The new Vantage Pro2 Plus weather station worked, recording about one inch of precipitation during the recent rainfall! Now I just need to get the USB interface working and wview set up to analyze the results. We installed the weather station up on the roof along with the new Wineguard HS-1000 omnidirectional HD antenna, which…
Zero Energy Casita in Fort Worth
Inhabit posted a story about a net-zero energy small house (1,051 sq ft) built recently in Fort Worth: Zero Energy Casita in Texas Opens to the Public | Inhabitat – Green Design Will Save the World.
Our Home Efficiency Improvements
Lisa and I recently went on the Austin Cool House Tour co-sponsored by the Texas Solar Energy Society and Austin Energy Green Building. We realized the efficiency retrofits to our home were pretty similar to what we saw on the tour, so for fun I thought I’d write up the green feature list of our…
[Updated] Two Texas Prairie Heroes – Bob and Mickey Burleson
[Update #2: Texas lost a great man when Bob passed away in April 2009. He is buried on the prairie.] Bob and Mickey Burleson are two of my prairie heroes. Decades ago, when few people talked about tallgrass prairie conservation and restoration, they went and did it: they purchased worn our crop land and an…
Nash Prairie Field Trip – June 20th
When: Saturday, June 20th (Sat.) at 9:30 am Where: West Columbia (Brazoria County, south of Houston) Come visit Nash Prairie, over 300 acres of very special coastal tallgrass prairie! Owned by the St. Mary’s Episcopal Church and the West Columbia Hospital District, this prairie is a rare remnant of the coastal prairie that once covered…
To Make A Prairie… Emily Dickinson
Jackie sent this prairie quote along our way… I like it, though native bees and other pollinators are definitely needed! “To make a prairie it takes a clover and one bee. One clover, and a bee. And revery. The reverie alone will do, if bees are few.” – Emily Dickinson
My Native Prairie/Plant Interview on local NPR station KUT!
Several people have told me that the interview I did with KUT (local NPR radio station) about native prairies and native plants in central Texas is airing today! Let me know if you hear it! To listen online, go to the 9:00 minute mark of this mp3 on KUT’s site. We discussed how native tallgrass…
Jenna Bush Wedding At Native Prairie Restoration
Native prairie grasses are visible in several photos released by the White House of the Jenna Bush wedding held at Prairie Chapel Ranch near Crawford, TX. Notice the Little Bluestem in the background, and the Buffalograss growing on the ground the bride is standing upon. Both plants are important native prairie grasses, and Little Bluestem…
Prairie Chicken Dance Amazing Sight
From the Quad City Times: Just before daybreak last Sunday, I found myself huddled in a wood trailer atop a grassy knoll in northwest Missouri, squinting through a small window and waiting. Also in the trailer were a dozen other bundled-up nature lovers who had driven from across Iowa to this remote, windswept spot to…
Spring Prairie Field Trips Around Texas!
Come see spring prairie flowers, native grasses, grassland birds, butterflies, and other prairie wildlife on a native prairie field trip! Meador Prairie Field Trip – April 19th (Sat.), Saint Jo (Cooke/Montague County west of Fort Worth) Fort Worth Prairie Fest – April 26th (Sat.), Fort Worth (Tandy Hills Natural Area) Simpson Prairie Field Trip – May…