Happy Winter Solstice! Throwback to that time around the Spring Equinox when I was channeling my inner Druid at Stonehenge. I’d sure like to go back again and watch the sun rise some winter solstice. #stonehenge #wintersolstice #druids

First snow!

Into the forest we go, to free our minds, and chase some squirrels.🐿️ #awalkinthewoods #chasingsquirrels

Every evening is a different painting. #sunsets #lakelife #crosslakeNY

Nice early-morning cruise down the Seneca River birding with @walkininmemphis.bsky.social and @megschader.bsky.social yesterday. Even managed to get a few of these Great Blue Herons in focus while bobbing up and down. #GreatBlueHeron #BlueHeron #birdwatching #CentralNewYork #centraNY #SenecaRiver

First hazelnuts on this three year old plant.🤩 I counted 3 but I don’t hold much hope that the squirrels won’t get to them before I do. Stay tuned for my best squirrel stew recipe. #CorylusAmericana #SquirrelFood #AmericanHazelnut #ForestGarden #ForestGardening #PerennialVegetables #permaculture

Throwback #TBT to that Thursday afternoon walk in the woods with @walkininmemphis.bsky.social and @megschader.bsky.social‬ when we saw this sweet young eaglet.🦅#eaglet #baldeagle #birding #baldeaglet #CentralNewYork

Red Currant coming in hot.🔥This is a variety called “Red Lake” that I picked up in Ithaca. #RibesRubrum

As if I needed one more reason to stop mowing my lawn.🦌 #CreateHabitat #Rewilding #GrowFoodNotLawns #RewildYourLawn #NoMowMovement

A little late for peak peony blooms but I did manage a dreamy o'keeffe-esque snap of one of the 'Krinkled Whites’ before it faded. And a hover fly. #peonyseason #peonypic #peonylove #georgiaokeeffe #krinkledwhite

Things that don’t keep me up at night: This Grey Treefrog. Their calls lull me right to sleep. 😴 🐸 #SummerFrogCalls #CampSounds #CountryLiving #LakeLife

Every time that I think I don’t have room for one more fruit tree/shrub…I’m wrong. Picked up an Illinois Everbearing Mulberry recently. Started leafing out beautifully just two days after I planted it in not-so-optimal clay soil. #PlantOnceEatForever #FoodForest #Permaculture #PermacultureGardening

I don’t have the ambition (or the equipment) to remove this stump so now it’s a ‘raised bed’ planter filled with Calendula. 🤣🌼 The leaves and petals are both edible and it’s a prolific self-seeder so it’ll be here every year till this stump rots to the ground. I think it’ll look cool.

Ask where the best fishing holes are in #CentralNY and all the experts with tell ya it’s Cross Lake.🦅 #wildlifephotography #birds #birding #naturalnewyork #iloveny

Besides Boone’s Farm and MD 2020, did anyone else score a bottle of Lake Niagara wine when they were a precocious and curious teen? I bought this half-dead ‘Vitis labrusca’ or Fox Grape on sale at Runnings last summer for $4 and it seems to be bouncing back.

“Find a bit of beauty in the world today. Share it.” ~Lisa Bonchek Adams #birds

Kids these days are fearless, amiright? Came right out curious-as-can-be and walked right over to me. A neighbor once questioned why I pile up sticks and branches all over the place and the answer is ‘habitat’. Now she has an apple for breakfast in addition to a safe place to wait for mom to return

Florets of Turkish Rocket (Bunias orientalis) cohabitating with Stinging Nettle. Sauté them up like a broccoli rabe/rapini (their boring domesticated cousin) or let them flower to nourish the pollinators and other beneficial insects. #PlantOnceEatForever #FoodForest #EdiblePerennials

The Cherokee referred to them as "Peace Eagles" because they don’t have to kill in order to thrive. ☠️🖤 The world could use more Turkey Vultures.

Nature’s Sanitation Crew is on the scene. “Should have that dead fish cleared out in about 10 minutes, Sir. Thank you for your patience.” #TurkeyVulture #birdsky #birds

Sowed some radish just for fun since the seeds were over three years old and I wasn’t sure if they were any good. Every single one of them popped up! From seed to ready-to-eat in just over three weeks. Easy peasy. Greens are tasty, too. #soraradish #fruitionseeds #RaphanusSativus #gardensky

Super productive day sitting on the deck watching little winged creatures and tiny crawly things. That’s it. That’s all I got accomplished. And that was exactly enough.☺️ #hummingbirds #birdsky #birds

"Better it is to live one day seeing the rise and fall of things than to live a hundred years without ever seeing the rise and fall of things." —Buddha 🍄‍🟫☠️ Can any of my fun-loving fungi friends identify this quickly-rising but faster-falling mushroom? #fungusamongus #fungifreaks #fungilovers

If you want your friends to experience the Spirit of your kindness over-and-over again, just send them an edible perennial to plant in their garden. It’ll feed their body AND their soul.

Elderberry cuttings from Edible Acres are putting on some nice growth. It’s completely crazy and magickal to me that you can just press a stick in the ground and a shrub will grow. I planted 30 of them in mid-march (and when I say “planted” I mean I just stuck 30 sticks in the ground).

