A (Wet) Walk In The Woods

It's been raining for days, and it is predicted to keep on raining like this for another week! This is awesome for my newly planted fall garden, but for my love of being outside...well ya' gotta make compromises sometimes. I decided to go out into the soggy outdoors when the rain slacked just enough, I know that after a good rain everything has that dark wet look that brightens and makes each living thing more bold.
The path was getting it's first confetti of colored leaves, it looked like someone had carefully placed them, but the random nature of nature is just that beautiful on it's own.
I was walking super quiet in hopes to see some wildlife - I was so quiet in fact some squirrels chasing each other had no idea I was there and ran out into the path one behind the other, only to stop suddenly, give a look of complete shock at how close we all were and then haul ass two separate ways in two separate trees. Can you see the one squirrel in the pic below?
Once fall and winter begin their arrival I notice so many more things in the woods then before- so many things that were being covered up by the jungley growth of summer.
I then found my favorite trees, the wintergreen & root beer smelling birch trees! There are so many more then I even realized. I decided to brush my teeth with a branch like the Native Americans did - the birch tree tastes way better then toothpaste to me (I don't like toothpaste at all), and as you can see I don't bleach my teeth cause it's not worth putting chemicals in my body but they are not exactly the whitest either due to Celiac Sprue damage.
Read more about the yummy Birch tree here.
I found some really tall rock outcroppings that had bunches of little animal holes & hideaways all around it. These rocks are really steep- the edge is a cliff hanger of at least 50 feet or more.
On my way back home I found some really delicious apples sitting in a creek bed that no longer runs with water. Yay! More apples!
XoXoooo

Yellow Bug On Mustard Greens - Can You Identify It?

Now I know this bug may look normal, and may even look pretty common but it's not quite like the rest of it's gang that was surrounding it. I may be all overly excited because I just read about the boy in the UK who found a pink grasshopper - but this little yellow insect is the only one like it I have ever seen. Take a look at the bugs pictured below - they are very opaque with geometric shades of orange, black and white, they also appear to be the same exact species as the yellow guy - these bugs are considered pests to gardeners because they tend to eat most greens (mustard and turnip in my garden). They are not terriblely destructive, but they are there and for some reason I have just left them to their eating and mating frenzy all season long.
So what's up with the one little lonely yellow guy? NO one else was even playing with it - no group eating, crawling, mating - it's legs are almost transparent, unlike it's buddies who have black legs.
It also has eyes that appeared to be a reddish black color, fierce... but oh, soooo sweet. It was slightly skiddish of me but didn't run. It just barely hid behind a stick at one point, then came back out for some more pics. As you can see below, it's a really tiny insect - compared to my really small hand.So, what is Mr. Lemon? Same kind of bug as the nearby gang, a whole 'nother bug, or a pigment challenged cutie?

XoXo

Light Yellow Fuzzy Caterpillar

Wooook at dis' little fuzzy caterpillar I found in my garden! Everytime I find one, it's some new fabulous color, with another neato texture of fur... or is it such thin spikes it looks like fuzz? Deceiving? When I played with the branch it was climbing on it froze and didn't move a muscle (or suction cup foot). But once I put it back down it got right back to what it had been doing before...
There is hardly a thing cuter then the feet of a caterpillar... possibly a new born kitten or something else with adorable hairy bodies and padded feet - but just barely. ;)
XoXo

