It’s that time of year. Most of the the birds at our feeders are house sparrows. They descend upon the feeders in flocks and consume nearly all the food within a day or so in the feeders.  So how can I get rid of them? After all, they are not as colorful as Cardinals, Goldfinches, [...]

In his introduction to Wendell Berry’s recent book, Bringing it to the Table, Michael Pollan observes that one of Berry’s favorite quotes comes from British agronomist, Sir Albert Howard. He urges us to think of “the whole problem of health in soil, plant, animal and man as one great subject” (p. xi). In a world in [...]

When I think of the great plains, I think of wide open spaces, undulating landscapes like waves of an ocean, corn and wheat. I don’t think of wetlands. Yet on my way back from a workshop in Atwood, KS (where Don and Bonnie White were wonderful hosts), I stopped at Quivira National Wildlife Refuge. It [...]

I like the wide open spaces of the great plains, with the wavy hills and the big sky with its incredible cloudscapes.  Perhaps it is because I don’t feel claustrophobic. Perhaps it is the size of place puts everything in perspective. This past Spring I traveled through Nebraska to see the SandHill Crane migration.  Last [...]

This week I attended my first ever National Youth Gathering in New Orleans. I was impressed with the dedication and enthusiasm of those who played key roles in organizing the event as well as the high energy levels of the youth and and their leaders who came. New Orleans is still recovering from Hurricane Katrina [...]