Free November Resources

 There's plenty to do in the garden and yard as November begins and before the heavy snows covers the landscape for the next several months. The autumn storms, like the recent east coast storm, bring down a lot of branches and trees.

These fallen branches can be used to build a brush pile for native wildlife. A brush pile provides many smaller animals and insects shelter and protection. It's always fun to check the pile when the snow is on the ground and examine the tracks to see what is using the pile.

The brush pile doesn't have to look like an ugly pile of broken sticks. Vine plants can be planted in and around the pile which offer nourishment to many animals and insects throughout the year besides making the pile look attractive. Morning glories are a good choice; they provide excellent coverage and a rich source of food for bees and butterflies.

While this region of northwestern Pennsylvania escape the brunt of the Great Halloween Storm, the weather was blustery and cold. The first hard frost was on October 27 – 28. Some inland areas had an inch or two of snow (Corry, PA and Jamestown, NY). The great snow machine will kick-in soon enough.

It is time for woodstoves and fireplaces and the wood ashes can be a valuable resource to enrich the soil in the yard and vegetable garden.

Change the Clocks

The first Sunday of November turn the clocks back, it is the end of Daylight Savings Time in much of the U.S. This year the first Sunday is November 6.

The clocks were moved forward earlier this year on the second Sunday of March. The latest timetable for the changes is the result of a 2005 federal law which went into effect in 2007. The nation has observed some form of Daylight Savings Time since World War 1 in an effort to save energy.

There are a few places which don't bother changing the clocks. They are: Arizona, Hawaii, American Somoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Northern Mariana Islands.

The Navajo Nation also remains on Standard Time because of it's sprawling size in the western states. The Nation covers a wide area which encompasses three different states.

Old Mossback

I had a story on Old Mossback and the LeBoeuf Creeper published in the newsletter PALMS, the newsletter for the Pennsylvania Lake Management Society. It is on page four of the newsletter. There is also an excellent article on the Brown Bullhead. To get to the newsletter, just sign up.

Previously, I had an article published on Old Mossback at Associated Content. It is a fascinating story of man verses big fish. PALMS does a lot of great work in helping to maintain and restore our valuable lakes and watershed areas. Check them out.

Rose Hips

Rose hips are rich in Vitamins A and C and in the wild are readily available. Rose hips, actually the fruit of a rose, were used in many Native American cultures and by the early settlers. Picking them can be a little tricky, the throns are still sharp on the wild bushes.The bright red berries are also a source of food for many bird species and smaller animals throughout the long winter months.

The hips can be used to brew a flavorful tea and can also be used as vegetable, just be careful not to use any hips which have been sprayed with pesticides.

For the next several months, the rose hips are about the only color in the woods except for the green Christmas Ferns.

Rose hips, like broken branches, downed trees and leaves are more than a nuisance; they can be used resourcefully.

Energy Plant (or tire incinerator)

The Meadville Tire to Energy Plant, a large tire incinerator by another name, has received all of the needed permits and officials of the company claim construction could begin very shortly on the complex.

The complex will receive thousands of tires every day, which will be burned, and the electric produced sold. There have been a lot of environmental questions about the plant and what course of action environmentalists take next is uncertain. I don't think this story is over by any means.

It was an incinerator, which was partly to blame for the financial mess in the state capital of Harrisburg. The financial problems were correctly called by Mike Ewall of Energy Justice (link below in Blogs to Read). The Harrisburg story, 

Harrisburg: a city at war with itself

from Reuters is well worth the read.

Civil War

  

John Brown was an abolitionist who raided Harper's Ferry just prior to the Civil War. He wanted to start an insurrection in the Appalachian Mountains. Unknown to many, Brown for many years farmed several hundred acres in northwestern Pennsylvania and operated a tannery. He was staunchly anti-slavery and some say his actions were the actual beginnings of hostilities. Learn more about Brown's hidden life and the events at the federal fort, here. 

