The Ghost Flower

The ghostly corpse rises up out of the thick duff layer, followed by another, and then another, and so on.
Known as the ghost flower, corpse plant, or more commonly as Indian pipe (Monotropa uniflora), this waxy white plant that looks like a pipe or a corpse, is a parasite. It associates with certain fungus, tapping into the mycelia (root-like threads) of the fungus to capture nutrients. The fungus in turn gets its food from a nearby tree. The fungus and the tree work cooperatively. The fungus helps the tree absorb water and minerals, while the tree provides nutrients to the fungus. Given its parasitic ways, the Indian pipe offers nothing in return to the fungus or the tree.

Indian pipes like rich soil with a thick layer of decaying plant matter. Often they emerge near fallen logs. Surprisingly they are in the heath family, related to cranberries, blueberries, and the like. I'd rather eat a blueberry than snack on the ghost plant. It is not a sweet taste that they have in common, but the mycorrizal relationship with other plants that members of the heath family have in common.

Here, the white columns of Indian pipes stand like sentinels under a dark canopy of white pine.

Eventually the plant turns black and the corpse plant melts back into the duff.

Living 04

My friend, Tony Federer, just sent me an unpublished book that he wrote, which he has called "Ecoshift." The book is full of facts and references on the impacts of human population growth, development, and consumption on the planet. Interspersed are personal stories about how he has shifted his own life to reduce his impact on the earth.

It is one of those books, along with many stories seen regularly in newspapers and magazines, about declines in species, habitats, environmental health. Just this week stories included overfishing bluefin tuna with some restaurants refusing to drop it from their menu; natural gas exploration in the Catskills the source of New York City's water supply, population growth in developing countries, the list goes on.

The disconnect on these issues between politicians and others in power and the individuals and small groups that are pursuing a shift in how we live is vast. So vast, that it seems more than ever that change will only come from below. Even to discuss changes in our beliefs, behaviors, and ethics is ridiculed and dismissed by many. Paul Hawkins calls it "the movement without a name." Tony calls it "the movement that is transforming the relation of humanity to earth."

The public policy professor Robert Reich notes that the current economy will not recover or perhaps should not recover, because we need a new economy. Although he does not know what that new economy will be. It is hard to imagine a shift away from the current global economy. So, is "greening" of corporations enough to get us to a new economy, one that respects and is in balance with the ecological functions of the planet? This is hard to imagine too.

Sometimes you don't know if you are part of a movement. I hope those of us who care are part of a large movement, and maybe it is better to have a movement without a name. Words and names get corrupted by those in power.

So what to do. Like all animals we need food, water, shelter, and space. Where we get these things and how much we use of each is what one might call our "ecological footprint." The "ecoshift" that my friend speaks to in his book is about finding the right footprint. Everyone's will look different, but perhaps is within some range of reasonableness. I once was on a work-related field trip to a wood supplier who collected and sold all types of wood from throughout the world. He spoke proudly about extracting wood "sustainably" from Belize. Perhaps that was so, but we learned from him that the wood -- thousands of square feet -- was being used for a floor in a new, obviously huge, home in Colorado. This was beyond the range of reasonableness and common sense. I felt like I was the only one who saw the disconnect.

I am looking toward the new economy, one that each of us needs to help create. I'll see you there.

Blueberries

The freezer is filling up with 30 pounds so far of freshly picked organic blueberries, thanks to help from my in-laws.

We picked these berries in two one-hour stints. Amma would go back again and again; we'll see how the weather goes, although more rain is in the forecast.

Just a short 5 minutes from our house sits Inkwell Farm with about an acre of self-serve pick-your-own blueberries.

Although a bit delayed this year due to the weather, the crop is now lush and sweet. At least berries are producing, since many other crops (such as tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants) are really struggling.

Although we are in New England, this summer reminds me of Mark Twain's (or someone's) quip, "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco." This is one weird summer.

The Inkwell owners supply gallon milk jugs with the top cut off so you can carry the empty carton to the bushes and back to the small gazebo to weigh and pay, slipping your cash or check into the slot in the wooden box. The mosquitoes are thick around the feet as you stir up the grass while moving about the bushes. The free-range chickens and guinea hens come around to stab the berries that drop to the ground. I'd prefer they stab the mosquitoes.

Inkwell Farm is for sale, at a fairly steep price. A price that is unaffordable for new, young farmers. This is an unfortunate reality, when young folks can't start a farm and provide local food for others. I only hope that whoever buys this property keeps the organic blueberry bushes going so we can go back and back and back.

Japanese Beetles

As the cool, wet summer marches on, the Japanese beetles have emerged in our yard. I check the gardens morning and evening for these unwelcome guests. They are sluggish and clumsy at these times and can be easily picked off and dropped into a container of soapy water.

The Japanese beetle (Popillia japonica), as its name suggests, hails from Japan. It was accidentally introduced into New Jersey in 1916. As with many other non-natives, the lack of natural enemies here and the perfect habitats--lawns, golf courses, parks--has caused the beetle to spread throughout the eastern U.S. It is considered the worst garden pest.

The beetle is easily identified as an adult with its oval-shaped body about 1/2-inch in size, metallic green head and thorax, and coppery elytra or hardened wing covers. The elytra protect the hind wings, which are used for flight. They usually feed in groups. Late June through July is their peak feeding time. During this period females occasionally drop to the ground to lay a few eggs in moist soil; they eventually lay as many as 40 eggs.

