by Winding Pathways | May 27, 2015 | Bugs, Nature
Few insects are as visible as fireflies winging over a lawn while blinking their lights on and off. Nearly everyone loves summer’s silent firefly light show, and they are a special delight for children.
Also called lightning bugs, these insects are most common in the eastern half of North America. Firefly larvae live under bark, wood, and leaves in shady damp locations. Although they are luminous people rarely see these larvae lights hidden in woodsy debris. Immature fireflies devour insects and other small ground dwelling creatures. Adults don’t feed. They fly around flashing their lights solely to attract a mate. Some firefly species blink yellow, while others blink green.
A delightful childhood experience is chasing and catching evening fireflies to watch them blink their lights on and off in a jar. Close examination reveals that they are brown or blackish beetles about a quarter to a half-inch long. After a bit of viewing free the captives and let them continue to spangle the night with friendly light.
Fireflies are one of many desirable insects killed by insecticides. Better to shun spray and enjoy these remarkable and beautiful animals.
Join Marion Patterson for a Firefly Labyrinth Walk at Indian Creek Nature Center on Friday, June 5th. Register through the Nature Center. 1-319-362-0664 or on-line
by Winding Pathways | May 27, 2015 | Nature
Take a walk on a damp morning following an overnight rain and worms will likely be crawling on the sidewalk
Nightcrawlers and other worm species are common in rural and urban areas throughout much of North America. Worms are so abundant that most people are amazed to learn that they are not native.
Most worm species originated in Eurasia and were inadvertently brought to this continent in soil surrounding nursery stock. Tiny eggs may have hitchhiked across the ocean in scraps of dirt. No matter how they got here worms arrived in early settlement days and quickly spread.
Nightcrawlers are the most visible worm species because they are large and often come to the surface. Most other species stay below ground. Crawlers are the most common worm sold for fish bait, and anglers dumping extra ones on the ground probably helped this animal expand its range.
Worms are frequently praised for their ability to aerate soil and break down plant residue into “castings”, or worm manure. Plants readily use this fertilizer, making worms the friend of farmers and gardeners. There’s no doubt that mixing by millions of earthworms helps make soil soft, rich and permeable to water. Ecologists take a dim view of these exotic invaders, which can reduce forest leaf litter and alter plant life in pristine ecosystems.
Going “nightcrawling” is a fun activity for children, whether or not the family goes fishing. Nightcrawlers come to the surface on damp spring nights to mate. Each individual is both male and female, and two join together to swap sperm before laying eggs. Visit the lawn after dark on a drizzly evening and quietly shine a dim flashlight’s beam on the ground. Two worms lying next to each other are likely mating. Leave them alone but gently grab any single worm and drop it in a can for future fish bait. Often a crawler will keep its tail in the ground. If a gentle pull doesn’t free it briefly stop tugging, and it will likely relax its grip and be easily captured. Be stealthy. Worms are spooked by vibrations in the ground, so wear soft shoes or go barefoot and move quietly.
Fish, birds, and many other animals eagerly devour worms, and they are now an important ecological component of lawns, gardens and farms.
by Winding Pathways | May 24, 2015 | Flowers/Grasses, Nature
One of our favorite wildflowers at Winding Pathways is the purple coneflower. It’s named for petals that radiate backward in a cone shape. The genus name Echinacea means “hedgehog” in Greek and derives from the prickly seed head that forms in late summer and persists into winter.
Native to woods’ edges and clearings throughout Eastern North America it has been widely planted and is now common in natural areas and cultivated yards across the continent. There are many coneflower species but the purple is probably the best known. It’s a gorgeous plant that pollinators love, is in bloom for a long time, and is amazingly easy to grow in both formal and naturalistic plantings. Deer seem to leave them alone. Few wildflowers are as well suited to backyards, especially those that have some sun.
Many people claim medicinal value from Echinaceas, but scientific evidence is mixed and uncertain. Enjoy it for its beauty, ease of growing and pollinator benefit.
A simple and free way to establish this perennial is to is to glean seeds. Keep an eye out for blooming coneflowers this summer in places were collection is allowed and return in the fall. Wearing leather gloves rub the prickly heads between fingers into a bag to free the seeds. Then, immediately scatter them in appropriate places in your yards. Coneflowers love moist soil and partial to full sun.
Coneflower seed is readily available at garden stores, and many nurseries sell potted young plants. Usually purple coneflowers bloom the second growing season after planting and need little care.
Two of our favorite nurseries for plants native to the Midwest are Ion Exchange and Prairie Moon Nursery.
by Winding Pathways | May 4, 2015 | (Sub)Urban Homesteading, Amphibians/Reptiles, Garden/Yard, Nature
The annual evening toad serenade has begun! From May into summer rural and urban folks can enjoy the loud trilling announcing toad lovemaking season. Nature’s summer music.
As amphibians, toads require standing water to reproduce but unlike many frogs they don’t need watery abundance. Toads lay their eggs in small pools that often dry up by summer. Eggs hatch quickly into tiny black tadpoles. While bullfrog tadpoles take two years to change into adult frogs, toad tadpoles are speedsters that transform into tiny hopping miniature adults by mid-summer. Often hundreds of these tiny creatures can be spotted seeking cool damp places to live.
Toads are voracious insect eaters, and gardeners delight in having them live under squash vines or tomato plants. Some people even construct tiny toad homes to encourage them to live in the garden.
We’re lucky to have a big toad living in a shed near our garden. His home is damp and cool with plenty of insects to keep him well fed.
According to the National Wildlife Federation, when pestered, toads eject a watery toxic substance from the parotoid glands. The toxin discourages dogs, raccoons or other hungry varmints intent on a meal from eating them. Few predators bother the placid toad. This bufotoxin can cause an allergic reaction in people. But humans do NOT get “warts” from toads.
