My husband and I have planted more than our share of trees in the soil of Chesapeake Country. We are not arborists by any means, but we have always wanted to plant trees. A cottage in Shady Side gave us opportunity, inspiration and a flat former cornfield, altitude eight feet, just a few hundred feet from the West River.     Over the past 12 years, we have dug wide holes in the yellow clay and put in probably 120 trees. At least half have died, due to drought, deer damage or our...

In Sandy’s wake of wrath, our backyard birds need help.     After days of sudden exposure to wet and cold, birds need to refuel with seed and suet to maintain body temperature and energy.     “First and foremost, people need to get their feeders back up and fill them with fresh seed,” says Julie Curd, owner of Wild Bird Center of Annapolis.     Even if you’re working with a small space, hang suet from a branch to satisfy...

Marylanders we send to Congress are accustomed to getting sliced, diced and rated by the likes of the National Rifle Association and an array of business and labor groups.     But who is watching how members vote on vital food policy issues, such as hunger, access to nutrition, farm subsidies and, perhaps, the wisdom of wide-scale conversion to genetically modified crops occuring silently in our midst?     A lot of groups, but not until now are they pooling their...

So you think you wanna farm?         It’s easy to romanticize farming. Hard work, long hours and inflexible schedules are closer to the reality.     Learn the ins and outs from Future Harvest — Chesapeake Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture’s Beginner Farmer Training Program. Applications are open thru November 1 for training beginning January 18 and 19 and continuing for eight weeks.     The program begins at...