Habitat of the Month Contest — contest begins April 2013

4-Habitat of the Month Contest No Responses »

Apr 022013

Contest Entries

During each calendar month, Spore Lore will accept postings of residential wildlife habitats to Spore Lore’s facebook page, Habitat It and They Will Come.

Click to post your Habitat of the Month entry.

Contest entries must include:

1) The name of the garden habitat.

2) The 4 components of wildlife habitat:

SHELTER =

FOOD =

WATER =

SPACE TO RAISE YOUNG =

3) At least one picture of the the wildlife habitat.

Entry Awards and Contest Winners

All Habitat of the Month Contest entries will receive a “Habitat It!” bumper sticker. Habitat of the Month, as in the The Winner, will receive a signed copy of Tony McGuigan’s book, Habitat It and They Will Come. The month’s winning habitat will be chosen from a review of Comments (facebook) posted to the entry AND ALSO from Tony’s impression of the contest entry. In the case of a tie, two (2) winners, both declared “Habitat of the Month” will be announced.

Contest entries (postings to the facebook page Habitat It and They Will Come) will be accepted till noon (Pacific treefrog time) of the 28th day of the month (26th day for February). Contest winners will be announced by 6PM (Pacific treefrog time) on the 30th day of the same month (28th for February). Contest winners will be announced primarily at Spore Lore’s website (sporelore.com\Blog\Habitat of the Month Contest) and at Spore Lore’s facebook page (Habitat It and They Will Come).

To receive your contest entry “Spore Lore” sticker, and/or receive a book if your habitat is chosen as Habitat of the Month, please email your postal address to habitatofthemonth@sporelore.com; please include the name of your habitat in your email.

Please enter your garden habitat one time only. However, if significant changes have been made to the habitat and/or significant documentation (like pictures!) of the habitat is available, then the same habitat may be re-submitted as a new contest entry.

Create wildlife habitat and have fun.

Post your habitat to Habitat of the Month.

Good Luck!

Fine Print — Other Rules

There is no cash value for any contest rewards or contest prizes.

Participants/Entrants of the Contest give Spore Lore permission to leave contest posts on Spore Lore’s facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/HabitatItAndTheyWillCome, and to post Contest entries and Contest winner announcements to Spore Lore’s facebook pages (Habitat It and They Will Come, Spore Lore, and Tony McGuigan), as well as Tony McGuigan’s/Spore Lore’s other social media sites (Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube) and Spore Lore’s website (sporelore.com). Spore Lore reserves the right to use the winner’s name (if provided in the contest entry), habitat name and habitat location (if provided in the contest entry), for publicity purposes only in connection with the Contest and for no other reason.

Spore Lore is not bound to announce contest entries/winner/winners.

GOVERNING LAW: Contest governed by the laws of California and subject to all applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations. Accordingly, all issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Official Rules, or the rights and obligations of the Contestant and Sponsor in connection with the Contest, shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of the State of California, without giving effect to any choice of law or conflict of law rules (whether of the State of California or any other jurisdiction). The Contest is void where prohibited by any applicable law. Contestants, by participating in this Contest, hereby waive and release, and agree to hold harmless Spore Lore and all of its respective officers, directors, employees and representatives and agents, from and against, any and all rights, claims and causes of action whatsoever that they may have, or which may arise, against any of them for any liability for any matter, cause or thing whatsoever, including but not limited to any injury, loss, damage, whether direct, compensatory, incidental or consequential, to person, including death, and /or property, arising in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, from their acceptance, possession, use or misuse of any prize, or their participation in this Contest, or any prize-related activity. By participating in this Contest, Contestants agree to be bound by these Official Rules and the decisions of Sponsor. Except where prohibited by law, by accepting a prize, winner agrees that Spore may use the winner’s name, address (state), photograph, likeness, and/or prize information for advertising, publicity and promotional purposes and to the use of statements made by or attributed to winner relating to Spore Lore or to this Contest and grants to Spore Lore any and all rights to said use without further notice and/or compensation except where prohibited by law.

