I’m drawn to the strength and endurance of the Black Locust trees on our farm. Some in the pastures look like heavyweight boxers in their final round, beaten and exhausted. They withstand so much adversity. Black Locust borers eat their heartwood. Locust leafminers consume their foliage. A perennial fungus attacks...
Note: This post was written by a real person: me. There are no paywalls, no pop-up menus, no AI, no surveys, and no advertising. All photos by R. Whitescarver. Calving Season Begins at Whiskey Creek March is the most exciting time on the farm because most of our calves are...
We have a small farm in Swoope along Trimbles Mill Road. The Middle River flows through it for half a mile. We call it the River Farm. The cows were fenced away from the river in 2004, and we planted trees along the banks. Sycamores Hold the Line I walk...
Every Tree Matters: A Rant on Riparian Buffer Maintenance Note: A real person wrote this post—me. I’ve been planting trees professionally for almost 40 years. I’ll bet I planted half a million trees before most of you reading this post were born. In addition, Jeanne and I have our own...
Thirty years ago, Wayne M. Hypes, one of my heroes and a mentor in soil conservation, came into my USDA office in Verona, Virginia, and gave me a wooden candleholder. It was no ordinary candleholder: It was made from American Chestnut, historic wood from a forgotten past. At that time...
Getting vaccinated gave me hope that the pandemic will end soon. Hugging loved ones for the first time in over a year helped heal my soul. Planting trees gave me hope for healing the earth for a sustainable future. In this post, I’ll share memorable quotes of the year from...
I love looking up the trunk of a 30-foot-tall Willow Oak that I planted in 2004.
Most of the world remains sequestered at home from the COVID-19 pandemic. Demonstrators with assault weapons dressed in military gear protest stay-at-home orders. You might get harassed for wearing a face mask in public. Our political divide widens. Farming Proceeds Despite the Pandemic On the farm, there are no politics...
The Osage Orange tree is native west of the Mississippi and is named after the Osage Indian tribe. The fruits look like little green brains and are about the size of an orange. People use the fruits to repel insects in their homes, but there is no scientific evidence to...
The Ash tree is one of the most important riparian plants in North America. In Eastern North America there are, or were, three common species in the Fraxinus genus, the White, Green, and Black Ash. In the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, Green Ash is one of the most prolific trees...
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