Good Blogs and Web Sites

Corning New York Stepby Step

Step by Step in the Kitchen

Energy Justice

Uncle Sam’s History

October - The Get Ready Month - Democracy Now and Then

 

October - The Get Ready Month

One of the pieces of folklore I remember as a kid, besides the one about the world being flat, was about spiders. The more spiders seen in the house during the autumn months was a sure sign there was going to be a nasty winter.
Well, I have been seeing lot of spiders inside, more than I have the fabled woolly bear caterpillars outside. But then again I don't really pay much attention to that groundhog either.

Although I did see a woolly bear the other day and snapped a photo ( a spider got scared and ran away). And I am still gunning for the ground hog who ravished this year's garden.

In the snow belts, winter is winter and it's going to always be cold, windy, snowy and icy regardless of the folklore.

Accu-Weather, among several other weather forecasters, are predicting a lot of winter storms and heavy snows for the Great Lakes regions. It seems La Nina is getting stronger and the forecast is for a miserable winter. The Great Lakes are relatively warm; when the cold air from the north flows down, the snow machines kick into high gear.

There are several good things to do before any winter regardless of forecasts. Get the vegetable garden in shape for the following spring. It helps to have a head start. It is also possible to get an early spring harvest by planting some crops before the snow gets here. Garlic is a natural, but an early crop of spring potatoes can also be planted in October, onions will do fine under the snow as will many kinds of lettuce, Swiss Chard and Kale.

Make some plans and build a brush pile for wildlife. A brush pile offers both protection and a source of food for many animals and insects. Besides, it fun to check the pile when there is snow on the ground and check the tracks coming and going to see what's around.

Wood ashes from wood stoves and fireplaces are a valuable resource for both the yard and the garden. Just don't burn plastics and cardboard and learn about what plants benefit for some ashes; potatoes don't care for them but tomatoes do.
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Occupy Wall Street

The movement continues to grow and spread from city to city; it's not going to go away. There is a lot of frustration and anger but for the most part it has been a non-violent movement to date. Wall Street and many politicians would do well to heed the message; the old status quo is no longer acceptable. The mega rich may jeer with cocktails in hand but “the times they are a changing”.

Support you local #occupy or help out financially if possible. What is happening is the American Spring and is as important as the Civil Rights Movement and anti-war movement of the sixties. It's about America's future and it's opportunities for all, and sorry, if your poor, that sure doesn't mean a person is a failure or lazy.

What began with a few dozen people on September 17 has now spread throughout the USA and into Canada. Here's a list of occupy events which have mushroomed. My best guess is this list is updated as more events are added.

This is a good perspective on the movement, and if your on the fence, food for thought. Here is another link to what is happening and it is not just unemployed socialist hippies regardless of what some political parties put in their Kool-Aid.

Perhaps, now is the time for some mainstream churches to get back to the basics of Christianity and #occupy the Gospel message.

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Some Food History

The Seneca andIroquois Nations inhabited much of western Pennsylvania and New York; the nations were some of the earliest democracies in this Hemisphere. They grew many crops which we are familiar with today; beans, corn, squash cucumbers and melons.

They also harvested many wild food crops in the autumn months. The harvest involved everyone, young and old, rich and poor; it was for survival. Acorns, beechnuts, hickory and butternuts were a few of the nuts gathered and saved for the long winter.

The plentiful oak trees provided bumper crops of acorns. The acorns were boiled in lye and then ground into a powder which was then used for puddings and pounded into meat for a special meal.

Nut stones can still be found today near older nut trees. These stones had small crevices in which the nuts were placed and then hit with an appropriate stone, cracking them to get the meat. Today, it is not uncommon to discover and old nut stone.

Sunchokes, pictured above (they bloom in late September and into October) were also gathered in the fall and the tuberous roots were baked and eaten. Today, the sunchokes, a member of the sunflower family, can be found in many health food stores. It is a highly nutritious native American food. For some odd reason, the tubers are now called JerusalemArtichokes; the plant has nothing at all to do with Jerusalem or artichokes. The tall plants can still be discovered in low areas were there is ample moisture or they can be grown in the home vegetable garden with care; they can spread rapidly and the plants can get up to ten feet tall.

Good Blogs

Step by Step in the Kitchen

Corning New York Step by Step

Uncle Sam's History

Energy Justice