by Winding Pathways | Sep 4, 2025 | (Sub)Urban Homesteading, Nature
Blog by guest authors, Peg and Angus!
Our dog, Angus, and I were sitting on the deck one summer afternoon. I was reading and Angus just looking around. Suddenly, I heard a commotion.
Angus got all excited and started barking. It turns out, a bear commotion!
I looked up and there was a big (200-300 lb) black bear climbing the maple tree beside us. About 40 feet away.
Fortunately, Angus was on his run and close to me so I could get hold of him and hurry us both into the house. He was not a willing participant in this process! The bear just watched us the entire time. It took quite a while before my hands stopped shaking enough for me to take pictures.
I think what scared me most is that Angus showed no fear and kept barking at the bear. I wasn’t sure how the bear would react to him but it totally ignored us. As much as I like to be outside I was very happy to be in the rest of the afternoon. No more bear commotion for me or Angus.
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Boots and dog
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A fierce character
From safe inside, my husband, Bruce, and I watched the bear as he (just guessing) relaxed on a large limb and munched away. Eventually he climbed down, lumbered across the yard, found our dwarf apple tree and stopped for dessert of green apples. Eventually he wondered off into the woods.
I love seeing wildlife but he was too close and way too big for me!
Click on the links for other bear encounters in the East. One in Virginia and another in New Hampshire. Of course, in Alaska, bears are common. And troublesome.
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Bear standing tall.
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Deck in foreground
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Curious
by Winding Pathways | Aug 28, 2025 | (Sub)Urban Homesteading, Bugs, Garden/Yard, Garden/Yard, Nature
Early one humid summer morning we discovered lawn lace in the yard. Dozens of laces were scattered on the grass and mulch we’d put around trees. Dew drops on their tiny filaments sparkled in the early morning sunshine. What had we found? Who made them?
As kids we called them fairy rings and marveled at their delicate nature.
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Fairy rings.
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A delicate lacing on evergreen shrub.
Shelf Spiders
The hole reveals the entrance to the web.
They were crafted by industrious hungry spiders overnight. We call them shelf spider webs because they are positioned horizontally. Others call them funnel or tunnel spiders. Look closely to find a hole, usually toward the side, where the spider lurks.
The web isn’t sticky but has so many tiny filaments that a wandering insect often gets its feet tangled there, slowing it down. In a flash the fast-moving spider is out claiming its breakfast.
What Are They?
There are many species of shelf spiders found throughout the world in the genus Aselemidae. Some 111 species live north of Mexico. They pose no threat to people, but may pose a major threat to bugs, who often see the conspicuous webs but not their builders. The web’s architect and builder stay hidden. By late morning sunshine has usually evaporated the dew, making the webs hard to spot. They’re best enjoyed when the world is cool and fresh at dawn.
We usually think of shelf spiders as a September yard feature but in 2025 we began seeing them in July. We like them. Their dainty webs are as intriguing as they are beautiful. Perhaps more important, the presence of these spiders indicates that the lawn is healthy. It’s not been poisoned with insecticides. This allows harmless insects to thrive in the turf to feed the spiders.
Surrounded by Spiders
Many people consider spiders threatening, ugly, and undesirable animals. Come Halloween some even stretch fake webs in their porch to scare trick or treaters. A few spider species can inflict a painful and dangerous bite, but most species are tiny and hardly ever seen by people. They cause no problems and live in lawns, gardens, prairies and trees. They are beneficial.
Want to learn more? An interesting resource is spidermentor.com.
We enjoy watching brown creepers, nuthatches and warblers climbing tree trunks or flitting around branches. They’re often foraging for tiny protein-rich spiders. Even in the depths of winter dormant spiders provide food for hungry songbirds.
Be happy if some morning you spot lawn lace. Shelf spiders have been at work setting their intricate traps to catch a breakfast of tasty insects.
by Winding Pathways | Aug 21, 2025 | (Sub)Urban Homesteading, Birds, Garden/Yard, Nature, Reflections/Profiles
We savor our quiet yard moments.
One of our favorite nature writers, Joseph Wood Krutch, remarked that anything people do creates noise. It seems that the clanks and roars of life are increasing since he wrote those words years ago. Quiet is a rare pleasure. Unfortunately, noise doesn’t respect property lines. It does trespass into yards and homes. It’s hard to avoid.
Life Before the Industrial Revolution
Imagine life before the Industrial Revolution. No cars, factories or trains and no power tools. A 1700 era ship could glide by with only the rustling of the breeze in its sails.
Prior to machines the loudest noise to assault the ears was a crack of thunder.
We cringe as motorcycles roar past our home and shake our heads when we hear booming music from neighboring cars as we wait for a traffic light to change. Some people adore noise. We don’t. Audiologists warn that noise exposure can lead to hearing loss, stress, high blood pressure, sleep disruption and lowered productivity.
We believe it. Rich was exposed to extreme noise in army training, followed by years running vacuum cleaners as a custodian and chain saws in the forestry industry. It eventually caught up with him with diminished ability to hear sound, especially high pitched ones. Tinnitus is his constant companion.
