Every food pantry welcomes donations of peanut butter because it is so nutritious, and every mother has it in her kitchen because no matter what else the kids refuse to eat, they will almost always accept a pb&j sandwich. Peanuts were the answer to Andre Briend, a French pediatrician, who was trying to find a way to treat malnutrition. He knew about F100, a fortified dry milk that could counter the biochemical effects of nutrition in children. But…
Life will not be denied! is a cry often heard here at the End of the Road. Often as I am pulling out persistent weeds, but sometimes when an unexpected life is discovered, like this petunia coming up through the paving. In spite of all the heat and drought, the petunia has thrived all summer. No help from us. This Labor Day weekend our son Chris and his partner Michelle visited. Their French bulldog, Bibi admired the brave…
“Invasive species have the potential to completely alter habitats, disrupt natural cycles of disturbance and succession, and most importantly, greatly decrease overall biodiversity, pushing rare species to the brink of extinction. Many ecologists now feel that invasive species represent the greatest current and future threat to native plant and animal species worldwide, greater even than human population growth, land development and pollution.” William Cullina of the New England Wildflower Society We do not have to travel far to…
The wonderful thing about gardens is that a stroll down the garden path is apt to take you down paths of literature, science, and history as well. One person who knows this very well is Arcady, Garden History Girl. She has a great blog that touches on more subjects than you might imagine. I was enjoying her story of the Roman matron Livia's cool garden room with its beautiful wall paintings - never dreaming I would end up learning…
Over at Garden Rant Mary Gray's guest rant bewailed the state of many school grounds, all concrete and lawn. I am very familiar with the school grounds that she describes, but I feel fortunate that the children in our small town have a very different school experience. The Heath Elementary School, which opened in 1996, was built in a pasture surrounded by woodland. When the school bus pulls off the dirt road onto the driveway it passes a…
"Few things are more annoying than dogmatism; and dogmatism is nowhere more misplaced than in horticulture. The wise gardener is he whom years of experience have succeeded in teaching that plants, no less than people have perverse individualities of their own, and that, though general rules may be laid down, yet it is impossible ever to predict with any certainty that any given treatment is bound to secure success or failure." Reginald Farrer in My Rock Garden. No season was…