Fall/Winter Organic Garden

This is the first time I am trying out a Fall & Winter organic garden and it's pretty exciting. Rather then having that feeling like life as I know it is about to end, it is a little bit like spring time all over again. I left all the bug repelling nasturtiums and marigolds growing (although they don't seem to repel squash bugs in the least), going around them to hoe the finished plots, then Bort lightly tilled in the dead stuff with the Mantis Tiller for me (thanks Bort!). I always use organic & companion planting methods for all my gardens - the veggie plants always grow huge and produce a large amount of food. The only real issue is with having enough pollinators lately, which I can only imagine is connected to the world's larger prob of pollution.
Here is a list of what I am going to experiment with (based on my climate and my curiosity):
Red Russian Kale, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Mustard Greens, Lettuce, White Icicle Radishes, Beets, Carrots, and Green Onion. I also have some Green Bean volunteers which were planted by the hoeing and tilling of the dead ones.
Up above are my Kale plants sprouting - tons are coming up so I will have to thin them out a little. The Broccoli, Cauliflower, and Mustard Greens all are shaped the same as the kale when first poking out the ground- but each has it's own special coloration. Kale is probably the most suited for winter gardening, since frost and snow makes it taste sweeter then ever. (Or so I hear.)
Pictured below is my precious little beet sprouts, with the pretty red stem. I really love eating beet greens more then beets themselves, but also I like to make paint, dye and make up with the beets! Root veggies also store very well, so it's always good to grow as many of them as possible.
This last pic is of my brave Green Bean volunteers, I am not sure how well they will do once it really starts geting cold but they seem to be loving this pre-fall weather of warm days and cool nights. I have more green bean sprouts then I can even handle! It'll be fun to watch the chilly crop mystery unravel. :)
XoXOoo

Natural Plant Dye: Non Poisonous Sumac

Not all sumac is the bad stuff that gives a person a poison ivy like reaction (like this), the sumac pictured here was used by native americans to make plant dyes and even a citrus tasting drink akin to lemonaid. Red sumac, also known as Staghorn, grows all along the roads here and up on open hills- so I rode my bike about a mile from my house to gather some to make non toxic dye with! The highest goal I have for making organic paints and dye is for it to not be poisonous in any way whether chemical or natural (which is the only downfall for poke berries, ya can't eat 'um) - staghorn sumac is one that can even be ingested- so it gets the 5 star award for being totally eco friendly and safe!
I cut the berry clumps off with a knife (the stem is fairly soft but might be hard to break by hand), and I gathered them in a hemp bag. The sumac is self contained, it wasn't bursting open and staining anything along the way. It has a sugary looking substance coating the each little berry.
I put the sumac berries in a pot, with some salt and water. I brought it to a boil and let it simmer for about 30 minutes. I think the more you mush them, the longer it cooks, the deeper a color that can be achieved- even though this most likely will never be as opaque & dark as poke berries or tumeric. As far as I could tell from the consistency it makes a better watery dye, then a paint, but I will keep you posted on that! I did a quick short experiment, just to see if the red-ish brown water would stain an undyed organic cotton shirt.
I was surprised how easy the color took to the fabric, mainly because it looked even darker in the shirt then it did in the pot. It will dry a shade lighter then when it's freshly wet, probably making this a peachy red, with brown overtones. I am impressed with how nice the color came out- but what's even better is the SMELL! This stuff smells yummy, and when it comes to making DIY dye that is a huge bonus! Toxic dyes smell like crap and are unhealthy to inhale, to have against our skin, and the throw down the drain. If someone wanted to try this as an organic paint, it might work best if painting on fabric instead of canvas or paper, using this in combo with other natural dye stains to achieve depth and variations in darkness to light.
Yay, for sumac... more plant dyes to come.
Please share your own natural dye experiments!!!
XoXo

Black, Blue and Yellow Horned Caterpillar

A unicorn butt caterpillar!!! Straight up, it's gotta be one horny ass. I would love to know what sort of butterfly or moth this digitalized looking creeper will become?
XoXo

Eco Art: DIY Paint Brush (For Kids and Adult Artists)

Nope, I did not suddenly adopt a child- I just borrowed one for a little while - and her name is Isabella. Isabella is 5 years old and caught onto this project really quickly. We decided to have painting time and make all our own art supplies from things we have around already, by picking poke berries for paint (the Declaration of Independence was written in it) and then making our very own eco paint brushes! I think it is really important for children right now to know that not everything they need has to come from an aisle in walmart, Toys'R-Us, or even an art store for that matter - nature holds the key to many a great invention and definitely way more fun.

