George Kral Alright, before we talk about birds and bees, I just gotta say..it’s HOT. And sticky. I took a year off college and worked construction in New Orleans in 1983. Swinging a hammer in New Orleans in summer is brutally, mind-numbingly sweltering. We’re not that hot and sticky, but things are veering uncomfortably in that direction. … Read more
Hi Folks, It’s been a few days since I wrote in the blog. It has been hot, and we are mid-stride on field prep for next year’s crop so I’ve been sitting on a tractor when I might otherwise have been writing. I tend to have profound thoughts when I’m doing mundane chores like tilling … Read more
Hi Folks, Yep, it’s hot. We hit 101 on Friday, 104 yesterday, and we just hit 100 today. Gotta love it! My crop of Himalayan blackberries that I have been tending behind the farmhouse is literally getting broiled on the vines. So depressing.. But the Viburnum out front that hasn’t had anything appreciable to drink … Read more
Well, aren’t they all? Otherwise they wouldn’t be here.. There’s been a lot of interest lately in what plants might be adapted to our changing climate, so I’m going to toss in my two cents about what “climate-adapted” might mean. Climate-adapted plants are the ones that survive whatever the future climate throws at them, and … Read more
Not much of a cone crop this year, except for Ponderosa pine and incense cedar. Everything is advanced and the IC is already beginning to open, so my son Max and I had to hustle today and climb some trees before all the seed flutters away. We work really hard to keep this place going, … Read more
It must be mid August, because the great golden digger wasps have shown up, as usual. They are especially fond of Asclepias fascicularis, the narrow-leaf milkweed, and together the milkweed and wasp make a striking display. There are more of them this year than I have ever seen, probably because we have milkweeds naturalizing all … Read more
In some plant groups, actually, seed dispersal may be secondary in facilitating migration to the other major mode of gene flow, which is pollen. Pollen is by far more buoyant and dispersible than seed, with an ability to travel thousands of miles in a few days. So if a long-distance pollen grain encounters a compatible … Read more
Penstemon hesperius is our endemic beard-tongue here in the Tualatin Valley. Described by Peck in 1932, tall beard-tongue or tall western penstemon was presumed extinct for many decades until former Scholls employee Rachael Roberts found this unusual plant in 2008 growing adjacent to an abandoned farm field at the Tualatin National Wildlife Refuge. Since then, … Read more
Written 17 July 2025 The Vultures Today, I think most of the turkey vultures in the lower Gales Creek valley must have been congregated here at the farm, circling in the air and roosting in the maples and alders along the creek at the northeast corner of the property. I thought I should go see … Read more
8 August 2025 Plant Ranges Ranges are among the most diagnostic and ecologically salient features of plants. Frequently, the easiest way to establish the identity of a plant belonging to one of several closely related taxa is where you found it. Which species exists in this location? This may seem like cheating, but it’s not, … Read more