Spore Lore

Earthworm Boxes Insulated with Leaf Pile

 1- Residential Habitats -- Critters and Their Homes, 2- Food Forest Gardening, Blog  No Responses »
Dec 142013
 
Earthworm Box surounded by leaf pile

Earthworm Box surounded by leaf pile. The organic leaf pile will help keep the Earthworm Box a few degrees warmer during the winter months.

As I discuss in my monthly Native Plants and Wildlife Gardens blog article, “Over-Wintering Insects in Insulating Leaf Pile“, I wanted to insulate our earthworm boxes to take a little of this winter’s chill off the critters inside the boxes.  Surrounding the boxes with leaves accomplish 2 goals: 1) insulating the boxes to keep them warmer, and 2) provide more over-winter leaves to provide more wildlife habitat in our garden.   Here are 4 videos of the project.  Enjoy!

20131211 Earthworm Box Insulation Barricades 1 of 4

Tony McGuigan discusses his plan to keep outdoor earthworm boxes warmer by surrounding them with leaves and straw.  The organic fluff, (leaves and straw) will create an insulation barrier on the outside of the earthworm boxes.  Over-wintering insects will thrive in organic pile and move to the boxes, becoming food for the chickens when they are treated to the opened boxes.  Come warmer weather, the frame to hold the leaves/straw in place will be removed. ***Toast and Marmalade, Tony and Anita’s two Bard Rock hens, visit the earthworm boxes BEFORE construction.***

20131211 Earthworm Box Insulation Barricades 2 of 4

An in-process video of the construction project.  The frame is up; leaves are yet to be filled into the insulating spaces.

20131211 Earthworm Box Insulation Barricades 3 of 4

A pile of leaves is worked into the insulating spaces alongside the earthworm boxes.

20131211 Earthworm Box Insulation Barricades 4 of 4

***Toast and Marmalade, Tony and Anita’s two Bard Rock hens, visit the earthworm boxes AFTER construction.  Construction is approved by Toast and Marmie!***     Savouring the winter garden, enjoying anticipation of the coming spring’s wonder,

Tony

A School Habitat Garden on the Prairie

 1- Residential Habitats -- Critters and Their Homes, 5- Resources for You, Your Neighborhood, and Beyond, Blog  No Responses »
Nov 192013
 
Habitat Garden at Carrie Busey Elementary School

Habitat Garden at Carrie Busey Elementary School in Savoy, Illinois. Tony McGuigan designed and supervised the installation of this ground-breaking project with Elizabeth Slifer’s 4th grade class. Learn outdoors!

 

I so miss my time on the prairie.  I was there ten days ago and already want to return.  Speaking at the Champaign County Audubon Society’s monthly meeting brought me out to Champaign, Illinois.  Creating a Habitat Garden at Carrie Busey Elementary School in Savoy, Illinois will bring me back.  “How tall is the oak tree?, Have the insectary shrubs filled out?, Are birds using the dead wood spire as a perch?” and so many more questions that will gnaw at me over the years.  I miss my children (the trees, shrubs, wildflowers, and animal habitats) in Savoy.

 

Here is my Native Plants and Wildlife Gardens post.  If nothing else, I hope you get what a pleasure meeting and working with those Illinoisans involved was.

 

http://nativeplantwildlifegarden.com/school-habitat-garden-in-illinois-prairie-country/

 

And if you like the buffeting sound of a windy day, then here are two videos of my Habitat Garden installation at Carrie Busey Elementary School in Savoy, Illinois:

 

The Before — Habitat Garden

The After — Habitat Garden

Any school out there looking for a Habitat Garden?  Give me a buzz — I’ll give you a flower.   Enjoy your precious time on our glorious Planet Earth.  And when in doubt, Habitat It!

Tony

Today’s Diversion — A Harlequin Bug on Impatiens Stalk

 1- Residential Habitats -- Critters and Their Homes, 2- Food Forest Gardening  No Responses »
Oct 172013
 
Harlequin Bug on impatiens flower stalk

I have a paper to write, so I procrastinated in the garden.  Was so fun meeting Harlequin Bug on a withered impatiens flower plant.

Harlequin Bug on impatiens flower stalk

Harlequin bug on impatiens flower stalk.

Enjoy your garden.  Habitat It!

Tony

Defensive Display Between Two Checkered White Butterflies

 1- Residential Habitats -- Critters and Their Homes, 2- Food Forest Gardening  No Responses »
Oct 112013
 
Male checkered white butterfly on sunflower leaf -- pic 2

Through my Canon 50D and 180mm macro lens, I witnessed the following sequence of photos.  A male checkered white, ID’d by the sparse dark spots versus the female’s abundance of brown outline and spots, is approached by another male checkered white.  Note how the grounded butterfly’s abdomen is used to ward off the approaching male.