What You Need:

• A Stick
• Hair (from a human or horse)
• Rubber band (or string, strip of fabric etc...)
• Knife (optional)

Me and Isabella walked around looking for a good stick to use for the brush handle, choosing whichever size would be easy to hold, or match the kind of brush you like to use when painting. Once ya have your sticks, you have the option of using a knife to wittle down one end to a point - this sometimes makes it easier when trying to paint a finer line.
Take a clump of human or horse hair (hair thick enough to paint with) and hold it to the end of the stick you will want to paint with. Choosing the amount of hair, is just like choosing the brush size.
Simply use your rubber band to hold the hair in place by wrapping it around a few time tightly. You can also use string or cotton fabric to tie it on snug.
Once you have the hair tied on, simply take some scissors to shape the hairy brush head- you can make it flat by cutting straight across, or you can make a fine point by cutting at an angle on each side coming to a point.
This is the face of success.... Isabella made a few paintings on recycled paper and some rocks!I will share more on making natural paints and dyes super soon - cause it is plant dye season!

Xoxooo

Brown Striped Eye Frog & Co.

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I have a surprise for ya! It's super cute...YAY! A tiny tree frog that I have never seen before, and it is really amazing. Brown stripes over it's eyes, and striped back legs... plus...
Polka dots and adorned with froggy jewels.
The frog was getting so much super star quality attention that a nearby toad leaned in for a hot shot of his sassy self! Aren't his spots and bumps handsome?
I am pretty sure they were all on the trail of the little snail!
XoXooo

Bike Ride On Willow Creek Rd.

I love riding my bike around here because there is so much to look at - but I wish going uphill was a hec of alot easier! I can only make it so far on my bike, so I have been scoping out Willow Creek Road over and over, flying down hill, then pumping uphill all slow and out of breath. Old men pass me by in their farm trucks and wave hello, but have a look of "WTF are ya doing lady!?!" on their face.
Passing cows, barns, brick ranch houses and some fields down the road I arrive at my destination. Standing away from the gate facing the road are endless rows of corn. Big Sandy Mush valley is really two walls of mountains protecting the corn down the center. Corn is the hot shit 'round these parts.
I jumped (another) red metal gate...this one was tricky. It is on a busy part of the road, and without thinking I went out right at 5 o clock, so way more people were going by then usual. I hid my bike in the tall weeds against the fence, pretended to be taking endless pics of the corn across the road and listened carefully for distant cars before hopping over the gate.
This place is one of wonder to me, I have felt attracted to it every time I saw it from the road, I felt like it was a forest similar to the one I lived under in Marshall, NC - my place that I loved but had to leave. As soon as I jumped the fence I smelled the sweet smell of that perfect mix of trees, of a secret pocket that doesn't get alot of human traffic, of native plants growing unimpeded. It may not look like much, but it has just the right feeling, just the right lighting, just the right scent.
The first thing I saw was this little "tree house" -- if it had just been a tad bigger I might have moved in!
But then I begin noticing some junk that didn't really belong. It wasn't a total dump or total loss, but here and there pieces of someone's past trash lay randomly spread amongst the magic. Chemical tanks...
Oh, and a washer... (a bunch of tires, metal bowls and plastic buckets were all part of the landscape too). This wasn't discouraging, I wanted to help clean it up - but then I heard a dog barking really close by and another sound that was probably a human doing something at their house- a house I didn't realize must be right over the hill behind the trees. I used my quiet stalking skills to creep softly away and back to the gate- silently hopping back over and getting on my bike.
On my ride back home I noticed a tiny creature in the road, a baby snapping turtle! I love snapping turtles and wanted to take it home, but then realized it had been killed in the road, along with some other baby snappers. :( Poor wittle turtle. After that I couldn't help but notice all the micro casualties in the road - so many dragonflies and crickets all smooshed by cars. Makes me glad I have a bike and will soon be jus' riding a donkey! I hurt for that turtle, and I don't really care if that's being too sensitive for most peeps living in this fast paced society.
Bye bye cows! Time to go home.
XoXo