Because we treasure our ability to hear well, we’ve learned how to best enjoy quiet moments, create quiet places, reduce noise we produce, and use technology to enhance hearing.
A Week’s Quietest Hours
At Winding Pathways and almost everywhere else the week’s quietest hours happen early Sunday morning. Roaring motorcycles of the night before are parked, factories are in passive mode, and fewer trains chug along. On many Sunday mornings we’re up early to sip coffee on the porch and enjoy the gentle sounds of nature unmarred by human activity. These moments are delicious.
Creating Quiet Yard Places
Nature offers ways to lessen the din. The quietest parts of our yard are surrounded by vegetation. Leaves muffle noise. So does topography. Our home and yard are on an ancient sand dune. The north side of our property is the backside of the old dune. It blocks some of the din coming from a highway to the north, shielding about half our property from road noise. Our house, itself, reduces decibels. The side opposite the road is often quieter than the other side.
Our tall prairie plants, shrubs, and trees also muffle noise. A river birch tree in Marion’s labyrinth is close to the road. Its branches drape down over a bench surrounded by tall prairie plants. Vegetation offers intimate privacy and slightly muffled noise.
Using Technology to Reduce Noise and Hear Better
We’ve gone electric. Over the years we’ve replaced gas powered mowers, trimmers, chain saws and snowblowers with those fueled by batteries. The decibels they emit are a fraction of their gas counterparts but still make some noise. So do our vacuum cleaners. To protect our hearing we store sound dampening ear muffs near these tools and wear them when using them.
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Using an electric mower helps create a quiet yard.
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The electric chainsaw is quiet and efficient.
Fitting hearing aids is a process and building a relationship
Hearing Aids. Wow, they are expensive but miraculous. Hearing loss is a stealthy gradual condition. When Rich first bought aids he was amazed to hear the gentle sounds of walking in dry leaves, the creaking of the floor, birdsong, and better understanding of other’s speaking, music, and the television.
Audiologists usually provide a free hearing test. Rich’s advice – get a test and follow up with a pair of hearing aids if needed. The website of the American Academy of Audiology at members.audiology.org can help anyone locate a nearby professional who can help improve hearing.
Quiet Communities
Cities can do much to encourage quiet in their communities. Everyone benefits. Consider advocating with your local Council, law enforcement, and parks departments for developing a more quiet community.
Some people love noise but for most people it’s an annoyance. A quiet yard is a gem to create and enjoy.
by Winding Pathways | Aug 14, 2025 | (Sub)Urban Homesteading, Nature
We were astonished to discover a chicken of the woods close to our home at Winding Pathways. We have about a dozen laying hens in our backyard coop, but what we found wasn’t an escaped chicken.
Fungus
It was an amazing fungus. We’d not seen one before and think our woodsy chicken resulted from a series of weather events. Five years ago, derecho winds of 140 miles an hour knocked down or broke off most of our trees. Following were a series of dry years. That changed in late June 2025 when several bands of heavy rains soaked our area and high humidity filled the air for weeks. The combination of plentiful dead wood, moisture, and a spore landing in the right place created our woodland treasure.
Edible
A Chicken of the Woods is a large edible fungus that loves moisture and feeds on dead wood, especially wood from hardwood trees. The two chickens we found presumably are feeding on the roots of a derecho-killed cherry tree. The fungus is well named. Take a look at the photo and notice the scale-like appearance of the plant and its bands of color. It reminds us of the lacy coloration and markings of our Delaware chickens, one of our favorite breeds.
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Colorful edges
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Pair of fungi.
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Size comparison
The fungus Chicken of the Woods (or Wood as found in some resources) is a large fungus sometimes called a shelf fungus. Many species grow worldwide.
Mushroom enthusiasts consider them, along with morels, one of the tastiest of fungi……….so will we eat ours?
Caution
Well, no. We’ve taught classes on foraging and encourage people to eat only wild plants that are easy to identify and hard to mistake for toxic counterparts. We always caution anyone planning to eat something for the first time to follow these guidelines:
- Positively identify the plant from at least three sources. These could include a paper field guide, a credible Internet website, or a real-life human expert.
- Eat only a small portion the first time. A particular plant may be perfectly edible for most people, but a few people may be allergic to it. Assuming there’s no negative reaction and the plant is positively identified, one can consider adding it to a diet of delicious wild foods.
We are certain that our mushroom is edible, but we remain somewhat skeptical. Not quite sure.
So, for now, our Chicken of the Woods will stay down in our woods feasting on the wood of an unfortunate cherry tree.
A Daily Walk Reveals Serendipitous Treasures
Nature’s always changing. Each day brings new and delightful surprises. We have created pathways through our small woodland and prairies and traverse them at least every other day. We usually spot something new and fascinating on every walk.
by Winding Pathways | Aug 7, 2025 | (Sub)Urban Homesteading, Flowers/Grasses, Garden/Yard
This must be the year of crabgrass! It seems to be everywhere, growing at lightning speed. But actually, every year is a crabgrass year.
After months of drought, July 2025 brought welcome and abundant rain to Iowa, along with heat and humidity. It’s not the type weather that we like but many plants disagree. They thrive in the muggy heat. Crabgrass in our vegetable gardens and flower beds is growing faster than we can rip it from the earth and toss it into our chicken run.
