Modifying Our Focus of Winding Pathways

by | May 4, 2023 | (Sub)Urban Homesteading, Travel/Columns

For nearly a decade we have been posting Winding Pathways Blogs mostly about various items of nature, especially those encountered in yards and around homes.   Topics appear seasonally and we can usually find a new “spin” to keep blogs fresh. We have a large inventory of free information on our website, Winding Pathways.

Branching Out

But, change is good, so we decided to shift the focus somewhat and branch out. We will incorporate aspects of our travels, especially those with a nature focus. We will encourage readers to look at familiar and unique places with new eyes. We might address issues and topics of broader interest.

Perhaps a look at the emotional and experiential aspects of yards, nature, and exploring our world. There is always something new to discover and consider both around homes and farther afield.

Stick with us and consider occasionally sharing your experiences, too. As editors, we weave these in as they fit our needs.

Meet Lonely Louie the Turkey

by | Apr 27, 2023 | (Sub)Urban Homesteading, Birds, Nature

Sometimes we feel sorry for Lonely Louie, so sorry that we toss him a scoop of corn.

Flocks of wild turkeys have been visiting our yard almost daily for years. Most often we see gobbler groups. They are adult males with long beards and spurs. Once in a while a group of hens stops by to glean seeds under our bird feeders. They are sleeker than males and lack a beard. And, rarely, hens appear with a clutch of poults.  An exciting event indeed!

About two years ago a threesome of males began visiting every day. Sometimes two or three times a day. We called them Huey, Duey and Louie.  They seemed inseparable, and we never saw them alone. Late evenings we sometimes watched them flap up to tall tree branches to roost for the night.

two male turkeys foraging.

Huey and Louie

Then, only two visited. Huey and Louie. We never learned what happened to Duey.  Maybe a predator enjoyed him for a meal. Or, he may have had an accident. It is a mystery, but we continued enjoying visits by the other two.

 

 

 

 

Male turkey side view

Lonely Louie looks for corn

One day Louie showed up alone.  We haven’t seen his companion since. Lonely Louie is now trully a loner. If he’s in the yard and a flock of turkeys appears Louie stays away.  He seems shunned by the others. Maybe he’s just shy.

He seems to miss his two friends.  So do we, but we enjoy seeing Lonely Louie and know he appreciates the scoop of corn we toss out when he arrives.

What is the “To-Do” About Moles?

by | Apr 20, 2023 | (Sub)Urban Homesteading, Garden/Yard, Garden/Yard

People make a “to-do” about moles. They might be the most disliked animal in suburbia. We have them at Winding Pathways and are sharing tips on what we do about them.

Human Created Problems

Suburban and urban soil has a common problem. It is too often compacted.   Construction companies often scrape topsoil off a yard before building a house. Then, they drive vehicles in the yard. When a family moves in, they soon create a dog run, drive their cars on the grass, and play on the lawn. Too many footsteps by pooches or people compact the ground.

Nature Has Solutions

Lawn plants struggle to thrive in tight soil, but nature has a remedy. Fossorial animals live in the soil and include moles, gophers, shrews, ants, worms, and others. Their burrowing constantly mixes and softens the dirt they live in, making it easier for plants to live.

Moles or Gophers?

People often confuse moles with gophers, but it’s easy to tell them apart. Moles prefer living in moist shady places and are at home in suburbia. They eat grubs and worms.   Gophers, in contrast, are more likely to live in rural sunny pastures with dry soil and mostly eat roots. Mole hills are symmetrical, like mini volcano cones. Gophers, in contrast, make elliptical hills.

What Do You Really Value?

Ironically, most people who trap or poison moles profess to love a rich, green, “healthy” lawn, ignoring that nature loves diversity, not monocultures. Moles help make healthy lawns happen. Granted their hills of dirt and heaped linear tunnels can be unsightly and catch lawn mower blades.

Here is what we do at Winding Pathways:

  • Thank our moles for helping make the soil soft and fertile.
  • Rake out their hills before mowing.
  • Stomp down their raised tunnels so our lawn mower does not catch on them.
  • Enjoy the diversity of life in our yard.

Moles are as fascinating and beneficial as the butterflies that pollinate blooms or the cardinals who pluck seeds from feeders. They deserve respect for their valuable work.

Backpacker Meals and Car Travel

by | Mar 30, 2023 | (Sub)Urban Homesteading, Travel/Columns

We Bring Along Backpacker Meals*

We don’t do wilderness backpacking anymore but we are never far from backpacker meals at home and when we travel.