20121114 Amaranth Plants at Food For Thought

1- Residential Habitats -- Critters and Their Homes, 2- Food Forest Gardening, 5- Resources for You, Your Neighborhood, and Beyond No Responses »

Nov 142012

Food For Thought, Sonoma County Aids Food Bank, Forestville, California

Day 4 in this 3-day series of videos (BONUS video!!!) depicting amaranth seed collecting. Today’s video is a field trip to Food For Thought, the Sonoma County Aids Food Bank, in Forestville, California.

First a video re “Amaranth Plants at Food For Thought”, then some amaranth pics (below the video):

Amaranth Plants at Food For Thought:

Amaranth in Food For Thought’s Garden (pics):

Amaranth (red and green) along a fence. 8 feet high!

Close-up view of red and green amaranth varieties. Swayin’ in the wind, waiting for harvest.

Elephant head amaranth (Amaranthus gangeticus). This species grows 2-3 feet.

Close-up of elephant head amaranth in the Food For Thought garden.

Massive red amaranth with green stalk leans over. A shrub! Note the stalk's ridges which give it girder-like support. Also note the small offshoots that display the red flowers.

Amaranth with golden stalk and flowers.

Relaxing, restoring, rejoicing with amaranth, sunflower, and garden love.

Food For Thought, Sonoma County Aids Food Bank, Forestville, California. Food bank for the community, with a lush food-rich and critter-happy garden. http://fftfoodbank.org/

Want to learn about Food For Thought? Go to:

Happy amaranth and see you tomorrow.

Tony

20121112 Amaranth Seed Collecting 2 of 3 videos

1- Residential Habitats -- Critters and Their Homes, 2- Food Forest Gardening No Responses »

Nov 132012

Great Green Bush Cricket on amaranth leaf.

You have landed on Day 2 in this 3-day series of videos depicting amaranth seed collecting. Enjoy!

First a video re “Amaranth Seed Collecting”. Today’s video is part 2 of 3 (1/day) for the series! THEN some amaranth pics (below the video):

Amaranth Seed Collecting 2 of 3 videos

Amaranth in Tony’s Garden (pics):

Amaranth growing on Dragon Spine Ridge. Note how the vibrant red-purple stands out in an otherwise green landscape. Note the "edge effect" provided by the amaranth plant -- it fills in the shrubbery between the overhead pine tree and the lower vegetation.

Great Green Bush Cricket on amaranth leaf. Be careful -- look closely enough and YOU may go cross-eyed, too.

Amaranth growing next to Birdbath Beach. Birds eat amaranth's ripe seeds. Note the wood perches that allow the birds a look-see before hopping down into Birdbath Beach. The rock and slate shard in the birdbath allow insects and birds to find their own "shallow end" to the pool.

Amaranth on the web:

I like the page “Growing Amaranth and Quinoa” at:

http://www.seedsanctuary.com/articles/growing-power-foods.cfm

For chicken lovers: “Feeding the Flock from the Homestead’s Own Resources: Part Two”

http://www.themodernhomestead.us/article/Growing-Poultry-Feeds-2.html

Happy seed collecting and see you tomorrow.

Tony

20121111 Amaranth Seed Collecting 1 of 3 videos

1- Residential Habitats -- Critters and Their Homes, 2- Food Forest Gardening No Responses »

Nov 122012

You have landed on Day 1 in this 3-day series of videos depicting amaranth seed collecting. Enjoy!

First a video re “Amaranth Seed Collecting”. Today’s video is part 1 of 3 (1/day) for the series! THEN some amaranth pics (below the video):

Amaranth Seed Collecting 1 of 3 videos

Amaranth in Tony’s Garden (pics):

Amaranth plant (Amaranthus sp. L.) can grow to 8 feet tall. A stunning plant in the garden, adding color and critter habitat AND a food source for the gardener.

