autumn

I'm your mamma, I'm your daddy I'm that farma in the alley I'm your doctor, when in need Want sweet taters? Have some nettle weed! You know me, i'm your friend Gotcher parsnips, thick and thin I'm your pusherwoman, I'm your pusherwoman. haha Ain't i clean, veggie queen Super cool, super green Feelin' good, for not the man Onion chick, here i stand Carrot stash, heavy bread Baddest bitch in your garden bed! I'm your pusherwoman I'm your pusherwoman I'm your pusherwoman Solid life, on the farm Gal of odd circumstance A victim of agrarian dreams Feed you my broccoli And i'll let you trip for a…
Last night was our official first frost, right about at our new average (official last frost date is about October 7 here, but the last 9 years have been increasingly late). I was wholly unprepared - I forgot to check, and had meant to harvest the last batch of Tulsi. Ah well. Green tomato pickles are definitely the order of the day! We'll be eating out of our garden for a long time yet - with season extension, probably until late December or January, but frost is a marker of change, and it seems as good a time as any to evaluate this year's garden. In general, it was a banner year for…
There are coyotes denned right across the road, which is one of the reasons we have Mac the Marshmallow. Mac is a 110lb Great Pyrenees dog, a livestock guardian breed the approximate size of a shetland pony. Asher, my four year old, has been known to ride him. We call him "Mac the Marshmallow" because he's the color of one, and has the same personality. He's fearless when it comes to predators, but so gentle one of my cats will stick his head in Mac's mouth without worry. When a rabbit got out of cage at our house, Mac caught it, and, instead of doing it harm, washed it. For hours.…
Autumn is a time of incredible beauty, when the world becomes painted in the red, orange and yelllow palette of falling leaves. But there may be a deeper purpose to these colours, and the red ones in particular. In the eyes of some scientists, they aren't just decay made pretty - they are a tree's way of communicating with aphids and other insects that would make a meal of it. The message is simple: "I am strong. Don't try it." During winter, trees withdraw the green chlorophyll from their leaves, and textbooks typically say that autumn colours are produced by the pigments that are left…
tags: tree of fire, UWS, Upper West Side, Manhattan, NYC, image of the day Tree of Fire. West 83rd between Columbus and Amsterdam Avenues, Manhattan, NYC. Image: GrrlScientist, 6 November 2008 [larger view].
tags: Autumn in the Palouse, landscape, nature, photography, Image of the Day Autumn in the Palouse. [Eastern Washington State, USA] Image: Joe Fuhrman, 2008 [larger view].
tags: Arid country in the Palouse, landscape, nature, photography, Image of the Day Arid Country in the Palouse. Image: Joe Fuhrman, 2008 [larger view]. [The Palouse is a semi-arid "rain shadow" region in Eastern Washington State and portions of the Idaho panhandle, USA]
tags: Palouse Falls Washington, landscape, nature, photography, Image of the Day Palouse Falls, Washington. Image: Joe Fuhrman, 2008 [larger view]. [The Palouse is a semi-arid "rain shadow" region in Eastern Washington State and portions of the Idaho panhandle, USA]
tags: Wheat in the Palouse, landscape, nature, photography, Image of the Day Winter wheat in the Palouse. Image: Joe Fuhrman, 2008 [larger view]. [The Palouse is a semi-arid "rain shadow" region in Eastern Washington State and portions of the Idaho panhandle, USA]
tags: Palouse Washington, landscape, nature, photography, Image of the Day Palouse, Washington State. Image: Joe Fuhrman, 2008 [larger view]. [The Palouse is a semi-arid "rain shadow" region in Eastern Washington State and portions of the Idaho panhandle, USA]
tags: Palouse Falls, Washington, landscape, nature, photography, Image of the Day Palouse Falls, Washington. Image: Joe Fuhrman, 2008 [larger view]. [The Palouse is a semi-arid "rain shadow" region in Eastern Washington State and portions of the Idaho panhandle, USA]
tags: Autumn in the Palouse, landscape, nature, photography, Image of the Day Autumn in the Palouse. [Eastern Washington State, USA] Image: Joe Fuhrman, 2008 [larger view]. The Palouse is where I grew up.