About tedmanzer
I grew up in Old Town Maine and got a B.S. at the University of Maine in Plant Sciences/ minor in Botany. From there I moved to West Virginia and earned a M.S. in Agronomy at WVU. I also met my wife there. She grew up in rural WV as the daughter of tenant farmers who raised cattle and hogs. Their lifestyle at times was one of subsistence and I learned a lot from them. I've always been a foraging buff, but combining my formal botanical knowledge with their practical 'Foxfire-type' background opened up my eyes a little more.
I recently retired from teaching high school agriculture after 25 years teaching with my wife. Until recently I wrote a weekly nature/foraging column for the local paper (dailyadvance.com). I also have written several Christian nature/adventure novels that can be purchased on Amazon in paperback and in Kindle format. One is a five book family saga I call the 'Forgotten Virtues' series. In the first book, Never Alone, a young boy comes of age after his father dies in a plane crash, and he has to make it alone. The second book, Strange Courage, takes Carl from his High School graduation to his recovery from a nasty divorce. The third book, Second Chances, takes Carl from his ex-wife's death and the custody of his son to his heroic death at age 59. The fourth book, Promises Kept, depicts how his grandchildren react and adjust to his death (this one is not yet published). In the final book, Grandfather's Way, his youngest and most timid granddaughter emerges from the shadow of her overachieving family and accomplishes more in four months than most do in a lifetime. I use many foraging references with a lot of the plants I profile in these articles in those books. I also wrote a romance novel titled Virginia, set in rural West Virginia in the early 1980s. It is available on Amazon and is a different type of romance from a man's perspective.
Around here we have two options for lawns. What determines them is the amount of work entailed and when we have the most time for it. Different grass species have different growth requirements. Warm-season species like Bermudagrass, St. Augustine or … Continue reading →
Posted in Uncategorized
|
Tagged annual ryegrass, Bermudagrass, bluegrass, centipede grass, cool-season grass, perennial ryegrass, red fescue, ryegrass, soil temperature, sports turf, St. Augustine grass, tall fescue, turf-type, warm-season grass, winter lawns
|
Native landscape plants are gaining favor these days. Most people also desire shrubbery that requires little water and has few pest or disease problems. We also like plants that tolerate rough handling and improper pruning. Yaupon holly is commonly found … Continue reading →
It’s Thanksgiving time and we’ve all known some person who could teach us more than we ever learned in school. We need to thank them. Sometimes the person was a parent. Maybe it was a grandparent or other relative. It … Continue reading →
We’re approaching the season where many citrus trees are producing ripe fruit. Perhaps no orange cultivar has been more successful for the fresh market than the navel orange. Valencia oranges are used more for juice and juice is the biggest … Continue reading →
I love driving around and observing the fall colors. In most years the yellows, reds and oranges are spectacular. However, has anyone else noticed this is a subpar fall color year locally? Perhaps we should analyze the factors contributing to … Continue reading →
Posted in foraging
|
Tagged 'stress from disease, 'warm wet springs, abscission layer, anthocyanins, carotenoids, Cercospora leaf spot, chlorophyll, crape myrtle, day length, dense tree canopies, favorable color conditions, subpar fall color, sucking insects, xanthophylls
|
Last week I wrote about why fruit trees were grafted to produce shorter specimens. A few people asked me exactly how it was done and the best time to do it. As usual, questions like that seldom produce a simple … Continue reading →
It’s apple picking season. Like most other people I love fresh apples and nearly everything we make from them. Like many of you I also have a few in my backyard. Mine are semi-dwarf types. We can also purchase standard … Continue reading →
Posted in foraging
|
Tagged apple, budding, combined organism, disease resistance, drought tolerance, dwarf, dwarfing rootstock, grafting, interstem, rootstock, scion, semi-dwarf, standard, winter hardiness
|
October is my favorite month. Air temperatures begin to drop into a comfortable range but the water is still warm. Usually in October here in eastern North Carolina I can go the whole month without using the heat or air … Continue reading →
Sometimes spotting the fragrant plant is easy. Magnolias and gardenias have very conspicuous flowers. Nobody could miss them. Fortune tea olive is different. Clusters of tiny white flowers are tucked among the foliage. They’re easy for our eyes to miss. … Continue reading →
Posted in foraging
|
Tagged edible flowers, evergreen shrub, fall blooming, Fortune tea olive, fragrant flowers, holly-like foliage, inconspicuous flowers, Osmanthus, perfume, small tree, tolerates severe pruning, versatile evergreen shrub, zone 7
|
Often times the eastern cottontail rabbit is more visible in our neighborhoods than in areas where people normally hunt them. They’re cute and fun to watch until you find out they’re destroying your landscape and vegetable plants. Just a few … Continue reading →
Posted in foraging
|
Tagged bacterial disease, blood meal, crepuscular, dawn dusk, eastern cottontail rabbit, fencing, lagomorphs, live traps, nocturnal, organic fertilizers, parasites, rabbit damage, rabbits, tularemia, vegetable plants
|
tedmanzer 