The Penguin

 So! As you may know, I'm a sucker for trees and plants in general. What you may not know is, I'm also a bit of a mad scientist. While most of my "experiments" involve trying to grow plants as cheaply as possible (I.e. through seeds, clippings, and just finding things growing in ditches), I'm also dabbling in the "training" of trees...to be my minions. An "Espaliered" tree - from Deep Green Permaculture Y'see, horticulture isn't just about the anal-retentive pruning of roses and trimming hedges into bunny rabbits; it's essentially the world's first bioengineering. Things like grafting , coppicing , forcing, and Bonsai have been used for thousands of years to exploit the natural growth patterns of plants for human purposes. Coppicing, for instance, turns one valuable timber tree into a whole "grove", as shoots grow out of the stump and eventually become new trees themselves. Bonsai involves limiting tree growth through ...

Those of you who know me know that I'm a real nature buff. Since my days as a Proto-Rick I've loved bugs and reptiles and generally reading natural histories cover-to-cover. Lately I've been more interested in plants; I think it's been since the Pandemic that I've really fallen in love with trees. With me it's never been about "Trees" in general, or about "facts about stuff" (although I have plenty of those, as anyone who knows me will tell you). I'm not even that horribly concerned about classification - at some point, if you're microscopically examining root notes or counting bark scales, you have to start questioning your life choices. No, what interests me is the simple strangeness of each kind of tree: the little things that make me suddenly sit up and notice. For instance, within the past month - and I can't explain why - I developed an interest in ash trees, particularly... White ash  ( Fraxinus americana).  Considering tha...