These two are opposites in almost every way, but they just adore one another.

Thank you ladies!

I have a love/hate relationship with my native soil.

The daffodils are just opening and today marks the official first day of porch beers with the pup season.
❤️🌞🍺

Took my Art in Nature club kids for a walk yesterday and found this little shrubby treasure planted in our odd alcove garden at school. I’m guessing it’s a Witch Hazel cultivar, but wow those little stamen (that’s right, right?) looked metallic and shimmery. Winter flowering plants are a delight.

I started this project last spring, and it’s a total coincidence that it’s finally paying off as we are in the middle of an egg shortage. Thanks to my little Black Copper Maran hen who’s been laying an egg a day. The others should follow soon.

Had a dear friend find a sweet deal on a bunch of microscopes and hooked me up with this nice little stereoscope. I can’t get my cellphone to play nicely with the eyepiece without a mount, but let me assure you this little scurfy Tubaria was wicked cool.

‘Tis the season. Upping my indoor seed starting game just to prove that I can see it through. I’m still team winter sowing.

Hell yeah! Thank you ladies!!

The joke is that this is the $1500 first egg, and that’s frighteningly close to the truth despite DIYing most everything I could.

Chicken run installed! I’ve been waiting for the ground to defrost enough to dig and today was the day. It was a hard no on trying to convince them to leave their cozy coop. 😂

Lenzites (Trametes?), Physcia, Trametes and Xylobolus. A portrait of every winter hike in the Eastern US this time of year. Felt super good to get out in the woods.

I need a wealthy patron stat.

‘Tis the season! I think I grew something like 68 different varieties last year, but this year we’re simplifying and going for poundage. Also gonna take a shot at growing all of my tomatoes from seed.

Lessons on cranking up the heat. Some good, some bad.

I came here for the mushroom community, but alas, it’s been too cold/snowy/gross outside to be in the woods. So instead, here are my fertilizer makers learning not to be so scared of me.

Tough bottom—fixed. Splitting score—fixed. Gummy-ness—fixed. Getting closer to a solidly good loaf of sourdough. Now to work on scoring differently to get a more reasonable ear.

Just figuring out how all of this works. Also figuring out chickens work. These ladies have been with me for a little more than 2 weeks.