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Archive | Possessing the Land

Reports from the Department of the Exterior; anything and everything we post about work projects, horticulture, agriculture, and property management.

Refreshing Rain!

We are rejoicing for the plentiful rain we received on Thursday! What little rain we have received in recent weeks has only been enough to moisten the surface while the subsoil remained dry as dust. This time it rained heavily at times and softly at times over a long period, allowing the water to soak […]

Need Water!

Things have been getting terribly dry around here, the grass getting browner and browner, crunching under foot. Goldenrod and asters are just about to come into full bloom with not enough moisture in the soil to supply the nectar that the honeybees need so badly. We’ve been watering some younger, less established trees in the […]

Can you Bee-lieve it?

Happy Thanksgiving! I am rejoicing in the grace of God poured out on us this year in respect to our honeybees. We were able to harvest enough wildflower honey to supply our big family until next year’s harvest, and still have some to sell. The bees stayed semi-busy through the part of the summer that […]

Birding Buffalo Calf, Part II

No, the first day of hunting season is not a state holiday in West Virginia–but it was a time for celebrating when the Lord provided two deer for us. As Monday drew to a close I had another cause for thanksgiving too–a variety of birds enlivened the vicinity of my tree stand and reminded me […]

Tomatoes!

Before moving to West Virginia we had never been very successful at growing tomatoes. But in 2004 everything fell into place, and tomato growing has never been the same since. It started with some seeds my grandfather gave me, whose friend had been growing them in the area for a long time. This friend had […]

A Root Issue

Some tasks are time-consuming, others are not. Some require concentrated planning and effort, others are better accomplished day by day over a long period. Some are hard, some are easy. Some are indoors, some are outdoors.  Some bring about visible changes that you love to look back on, others tend to be less appreciated. One […]

To Get a Garden Going

Last summer I experimented with a better way to convert sod to garden. In past years I had tried manually removing the sod with a mattock, or spading it up and turning it with a shovel, or rototilling. However, a new method has proven to be an easier and faster way to convert wild ground […]