Resources and Allies

People have expressed interest in deep topics, so this list focuses on philosophical questions.

In an ideal government, what should a good citizen provide to their government and what should that government provide that good citizen?


A good citizen should provide respect as earned, a reasonable share of taxes, contribution to society, well-informed opinions on public matters, and civic participation such as voting.

A good government should provide survival needs or the means to meet them, responsible spending of taxes on public goods, respectable laws, honorable leaders, and the ability to do things at larger scale than individuals could do alone.  And not meddle in things that are none of its business.

My seeds arrived from the earlier Pinetree Garden Seeds order. :D

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Today is sunny and warmer with a nice breeze. :D

I fed the birds. I've seen a flock of sparrows and a male house finch.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 2/27/26 -- I cut and labeled four water jugs. These will hold Shithouse Marigolds, Black-eyed Susan, Milkweed, and Purple Aster. These are all flowers that I know can handle harsh conditions.

EDIT 2/27/26 -- I taped the jugs, moved them to the parking lot, and secured them with string.

I've seen a starling. Red-winged blackbirds are calling, but I haven't seen them. They arrived way early again this year, so I suspected that they'd wind up in my yard, regretting their poor life choices. At least it has cover and water here.

Crocuses are blooming, still all pale lavender. But there is a white bud in the rain garden!

EDIT 2/27/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 2/27/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

I've seen a fox squirrel at the hopper feeder.

EDIT 2/27/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 2/27/26 -- I finished trimming dead stems off the wildflower garden. I still need to cut down the tree seedlings and rake more leaves off it, but the old grass is gone.

A yellow crocus is blooming by the log garden. Snowdrop flowers are opening. :D

EDIT 2/27/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

I am done for the night.

Today I made African Spice Cookies. :D

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One of today's garden crafts was making a worm bin.  You can buy commercial ones, but they're expensive.  All this took was a few minutes to set it up. (See the House Yard and the Water Garden.)

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Did you know that bathing suits used to have buttons? Back when they were jumpsuits or dresses, buttons helped with the fit. And you can still get patterns for that if you're into historic sewing or want to go swimming without exposing a lot of skin. Here's an example of a reproduction pattern from 1872. Thanks to atherleisure for the fun historical tip.

Today is mostly cloudy and cool. Looks like it rained a bit last night; there are small puddles in a few places.

I fed the birds. I've seen a few sparrows.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 2/26/26 -- I put out a fresh cake of peanut suet.

EDIT 2/26/26 -- I cut and labeled 4 more water jugs. These will hold native grasses: little bluestem, side-oats grama, northern sea oats, and switchgrass. It will be interesting to see how they do. Potted grasses tend to survive well but are more expensive. Broadcast seeding on the ground has variable results. So if I can find more and better ways to pot my own from seed, that's an improvement. Native grasses attract wildlife with food, shelter, and other resources. Many birds devour the seeds. Some butterflies, especially skippers, and other insects use native grasses as host plants. My prairie garden swarms with skippers and other butterflies in summer and into fall.

EDIT 2/26/26 -- I filled, sowed, and taped the milk jugs. This potting soil was wet enough that it didn't need watering. I thought I had some topsoil left, but I'm out of that; I'll need to restock in March. I put the four new jugs in the parking lot and tied them together.

While I was out there, a honeybee buzzed around, wishing to pollinate me, perhaps attracted to my bright coat. I had to explain that I was not a flower.

I've seen more sparrows and two male cardinals.

EDIT 2/26/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 2/26/26 -- I set up a simple worm bin in the log garden's leaf enclosure. I used an old 5-gallon bucket with a cracked bottom and a hole in one side. This will allow worms to go in and out as they please. I put some leaves inside to start, and packed more leaves around the bucket. Now I have somewhere that I can drop food scraps for the worms to eat, and cover with a handful of leaves. This gives me a place that will likely have plenty of worms when I want them -- such as for dropping into large planters -- and also where I can take a handful of very bioactive material to jump-start pots filled with potting mix with little or no bioactivity. When the bucket gets full, I can dump out the worm castings to use for fertilizing plants, sort out some worms, restart the bucket with more leaf litter, and drop in the worms.

There are, of course, commercially made worm bins that are much fancier and allow access to more outputs. However, these are expensive. Also they trap the worms inside, which is not great for an outdoor setup. This is free and better suited to its situation.

EDIT 2/26/26 -- I picked up the empty trough from last year's mini-water garden and moved it to the log garden, where I surrounded it with extra logs. I have taken pictures of the worm bin and the water garden.

EDIT 2/26/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

I heard a woodpecker drumming but didn't see it. I have seen a fox squirrel up a tree.

I am done for the night.

Yesterday we ordered two different kinds of willow cuttings. I couldn't find a new contorta willow at a reasonable price, so I'm trying these instead. It will take time for them to grow roots, but willows are the easiest plant to root -- they make their own rooting hormone, which can be used to stimulate other plant cuttings to root.

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