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Giving The Pollinator Garden A Soil Boost
The soil around this newly built house is very poor quality and it will take years to make it more healthy. Where possible, I am adding organic matter and choosing plants and gardening strategies that should help with this process. One of the few places that has received no help from me so far is… Continue reading
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Oops, Pardon Me
I lifted up a bag from the ground to put some garden waste in and found this pair of Differential Grasshoppers (Melanoplus differentialis) among the folds of plastic. I apologized as they hopped away (still connected!). Continue reading
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Woolly Croton, And Some Local History
Woolly Croton (Croton capitatus var. lindheimeri) is a common volunteer here, and if it’s not in the way I have allowed it to stay. Doves will eat its seeds. Another name for this plant is Lindheimer’s Doveweed, in honor of Ferdinand Jacob Lindheimer (1801-1879) who is often called the Father of Texas Botany because of… Continue reading
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Working On The Tall Grass Area
Early on in my time here, I set aside a portion of the back garden to be an area for mid-height native prairie grasses and the one I particularly wanted to grow was Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium). I introduced that by plant and seed. Sometimes I plan one thing, but nature, increased knowledge, or random… Continue reading
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Red Yucca Seeds Are Stacked Like Pringles
Just a few days after discovering that the five seed pods on my Red Yucca (Hesperaloe parviflora) bloom spike were rattling (post), they opened up. I don’t need more Red Yucca plants here, nor do I have the space to propagate them, but I was curious to see how they looked so I harvested them.… Continue reading
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What Happened To The Fish In The Three Sisters Mounds?
Back in February 2024, I created five mounds of soil and compost in which to grow Three Sisters Gardens, a cooperative planting technique for corn, beans, and squash developed by Native Americans. Indigenous peoples would often bury fish in their soil as fertilizer, so by way of experiment, I buried an uncooked trout in two… Continue reading
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Three Sisters Status, And A Decision
The Three Sisters Garden was supposed to be a cooperative planting of corn, beans, and squash. The corn stalks would support the beans, the beans would feed the soil with nitrogen, and the squash leaves would shade the soil. And theoretically the three could be harvested together. Soup, anyone? In reality, my experience has been… Continue reading
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Texas Mountain Laurel Seedlings
Two weeks after potting Texas Mountain Laurel (Sophora secundiflora) seeds, there are now 18/28 that have green shoots (18/24 for the seeds that had germinated by the time I potted them). For now, they will stay in the guest room here because I think it would be too hot for them outside. There is still… Continue reading
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Paper Wasps
In my Desert Willow tree, not doing any harm, there is a nest of Apache Paper Wasps (Polistes apachus). It is fairly low down in the tree, just below the green tape. Paper Wasps are interesting and useful, and since they are not bothering me then I will not interfere with them. Paper Wasps are… Continue reading
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Pond #2: Prepping The Area
To prepare for the installation of an ecosystem pond, a few things needed to happen. The first step was to clear the quadrant of the garden where the pond will be located; that task started a few weeks ago. This zone had annual plants (mostly Firewheels), so there was no damage done in removing them.… Continue reading
About Me
Nature Lover.
Inquisitive Observer.
Student Gardener.
I invite you to join me on my journey to convert my sterile (from a nature point of view) new house lot to a healthy and diverse ecosystem, as I make discoveries, mistakes, and hopefully progress. I am not an expert or professional. The project started in February 2023 and the location is Seguin, Texas, USA.
Rewilding My Lot 