Bladdernut: An Unfamiliar Native Shrub
June 4, 2021 6:05 pm 4 CommentsThe native shrub called bladdernut apparently used to be quite common around here based on reference to it in early... Read More →
Author Archives for Lon Drake
About Lon Drake
This old guy's favorite large-scale conservation projects include integrating soils, water, plants, and animals, especially native species. I still bike through my South Sycamore stormwater management system from 2001.
The Birds
May 28, 2021 6:23 pm 1 CommentIn 1952, British author Daphne du Maurier released a macabre story titled, “The Birds.” The tale was about ordinary birds... Read More →
Silent Spring, Returning
May 21, 2021 6:48 pm Leave your thoughtsDichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, most commonly known as DDT, became manufacturable in commercial quantities during WWII and quickly became the military insecticide of... Read More →
A Most Toxic Plant
May 14, 2021 7:25 pm Leave your thoughtsIn previous notes to you, I have occasionally referred to plants as the master chemists, being especially good at defending... Read More →
Childhood Memories: My First Garden
May 7, 2021 6:49 pm Leave your thoughtsSometimes my mind drifts back 75 or 80 years ago, when life was a little different than now. But the... Read More →
Fire Management and Safety
April 30, 2021 9:34 pm Leave your thoughtsSadly, local newspapers reported on Easter Sunday that a woman tending a ditch fire near Marion died when she was... Read More →
Cornelia Cameron: Our Peat Lady
April 23, 2021 8:46 pm Leave your thoughtsSome time ago, late in the last century, an older lady named Cornelia Cameron took Sandy Rhodes and I on... Read More →
Our Wall of Christmas Cactus
April 16, 2021 6:05 pm Leave your thoughtsWhen I was a boy, a barbershop in our neighborhood had a large north-facing display window which was shaded in... Read More →
Meteors, Part IV: Can They Cause Volcanism?
April 9, 2021 7:06 pm Leave your thoughtsOver the past few weeks, we have considered different perspectives about meteor impacts, all of which have good supporting evidence.... Read More →
Large Meteor Impacts, Part III: Iowa
April 2, 2021 6:38 pm Leave your thoughtsA century ago, well-drillers in the vicinity of Manson, Iowa, knew that there was something different about the local bedrock... Read More →