Male checkered white butterfly on sunflower leaf -- pic 1

Male checkered white butterfly on sunflower leaf -- pic 1

 

Male checkered white butterfly on sunflower leaf -- pic 2

Male checkered white butterfly on sunflower leaf approached by another male.

 

Male checkered white butterfly on sunflower leaf -- pic 3

Male checkered white butterfly on sunflower leaf fending off another male.

 

Male checkered white butterfly on sunflower leaf -- pic 4

Male checkered white butterfly on sunflower leaf approached by another male checkered butterfly.

 

Male checkered white butterfly on sunflower leaf -- pic 5

Male checkered white butterfly on sunflower leaf successfully fends off another male.

 

Male checkered white butterfly on sunflower leaf -- pic 6

Male checkered white butterfly on sunflower leaf at rest, again.

 

Enjoy your wildlife food forest garden.  Habitat It!

Tony

 

Ludwigia Cleanup Lower Stone Farm, September 13, 2013 — Activity Announcement

 5- Resources for You, Your Neighborhood, and Beyond  No Responses »
Sep 122013
 
Come to the Ludwigia Cleanout Party, Lower Stone Farm, Fri., Sept. 13th, 8AM.

The Laguna de Santa Rosa Foundation of Santa Rosa, California fosters education of the Laguna wetlands and watershed.  The Foundation’s “Learning Laguna” program provides classroom activities and field trips to 2nd-4th grade classrooms.  One of the field trip sites is Lower Stone Farm, a City of Santa Rosa property alongside the Laguna.  The invasive, alien, bad-bad-bad! plant ludwigia has overgrown much of the Luguna, especially at Lower Stone Farm.  Friday, September 13th, 2013, a team of volunteers will remove some of the ludwigia at one of Learning Lugana’s field stations for Learning Laguna.  Bad, bad ludwigia!  Good, good volunteers!
http://www.lagunadesantarosa.org/

Disclaimer: This video is a call to action created by Tony McGuigan.  This video is not a product of the Laguna de Santa Rosa Foundation.

Promise: If you walk into the Laguna, your feet will get wet.  Enjoy!

 

See this 4 minute video of Lower Stone Farm BEFORE the September 13th cleanup:

 

Enjoy the Laguna de Santa Rosa and watersheds throughout!

Tony

Cozy Cottage Egg Farm’s 1st Egg

 2- Food Forest Gardening  No Responses »
Aug 032013
 
Cozy Cottage Egg Farm 1st Egg
Cozy Cottage Egg Farm 1st Egg

Cozy Cottage Egg Farm's 1st egg, layed by our Bard Rock hen, Marmalade. The coins are used for relative size: a Norwegian 5 kroner coin and a U.S. quarter (25 cents) coin. The eggshell was very thin and split open in the coop. Still yummy out of the fry pan!

Cozy Cottage Egg Farm 1st egg was layed!

Watch the video:

 

 

Happy habitat food forest!

Tony

What Gall! Ceanothus As Wasp Habitat

 1- Residential Habitats -- Critters and Their Homes, 2- Food Forest Gardening, 3- Habitat It And They Will Come -- Tony's book  No Responses »
Jul 042013
 
Cynipid Wasp on Ceanothus.

I will be posting my monthly blog article (due every 14th of the month) at Native Plants and Wildlife Gardens:

Cynipid Wasp on Ceanothus.

Cynipid Wasp on Ceanothus.

 

Enjoy your wildlife garden.  Habitat It!

Tony

20130514 Elderberry Pond — A Greywater Habitat

 1- Residential Habitats -- Critters and Their Homes, 2- Food Forest Gardening  No Responses »
May 142013
 
Sambucas mexicana in Elderberry Pond wildlife habitat.

I posted my monthly blog article (due every 14th of the month) at Native Plants and Wildlife Gardens:

 

Sambucas mexicana in Elderberry Pond wildlife habitat.

Sambucas mexicana in Elderberry Pond wildlife habitat. Perhaps the cutting shrub propagation will be successful. The young shoots look promising.

 

Enjoy your wildlife garden.  Habitat It!

Tony

20130413 Citrus Caterpillar Corner

 1- Residential Habitats -- Critters and Their Homes, 2- Food Forest Gardening  No Responses »
Apr 142013
 
20130413 Citrus Caterpillar Corner

20130413 Citrus Caterpillar Corner

The habitat installation, Citrus Caterpillar Corner, has been in a few days now.  Today’s upgrade is to re-unite the oak spire with its bark that was left behind on the driveway.  The massive oak limb section has provided habitat for critters on our driveway for a few years; most of the bark fell away from the hardwood.  Moving the loose bark to Citrus Caterpillar Corner and creating a small debris pile with it there will strengthen Citrus Caterpillar Corner as an animal habitat.

 

See the complete write-up of this habitat installation at: http://nativeplantwildlifegarden.com/20130414-citrus-caterpillar-corner/ .

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