Missouri Master Naturalist Orientation

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I went to an orientation session about becoming a Missouri Master Naturalist last week. The meeting was held at the Springfield-Greene County Botanical Center (the building in the Botanical Gardens). I spent a few minutes photographing some flowers (one with a bumblebee) in the Master Gardeners area before I went into the building.

The session was an overview of the process to become a Missouri Master Naturalist and then an informal time to talk to people that were already Missouri Master Naturalists. It was a learning experience….confirmed my decision to start the training and participate as soon as I can in volunteer opportunities. I’ve already noticed some differences between the way Maryland and Missouri implemented their Master Naturalist program…but the idea at the core is same and there are a lot of commonalities in the types of training and volunteering – which is the motivation for me! I’m excited to get started in September. It is the same type feeling I had toward the end of summer during my school years.

Josey Ranch Plants – July 2023

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Some plants of note at Josey Ranch (Carrollton, TX).…noticed while I was looking at birds….

In the garden between the big pond and library/senior center – I realized there were quite a few beautyberries. Most of them were doing great. There was one that was wilted (as was the redbud tree growing near it). I guessed that the sprinkler system was not working properly. Even native plants are challenged by days and days (maybe weeks and weeks) of 100+ temperatures with very little rain!

In the Pocket Prairie area – the sunflowers were still growing very well.

There was a surprise zinnia. Not sure why it was there with the native plants but it was growing quite happily.

In the area just outside the Pocket Prairie, there where cracks in the sod/soil and some strange features. At first, I thought they were roots but now I am not sure.

Springfield Botanical Garden – July 2022 (2)

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There are insects and birds in the Springfield Botanical Gardens too…although they sometimes require more luck…and searching. I was disappointed that the only butterfly I saw was a cabbage white – although I saw it right away on the walk between the parking lot and the hosta garden.

There was rabbit nibbling among the hostas…squirrels and robins were there too.

I spent more time in the English Garden…just a short path off the South Creek Greenway Trail…and I was glad I did because there was a hummingbird moth enjoying the flowers! They really do move about like a hummingbird!

The zinnias and sunflowers were far enough in their development for goldfinches to be eating the developing seeds. There was a small flock of the birds moving among the flowers near the Butterfly Garden.

As I hurried on the route back to the car (my husband had texted he was there and ready to leave), I took a picture of a robin perched on a garden sign. I see them frequently at home too. Somehow - they look a little smaller and scruffier than the robins I saw in Maryland. Maybe the drier conditions this year?

Zooming – October 2020

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Another month…a selection of zoomed pictures. The only picture of the group taken a little further afield than we’ve been since the beginning of the pandemic is the rather stern looking Great Blue Heron which was from our field trip to Conowingo Dam. There will be a few more such field trips in November as we build up our confidence to make the treks safely. Enjoy the show!

Children of our Town (in 1902)

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The illustrations in Children of our Town were done by Ethel Mars and Maud Hunt Squire….showing children as they were in towns and cities in 1902. The verses were written by Carolyn Wells and link the book to New York (i.e. a city) where it was published. Still – it’s interesting to browse the pictures and think about how reflective these images are of children of that era.

There are several indications that these were children of people that were well off:

  • they are always wearing shoes even in warm weather,

  • they are often at places that would have cost money (a merry-go-round, a zoo, an excursion boat),

  • they have equipment like skates and toys,

  • sometimes the adult with them appears to be a nanny or maid.

1902 is an interesting year in my perception of the time since my grandfathers were born in 1901 and 1903. Their situation would have been very different since they were not living in a city or town; they were part of a rural population that had enough to eat because they grew food but were generally challenged for things they couldn’t produce themselves. One of my grandfathers talked about going barefoot all the time as a child and also an instance where he fashioned shoes for himself out of shoe boxes when it was very cold. They also were more involved in the work of the farm as soon as they were old enough to gather eggs or pull weeds or scare birds away from the garden.  Whatever toys they had were ones they (or their parents) made from materials available to them (bark boats for the creek, clay from the creek bank, etc.). I wondered if they had marbles like the city children.

(Note - There is a version of Stevenson’s A Child’s Garden of Verses illustrated by the same artists available from Project Gutenberg published in 1928. It’s interesting to see how the work of these artists evolved over time.)

Unique Activities for Yesterday:

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Mowing leaves. I made a first mulching of leaves on our yard. The oak and sycamore are beginning to drop their leaves and those leaves are big enough to form mats if they are not mowed to bits at the right time. From now on the mowing will be more about leaves than grass!

Winding down in the cutting garden. There are fewer flowers in the CSA’s cutting garden. I cut fewer this week.

At some point I’ll be making very different kinds of bouquets – may some amaranths and seed pods. The stevia and fennel had the tops cut off  (appeared like it was done just a few hours before I got there) so I gathered the clippings that were on top of the remaining plants and have the stevia clipped and drying on a tray. The fennel seed heads are still in a bag. I haven’t quite figured out how to handle them.  

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The cooler temps mean that we have lettuces again. We got two single-salad size lettuces this week and they look almost like flowers (and are edible)!

Fall in the Cutting Garden

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Flowers are not the only thing I get from the cutting garden at my CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). I like getting extra basil and stevia as well. A few leaves of stevia in pots of tea give it just enough sweetness…and basil provides another flavor in my smoothies and stir fries. Both plants are about ready to go to seed. There are only a few stevia plants, but it seems I’m the only one going back to that part of the garden.

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Next to the stevia were some big feathery plants that I glanced at just as I was cutting the stevia. There were two caterpillars!!!! I knew the type they were from several years ago when I had some black swallowtail caterpillars on a parsley plant in a pot on my deck.

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As I walked to the end of the row where the sign that identified the plantings was located, I saw another caterpillar.

It turned out the plant was fennel! When I got home I did some research (I am old enough to remember having to go the library for references we now have with a simple search on our home computers!) and it is listed as a food plant for black swallowtail caterpillars! I also learned that the fennel seeds are edible and will harvest some of the seed heads on the plant next week. The leaves are being eating by caterpillars but otherwise the plants look ignored by other CSA folks.

The compost pile to the side of the cutting garden was very colorful. I guess some of the tomatoes and squashes had animal bites or got overripe before they could be picked/distributed.

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Of course, I got the usual fresh flowers. They are bracketing the red maple seedling this morning. I still have 2 kombucha bottles with flowers from the previous week as well.

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Unique Activities for Yesterday:

Frog in the street. I start out for my grocery shopping before 6:30 AM and these days it is still dark at that time. This week it was wet which might have also made it seem darker. After I passed the recycle truck heading further into the neighborhood, I saw a frog (in silhouette) hoping across the street toward the neighborhood pond! I stopped…to give it time to get across.