The Wordsmith's Forge

Today is partly cloudy and warm.

I fed the birds.  I haven't seen much activity yet.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 7/10/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

I've seen a few sparrows and house finches plus a male cardinal.

EDIT 7/10/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 7/10/26 -- I watered the new picnic table garden.  I picked two more yellow pear tomatoes.

EDIT 7/10/26 -- I watered seedlings in the savanna.




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Today is partly sunny and warm.

I fed the birds. I've seen a small flock of sparrows and house finches.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 7/8/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 7/8/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 7/8/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 7/8/26 -- We started breaking up the parts of the birdgift tree that had fallen into the south lot. There's about twice as much mow path past it now. We dumped 2 wheelbarrows of sticks into the firepit in the ritual meadow.

EDIT 7/8/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 7/8/26 -- I cracked open 2 apricot pits and got 2 big perfect seeds. I cracked open two batches of cherry pits and got several good seeds. I think the advice to let seeds air-dry for a few days is bad. One day at most. They shrivel up pretty fast.

I walked around for a bit. I saw 2 bats flying quite low in the house yard, and more flying high over the road and other places. I'm not sure if they're the same bats or not. I don't know how many I actually have.

As it is getting dark, I am done for the night.

Wildflower meadow returned without planting a single seed

A patch of farmland left to its own devices for over a decade has quietly transformed into a thriving wildflower meadow. It didn’t take expensive seed mixes or heavy machinery. Recovery required only patience, a yearly hay cut, and letting nature do what it does. The find could reshape how governments approach one of conservation’s biggest and most expensive challenges.


This is worth trying anywhere that has at least some seedbank left (that is, the topsoil hasn't been killed or hauled away) and where you have a large amount of land to cover (which can make other options cost-prohibitive). In places that used to be scrub or forest or something other than grassland, it needs mowing at least once a year. Otherwise succession will take over and turn it back into whatever it was. Ideally, mow late enough that nesting creatures have finished and decamped, but early enough to permit regrowth before fall, so there will be winter cover for wildlife and erosion protection for the soil.

( Read more... )

Today we went out to Mattoon so I could attend a permaculture club meeting at Douglas-Hart Nature Center.

( Read more... )

Today is cloudy, muggy, and hot.  Yesterday's rain never arrived, but there's more chance today too.

I fed the birds.  I've seen a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches.

I put out water for the birds.  Honeybees are busy carrying water to the hive.

EDIT 7/4/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 7/4/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

I've seen two starlings, a mourning dove, and a male cardinal in the forest garden.

EDIT 7/4/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 7/4/26 -- I watered tree seedlings in the savanna.

Queen Anne's lace and frost asters are blooming in the savanna and prairie garden.  Purple echinacea and yellow coneflower are blooming in the wildflower garden.  Wild bergamot is blooming in several places in the prairie garden.  The first few cosmos are blooming in the north notch of the prairie garden.  :D  

I hear thunder to the south, I can see rain to the northwest, and we're starting to get a downdraft.  I don't know if the promised rain will actually arrive, though.  I hope so.  We need it because the ground is drying out from the heat, even as humid as it's been.

EDIT 7/4/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

It drizzled earlier, just enough to wet the leaves and make small puddles in the road.

EDIT 7/4/26 -- I went outside to watch distant fireworks for a while.  There were well over a dozen shows in view.  :D  The storm didn't bring much water but did drop the temperature to near-comfortable level.

I am done for the night.

Common birds are secretly pollinating Britain's flowers

The fieldwork was conducted at Wicken Fen, a National Trust nature reserve in Cambridgeshire. The reserve is an 800-hectare (about 1,980-acre) patch of old fenland, thick with birds and flowering shrubs.

Local bird ringers caught birds in fine mist-nets across several spring and summer seasons. Right after each capture, the team swabbed the bird’s beak, head, and chin for pollen. The overall tally was striking. Of the birds sampled in one full season, 89% carried pollen of one kind or another. That covered at least one individual from each of 29 species. Pollen, it turned out, was almost everywhere across the bird community.


Pay attention to the habitat: it was wild, on the wet side, and brushy. Many small songbirds love this kind of habitat. In a small yard, you can create a rain garden or wildlife pond that includes spring-flowering bushes. They offer not only early food but also great cover and nesting space. Include a patch of soft mud, as many birds use that to build their nests.

( Read more... )

Today is partly sunny and sweltering.

I fed the birds.  I've seen a few sparrows and house finches.

I put out water for the birds.  The honeybees already drained one source.

EDIT 7/2/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 7/2/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 7/2/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

Today is mostly cloudy and hot.  There is so much water in the air that it's condensing onto windows not as fog, but as rain streaks. O_O

I fed the birds.  I haven't seen any today because, well, it's almost impossible to see out the windows.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 6/29/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 6/29/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 6/29/26 -- My partner Doug bushwhacked a path along the west edge of the house to the porch.

EDIT 6/29/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

I've seen a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches plus a male cardinal.

EDIT 6/29/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

Fireflies are out in droves, loving the hot humid weather.  :D  I saw a bat swooping over the house yard.

As it is now dark, I am done for the night.

Today is partly sunny and mild.

I fed the birds.  I've seen a few sparrows and house finches.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 6/24/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 6/24/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

It's drizzling, but not enough to stop me.

EDIT 6/24/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

Still drizzling.

EDIT 6/24/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 6/24/26 -- I hauled branches to the chippable pile and the firepit.

Fireflies are swarming.  :D

EDIT 6/24/26 -- I filled the trolley with fallen branches from along the road, south of the driveway, then dumped those in the firepit.

I've seen at least two bats flying along the driveway and the edge of the property.  One flew close enough to see some of the wing structure.  :D

A large cloud is towering up to the west of us, and some others north and south.  I don't know if any will mature into thunderheads or come in our direction.  Likely they are forming as the warm moist air cools and starts to condense.

I am done for the night. 

Today is cloudy, mild, and damp.  It rained copiously yesterday and probably some in the night.

I fed the birds.  I've seen a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 6/22/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 6/22/26 -- I potted up 6 pots of Pink Apple sprouts, 5 per pot, for a total of 30.  There are still lots more in that baggie.

EDIT 6/22/26 -- We hauled the big branch from the south lot to the brushpile in the ritual meadow.  We also dragged a dead fallen branch near the firepit to break down later.

EDIT 6/22/26 -- I potted up 6 pots of Pink Apple sprouts, 5 per pot, for a total of 30.  That is 60 overall. There are a few left in the baggie but they are smaller and harder to see, so I put them back in the fridge.

The tree sprouts I planted before the storm are already appearing above the soil. \o/

EDIT 6/22/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 6/22/26 -- I potted up 5 pots of Jonathan Apple sprouts, 5 per pot, for a total of 25.  There are a few left in the baggie but they are smaller and harder to see, so I put them back in the fridge.

EDIT 6/22/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 6/22/26 -- I bagged up some black cherry pits in damp sand to stratify in the refrigerator.

EDIT 6/22/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

I also walked down to the new picnic table garden.  The obelisk fell over; I'll need to set that back up.  Several tomato plants have green fruit.  So do several of the peppers.  :D

EDIT 6/22/26 -- I filled a trolley with big sticks from the south lot, then dumped that in the firepit.

EDIT 6/22/26 -- I started breaking up the branch by the firepit.  I reduced the size pretty well but some is too big for me to break.

I've seen at least one bat.  A skunk ambled around the end of the driveway.  Fireflies are swarming all over.  Killdeer are calling in the fields.  There's a bit of fluddle left across the road to the west, and they love the water.  :D

I am done for the night.