozen shrimp in my freezer that I haven't had reason to use in months, so I used them along with some fresh chicken broth.
Ingredients: 1-1.5 pounds of shrimp, 2 rotisserie chicken breasts, 1 cup of browned chopped sausage 8 pods of okra, the smaller (younger) the better and less fibrous they will be. 4 stalks celery, 1 bell pepper, 1 yellow onion, 1 head garlic 8 cups of stock 115 grams of flour, 115 ml of vegetable oil- equal parts all the fresh herbs you can muster, I used a big pile of thyme and oregano from my garden, plus 4 bay leaves 1tsp black pepper, 1Tbsp salt, 1tsp cajun seasoning, 1/4tsp cayenne pepper, 1tsp soy sauce, 1tsp fish sauce (seasonings to taste, which means go crazy, really- it doesn't have to be spicy or can be spicy as hell if you want. the sauces are not traditional but I put them in almost every stew and soup I make to make them extra savory) Rice, for serving alongside Saltine crackers, optional 1: Add oil and flour to dutch oven, bake at 350 for 90 minutes, stirring every 30 minutes 2: Put pot back on the stove on low heat, add all vegetables and seasonings, cook 10 minutes 3: Add stock and herbs, simmer for 1-2 hours 4: Add meats, cook for another 10 minutes on low Serve over rice.
reblog because I just pulled the leftovers out of the freezer and it's still fantastic ❤️
Hey all -
I'm a skilled agroecologist with fifteen years of hands-on, professional experience. I work my own farm, I'm implementing climate-smart practices, my passion is endangered species, and I've been a paid agroecological consultant.
And in September, I lose my off-farm income. So here I am, wondering how I might be able to capitalize on my knowledge. I'm looking for more opportunities to be paid for providing consultations or advising. My farm took a huge blow financially this year due to a major crop loss, and I need a way to stabilize income while I go back to the drawing board.
So - I'm putting out feelers. Does anyone else do similar work? How did they get started? What are some difficulties or successes you've experienced? I am open to all thoughts. Thank you in advance.
I think when I decided to actively stop playing competitive multiplayer games that's when I really started to feel a tangible positive effect in my mood and emotional regulation
but league of legends classic just came out and 2012 leona support main was the only time the game was any fun
1 win 9 losses
uninstalled league is a detriment to the human species