They are scattered around town in vacant lots or overgrown, undeveloped tracts: The characteristic white box, about three feet square and maybe somewhat taller, is spotted where there’s plenty of sage or other floral shrubs. I never know whose hives they are, but most seem to be well tended. A couple of times over the […]
Tag Archives: environment
“The idea behind agrivoltaics is simple: use the ‘empty’ space beneath solar panels to grow stuff.” ~ Gabe Allen and Tyler Hickman On the hills above my town, there are some solar panels placed in the grassland. I’ve noticed that in spite of the panels, the shaded areas are full of vegetation that periodically require mowing. […]
“I sat on the roof and kicked off the moss …” ~ Elton John, Your Song When I’ve been in downtown areas, particularly in the summer, I try to walk on the side of the street in the shade, since the temperature on the sunny side rises considerably. On the other hand, in the […]
I try to be diligent about keeping potential recycling materials out of the trash. We compost non-meat or -dairy food wastes and use it for our gardens, and our town provides bins for recycling as part of our routine trash collection. Among my weekly chores is taking out the trash, recycling and compost. I do […]
“’Taliban farming’ — pointlessly hostile to the natural world … It’s got no food. It’s been flailed within an inch of its life.” ~ Jake Fiennes “I think the tide has gone out on the agricultural system we have. I think that’s over. If you look at where the science is going, we have […]
11. And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. 12. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was […]
The last few tomatoes from the summer crop had taken turns ripening slowly on the kitchen counter over the fall. Every year when the first frost comes on, I harvest all the tomatoes, red and green alike and lay them out on the counter. The ripe ones don’t last too long — salads and sandwiches […]
O Christmas Tree, O Christmas tree,We learn from all your beauty;O Christmas Tree, O Christmas tree,We learn from all your beauty.Your bright green leaves with festive cheer,Give hope and strength throughout the year.O Christmas Tree, O Christmas tree,We learn from all your beauty. ~ George Strait Tales of sacred plants — and their keepers […]
“The amount of contamination that plants can remove from aquatic environments depends on the amount and type of pollution, the plant species used, and the size of the floating wetlands.” ~ Susan Cosier When I was a kid in Texas, we used to go out to farms and ranches owned by our dad’s clients. My […]
“For those that might still claim that skyscrapers are symbols of progress, the evidence is clear they now represent progress towards societal collapse.” ~ Architects Declare Growing up in Texas and spending time in Oklahoma, I saw that our big cities tended to be predictably alike — tall buildings in the center amid a […]
Writes of Nature 