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Native Instincts

Native Instincts

Nipped in the Bud Some 20 years ago I wrote a short, provocative letter to the editor of the Fredericksburg, Virginia, Free Lance Star. A defense of organic farmers, it was my first letter to an editor, and I had little expectation that it would 

We are the Native Plant Nursery

We are the Native Plant Nursery

Written in Gratitude to Robin Wall Kimmerer Mother Yards Six years ago, I bought into a landscape that was overrun with invasive plants. I was daunted when I pondered their removal, but certitude slowly withered the pondering and I began removing them, sometimes by bits, 

Ms. Pinion’s Lilac

Ms. Pinion’s Lilac

Legacy My Flintstone, Georgia, house was built in 1951 by Martha and Jack Pinion. Almost everyone in this small community knew them, and everyone knew the Pinions’ house. That’s in part because Martha worked but a short walk from here, just past the end of 

Phase II, Supplements

Phase II, Supplements

Three clear intentions initiated and guided my landscape restoration: to remove invasive and other undesirable plants, to replace them with native plants, and, always, to return the land’s organic matter to the soil. I am carrying out these intentions, no doubt, but other intentions, fashioned 

Nature Provides, We Decide

Nature Provides, We Decide

Building a house or a community lacerates the land. Often the damage is severe, but even with great planning and care, some damage is certain. No matter the extent, this damage is an earth wound. It’s a ground layer scalping that initiates a response from