Regulars (All)

Article - Sky Watch by J. Alex Knoll; by J. Alex Knoll - 12/2/10

Cast in the Shadows

It’s not for lack of light that we cannot see the new moon

The moon wanes thru week’s end, until Sunday, December 5, when the new moon passes directly between the sun and the earth, disappearing from view. Of course, the moon is still there. However, the side facing us is cast in the darkness of its own shadow, rendering it invisible to us. But the so-called dark side of the moon faces the sun full-on, reflecting all that light away from earth. Like the tree falling in a forest with no one to hear it, the dark side of the moon is only dark...

Article - Sky Watch by J. Alex Knoll; by J. Alex Knoll - 11/25/10

The Planetary Parade

See if you can spot the five naked-eye planets

Sunset reveals Jupiter high in the south, shining far brighter than any other object. The king of planets is truly massive — more than twice as large as all the other planets combined. That’s a lot of reflective surface, which makes up for its distance from the sun. While more than three times as far from the sun as its inner neighbor Mars, Jupiter is second in brightness only to Venus. And despite its huge girth, Jupiter spins faster than any other planet, so that one Jovian day is...

Article - Where We Live by Steve Carr; by Steve Carr - 11/25/10

Beating a Path Through Open Space

What do we save and what do we sacrifice?

Saving the Last Farm on the Magothy, my November 4 column, brought lots of interesting mail that sent me down a broader path through the Preservation Woods. Lucy Illif, who owns one of the few remaining farms in Arnold, reminded me that the Jordan Property next to Ritchie Highway has just been rezoned commercial and that the whole area is being swallowed up by houses and shopping malls. “Will our farm now be the last one in Arnold?” she wondered. This opened up an old wound for me....

Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by Dr. Francis Gouin - 11/25/10

Putting Leaves to Work

Composting returns all those nutrients to the garden

The soil in my first garden at Upakrik Farm in 1991 was mostly hard clods of silt. Because I have added liberal amounts of compost over the past 19 years, my soil is now loose, friable and highly productive. I attribute the change entirely to the use of compost. Ninety percent of the leaves that I rake become mulch under my shrubs and in the flower gardens. The remaining leaves go to the compost pile. To hasten their composting, I run the lawn mower through the pile of leaves, grinding them...

Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by Dennis Doyle - 11/25/10

Cold Comfort

Big rockfish make foul-weather fishing worth while

Getting in on the early-winter rockfish bite can be quite unpleasant. Except for the lucky anglers with big, enclosed boats that can safely and comfortably ply our cold, windswept Bay, most anglers this time of year must simply deal with November’s increasingly nasty weather. Fish Are Biting Good fishing for stripers is occurring throughout the main Bay, with fish to seven pounds being taken by trolling, fishing cut bait, chumming and casting to breakers. Farther south,...

Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by Dr. Francis Gouin - 11/18/10

Don’t Bag Those Leaves

They’re Mother Nature’s mulch

In the fall, I hate to see black plastic bags full of leaves lining streets. Next spring, I’m likely to see empty bags of mulch, peat moss and fertilizer waiting to be collected by the solid waste municipal workers. Of all the 42 years that I have owned a home in Maryland, I have never discarded leaves. Nor have I ever purchased a bag of mulch. Fallen leaves are Mother Nature’s natural mulch. Upon decomposition, leaves replenish the soil with the very same nutrients that the roots...

Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by Dennis Doyle - 11/18/10

The Sporting Life Afield

For pheasant, there’s no better place than South Dakota

The South Dakota countryside exudes a kind of magic this time of year. It’s generated by a particularly celebrated game bird, the ringneck pheasant. Fish Are Biting The big cold-weather stripers are stalled just to our south but within range of determined anglers. Fish to 40 inches are being encountered below Poplar Island on the Eastern side and near Chesapeake Beach on the Western. Rock in six- and seven-pound sizes are being taken in the mid-Bay, trolling small to mid-sized...

Article - Our Capital by Ellen Moyer; by Ellen Moyer - 11/18/10

Go Outside and Play

Annapolis is a good place to start

I can still hear my mom’s voice: Go outside and play, but be back for dinner. The street where I grew up was surrounded by woods. A dirt trail — a remnant of a 10-mile, horse-drawn, streetcar track — cut through the woods and gave me hours of outdoor magical fun. I was a free-range kid. Chances are if you are over 50, you were too. If you’re under 50, you’ve likely been deprived of free range-spaces. Population has tripled. Eighty percent of us now live in urban...

Article - Sky Watch by J. Alex Knoll; by J. Alex Knoll - 11/18/10

A True Blue Moon

The brightest stars of two seasons outshine the full moon’s glare

Sunday’s full moon shines amid the stars of Taurus the bull. Ten degrees east of the moon you’ll find the red-giant Aldebaran. Half that distance to the moon’s west look for a small, fuzzy patch of light. So close to the moon’s glare, you may need binoculars to discern the stars of the Pleiades cluster. While this full moon looks much like any other, it has the distinction of being a true blue moon. You may think of a blue moon as the second in a single month, and that...

Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by Dr. Frank Gouin - 11/11/10

Thanksgiving from the Garden

The Bay Gardener’s favorite side dishes

Like the Native Americans and the Pilgrims who learned from them, the Gouin family is sustained by our garden throughout the winter. I’m happy to share with you some of the ways we enjoy winter vegetables on Thanksgiving — and all season long. Fall Vegetable Dishes If you had planted seeds or transplanted Brussels sprout seedlings in mid- to late-July … If you had planted seeds of collards, kale, turnips, carrots or spinach or transplanted broccoli, cauliflower,...