Collecting seed AND giving insects/spiders time to escape.

Collected and dried amaranth seed with dried flowers and leaves. The seeds are yet to be separated out of the dried plant.

Amaranth on the web:

Found this site, for some concise info: http://www.vurv.cz/altercrop/amaranth.html

Amaranth leaves and grain can be eaten; see The Dinner Garden for cooking instructions: http://www.dinnergarden.org/summerProduce.html

Happy seed collecting and see you tomorrow.

Tony

20121105 Saving Happy Halloween Pumpkin Carving Seeds — 6 of 6

2- Food Forest Gardening No Responses »

Nov 062012

You have landed on Day 6 in this 6-day series of videos depicting the fine art of collecting/processing/storing pumpkin seeds. Enjoy!

First some pumpkin pics:

Day 1 = flowers

Day 2 = vine

Day 3 = new fruit

Day 4 = green manure

Day 5 = seed saving

Today = seed planting

THEN a video re “Saving Happy Halloween Pumpkin Carving Seeds”. 6 videos (1/day) for the series!

Seed Planting

Recording seeds used with camera, a portable note taker. These seeds were used to plant Straw Bale Recliner veggie bed, the planting area alongside our sidewalk. We planted first week of July and had a lush patch of sunflowers and pumpkin this fall. Skyward Pumpkins grew in this patch, from these seeds.

To see Skyward Pumpkins, go to Spore Lore’s blog entry at Skyward Pumpkins and Happy Halloween.

Seed Mixing Bowl with mostly green manure seeds -- vetch, fava bean, red clover, and white clover. I am a greedy planter; I want it all! I want my intended crop, perhaps some insectary plants to attract pollinators, and I want some green manure. Note that in the above bowl of seed, I mixed in soil. The soil will allow me to more thoroughly mix the seeds and give them bulk for my inexact hand dispersal (sometimes over my left shoulder).

Mycorrhizae to dust seeds before planting. Improves germination, plant survival, root development, plant happiness, plant emotional security -- JUST USE IT!

Paul Stamets says we can save the world with spore. He says more spore. I say Spore Lore!

Dusted Sunflower and Pumpkin Seeds. The black dust is mycorrhizae spore; the granules might be spore, might be a nutrient. The black and white-striped seeds (left) are mammoth sunflower. The solid white seeds (top right) are pumpkin.

Planting out a sunflower-pumpkin patch. Spore-dusted seeds sprinkled and ready to go. Bed half planted (might be siesta!).

Covering planted seeds with a layer of rice straw to provide mulch and to protect the seeds. The thin layer of straw will provide enough cover to deter birds and other critters from eating the seed, will keep water from washing the seeds away, and will discourage neighborhood cats from claiming the veggie bed as a litter box.

Pumpkin plant on its way! Note how the seed husk was lifted out of the soil and through the mulch layer by the young plant. Also note how the mulch is in place at germination -- the plant does not have to be disturbed -- it and its mulch pack are ready to go. Just add water and sunlight.

Young Sunflower Plant boasting its seed husk. Note the delicate young red-purple amaranth seedlings off to the right of the sunflower seedling.

Saving Happy Halloween Pumpkin Carving Seeds — 6 of 6

Happy seed saving and see you tomorrow.

Tony

20121104 Saving Happy Halloween Pumpkin Carving Seeds — 5 of 6

2- Food Forest Gardening No Responses »

Nov 052012

You have landed on Day 5 in this 6-day series of videos depicting the fine art of collecting/processing/storing pumpkin seeds. Enjoy!

First some pumpkin pics:

Day 1 = flowers

Day 2 = vine

Day 3 = new fruit

Day 4 = green manure

Today = seed saving

Day 6 = seed planting

THEN a video re “Saving Happy Halloween Pumpkin Carving Seeds”. 6 videos (1/day) for the series!

