Wind Down

While the Land Scouts will continue, for the time being this blog will not. It will remain up as an archive and resource. Thanks to everyone who followed along and participated in Land Scouting.

Hazelnut seen on a neighborhood walk. 

Notre Dame Land Scouts

Spring flew by and I've been lucky to land scout with a couple groups in the area. Among my favorite were the 4th graders at Notre Dame Elementary School in De Pere. The school art teacher Virginia Janssen brought me over two days as a visiting artist.

On our first day together we had a great time binding field books and getting outside to take notes and draw. Fortunately for us, that visit was just before some late spring snow showers.

Notre Dame students taking note and drawing about the grounds of their school. 

On our second day we made seedballs with a mix of Midwestern wildflower seeds. (I get the seeds from American Meadows.) Every student filled an egg carton full of their hand rolled seed balls.

We use an assembly line method to make seedballs. Here a student is adding seeds to his partially formed pieces. 

At the end of the second day I was thrilled to award Observation badges to several students who'd filled their field books. It was a blast to talk with the 4th graders about Land Scouts and to share in their excitement to make things and get outside.

Thanks to Virginia Janssen for having me out!

One of the classes with their newly earned Observation badges! 

Morristown Land Scouts

Congratulations to the Land Scouts of Morristown, TN. Started this fall and led by Davina, this group earned their Observation, Orientation, Germination, and Digestion badges. Fantastic!

Below are a few images from the troop in action. Congratulations all! I look forward to seeing what you do in 2018.

A scout noting things in a field book.  

A scout deep in a field book.  

Scouts taking in the horizon.

Some field book notes on germination. 

Some field book notes on planting. 

Land Scouting walk

Learn from good guides! 

Early stages of bean germination.

Germination leads to growth! 

Persimmons

Congratulations to Amy and her family who've cared for this persimmon tree for the last seven years. Habitation badges will be headed their way soon! (A side note that you can earn your Habitation badge in just one short year.) Amy got the tree from the genesis exhibition of the Land Scouts (née Urban Land Scouts) at UT's Downtown Gallery in Knoxville, TN. She reports that it's yet to bear fruit. When it does, they can earn their Propagation badges as well.

Photo by Amy Hubbard

Leopold's Land Ethic

When we moved to Wisconsin four years ago it was a chance for me to practice what I preach: I became a beginning Land Scout and started a field book to document the new land around me. Summer gave way to fall and fall slid into real winter. Then glorious spring and summer again. Several seasonal cycles later and I've just this month finished my first Wisconsin field book (shown at the end of this post).

I didn't know it when I made the Land Scouts, but much of what the group values and practices comes from American biologist Aldo Leopold. In particular, Leopold's "land ethic" is the root of modern environmental ethics and wildlife conservation. Much of his formative work took place in Wisconsin and he is a beloved adopted son of the state. Even today the Aldo Leopold Foundation carries on Leopold's work through robust programming and educational opportunities.

Testing out newly bound field books on campus.

Last week the Land Scouts came full circle when I got to partner with with middle schoolers at Aldo Leopold Community School in Green Bay as part of their Exploratory Week. How cool to get to work at a progressive public school named in honor of the man whose work left such an important legacy of land stewardship! A group of ten 4th - 8th graders and language arts teacher Jaime Danen joined me in binding field books, exploring, observing, noting, and reflecting. We also played some great games.

Warming up with balance games at Baird Creek Park

We got to explore some of the school grounds, two beautiful public parks, and, with the help of biologist Carrie Kissman, the nearby Fox River. It was a treat to work with these students. I was particularly excited discover and note the plants coming up in our area. Here's a list of some of the plants we saw:

I hope the students will complete their field books and turn them in for their Observation badges (now in their second edition of production). Thanks to Aldo Leopold Community School, Jaime Danen, Carrie Kissman, and the generations of Wisconsin environmentalists and conservationists whose work prepared the way for us. I hope we can work together again.

Semi-solo drawing in field books at Bay Shore County Park

Examining aquatic organisms pulled from the Fox River under the guidance of biologist Dr. Carrie Kissman

Observing at the creek in Bairds Creek Park

I do not recommend making a field book with so many pages. Takes to long to finish.

Figure, Ground

The last time I posted here it was summer and things were muscular and bright in the garden. Now it's full on winter and the garden is full of dried stalks and wilted stems. The lake freezes and thaws. In terms of Land Scouting, it can be harder to get outside; the days are shorter and you've got to dress for the weather to be comfortable for longer than a short walk. While it can be uncomfortable to be cold, I think we tend to speak ill of winter too often. We focus on the lack of light, warmth, and movement, rather than reveling in what the dark, cold, and stillness do.

What they do is create negative space in the cycle of the seasons. Biologically many plants in our area need a period of winter to go into dormancy or to germinate seeds for the spring.  In design class we talk about negative space and how a "positive" figure is set off by a "negative" ground. You can think of negative space as the area around something or that which is not filled. Often successful design work had negative space that does as much as, if not more than, the positive figures like text or images. One of my teaching mentors talked about the importance of negative space in one's life: time unscheduled and unscripted. Too much of one and not the other creates a loud imbalance. This time resets the world, physically and mentally, and grounds the coming buds and blossoms. We need the rest and stillness of winter to appreciate the abundance and movement of summer.

So rather than curse the cold, short, dark days (or maybe you don't do this...) let's sit comfortably and patiently in winter, cultivating hygge as needed, as our half of the planet tilts back toward the sun.

Summer Shots

Some photos of flowers and things in the garden now. We're zone 5a/b and on Lake Michigan.

Benary's Giant Zinnia 

Egyptian Walking Onion bulblets

Raspberries

Resina Calendula

Flowering Tobacco (Nioctiana alata)