What’s in a name?
A fast grower
Botanists give it the name Digitaria for its many fast-spreading leaves that seem to shoot out from the center in a fingerlike radius. There are several species, but the one most common in our yard and beyond is hairy or large crabgrass, Digitaria sanguinalis.
Where Did Crabgrass Come From?
It wasn’t always on the North American continent. The plant had been eaten by grazing farm animals in Europe for centuries. In early Europe, people harvested crabgrass seeds and used them as grain. It must have taken an enormous amount of patience and time to pick the tiny seeds, but it beat not eating at all! It was natural for immigrants to bring crabgrass with them when they came to North America.
Value of crabgrass
Crabgrass remains an important livestock forage feed, especially in early to mid-summer when it is green and tender. We pull it from our garden and toss it over the fence into the chicken run. Our hens love snacking on it.
Crabgrass is an annual. Each plant can produce upwards of 150,000 seeds in late summer. Some will sprout in next summer’s gardens and lawns. The plant is most successful growing in bare soil.
Pioneer Plant
Many people hate crabgrass, but is it all that bad? It’s a pioneer plant that establishes quickly to fill in bare spots in lawns. It’s a problem when it lives around tomato plants and between rows of beans. We don’t mind it in our lawn, as we simply buzz it off when mowing. Our lawn is blotchy due to the diversity of ground-hugging plants that live there. We never spray or water our lawns. That encourages plants that stay green despite poor soil and odd weather.
Keeping Crabgrass Out of a Lawn
Rich, deep clover lawns are charming and healthy.
We avoid herbicides and don’t mind if our lawn is blotchy due to its diversity of plant species. Crabgrass fills in bare spots and is challenged by healthy, thick, established vegetation. Anyone wanting to exclude it from a lawn should work to keep other plants healthy and continuous. We annually sprinkle white Dutch clover seed on bare patches. The plant’s dainty white mini snowball-shaped flowers attract pollinating insects as the plant enriches the soil. Usually, clover grows earlier in the year than crabgrass, so it reduces bare spots where the weedy grass needs to colonize.
Note: White Dutch clover is also an exotic nonnative plant, but it’s valuable because it puts nitrogen back in the soil. No need for sprays.
For more crabgrass information, check extension.umn.edu/weeds/crabgrass.
Our diverse lawn attracts butterflies, bumblebees, and cottontail rabbits. They are a joy to watch. If we used pesticides to produce a monoculture bluegrass lawn, we’d not be able to enjoy these wildlife visitors. Our lawn would be sterile, kids could not safely play on it, and we would be contributing to water pollution. In Iowa, the quality has degraded for decades.
Crabgrass is here. It’s not going away. We enjoy this fast-growing grass for its benefits while grudgingly tearing it from our garden soil.
by Winding Pathways | Jul 31, 2025 | (Sub)Urban Homesteading, Birds, Nature
Every summer, we are surrounded by wrens. When we sit on our back deck, the loud call of the Carolina Wren serenades us. It’s a tiny bird that stays back in the woods and vines. It’s hard to spot. It’s surprising how such a smidgen of a bird can sing at high volume.
Different Wrens
Most of our wrens are more common House Wrens. Where Carolina Wrens stay away from our deck, House Wrens love living and nesting close to us. They’re easy to see and observe. Serious birders aren’t crazy about them because they sometimes take over the nests or destroy eggs of other native species, but we like them.
Our wrens winter down south toward the Gulf of Mexico. We look forward to their arrival in mid-April, just when our winter juncos head north. It’s like the changing of the guard. The switch happens again each fall when wrens leave as juncos arrive in October.
Early each April, we set up several wren houses near our house. They’re easy to make from scrap wood. An entrance hole of 7/8ths or 1 inch lets tiny wrens in while barring larger House Sparrows.
Industrious Birds
When wrens first arrive, we hear their near-constant chatter coming from the woods, but by early May, they’ve moved close to the house and start housekeeping. The male brings sticks into the nest box. Sometimes his stick is too long to fit into the small hole, but eventually he figures it out and pokes it through from the end. The female lines the nest with feathers and whatever soft items she can find. Soon she’ll sit on three or four reddish spotted eggs that hatch in about two weeks. Then we enjoy seeing a constant stream of wren parents bringing tasty and nutritious bugs to their nest to feed the kids.
Within two weeks, they fledge. We clean the old nest out of the box, and often a wren couple nests in mid-summer.
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Lined nest with feathers
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Curious
Diet
Nearby foraging
Our wrens forage for insects mostly at the edge of the woods and in our prairies. Unlike mowed lawns, these areas have plenty of insects. The industrious birds also forage for insects in our garden. We never need chemical pesticides thanks to our friendly wrens.
House Wrens also forage on pollinators, but somehow all our fruit trees and vegetables get pollinated.
To learn more about nearly any bird species, visit the Cornell University Laboratory of Ornithology’s website, All About Birds. The site contains photos, recorded sounds, and videos of hundreds of birds.
Few animals are as animated, ambitious, and noisy as House Wrens. We enjoy them for about half of every year.
