Not My Idea

  Years and years ago, I convinced Mark to drag himself through some heavy underbrush to dig up a buckeye tree that was growing in the woods.  With shovel in hand, he beat his way through the thick undergrowth to where I had seen the small sapling.  What a husband!  To this day, that small tree is growing in the yard.  It gathers a good bit of interest although, I am not sure it was the brightest move to plant it here.  It seems that most parts of the tree are pretty poisonous to humans, some animals and even some insects.  Why is that darn tree so pretty???  This morning as I was out preparing for winter (or at least a bit of cold weather), I noticed that the buckeye seeds were dropping to the ground. I made a mental note to gather the seeds soon.  It did not happen today...won't tomorrow...probably not the next day but, hopefully, will once this rain stops.   I gather the nuts, not to eat but so they will not sprout and make a bunch more of the trees.  I wanted one...not a dozen.

  One interesting little legend attached to the buckeye seed was told to me by Granddad.  Whether this tidbit of information is true or not remains to be seen but it is quite curious.  It seems that Native Americans used to gather the buckeye nuts by the basketful and dump them in creeks or ponds.  The saponins that make the nuts poisonous, would leach into the water and cause the fish to die.  The hunters would then gather the dead fish to use as food.   It never dawned on me as kid but, today, I am not sure that I would want to eat a fish that was poisoned!  

  The toxicity of the nuts or seeds changes from one "professional" to the next.  Some say they are safe to eat if leached through water, others say that the nuts will surely kill you!  Personally, if there is any uncertainty at all, it is best not to ingest any and I am sure not going to kill fish with them!  That just does not seem right at all!

And Just What Good Are They?

  Buckeyes...just what good are they?  Who knows?  Not me. Other than being a small shrub that has showy blooms once a year, I can see no other use than to take up space in the garden. Yep, I begged Mark for this bush.  When "Ms. Twin", a sweet elderly lady that used to live down the road from us (God rest her soul) offered one from her woods, I jumped at the chance.  Well, Mark sort of begrudgingly trudged through the brambles to dig the shrub but I was elated.  (Him? Perhaps not nearly so much but being the good hubby he is, he dug my bush.)  That was some twenty years ago.  The Red Buckeye Shrub has not failed to please me during the spring with its bright red and yellow blooms.  It has thrilled me as a hummingbird attraction and even provided some lovely "nuts" in the fall.  Right now, the seeds are contained in rough brown husks but in a few days, these will split and reveal a most lovely nuts. The problem is....those nuts are poisonous.  Yep, pretty much every thing avoids the glossy brown nuts hiding inside those husks.  So what good is this tree?

  Here lately, I have been on a mission to eliminate yardwork from the get-go.  If something does not provide a service, then it is pretty much a goner.  I have clipped the wisteria into one foot pieces to burn in the woodstove and have been chopping out or mowing down vines, plants and bushes.  The only things on the safe list are plants that provide food.  I am not sure just what prompted this idea other than the fact that since Son hurt his knee, the entire yard has been my project.  It is a tremendous lot of work when you consider my yard is nigh on four acres.  The remaining four are woods and marsh and require little to no work.  Those first four, though, have run me ragged!

  But, back to that Buckeye Shrub.  Do I want to keep something that I literally pleaded to get?  Do I ignore the fact that poor Mark struggled through the brambles, braved the Sumac and toiled digging the bush from the midst of oak roots?  Perhaps this one will stay a bit longer....at least until after the next arbor is devoid of wisteria and the roses have been clipped of their sharp thorns.  After all, what good is a Buckeye...other than being a name of a college football team.  Now that is pretty cool...name your team after a poisonous seed!

  One bit of trivia is connected to the Buckeye nut/seed!  Folklore tells us that obtaining a seed will bring good luck.  Supposedly, if you carry one with you, it will bring you luck and protect you from misfortune. Hmmm? There you go.!  Buckeyes....the "Good Luck Charm of College Footballers in Ohio",  We all knew they were good for something.  Actually, I am being facetious there.  I still have no idea but I do have a good crop of poisonous seeds!

The Empty Nest

My kids are all grown now. After having three of my own plus the thirty or so "adopted" kids filling every corner of my house for the past umpteen years, the place feels sort of empty. (By adopted kids, I mean all the friends of my children that spent nearly every weekend here.) I am truly happy that my children have grown to be such wonderful young people and usually I tend to think that I have adjusted well to this. Still during certain times of the year, it seems that kids should be bustling about this old house. This is one of those times of the year..Halloween..the start of the full swing of holidays. I love to decorate for each and every holiday that bounces around and as you can tell, Halloween seems to be a favorite. Not for any other reason than there is so many possible ways to decorate. But still..there is not a lot of reason to do this when there is no one to appreciate it. The empty nest syndrome strikes again. I was wandering around the hill again today on one of my daily hikes when I came across an empty birds' nest. Judging by the position of the nest, I believe it to be either a mockingbird's or a wood thrasher's old home. I thought about these birds..when their young leave the nest for good, they never return. They go on about their business and do not think about their mom any more. I am so blessed! My little birds do come home when they can and when they cannot, they call or keep in touch other ways. I will count my blessings!

In an earlier post, I talked about the Red Buckeye Tree having the seeds or nuts that were about ready to pick. This morning they were dropping to the ground one by one. As I gathered them, I noticed just how beautiful the nut really is. When they first pop out of the husk, they have a gloss to them and feel almost "oily". There are usually two to three "nuts" that are about the size of a walnut in each husk. The "wood" of the nut is very smooth and has beautiful markings or swirls. These, I will plant in pots and hope to sprout a dozen or so for future trees.