Pumpkin patch field trips are some of the best memories I have from elementary school. I loved going out to farms on the Dungeness River delta and running with my classmates into fields full of bright orange pumpkins in the crisp autumn air, looking for just the right one. Now, I enjoy going along with my children on their class pumpkin patch field trips. This year, our class at the Waldorf ...
Three Forks Adventure From the Other Side of the Canyon
For those of you who found yourselves reading my "Adventures and Misadventures at Three Forks Warm Springs" post, holding your breath in suspense, wondering about the adventures of our friends who didn't make it through the muddy roads out in the middle of the lonely high desert...never fear! Here is a link to my friend Min Yi's blog about their adventures in the mud Obstacles and ...
All That She Wants is a Canvas Wall Tent
(Photo from http://www.montanacanvas.com/ ) I have loved canvas wall tents since I was a child, camping out with my little brother all summer long in our field in a big old green tent. It was the size of a room and required alder poles to be cut for the supports. We would plan our camp set-up for weeks as soon as it started to warm up in the spring. When I came home from school, I would head ...
Finding the Fungus Among Us
I love the Pacific Northwest, but let's face it, it's a rainy place. The winters are very long and gray, and I have heard it said many times that most Oregonians are sorely lacking in vitamin D. Without much sunlight in the winter months, we have to look elsewhere for this important nutrient. Fortunately, when it starts to rain in the fall, an abundant source of vitamin D appears all over our ...
Press Onward!
No fall is complete without a good old-fashioned cider pressing. This tradition started for me in college, when the Horticulture Club gathered up boxes and boxes of apples from the school orchard to press in our huge, industrial sized cider press. I think the gallons of cider we produced ended up in the hundreds, and I always had some in my fridge this time of year. Hot mulled cider became an ...
Plants of the Oregon High Desert
On our trip to the Owyhee high desert in southeastern Oregon, I came across some really beautiful plants flowering into October. Many I recognized from my rangeland plant I.D. classes in college, and many were mysterious and new. Here are just a few I caught in photographs... Sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) Big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) Gray rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus ...
Adventures and Misadventures at Three Forks Warm Springs
Imagine a hotspring oasis in a far-flung, remote river canyon in Oregon's high desert. Here, a warm creek bubbles out from under a rock and flows down a series of natural rock slides into a multitude of crystal clear little pools, big pools, waterfalls and natural 98-degree jacuzzis perched on cliffs overlooking the Owyhee River canyon. Cattails grow in warm marshes along the river bars, ...
Pumpkin Harvest
With our first frost came some hurried harvesting this week. Since October is well underway, we decided to harvest the pumpkins. What makes this pumpkin harvest so special is that we didn't have to travel to another farmer's field to do it. We grew these pumpkins right here in our own field. For many years I have dreamed of having my own pumpkin patch, so this was a big deal! I planted ...
It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!
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Harvest Maidens
When the Autumn comes rolling in, I love changing our seasons table to honor all of the abundant fruits and vegetables, and the fiery leaves outside. Seasons table figures are an idea I got from Waldorf classroom seasons tables, and I have loved making many Lady Springs, Queen Winters, and Harvest Maidens over the past few years (I still haven't made one for summer, likely because we're out ...