M Ljin

I have found Stropharia aeruginosa growing in the hugel mound! Not edible but very pretty. Plenty of people use buried logs for cultivation and certain species (like hardwood reishi I think) are supposed to enjoy it better than above ground. Especially in dry areas, it should help.

That looks like what my book shows. Did you take a spore print? My book says it should be white.

It says “not edible although Brazilian Indians are reported to eat it boiled”. One could say the same about beloved acorns, or morels, or milkweed, or any number of excellent food plants!—So may need special processing?

That is absolutely ridiculous.

Anyway, isn’t he planning to make the “government” a lot larger with the new construction? Maybe there’s a metaphor in it. Throw a bone to those who want a smaller government by smashing pre-existing things while doing some planning of his own amidst the rubble.

There is always a lesson to be found in things like this. Maybe it’s that the world is changing and many of the old ways are no longer safe and we need to have something nurturing, some ground-up stability to take refuge for when/if these things come toppling, or overstep their bounds. Or maybe, not a lesson per se but a metaphor—this is the sort of thing happening right now.

I always did think a system headed by one person is vulnerable to moving in oscillations. But on the other hand it’s balanced somewhat with Congress/court, the three centers of power which help a little to stabilize things. Some things don’t change and that is also telling.

I don’t think this is an oyster at all. I think the mushroom is an elongated-pored member of the polypores. I am not sure whom exactly.

I agree in part about beauty being universal. May I suggest that inherent beauty is an evolutionary means of evaluating ecosystem health on an emotional, instinctive level? It would make sense that a biodiverse and healthy ecosystem is more capable of sustaining life and thus out instincts would have us seek those places out. The proportions and colors and shapes in a healthy ecosystem are much different from in a monoculture or degraded wasteland—there’s also however an element of aliveness that the image itself fails to capture but is easily perceived in person.

I think your tree looks excellent, except maybe the lack of a central leader. But my impression is that Chinese chestnuts are big sprawling trees (as opposed to tall, straight American chestnut). In Peter Wohlleben’s Hidden Life of Trees he writes that slower growth when they’re young also leads to longer lived trees, because their wood gets to be stronger (closer rings).

Ew.

Maybe it is accidental, but I saw this only yesterday. For a substantial stretch of road I had to keep my sleeve over my face.

Hibiscus does grow in cold climates. I have seen both in the wild in Massachusetts, as well as in gardens both there and here: swamp rose mallow.They are a good cordage plant too.  https://gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org/species/hibiscus/moscheutos/


And don’t forget Rose of Sharon is a hibiscus and very cold hardy; I have seen them around houses here! https://gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org/species/hibiscus/syriacus/

There supposedly is an annual sort too, I have not seen. https://gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org/species/hibiscus/trionum/

Then there are probably many that grow in other parts too…

Edit: oh! Roselle is also in the hibiscus genus. Maybe some plants are not so much referred to by that name particularly?

Alkaline earth silicate sounds like calcium silicate, magnesium silicate… heaven forbid beryllium silicate… I looked it up and calcium silicate seems likely. It sounds from others that all kinds of mineral fiber are nasty materials.

I wonder if there are other ways to achieve your goal—other materials, or perhaps an increased thickness of more traditional ones?

A while ago I looked for songs about morels on a whim. Are there any? Apparently! It came up in “91 acres” by Emily Higgins, a bluegrass album which celebrates homesteading in Missouri.

This is the song “91 acres” lyrics:

NINETY-ONE ACRES
By Emily Higgins

Waiting in the overgrowth
For new life to begin
Ninety-one acres
That would become his life-long friend

Tangled up in the wild grape vines
Beneath box elder trees
Was the scrap iron, old tires, junk piles and ghost cars
And possibilities

He hauled away over 20 loads
With the help of a brother’s hand
Turned the brown to green again
Healed the wounded land

CHORUS
And the old farm started over
Now the bees feed on the clover
And the sun shines on the homestead
And the fields
And ninety-one acres

Sitting by the country road
Just beyond the gate
A vision, a story
History and fate

It waited in the overgrowth
For new life to begin
Ninety-one acres
His life-long friend

REPEAT CHORUS
And the old farm started over
Now the bees feed on the clover
And the sun shines on the homestead
And the fields
And ninety-one acres

https://emilyhigginsmusic.com/91-acres