Tag Archives: trees

Wild Azalea, Cinnamon Fern, Tulip Trees 2026-04-02

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A stroll after breakfast into the Desolation of Helene.

[Wild Azaleas]
Wild Azaleas

I didn’t video many of the blown-down pines, oaks, maples, etc. Some of them I will saw later to re-open some of the paths. Hurricanes: I do not like them.

Meanwhile, there are native wild azaleas, sphagmum moss, crawfish, cinnamon fern, and a few still-standing tulip trees.

Plus muddy dogs, two of them visible; the other two showed up shortly. Continue reading →

Roof hatch latch 2025-05-26

Sometimes I need to go on top of the overroof we built, to clean the wood stove chimney, or to sweep off pinestraw. Instead of climbing 16 feet up the straw-slippery roof slope, I prefer to go through this trap door.

[Trapdoor closed]
Trapdoor closed

Which blew open in Hurricane Helene. So now it has a latch.

Who knows that that thing I used to hold the latch shut is called? (I’m not going to admit I had to look it up.)

-jsq

First olives harvested east of the Mississippi since the 1800’s –Georgia Olive Farms

We’ll visit Georgia Olive Farms on our Friday Farm Tour at South Georgia Growing Local 2014.

Richard Villadoniga wrote for StAugustine.com 18 July 2012, Liguid gold rush,

There’s a new gold rush taking place in Georgia, and it’s not up in the mountains near Dahlonega as first happened back in 1828. This time around, people are buzzing with excitement over a liquid gold produced in Southern Georgia: extra virgin olive oil. You read that correctly — olive oil from Georgia. What was once an exclusively Mediterranean product is now being crafted with olives grown in Southern Georgia, and to a smaller extent, North Florida.

Georgia Olive Farms, a cooperative of about 10 regional olive growers, is based in Lakeland, Georgia, near Valdosta.

Jason Shaw, one of the company’s founders, comes Continue reading →

Woodpecker trees, Okra Paradise Farms, 29 June 2012

We had to take down one dead tree, but there are others for the woodpeckers. Well, people keeping telling me this oak is dead, but I say it's only been a few years, and it's going to sprout out again any time now:

Dead oak

Pictures by John S. Quarterman for Okra Paradise Farms, Lowndes County, Georgia, 29 June 2012.

Dead pine:

Continue reading →

Protracted extreme drought: U.S. Drought Monitor, 2012-05-08

Acording to U.S. Drought Monitor, drought throughout south Georgia and surrounding areas is either extreme or exceptional, and has been for months.

Here you can see detail for Georgia:

Continue reading →

Fixing a perfect storm of bad planning and design

Asked about typical modern shopping corridors, Texas A&M Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning Eric Dumbaugh replied:
“from a traffic safety perspective, the modern commercial arterial is a perfect storm of bad planning and design. These roads are designed to support high operating speeds, making it difficult for drivers to stop quickly to avoid a crash, and the presence of commercial and retail uses on these roads means that drivers will routinely need to stop quickly in order to avoid crashing into pedestrians, bicyclists, and especially vehicles turning in and out of driveways.”
The 2006 article, Safe Urban Form: Revisiting the Relationship Between Community Design and Traffic Safety, by Eric Dumbaugh and Robert Rae, notes: Continue reading →