Seed Saving

: Cold Storage Pumpkin. These pumpkin have been stored a few months since harvested last fall. Each pumpkin has seeds, so if the fruit does not look edible, perhaps it will provide good seed in a month. That fresh, viable seed can be dried, then planted. Note how the pumpkins were stored in an apple box; its pocket-hole liner allowed good ventilation UNDER the fruit.

: Dandelion seed in bowl. A high-sided bowl was used to dry this light, easy-to-blow-away seed.

: Drying Tomato Seed. A lot of moisture here; to protect the bookshelf (tray of seeds will be stored above to dry) a plastic cafeteria tray, newspaper, and office paper are used to soak up the tomato’s juices. Note the use of the fruit labels for easy labeling.

: Sunflower drying over winter. A corner of this room is used to dry the sunflower because A LOT of debris will fall to the ground. A dropcloth under the drying stalks makes cleanup/harvesting fallen seed easier.

: Sunflower head, dried, ready to have its seeds harvested.

: Harvesting Sunflower Seed. I like to also harvest the dry pulp from the head and mix it in with the seed before planting. Benefit unknown re mixing in the pulp, but my gut likes the idea.

: Harvesting Callendula Seed in a bucket. The still-alive and well plant is leaned into the bucket so that those seeds that are ready to fall will will not scatter and be lost (unharvested).

Yes, seed collecting is fun. And, don’t forget partly why we do it — to increase food producion and increase biodiversity. So what happens to those critters that get captured during our seed harvesting? Start by giving them a break!

: Allowing critters to escape from seed harvesting might be as easy as providing them access out. In this example, the bucket was rested on its side to allow critters to crawl out. Note the tucked-up-against-the-bucket hose bib. Nice to give the critters a chance to escape, but would be a bummer to have a breeze roll the bucket and dump all the seed — Nature’s way of saying, “These seeds belong HERE!” Note the escaping Thompson Jumper spider on the right.

: Weevils Trapped In Holyhock Seed Bag. The pruners are being used to keep the trapped weevils from having to spend months in a plastic bag. Besides clearing my conscious (one of the weevils could be Grandpa Tony!), I also want to free these glorious ambassadors of biodiversity because they pollinated the holyhock in the first place.

: Hey gang! I found it — this is the way out.

Saving Happy Halloween Pumpkin Carving Seeds — 6 of 6

Happy seed saving and see you tomorrow.

Tony

20121103 Saving Happy Halloween Pumpkin Carving Seeds — 4 of 6

2- Food Forest Gardening No Responses »

Nov 042012

You have landed on Day 4 in this 6-day series of videos depicting the fine art of collecting/processing/storing pumpkin seeds. Enjoy!

First some pumpkin pics:

Day 1 = flowers

Day 2 = vine

Day 3 = new fruit

Today = green manure

Day 5 = seed saving

Day 6 = seed planting

THEN a video re “Saving Happy Halloween Pumpkin Carving Seeds”. 6 videos (1/day) for the series!

Green Manure

Squash grown for green manure to establish new planting bed. The over-planted (like WAY TOO MANY!!!) squash and pumpkin vines will be harvested to create soil. Likewise, the vines could be "chop-and-drop'ed" in place and covered with soil -- the vines would become a rich source of compostable material as microbes, fungi, and critters (insects, etc.) break it down.

Tony harvests green manure (squash vines) to feed earthworms. Those are not just squash vines that have grown ridiculously abundandant. Those are sheets of moisture, sponges of sugar, and whole communities of resident microbes/insects. Earthworm bin, compost pile, under a new soil mound, the harvested squash vine is a delicacy for the garden.

Sure, composting can be rewarding. But frankly, I hate turning the pile. Permaculture slacker! But I do try to make up for some of my sins. My favorite use of green manure is to pile it and mound soil over it. I try to imagine the busy life of microbes/crawly critters/earthworms/mollusks/a rooting skunk all working the pile. Indentured servitude in my soil mound, and I have no guilt! In fact, I have provided jobs.

