Skip to content

Monthly Archives: September 2011

Green pepper bumper crop

So far in September, six inches of rain have fallen here. That has made a huge difference in the cool-weather crops. The peppers, which merely survived during the hot, dry, summer, have become very productive and are even still blooming. The turnips, mustard and kale also are doing extremely well. I couldn’t ask for better […]

Wild turkey — yuck

Of all the many creatures that come up out of the woods and make themselves at home, the ugliest by far are the wild turkeys. Actually, come to think of it, they’re the only ugly creatures in the woods.

Those classic speakers can be repaired

Two of my Rodgers FR1.7 speaker cabinets, with the 8-inch drivers newly restored Until three or four years ago, I didn’t know that those classic speakers that appear to be blown out can be repaired. The problem isn’t as ugly as it looks. To keep an airtight seal between the front and back of the […]

Y'all just help yourselves…

There was a once-upon-a-time when the chickens and groundhogs were wary of each other. Now they have daily grazing parties in the orchard. I wish I had some idea what my groundhog population is. I’m pretty sure I have two separate families. The fence that keeps the chickens out of the garden also keeps the […]

In Ireland, it's cool to be a farmer again

The Irish Times There are two dangers in not owning a farm: the belief that heat comes from the furnace and food comes from the supermarket. — Aldo Leopold The Irish Times started a three-part series today on how family farms are making a comeback in Ireland’s depressed economy. In fact, farming is one of […]

The New Yorker in Mayberry

Snappy Lunch in downtown Mount Airy It isn’t often that urbane institutions such as the New Yorker find themselves in places like Mount Airy, North Carolina. In the September 12 issue of the New Yorker, George Packer has a must-read piece on how the United States has deteriorated — in almost every way — since […]

This just in: Reading fiction changes us

I have an old friend from the 1970s who is now in federal prison after being convicted on federal tax fraud charges. It was a messy case, with accusations of bilking investors, money laundering, perjury, and obstruction of justice. A former chairman of the North Carolina Republican party and former aide to the late Sen. […]

Mrs. Fox had a busy day

Click on photos for larger version I saw quite a lot of Mrs. Fox today. She crossed the yard several times as she went about her business, and she was hunting voles in the weeds. I couldn’t change lenses on the camera fast enough to catch her hunting voles, but it was fun to watch. […]

Do snakes drink water?

As I watched this snake, it appeared to me that it was lapping water droplets, like a cat, from the wet grass. It wasn’t just flicking its little red tongue. It was flicking it at the grass. I asked a friend who has kept snakes as pets if they lap water. He said no, that […]

There will be turnips

The recent rain, much of which came from the remnants of tropical storm Lee, have given the fall greens a good start. I need to thin the turnips, though.