Category: Departures
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Early Spring Plants of the Woodlands in Madison County Arkansas
I got a late start photographing the early spring plants this year (2017). They started without me and I’ve already missed some of them. These are some of the plants unfurling and blooming on April 1 in the woodland habitats … Read the rest “Early Spring Plants of the Woodlands in Madison County Arkansas”
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Sunrise Sounds at Wild Ozark
In the mornings, we don’t hear highway noise of people rushing to get to work on time. Our sunrise sounds belong to nature. Sunrise Sounds Remodeling We’ve been particularly busy lately here. Rob’s remodeling the bathroom. We thought it might … Read the rest “Sunrise Sounds at Wild Ozark”
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Compost Sifter
Rocks are everywhere here at Wild Ozark. Even when I rake leaves or clean out the chicken house I get rocks mixed in. A compost sifter would help when I’m trying to separate rocks and weeds out of the pile.… Read the rest “Compost Sifter”
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Starting Seeds and Straightening Tines
Yesterday I decided it was time to get busy starting seeds for our garden. Hauled the seed vault out and began the painful process of picking which of the very many seeds I have saved that I want to start … Read the rest “Starting Seeds and Straightening Tines”
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Ginseng Jams & Nature Art Cards on a Chilly Day
I’ll be in the Kingston square with the Wild Ozark booth on Saturday selling ginseng jams, nature art, and fairy gardens. Chilly Day For weeks it’s been warmer than usual and so I decided I’d set up the Wild Ozark … Read the rest “Ginseng Jams & Nature Art Cards on a Chilly Day”
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Watching for Witch Hazel Flowers
Witch Hazel Flowers Witch hazel flowers are an interesting sight to behold. The petals on the small flowers are thin and wild. The shrub blooms during the most unlikeliest time of the year. It is one of my favorite plants … Read the rest “Watching for Witch Hazel Flowers”
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Join me at the 8th Annual Agroforestry Symposium in Columbia, MO
January 26, 2017 We’ll be there representing Wild Ozark and I’ll be participating in the discussion panel for medicinal plant growers and entrepreneurs. Come out and meet us, talk about ginseng and the new habitat garden, or just say hello.… Read the rest “Join me at the 8th Annual Agroforestry Symposium in Columbia, MO”
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Bringing Hay to Horses in Snow
After yesterday’s post where I reveled in the fact that we’d actually had a decent snowfall, we went out in the cold to bring hay to horses. The temperature was about 15*F with a windchill factor of I don’t know … Read the rest “Bringing Hay to Horses in Snow”
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Can’t see the Trees for the Forest, or rather, Snowflakes for the Snow
Yesterday we only had a little bit of snow and each little snowflake was easy to see and photograph. Now it is like not being able to see the trees for the forest. Can’t see the snowflakes for the snow.… Read the rest “Can’t see the Trees for the Forest, or rather, Snowflakes for the…
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How to Identify Plants in the Wild, How to Search and Find Clues
Earlier this year I surveyed my newsletter members for their top questions. Here’s one about how to identify plants found in the outdoors. Top Questions It’s more of a comment than a question, but I’m creating this post in response to … Read the rest “How to Identify Plants in the Wild, How to Search and…
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Product Review: STABILicers Ice Cleats make Slippery Slopes a Cinch!
When it gets icy here, just walking down the back steps is a feat, but making my rounds to feed the critters is the whole circus. Ice cleats to the rescue. Biding time to try out the ice cleats So … Read the rest “Product Review: STABILicers Ice Cleats make Slippery Slopes a Cinch!”
