The Natural Way of Things…
Shaping the Landscape
Welcome to my first official blog post at my new site for Collage of Life! My thoughts today run along the natural side of life. In 2012, when we bought Tahilla Farm, our fields were populated by large pine trees bedded with pine needles. Acres of a barren undergrowth told a story of the passages of time, where farming land was abandoned and nature took its course. We had a vision to bring the land to its former glory, so that flora and fauna could once again shape the landscape.
Today, we are pretty close to where we want to be. We recently started collaborating with Leah Corwin of Saffron Gardens on how to best enrich our meadows. With her guidance we started to appreciate the rhythm of life around us. To further shape the land, we added hundreds of plant plugs within designated meadows and along the mowed paths where we walk.
Rather than appreciate the meadows from afar as I have done with my camera in the past, today I am deep within it, studying and photographing the rhythm of plant life with an emphasis on wildflowers. Perhaps I am using it to make sense of the bigger picture in life, perhaps I am using it to distance the bigger picture for a period of time, either way, it has taken me in extraordinary directions.
Whether you are a nature lover or just someone who loves the connection when time permits, I would love to share what I have discovered so far….
Listen…
When my friend Maude told me about a fantastic nature podcast she was enjoying…I couldn’t wait to start listening. I LOVE this podcast by nature writer and novelist, Melissa Harrison. The podcasts are short, only 20-30 minutes and that is all that is needed to feel calm and restored by Melissa’s atmostpheric program as she walks out of her cottage straight into Suffolk’s (UK) beautiful open countryside and starts recording. There are guest spots from other nature lovers and one section I particularly enjoy, snippets read from the diary of one of England’s most famous naturalists, Gilbert White. You can listen to the podcast here.
Learn…
One of the biggest challenges when you are studying countless species of wildflowers is how to identify them. I haven’t decided which of these to Apps I love best yet…I enjoy working with both. Plant Snap App and Picture This App. You can take a photo and research it later in the App or you can use the camera on the spot within the app. Either way, I am impressed with how quickly and accurately it provides data. I estimate about a 90% success rate. Great for garden plants too! Wildflower Search is a helpful online tool as well as Nature of New England.
Read…
I have been waiting patiently for the release of Writing Wild by Kathryn Aalto and was quick to purchase it when it came out this week. It is a celebration of 25 women whose writing has deepened our understanding of the natural world. Featured writers include Dorothy Wordsworth, Susan Fenimore Cooper, Vita Sackville-West, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Nan Shepherd and Mary Oliver to name a few.
‘Part travel essay, literary biography, and cultural history, Writing Wild ventures into the landscapes and lives of extraordinary writers and encourages a new generation of women to pick up their pens, head outdoors and start writing wild.”
You can find it in your local independent book store here.
I recently listened to The Bumblebee Flies Anyway by Kate Bradbury on Audible. Kate Bradbury is an award-winning author and journalist, specializing in wildlife gardening. Her story is a personal one, about transforming a barren backyard in Brighton (UK) into a beautiful wildlife garden. Her life takes many twist and turn along the way. It is an honest account of how she survived and how she wove the garden into hope. I found myself listening intently as I scooped dirt in my own garden and was thankful for the chance to work through a few of my own personal challenges as I did. You can find the book on Audible here and in through your local independent bookshop here.
Women on the move…
I would like to highlight three women that I have come to know through the blogging world and personally. Each has recently embarked on a new endeavor and I am thrilled to share..
Many of you know Sunday Taylor, a book loving Anglophile blogging friend who has filled many a bookshelf with her reading suggestions. I am beyond excited to read about her debut novel, The Anglophile’s Notebook, to be released in August. You can read all about it here.
In October 2019 I collaborated with Diana Dunbar Place of Third Act Quest for my first Tahilla Gathering. Diana is back again with an online program to guide women in the design of their personal life “plan”. If you are 50+, curious about or are in the midst of making changing and transitions, you can check out Diana’s program here.
I had the pleasure of meeting Debbie of Wonderful Life Farm over coffee last summer. She told me then about an exciting new project and has since launched it. Her new website is an experience and her shop reflects her wonderful charm and country living aesthetic. Every time I look at her shop I want to buy it all! You can have a look here.
Thank you!
Once again I can’t thank you enough for your kind words of encouragement for my latest endeavor on this new site. It is truly appreciated!! I may have made one little mistake in not mentioning in my last post that I am moving my subscribers with me to the new site. If you have subscribed twice, you can unsubscribe from one of the emails you receive or let me know and I will do it for you. Thank you!!
My writing buddy, Tani.
My newest writing buddy, our little Jedi puppy, Tani, and I,
send you warm wishes for the days ahead.
We hope you discover curious delights…
Jeanne xx
