Puddock Hill Journal – Entry #4: First Noxious Weed of Spring At Puddock Hill, one unwelcome sign of early spring is the sight of garlic mustard popping up like mushrooms. I tend to find this plant in areas of recent disturbance or in partial shade. One day it’s not there at all, it seems. The […]
Finding Stewardship
Puddock Hill Journal – Entry #3: My first pond teaches me. My experience with environmental stewardship began when we were living in Bedford Hills, New York, in Westchester County back in the nineties. At the beginning of that decade, we bought our first property outside the city: ten acres of lawn, fields and woods; an […]
The Steward’s Anticipation
Puddock Hill Journal – Entry #2: Pay no attention to those mating toads. We just experienced two summery warm days here in the Brandywine Valley, but while the grass has greened and early spring ephemerals have begun showing off, I’m mostly still looking at a landscape of browns. Anticipation is the gardener’s dominant emotion this […]
Jeepers Peepers
Puddock Hill Journal: Entry #1 This week, the song of the peepers came alive at the house we call Puddock Hill. Spring peepers are small tree frogs that emerge from their winter slumber this time of year. The males climb up tree trunks and as light fades call raucously for a mate. On warmer evenings […]