Last May we drove to Casper, Wyoming, with plans to set our tent up at Nebraska’s Smith Falls State Park the first night and the Forest Service’s Toadstool Campground the next. Normally, we’re camping softies. After setting our tent up we choose to go to a nearby town and enjoy a restaurant meal. That didn’t work in Nebraska.

GoodTo-Go backpacker meal display

Try some tasty meals.

After arriving at Smith Falls Park, we set up camp and walked to the surprisingly tall waterfall. Gorgeous! Worth a visit. Then, it was dinner time and we were hungry. But no town or restaurant was within miles and we’d already spent too much time in the car that day. So, we pulled our GoodTo-Go backpacker meal bin out of the car.

 

 

Our small bin contains these things:

  • A few backpacker dehydrated meals that keep well. We also use Right On Trek.
  • A tiny backpacker stove and fuel bottle – and matches!
  • A bottle of water and a small pot.
  • Utensils and bowls.

Within minutes we had our Pocket Rocket stove beneath a pot of boiling water.  Soon our dehydrated meal was ready to eat. It hit the spot, cleanup was easy, and we had enough time before darkness for a birding walk.

Dehydrated Meals

Many types of dehydrated meals came on the market decades ago. They were OK and fine for hungry, backwoods backpackers but hardly delicious. That’s changed. Today several companies make meals that are easy to prepare with simple camp equipment and are nutritious and quite delicious.  Although marketed for backpackers they are perfect for keeping in the car in case there’s no cafe nearby. They’re also outstanding to keep in a basement emergency bin in case a storm knocks out power.

Camp Stoves

Various stoves and foods

Note the size difference in equipment

Like dehydrated meals, camp stoves have evolved from heavy cumbersome pump-up models of years ago to lightweight compact, and effective backpacking stoves. Ours is called a Pocked Rocket made by MSR. It takes up only a tiny space in our bin and boils water quickly. A fuel bottle lasts for several meals. No pumping is required. Remember matches if the stove lacks an igniter.

Other Things

During COVID-19 we ended up with many disposable knife/fork/spoon sets wrapped in paper napkins packed along with carryout meals. We put unused utensil kits in our meal bin along with a couple of bowls.

When we travel, even to visit friends or relatives knowing we will stay with them, we always stow our backpacker meal bin in the car. Usually, we don’t need it. We eat with friends or a cafe is close to the campground. However, like what happened at Smith Falls, having simple-to-cook meals and a micro stove makes the difference between enjoying a pleasant meal or going to bed hungry.

* Winding Pathways remarks are our own. We make non-paid, independent evaluations unless otherwise noted.

Battery-Powered Chainsaws

by | Mar 23, 2023 | (Sub)Urban Homesteading, Energy Efficiency, Home Improvements

Are battery-powered chainsaws worth the money?

We decided to find out. *

Gas chainsaws have been around for decades. Rich wondered if newer electric battery-powered chainsaws would be as functional and easier to use. So, he acquired a Milwaukee saw with a 16-inch bar and put it to the test alongside his trusty Stihl gas model.

Back in the mid-1970s Rich worked in Idaho felling Douglas Fir and Ponderosa Pine trees. He used a heavy noisy gas fueled chainsaw that was amazingly powerful as it chewed through thick trunks. Years later he bought a Stihl gas-powered saw used to cut the four or five cords of wood we burn each winter for heat. It’s a well-built powerful saw.

A few days after the new battery saw arrived, we heard a crack/boom as a huge oak crashed down across one of our backyard trails. Rich guided the new saw as it sliced through the log, and emerged smiling. “It’s amazing,” he said.

After further use he developed this chart of the pros and cons of the battery vs the gas saw:

Gas: Pro – Plenty of Power,  No need to recharge batteries, Longer bar

Gas: Con  Noisy and heavy, Must mix/carry/store gas, Must replace gas & air filters, Engine stalls, Pull cord start hard on the shoulder.

Battery: Pro – Plenty of Power, Relatively quiet, Less maintenance, Fairly lightweight, Trigger start, No need to idle,  Easy start

Battery: Con –  Need a nearby electric outlet to recharge the battery, Shorter bar than a gas saw

Bottom Line. Which One to Buy

Rich has both a gas and electric battery saw. Both are well-made by reliable companies.  So, if he didn’t own a saw and needed to cut up trees fallen in the yard which type would he buy?