Homeowners can encourage toads to take up residence. Building a small pond creates a toad magnet and maintaining a few damp places in the garden will provide toad homes. Avoid insecticides and, thus, encourage worms and insects for these intriguing animals to gorge on.
Kids love toads. When our children, Dan and Nancy, as small children delighted in watching them in our small backyard pond. Toads help transform a boring yard into a wondrous one!
by Winding Pathways | May 3, 2015 | (Sub)Urban Homesteading, Energy Efficiency, Preparedness
Many homeowners harvest beans, squash, and tomatoes from their garden. Some collect delicious eggs from a small
backyard flock. Too few harvest one of life’s free necessities – Rain Water!
We set up five rain barrels at Winding Pathways a few years ago. They are so handy we don’t know why we didn’t start harvesting rain years ago. Rain barrels are relatively inexpensive and easy to set up. Water from the barrels irrigates thirsty gardens, provides drinking water for our backyard hens, and is handy for rinsing off dirty hands and tools when working outside. 
Tap water costs money. Rain water is free. It’s delivered by nature without chlorine. Too many homeowners swish rainwater down storm sewers and pay their city for tap water to irrigate.
Rain barrels yield free water but also create social and environmental benefits. They reduce pressure on municipal water systems and wells during droughts and reduce erosion and flooding caused by runoff.
A rain barrel is simply a container that collects and stores water falling on the roof. A faucet positioned low on the barrel makes filling a bucket or attaching a hose easy.
They are hardly a new technology. People have been catching and using rain for thousands of years, especially in arid areas. Relatively new are myriads of lightweight attractive barrels on the market, ranging from plain and simple to highly decorative. Most hold about 50 gallons. Do it “yourselfers” can easily make a rain barrel from a 55 gallon drum and fittings sold in any hardware store.
Most first time rain barrel users are astonished at how much water falls on the roof during even a minor shower. For example 625 gallons of rain falls on a 1000 foot roof during a one inch storm. That would fill nine or ten typical sized barrels, and most houses these days are much larger than 1000 square feet. Even during Iowa’s occasional droughts enough occasional showers fall on our roof at Winding Pathways that we always seem to have water in our five barrels.
What’s Needed to Harvest Rain?
Setting up a rain barrel outside a home that has gutters and downspouts is easy. All that’s needed is the barrel itself, a stand to elevate it, and a way to point the downspout so water goes into the top of the barrel.
The Barrel: Many websites detail how to make a rain barrel from common materials. Simply GOOGLE How to Make a Rain Barrel and several excellent well illustrated instructional sites appear. Manufactured rain barrels can be purchased in big box stores that sell yard and garden equipment. They can also be ordered from numerous places online.
The Stand: A stand gets the barrel up off the ground. Normally a hose fitting is situated near the barrel’s bottom to allow complete draining. We made stands from lumber scrounged from construction site dumpsters. They are about 18 inches tall. Placing the barrel on several cinder blocks is even simpler and requires no carpentry. Remember that a rain barrel holding 50 gallons of water weighs around 400 pounds. Stands must be stout.
The Downspout: Most downspouts extend from the gutter to the ground. Situate the stand and rain barrels below or near a downspout. Common soft aluminum or plastic spouts are easy to cut with a hacksaw. Cut it off above the height of the rain barrel so water falls directly into the top of the barrel. Or, if the barrel needs to be set to the side of the downspout buy a 90 or 45 degree angle elbow from a hardware store and attach it so water reaches the barrel. Be sure to drill a few holes in the joint and secure it with sheet metal screws.
Where to Locate the Barrel. Obviously a rain barrel needs to be located near a downspout, but most houses have several of them. Put the barrel as close as possible to the garden or wherever the water will be used.
Hooking More Than One Together. Most people start with just one rain barrel and then discover that it fills quickly in just a light rain. And, it’s easy to use all the water quickly. The solution is simple. Set up several rain barrels in a way that once the first barrel fills water flows through a small tube into the second, third, and any subsequent ones.
Rain Barrel Maintenance. Barrel maintenance is important but simple. Every five or six weeks we drain our barrels, brush the inside to dislodge the slimy material that forms on the plastic, and wash it out with tap water from a hose. Ice can crack a rain barrel, so in late fall we drain ours, turn them upside down for the winter, and put a rock on top (actually the inverted bottom) to keep the wind from blowing them away.
A Caution. Most roofs are constructed of nontoxic materials, but some may leech toxic chemicals into rainwater. Most cedar shakes have been treated with chemicals so don’t harvest water from such a roof. It’s best to wait three or four months after installing a new asphalt roof before collecting rain.
It’s exciting to bring fresh eggs into the kitchen from a flock of backyard hens, and another satisfying delight of the yard is the delicious beans, chard, and other vegetables that come from the garden. Harvesting free rain after a summer shower is another pleasure offered by a wondrous yard.
COMPANY PROFILE
RAINWATER SOLUTIONS
A few years ago Lynn and Mike Ruck, owners of Rainwater Solutions, helped the Indian Creek Nature Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa mount a major effort to encourage residents to buy and install barrels they make. Eager residents retrieved barrels they had ordered from the back of a huge semi-truck, and soon nearly 1000 residents began harvesting water.
Many companies make and sell excellent rain barrels. We use ones made by Rainwater Solutions at Winding Pathways, and they’ve served us well. One of their models, called The Moby, holds 65 gallons while its slimmer cousin, The Ivy, holds 50.
Rain Water Solutions rain barrels are made in the USA of 100% recycled content. It is their mission to work with government agencies and non-profits to use rain barrels as an education / outreach tool for water conservation and water quality issues. They also design, consult, and install above and below ground rainwater harvesting systems. For information check their website at www.rainwatersolutions.com.