Green Manure from Norwegian Hill Basket.

Harvest from Norwegian Hill Basket. The fruit is nice, it's food. The squash flowers are very nice to have; they can be breaded and fried for a delicacy. The green manure, and a piled high wheelbarrow of it!, is Life worth living for, realized dreams, a reason to keep on going. We now have organic material to create healthier soil. Talk about riches!

And my favorite use of green manure — burying it. For one, I believe plants above the mound will have an easier time sending roots into the warm soil. Roots that seek the warmth and nutritious moisture that the breaking down greens provide will send roots along the loosely packed decayin greens and grow far and wide.

Leaf Trench Highway filled with green manure, including squash greens. LTH, our soil-making trench, stores our green mulch for six months to a year. The greens are layered with other garden assets, like brown leaves, rotten fruit, and twigs according to REMP standards. Invented by you, whenever you find the time, Real Estate Marketting Principles, are very effective in the garden -- what can you do to have microbes and critters big and small want to move in your mix of organics. For one, water the area. Once you attract the critters and microbes, relax. Harvest your compost-rich soil when ready.

Saving Happy Halloween Pumpkin Carving Seeds — 4 of 6

Happy seed saving and see you tomorrow.

Tony

20121102 Saving Happy Halloween Pumpkin Carving Seeds – 3 of 6

2- Food Forest Gardening No Responses »

Nov 032012

Young Pumpkin in Percy's Pearmain Portal

You have landed on Day 3 in this 6-day series of videos depicting the fine art of collecting/processing/storing pumpkin seeds. Enjoy!

First some pumpkin pics:

Day 1 = flowers

Day 2 = vine

Today = new fruit

Day 4 = green manure

Day 5 = seed saving

Day 6 = seed planting

THEN a video re “Saving Happy Halloween Pumpkin Carving Seeds”. 6 videos (1/day) for the series!

Young Pumpkin in Percy's Pearmain Portal. Note the thick stem, a sign that this pumpkin is going to be a biggy! Also note how the stem comes off the vine at a 90-degree angle, which will allow the vine to sit on top of the soon-to-be large pumpkin. Note the shriveled, dieing off flower. See the next pic, which shows this pumpkin's growth a month later.

Adolescent pumpkin in Percy's Pearmain Portal

Adolescent pumpkin (maybe Junior High). Note 1) how the vine was dragged up on top of the pumpkin (the vine was alongside the fruit when younger; see previous pic) so that the growing pumpkin would not pull away from the vine. With the vine on top and pumpkin below, why wanting the fruit to come off of the vine at a 90 degree angle (as mentioned in previous pic) becomes clearer.

Young pumpkin growing across Rock Birdbath. Note how quickly the fruit has grown yet the vine is not very developed beyond it. Also note how the young pumpkin still has the shriveled flower attached.

Years later, I am starting to really have fun with the lushness, almost unreasonable growth, of pumpkin vine.

Skyward Netted Pumpkin. Now this project has been fun! My goal was to have a pumpkin grow in the air, suspended off the ground. This pumpkin almost made it to the top, that is, to the crossing bamboo poles, where I was wanting a pumpkin to hang out for a while – at least till Halloween. Spore Lore’s blog entry, 20121030 Skyward Pumpkins and Happy Halloween, tells all.

Skyward Netted Pumpkin -- close-up view. Note the thick stem, 90-degree stem, and the black plastic landscape netting that supports the weight of the pumpkin in the air on the not-so-strong vine.

And my favorite of the year…drumroll, please!

Skyward Nestled Pumpkin -- close-up view. At last, a pumpkin vine has climbed up to the very crotch of the bamboo teepee AND fruited in a perfect orientation to wedge itself in FOREVER! You do it – I am not going to be the one to tell Skyward Nestled Pumpkin it’s time to move on.

