March More than two centuries ago, cargo ships released freshwater ballast from the Ural region of Russia into the rivers and lakes of western Europe. That ballast contained tiny striped hitchhikers. In the 1820s, Londoners […]
Tag: Green Talk
Artist, photographer, and writer Elizabeth G Fagan volunteered to write the monthly column “Green Talk” for the News Graphic in Ozaukee County, Wisconsin. These essays are from Fagan’s archives.
Maple Taps, Sugar Shacks
February By the time Europeans arrived in what is now New England, indigenous Americans had already discovered the lovely nectar with which we drown our breakfast pancakes. When carefully boiled, they found, maple sap turns […]
Lake Michigan’s Rise & Fall
January Each of the Great Lakes has an annual rise and fall cycle driven by precipitation, snow melt, and evaporation. Evaporation rates vary with air and water temperatures. Annually, water levels follow a predictable pattern. […]
The White Stuff
December Basking in the near-warmth of an early December, Ozaukee County, WI, residents wonder, “Where’s the snow?” In the Great Lakes region we know all we need to do is wait. In winter, there’s always […]
Prepare for Winter
November A lovely, warm autumn can mean armies of garden pests the following spring. To discourage them, cut back perennials and prune trees of dead wood. Leave shrubs uncut but watch for mice and voles […]
Heroes of the Back Yard
October Imagine neighbors who are nearly silent and invisible, who are dedicated to family, and who fly nightly over your yard to eat hundreds of villainous mosquitoes. Great neighbors like these can only be bats. […]
Amazingly Graceful Cranes
September A lone motorist travels an Ozaukee County highway flanked by late-summer fields of golden oats and grasses. There, mid-field on the right, a beaked triangle swivels, seemingly unattached to neck or bird. In the […]
Get Outside, Feel Better
August Research points to specific factors supporting the claim that being in nature is good for us, a claim that most of us already know, or at least, know intuitively. Being outdoors generally means getting […]
Outdoor Edibles
June Little stirs our Wisconsin hearts the way first glimpses of green do each spring. Soon our minds wander to yards, to gardens—and to sojourns in Wisconsin’s wild places. To those who are lucky, careful, […]
Milkweeds & Monarchs
May Landscaping with Wisconsin native species brings the frugal, time-crunched gardener an array of benefits. With knowledge and a keen eye, a gardener might find low-cost (or no-cost) starter plants. Because native plants evolved in […]
ELIZABETH G FAGAN 