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Keeping up the Juggling Act
It’s the holiday season, so it stands to reason that lots of folks are juggling lots of things in their lives these days. Juggling and Not Too Successfully I’ve been dropping a few balls lately. Right now the ones on … Read the rest “Keeping up the Juggling Act”
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Get in Shape with Nature- Starting out the Day Hot & Sweaty
This morning kicked off my first effort at returning to a daily walk/jog routine. It’s time to get in shape after 6 months of trying to take it easy. Get in Shape I can’t *really* jog yet. My knee is … Read the rest “Get in Shape with Nature- Starting out the Day Hot &…
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Homestead: Getting the Chainsaw Stuck … and Unstuck
Today was an outdoor work day, at least until the storm blew in. Feeding critters, excluding chickens, and getting the chainsaw stuck, and unstuck. Feeding Critters I did the usual thing first – fed the critters. It was a foggy … Read the rest “Homestead: Getting the Chainsaw Stuck … and Unstuck”
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Mailbox and Back in Under an Hour
Art Journaling, Herbalism, Herbs, Musings, Nature, Nature Writing, Ozarks, Photography, Plants, SummerYesterday I brought my camera with me when I went to the mailbox. If I had walked, I know it would have taken more than an hour because I would have seen so many more opportunities to stop and take … Read the rest “Mailbox and Back in Under an Hour”
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Top Questions from Readers: Healing Herbs
Healing Herbs: the first of the Top Questions and Topics of Interest from Readers Healing herbs and using the wild plants for medicine was one of the most often mentioned topics in the recent survey results. In case you’re just … Read the rest “Top Questions from Readers: Healing Herbs”
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Installing a Culvert Retaining Wall was Today’s Homestead Project
Today I built a culvert retaining wall for the culvert on the shop driveway to keep it from washing out around the sides. I was grateful for the overcast and dreary day so I could do this work without getting … Read the rest “Installing a Culvert Retaining Wall was Today’s Homestead Project”
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No Water
This morning I turned on the faucet to put some water on my toothbrush. Nothing but a few drops came out. Then, nothing. No water. No Water My thoughts immediately led to the question in my mind, which was “Where … Read the rest “No Water”
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Homestead Work
We’ve been busy doing a lot of outdoor homestead work since we came home from our gold panning trip to Colorado. That’s why there’s been no recent posts from me. The weather has been atrociously hot and I’m just too … Read the rest “Homestead Work”
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Avoiding Burnout: Fun Days at Wild Ozark
Avoiding Burnout Anyone who has ever tried to build a homesteading life will know it’s a tremendous amount of work. So we also work at avoiding burnout. The list of things on the “to do” list is so long, our … Read the rest “Avoiding Burnout: Fun Days at Wild Ozark”
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Busy Burning Coffee Days at Wild Ozark
My efforts at multitasking yesterday ended with flames, billowing smoke and the awful scent of burnt coffee beans. Surprisingly, I did not stop to get a picture of this event to document it for this post. At first there weren’t … Read the rest “Busy Burning Coffee Days at Wild Ozark”
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Photos of Plants – Medicinal & Useful plants down the Wild Ozark Driveway
I’m still mostly stuck in the house because of my knee (dislocated it a little over a week ago) but I took the four-wheeler and camera down the driveway to get a few photos of plants unfurling or coming into … Read the rest “Photos of Plants – Medicinal & Useful plants down the Wild…
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Update from Wild Ozark
Lots of things going on – or rather, NOT going on lately. If you’re a subscriber to my monthly newsletter, you’ve probably already seen the update that I won’t be doing the farmer’s market this year. I forgot to … Read the rest “Update from Wild Ozark”
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Blue Cohosh (Caulophyllum thalictroides) Unfurling
The blue cohosh (Caulophyllum thalictroides) is awake early this spring. I found some the other day, in three different stages of unfurl. The one completely unfurled is in a pot in the nursery area, the other two are in the … Read the rest “Blue Cohosh (Caulophyllum thalictroides) Unfurling”
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How to move a round bale without a hay spike by using the front-end loader instead.
I’ve been using a chain with the tractor and front end loader to move round bales to the horses. We don’t have a hay spike or fork attachment. This how-to assumes you have a tractor with a front end loader … Read the rest “How to move a round bale without a hay spike by…
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