Saving Happy Halloween Pumpkin Carving Seeds — 3 of 6

Happy seed saving and see you tomorrow.

Tony

20121101 Saving Happy Halloween Pumpkin Carving Seeds – 2 of 6

2- Food Forest Gardening No Responses »

Nov 022012

You have landed on Day 2 in this 6-day series of videos depicting the fine art of collecting/processing/storing pumpkin seeds. Enjoy!

First some pumpkin pics:

Day 1 = flowers

Today = vine

Day 3 = new fruit

Day 4 = green manure

Day 5 = seed saving

Day 6 = seed planting

THEN a video re “Saving Happy Halloween Pumpkin Carving Seeds”. 6 videos (1/day) for the series!

Pumpkin vine undergrowth. Note the older (dark green) segments of vine and the male flowers (far right) with their tall thin stalks.

Banana squash vine climbing up into pine tree in author's garden. Although not a pumpkin, the vine is very similar to a pumpkin vine. Pumpkins are a type of squash -- all pumpkins are squash but not all squash are pumpkin (very new proverb).

A pumpkin is a gourd-like squash.

Banana squash vine climbs higher into pine.

Banana squash vine climbs higher into the pine tree. Note what an adept climber the vine is, sending curled tendrils out in front to grab hold of/wrap around ANYTHING.

Pumpkin vine growing up a bamboo trellis pole. The "curly tendrils" (see above pic) on the right, will lead in front up the climbing-for-the-sun vine, wrap around the pole, and support the vine as it continues to bear fruit and grow higher. Note 1) the intentionally left branch stub on the home-harvested bamboo pole, and 2) how nicely that hold-on point secures a soft hanger for the vine (always carry more hair ties than you need for your hair and a few extra rubberbands).

Saving Happy Halloween Pumpkin Carving Seeds — 2 of 6

Happy seed saving and see you tomorrow.

Tony

20121031 Saving Happy Halloween Pumpkin Carving Seeds — 1 of 6

2- Food Forest Gardening No Responses »

Nov 012012

European Honey Bees gather pollen in a squash flower.

Now that Halloween is over (in a couple of hours), I want to run through what to do with the seeds from pumpkin carving. The next few days will be a new video each day depicting the fine art of collecting/processing/storing pumpkin seeds. Enjoy!

Oh, about seeds, so glad I can legally harvest from the pumpkin that we have — that might not be the case some day if we lose food freedoms from mega agriculture corporations. Keep food (and seeds) available to the people — vote Prop 37 (California)!!!

First some pumpkin pics:

Today = flowers

Day 2 = vine

Day 3 = new fruit

Day 4 = green manure

Day 5 = seed saving

Day 6 = seed planting

THEN a video re “Saving Happy Halloween Pumpkin Carving Seeds”. 6 videos (1/day) for the series!

Male pumpkin flowers have a long thin stalk as long as a foot from the vine. These flowers are pollen suppliers -- they will not die back and leave a fruit underneath the shriveled petals, as do the female flowers.

A female pumpkin flower being pollinated by a small swarm of midges.

Female pumpkin flower with typical bulbous base, close to the vine. Too early to tell whether pollination was successful -- the fresh petals tell me that this flower bloomed the night before or early this morning. The petals will die back by the next day. If she is not pollinated, the small base will shrivel up and fall off the vine. If she is pollinated, the flower petals will still die back, but the bulbous base will grow bigger -- a pumpkin is born!

European Honey Bees gather pollen in a squash flower. Note 1) the dusting of pollen on the bees' entire body; 2) the chamber-like ovule of this female flower; and, 3) the nectariferous area, or the inside bowl , that collects falling nectar -- sticky and hairy!

An interesting blog explaining pumpkin flower pollination, including hand-pollination (being your own pollinator): Pumpkin Nook

Saving Happy Halloween Pumpkin Carving Seeds — 1 of 6

Happy seed saving and see you tomorrow.

Tony