These eggs hatch into white grubs, which in turn live in the soil for 10 months, feeding on the roots of grasses, crops, and other plants during the growing season. They stay buried and inactive during winter. When the spring temperature reaches 50F the grubs start munching on roots again. If you dig into your lawn or garden you are likely to find at least a few inch-long, creamy white grubs curled into a crescent-shape. They then pupate and emerge as adults in June.

Signs of heavy grub feeding appear as patches of dead grass. As they feed they starve grass of water and the lawn dies from drought-stress. The adults feed on leaves, chewing the plant tissue between the leaf veins, leaving behind a lace-like appearance to the leaf.

Japanese beetles feed on 300 or so different plants, although they have some favorites such as roses, grapes, basswoods, sassafras, Norway maple (itself an invasive plant), hollyhocks, fruit trees. In our yard they are attracted to the beaked hazelnut, comfrey, sugar snap peas, and hollyhocks. I stopped planting hollyhocks because they were so attractive to Japanese beetles.

Mid-summer rains are good for Japanese beetles. Well, this should be a fine year for them, because we have rain. They of course like expansive lawns and golf courses, especially ones that are watered during drought periods.

For most of us, picking off the adults when they are slow (morning and evening) is the best control. The Japanese beetle traps that look like a green bag with a yellow cap hanging in some yards are not effective. They attract hundreds of beetles to the yard and not all are captured so it makes the problem worse. A diverse plant community in your yard helps reduce beetle damage. The grubs are eaten by skunks, moles, and birds, which will appreciate the food source and also like a diverse yard. Reducing the amount of lawn and avoiding excessive watering will also help.

Two Lilies

A more beautiful wildflower you won't find than the wood lily (Lilium philadelphicum).

You find this brilliant reddish-orange flower in dry thickets and open woods. I stumbled on this gem under a power-line, growing amidst sweet fern and goldenrod.

It is one of the few plants in full bloom this mid-July so you can't miss it among a sea of green vegetation. The wood lily is easily identified by its bright color, open, upright bell-shaped flower with dark spots on the inside. All other lilies have nodding flowers or are not spotted. It likes acidic or sandy soil and sunny woodland openings, prairie, pine barrens, or power-lines.

Today I spotted another lily in bloom at the edge of a wet meadow, the Canada lily (Lilium canadense). A nodding lily with an open, bell-shaped flower.

With our own flower and vegetable gardens struggling with too much moisture, it is nice to walk the wild lands and see nature carry on with flowering and pollinating and going to seed.

Tomatoes Teetering

I've been busy this week and just catching up with the news that "late blight" (Phytophthora infestans) has arrived with a fury in the Northeast. This fungus usually does not strike in this area until August. The wet weather has created perfect conditions. This coupled with the finding that the big box stores such as Wal-Mart, The Home Depot, Kmart, and Lowe's, were unknowingly selling infected plants all from one grower in Alabama.

I learned from my New Roots Farm friends today at the Exeter Farmer's Market that they are infected. At least 100 sun gold tomato plants were pulled. They have their fingers crossed that other tomato plants are not infected. The fungus is highly contagious among tomato and potato plants. Other plants are not affected. The fear is that the entire tomato crop in the region could be lost. No tomatoes! Okay, we are not supposed to panic yet. If the sun stays out and the rain stays away, then many of the plants may avoid the blight. But once the blight infects a plant it must be removed.

The fungus is easily spread by wind over long distances, so that is likely how the fungus has spread from backyard seedlings to large growers such as New Roots Farm, that grow their own seedlings. Anyone with tomato plants should be checking them daily for infection. I found the Cornell University website with photos to be helpful. The fungus spreads rapidly so perhaps we'll know soon how the region's crops are faring. Infected plants should be sealed in a plastic bag and thrown in the garbage. Do not compost.

Bracken and Blueberries

Bella and I set out on our midday walkabout down one of our favorite trails not far from home. We drove down the short dirt road, past the Nichol's fields. They were haying today given the recent string of dry, sunny days. We parked at the iron gate as we always do. As we walked the trail along the edge of a large wooded wetland (the subject of many previous blog posts), two red-shouldered hawks were calling loudly kee-yer kee-yer kee-yer, as they flushed from the edge of the trail.

At the bridge we stopped to watch the water rush by. Pairs of ebony jewelwings danced above the water. These damselflies dazzle with their black wings and iridescent bodies. We continued on to the meadow ablaze with wildflowers. The trail narrows again as it winds through a stand of shrubs and young growth of blueberries, bracken, gray birch, white pine, aspen, and juniper. The high and low bush wild blueberries were sweet and plentiful.

Lowbush blueberry, Vaccinium angustifolium

Highbush blueberry, Vaccinium corymbosum

This is where the ruffed grouse are staying safe and finding good food. We flushed a family of them. One flew into the gray birch. You might just pick it out in the top center of the picture below.
The seasons still seem a little confused. The long cold, wet spring and early summer has moderated into fall-like summer days. The bracken fern is turning yellow, red maples are showing their reds and yellows.

Bracken (fern), Pteridium aquilinium

Seems premature to be thinking fall colors, but these are perfect days so I won't complain too much. Listening to the rufous-sided towhee singing "drink-your-tea" from the underbrush, I can't help but think ahead to some afternoon Indian tea with snacks. Until then I'll enjoy a few more fresh wild blueberries as we pass by, leaving plenty for the grouse and other animals.