Panhandle Ramble

Post Office Bay, North of Sumatra

Sumatra. For most of us, it is the best damned coffee from Starbucks. For those of us who are geographically inclined, it evokes images of a smoky coffee filled rapidly disappearing tropical Indonesian rain forest once filled with tigers and orangutans. For Florida plant enthusiasts, it is also well known for its spectacular prairies and bogs containing a carnivorous oddity. Pitcher plants.

Florida's Sumatra is located in the panhandle west of Tallahassee. It is surrounded by Appalachicola National Forest, an immense expanse of pine dominated ecosystems that abuts the Appalichicola River which is fed by the southern foot hills of the Appalachian Mountains. That region is a hub for botanical endemism and biodiversity, and contains a unique flora, but I digress...

My first exposure to Sumatra happened several years ago during a wonderful program on carnivorous plants presented at the monthly meeting of the Dade Chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society. Clyde Bramblett was the speaker, an old time plant enthusiast with a penchant for all plants carnivorous. His fascination with these unusual plants translated well by his many photographs and evident passion. Florida is lucky to be one of the centers of diversity for carnivorous flora. After his talk, I was determined to visit this region someday and witness the beautiful meat eating plants in person. This lifetime bucket list goal came to fruition during the Thirtieth Annual Florida Native Plant Society (FNPS) Conference which was held in Tallahassee Mid-May of this year.

Early in the morning a group of twenty or so FNPS field trip participants congregated and set forth down some two lane highways traveling through the National Forest. Our primary leader, Guy, was a lean man in his early sixties I'd guess. Throughout the field trip, he bequeathed his plant expertise with generosity and assurance, which this hobo botanist very much appreciated. Some plants I recognized, and many were familiar cousins of species found in my realm 400 miles away, but there was a treasure trove of new never before seen species. Our secondary leader, Virginia, a photographer, to each of us dealt out a lovely potential list of plants in booklet form with a personal photo of a pitcher plant prairie on the cover. I scanned through it immediately, and carefully set it aside to peruse later.

During the drive, my mouth salivated, and my hands twitched at the wheel desiring to pull over as clumps of pitcher plants and other cool herbs were speedily passed by. Fortunately, after a relatively brief drive that took forever, our caravan reconvened at our first stop; Post Office Bay. Members piled out of their carpooled vehicles, got all there gear, and gathered around Guy to hear about the natural history of the area. It wasn't before long that cameras were flashing, and people were huddling about the many wildflowers and herbs. We were all excited, awe struck, and chomping at the bit to walk amidst the pitcher plants. (Part 1 of 2, Panhandle Ramble)

Urban Meadows

No, not a country singer, but a concept in landscaping. Actually, not really landscaping, as very little action is needed for those who have lawns, in fact no action is needed.
Modern lawns use way too many resources. I listen to the radio, and hear countless commercials about "So-in-so's weed and feed" product to be spread across hundreds of thousands of acres of green field, whose ultimate purpose is not quite certain. Fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides used in the landscape reduce the overall fitness of the existing landscape (killing beneficial insects, and artificially pushing our plants growth like some sort of steroidal hormone). In addition, what isn't absorbed by the plants end up in our water supply, and/or oceans, rivers and lakes, threatening ourselves as well as existing ecosystems that we depend on. They also add to the carbon footprint (and are expensive to boot!). Modern lawns also require inordinate amounts of water, often drinking water, that we inundate with impunity during dry seasons, threatening the water supply we all depend on to sustain our own lives. So why are lawns so entrenched in our culture?
I have a few theories, visually, they provided a stylistic monochromatic scheme, sometimes pleasurable to our eyes. Lawns represent status dating back to European aristocracies, such as those vast fields surrounding Versailles. People who can afford to waste resources on redundant things appear to be "well off". Lawns also sustain the deeply intrinsic human behavioral need to manipulate one's environment. Regardless, it is time to grow up, and stop worrying about having a monoculture of one turf species. It is stupid and wasteful. Instead, embrace a new pastoral view of the world, and convert your lawn to an Urban Meadow.
Step 1: stop watering your lawn.
Step 2: stop using fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides on your lawn.
Step 3: Pop open a beer, you are done. You are on your way to having an urban meadow.
Over time, weeds (both native and exotic) will fill in the spaces of your former lawn where it is doing poorly. These weeds are extremely beneficial to insects, who visit the flowers, or even use them as host plants (I counted over 36 butterfly species which use the lawn weeds in my yard). Many of these insects, such as wasps, are predatory on pest insects elsewhere in your yard. Reduce the frequency of mowing, as it is costly, and time consuming. You will notice an abundance of life in your new urban meadow. Yes it will appear brown during droughts, but you will also notice a great many new wildflowers.
Final Step: Educate your neighbors. Choose an opportune time such as: while they are mowing their yard...paying the yard man another fifty bucks...dumping an inordinate amount of chemicals on their grass.
We will all benefit from this approach to lawncare, and it requires nothing but to merely step away.

Egg-zactly

Well, I alluded to some of the reasons for chickens in part one of this series. After having a flock for a year and a half now, I have learned much, and really do appreciate this species. They are much more entertaining than I thought they would be, they run around the yard, kind of stick to one small area, and cluck and cackle pleasantly. They have more personality than I thought too. A couple of my hens want to come in the house and "check things out". They are more pets at this stage than domesticated animals, and a part of my "household". Think about all the other pets people have, dogs, cats, fish, birds, turtles, etc. The noble chicken provides us sustenance, whereas none of the common pets do. They grant us a gift, almost daily, perfectly gift wrapped, and some breeds even color them for us.

It really is a no brainer. If each household had a couple of hens, all that carbon footprint and pollution from factory farms, transportation, not to mention the risk of disease from "old" eggs we buy at the market. Encourage your municipal and county councils/commissions to change many of the outdated laws that disallow having hens, and become one of the many backyard chicken owners.