Turkish Rocket (Bunias orientalis). A hardy, broccoli-like (of which it is related) edible perennial in the brassica family. The tender florets can be harvested and cooked like a broccoli rabe/rapini and the leaves can be eaten raw or cooked and have a mild cabbage flavor. #BuniasOrientalis

This is Good King Henry, AKA Poor-man’s Asparagus, or sometimes just “Wild Spinach”. I didn’t think last year’s scrawny little seedlings would survive the winter but they’ve came back looking healthy and strong. #BlitumBonusHenricus #PermacultureGardening #EdibleLandscaping #permaculture

It’s a rainy day here in CNY and I’m scrolling through this week’s plant picts trying not to feel guilty for not being outside planting. This edible perennial is Red-veined Sorrel (also known as Bloody Dock). #RumexSanguineus #PlantOnceEatForever #PermacultureGardening #ForestGarden #FoodForest

Get yourself some neighbors who randomly stuff your mailbox with a dozen fresh eggs. Thank you, Mrs. Edwards! 🐓

Comfrey from bocking-14 crown cuttings planted 11/29/24. I'm trying to produce all of my fertilizer 100% on-site and in a sustainable way. Comfrey compost tea seems to fit the bill. Smells like the devil when it’s done, though.😷 Also a terrific bioactivator for the regular compost bin. #permaculture

Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis) is popping up everywhere. Rookie mistake…I should have grown them in pots. Most often used as a tea but the whole plant is edible, so add a few leaves to your salad. Studies have shown that it is effective in reducing anxiety and improving cognitive function + focus.

Fiddlehead season is about to pop! There’s only about a one-week window to get them when they are young and tender enough (and enjoyably) to eat. 

I’m going to sauté some up in EVOO and garlic next week if you want to try them @walkininmemphis.bsky.social & @momface5.bsky.social. #SpringForaging

Garden Sorrel (Rumex acetosa). A herbaceous perennial with a tangy, sour-lemony flavor (sometimes called Sour Dock or Sheep Sorrel). Available at the salad bar right in your own backyard. #PlantOnceEatForever #PermacultureGardening #ForestGarden #SheepSorrel #SourDock #EdibleLandscaping

Cutleaf Coneflower is sprouting. The Cherokee name is “So-Cha-Ni” or “Sochan” (Rudbeckia laciniata) and the edible leaves are a traditional Cherokee staple. It has a fairly mild flavor so it can be a replacement for spinach. It’s also prolific so you’ll have a lifetime supply of leafy greens.

Almost two years ago to the day, my friend @megschader.bsky.social gifted me two Eastern Redbud saplings and today one of them is budding out for the very first time! These edible flowers are rich in immune-boosting antioxidants and vitamin C. #PermacultureGardening #ForestGarden #EasternRedbud

Lovage patch is waking up! (Yep, I’m that plant nerd with a label maker.) These plants will end up being 7’ feet tall and provide more celery substitute than can possibly be consumed in a single season. celery! #PlantOnceEatForever #PermacultureGardening #ForestGarden #permaculture #FoodForest

Winter is back. 24° this morning. Feels like 2° with 20mph winds. The season’s first bonfire will have to wait. But check out the fancy new seating this year! 🪵 #LakeLife #NorthEastSpring #bonfires

The results of an experiment I did with Jerusalem Artichoke over the winter: A lot of folks just leave them in the ground year-round and only harvest when they need it. But that’s tough to do when it’s been 10°f degrees out for weeks on end and the ground is frozen solid.

“If you think much about some flower which you never saw, you will be pretty sure to find it someday actually growing near by you. In the long run, we find what we expect. We shall be fortunate then if we expect great things.” —Henry D. Thoreau Expect.👏 Great.👏 Things.👏 #bloomscrolling

Hardnecks🧄are growing nicely! I spaced them out a little more because my bulbs seemed a little small last year. I was also neglectful and let the scapes go too long so that may have contributed (not sure if that’s just folklore or if cutting them really re-directs energy back to the bulb).

A beautiful day to bark back at the geese. #cockapoolife #lakelife #cockapoo

I think it’s happening. I think it’s really, really happening. 😎 #signsofspring #daffodils Gonna go look for some skunk cabbage to verify.

Last of this season’s frozen lake updates. Next week we’ll be hitting mid-50°s. #lakelife #sunsets

Weird finding English Ivy (Hedera helix) out here in the middle of the woods. Although I'll have to admit that it's nice to see something green.

I’ve been trying to establish Sea Kale (Crambe maritima) for years now without any luck.🥺 With Sean’s help over at Edible Acres maybe I’ve finally cracked the code. It never occurred to me to crack the shell and extract and plant the little seed on its own. One more try.🤞🏼#foodforest #permaculture

The look I get after calling him back from chasing deer 🦌 all over the woods. What? What’d I do? It’s not like I caught it, sheesh.😒 #dogsky #awalkinthewoods #dogsofbluesky #centralnewyork #centralNY #carhartt

Every visit to the forest feels like coming home..