“I’d buy a quality battery saw. They are easy to use, cut fast, and there’s no need to buy, mix, and store gas. They are also quiet, but I still use hearing protection when using one. There are major advantages of battery over gas. One is

eliminating the need to pull a cord to start it. You just pull the trigger. The second is especially helpful when cutting a fallen tree with branches. Often this requires cutting, then putting the saw aside to clear away the cut branches, then using the saw to cut more. Gas saws don’t idle well and often stall, requiring another pull on the starter cord. Also, when idling gas saws burn fuel and spew emissions.  Battery saws excel when there’s a need to cut and then move wood.”

 Battery-powered chainsaws use lots of electricity. He was able to cut 13 15-inch diameter black oak logs on one charge with a 12-amp hour battery. The saw will function well on batteries with lower amp hour ratings, but they will run down sooner. He suggests having two 12-amp hour batteries and notes that being close to a power source for recharging is useful. It is likely that the cost of recharging a battery is lower than the comparable amount of energy in gasoline but it’s difficult to make a comparison.

 Safety

Operating any chainsaw must be done with safety in mind. Here is Rich’s list of safety precautions to keep in mind:

  1. Get saw training. In-person training is best but YouTube videos help.
  2. Always wear protective equipment that includes saw chaps, leather gloves, hearing, ear, head and eye protection, and sturdy leather boots.
  3. Saw with a partner nearby and carry a cell phone in case of emergency.
  4. Keep the chain sharp. YouTube videos show how to sharpen.
  5. Rest before you get tired.
  6. Be alert. Save the cold beer for after you are done.

Final Thoughts

Rich has years of experience using many power tools and shares these thoughts:

Quality pays.  “I buy quality tools, even if I have to wait until I save up enough money.  Most of my tools are Milwaukee brand. The same batteries that power my chainsaw also power my drills, fans, vacuum cleaner, lights, inflater, hedge trimmer and other saw types.  Many quality brands are on the market. They have their own specific type of battery that won’t work with other brands.  So, I consistently buy the same brand for convenience.

 Yard Tool’s Future

At Winding Pathways, we have replaced our gas lawn mower, snowblower, and now chainsaw with battery-powered equivalents. They are excellent and come with benefits over gas models. We see gas yard tools moving toward obsolescence and battery-powered ones becoming ever more versatile.

 Disclosure*

Rich has purchased, at retail cost, most of his power tools. Milwaukee has provided others for testing.

 

Meet The Confusing Tree Sparrows

by | Mar 16, 2023 | (Sub)Urban Homesteading, Birds, Nature

Tree Sparrows. Two species. What could be more confusing?  Well, there’s more. Both look like common House Sparrows (formerly known as English Sparrows.

Meet the American Tree Sparrows

Marion glanced at our feeders recently and noticed what looked like a Chipping Sparrow in the midst of a flock of House Sparrows. But it wasn’t. It was an AMERICAN TREE SPARROW. This bird nests in far northern Canada and is almost always spotted in winter. Why it doesn’t keep flying south and winter somewhere warmer than Iowa is a mystery to us. The bird does look like a Chipping Sparrow, but it’s bigger and “chippers” left long ago to winter where it’s warmer. We won’t see one again for a few months.  So, a rusty capped sparrow in winter stands a good chance of being an AMERICAN TREE SPARROW.

Meet the New Tree Sparrows

Rich looked out the window a few days later and spotted an odd bird. It was near House Sparrows but looked slightly different.  A dark spot on its cheek revealed it as a EURASIAN TREE SPARROW. What was it doing in our Iowa yard?

Back in 1870 a box of wild birds arrived in St. Louis from Germany. Inside were 12 Eurasian Tree Sparrows that were released. They slowly spread outward.

According to the Cornell University Laboratory of Ornithology’s ebird the bird spread north slowly and took about 150 years to reach our yard. It’s been widely spotted across the United States, but mostly along the Mississippi River.

Differences in Habitat Preferences

It looks like a House Sparrow at a quick glance. House Sparrows are at home in urban areas while the European Tree Swallow is more a denizen of brushy areas outside town. Sometimes they mingle. See a flock of House Sparrows. Take a close look.  One may be a European Tree Sparrow.

European and American species share one trait. Both prefer feeding on the ground.  Why they’re called tree sparrows beats us.

Learn More!

For accurate information on birds check out the Lab of Ornithology’s website.