Home Roots

Photo by Trac Vu on Unsplash

“Acts of creation are ordinarily reserved for gods and poets,” said Aldo Leopold in A Sand County Almanac. “But humbler folk may circumvent this restriction if they know how. To plant a pine, for example, one need be neither god nor poet; one need only own a shovel.”

Or maybe a rake. Or even a stick. The creation by planting Leopold spoke of isn’t limited to trees, and you don’t need 80 acres in Wisconsin or to wait decades for a stand of pine trees. Yes, large blocks of acreage matter and are necessary. We need those. That doesn’t mean that smaller spaces don’t matter or that they can’t contribute to the end goal: increasing habitat. That forgotten corner of a field or backyard, or even an ignored flower bed can make a difference, even this year. 

Learn more in my column on the Dayton Daily News site: Celebrate Earth Day by preparing your own yard to be a habitat 

Find plans

Ohio Native Plant Month - https://www.ohionativeplantmonth.org/plant-a-pollinator-garden 

Pheasants Forever offers a free PDF download of instructions for organic site prep for any season: https://www.pfhabitatstore.com/resources/64/organic%20site%20preparation.pdf

Find seeds

https://www.pfhabitatstore.com/store/items/OH/

https://www.gardenia.net/guide/great-pollinator-plants-for-ohio

Resources

Register your pollinator garden to help Ohio studies and research https://www.ohionativeplantmonth.org/plant-a-pollinator-garden 

Find Events

Marianist Environmental Education Center - Gardening with native plants hands-on workshop. April 26, 9:00 a.m - 12:00 p.m.

Carolyn Kimes Tree Seedling Giveaway at 2nd Street Market - Free deciduous and coniferous tree seedlings, first come, first serve while supplies last. April 26, 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

https://www.metroparks.org/programs-events-finder/?program_number=S165&api=programs&type=program

Make Way and Welcome Home - April is Ohio Native Plant Month

Photo by Alexandria Szakacs on Unsplash

Guests staying too long create a delicate social situation. Telling your partner, “I’ll believe I’ll turn in so that these fine folks can go home,” might make the point. Invasive plants don’t respond to subtle hints that it’s time to say goodnight. April is Ohio Native Plant Month and time to make way and welcome back our longtime neighbors. 

Back to Balance

Over centuries and millennia, through weather events and changes, environments have developed interdependent cycles of life. From soil to plant to pollinator to prey, one doesn’t exist without the other, including humans. Invasive plants can be a stick in the spoke of the local cycles, throwing things out of balance and wrecking the natural order. Often showing up earlier and staying later in the seasons, invasives can take over any available space and crowd out our original neighbors. Three of the most notorious offenders in Southwest Ohio are garlic mustard, amur honeysuckle, and Bradford (callery) pear. 

What can you do? Check out this article in its entirety: Garlic mustard, honeysuckle, Bradford pear: Invasive plants need to be evicted

Upcoming Events and Other Ways You Can Make Way for Ohio Plants

April Ohio Native Plant Month

https://www.ohionativeplantmonth.org/ 

April 14th - Garlic Mustard Challenge 

Fill bags of garlic mustard and earn swag from National Trails Parks and Recreation

https://ntprd.org/garlic-mustard-challenge-2025/ 

April 19th - Carolyn Kimes Tree Seedling Give Away

9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the 2nd Street Market https://www.metroparks.org/programs-events-finder/?program_number=S54&api=programs&type=program 

List of Ohio Native Plant Suppliers

https://www.ohionativeplantmonth.org/native-plant-sources

Don’t Plant/Get Rid of These Invasive Plants List

https://agri.ohio.gov/divisions/plant-health/invasive-pests/invasive-and-noxious-plants/invasive-plants 

https://ohiodnr.gov/discover-and-learn/plants-trees/invasive-plants/callery-pear 

Piles of Leaves in the Spring Woods

 

Photo by Olivia Brewer on Unsplash

“Have you spent time in Ohio disguised as a pile of leaves?” That was the question Grammy Award-winning musician Alison Krauss posed to band-mate, Barry Bales, at the Wright State Nutter Center years ago. (I’ll say paraphrase because it was a concert decades ago and I wasn’t taking notes.) Bales’ answer, bitten by the wild turkey bug (and we’re not talking about bourbon), was “yes, he has.”

Adding Up the Challenges

Hunters have to not only convince a gobbler to leave his harem, something he’s not want to do, but to come into effective shotgun or archery range of around 35 yards. They have to remain virtually motionless to avoid detection by some of the most powerful eyes in nature while those same eyes are searching for the source of the sound to add to his harem. Other than calling, they must remain silent and undetected by other turkeys in the area, lest they sound the alarm. Lastly, they have to position themselves for a shot without being detected. 

Nearly Lost

Change was the word at the turn of the last century. In 1903, as the Wright Brothers were taking to the skies, populations of some birds were decidedly not. The last wild passenger pigeon was shot in 1900 in Southern Ohio. Heath hen numbers hung by a thread in the low hundreds on the east coast. And in 1904, through lost habitat and over-harvest, wild turkeys were eliminated from Ohio. Fortunately, turkey habitat came back, better regulations were established, and reintroduction by the Ohio Division of Wildlife began in the 1950s. By 1966, a limited season was allowed in nine counties. In 1999, wild turkeys were found in all 88 counties, and the spring season was open statewide in 2000. It has been open across the state since.

Get Ready Now

The 2025 Turkey season in southwest Ohio kicks off with a weekend youth season on April 12 and 13th, followed by the general season opening April 19th and running through May 18th. The limit is one bearded gobbler per year. 

Read the Complete Dayton Daily News column here: Talking turkey — months before Thanksgiving

Turkeys in Ohio

Getting Started Hunting Turkeys

National Wild Turkey Foundation

Barry Bales - Obsessed Turkey Hunter

Side Note: Myth Busters

Not the Founding Father’s Other Choice

Morel Madness

Morel mushrooms, properly “Morchella” are fungi that appear in the spring across the northern hemisphere, but especially drive “mushroom hunters” near mad in the Midwest. Trespassing. Camouflage. Cash under the table. Missed work.

All have been attributed to or used in the quest for these fungi. Why?

Because they’re delicious. They’re prized by French and Catalan chefs. Here in SW Ohio, if you’re in the right spot at the right time, they can be plentiful and not too difficult to find. The right place at the right time is the trick. While you might get an experienced morel hunter to help with the timing, don’t expect directions or holding hands to their best spots.

Read the complete article here: 

Morel mushrooms, nature’s spring morsels, drive locals crazy

Image: creative commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Morel_Mushrooms.jpg#filelinks