How do you build soil health without having the luxury of animal impact. It is one thing to build soil health on a bison farm. The microbes in the the the bison, turkey, pig and chicken dung builds the life in the soil. In the sculpture garden at Lawndale I am going to use LEAF MOLD COMPOST. This product is produced primarily from recycled leaves, with a little grass and horse manure mixed in, a touch of fruits and vegetables. After a long slow compost it will be rich in beneficial microbes. It will help save water and promote healthy soil. I was going to wait until early spring before we replanted the garden. However, Sunday Lawndale is having it's Sunday brunch fund raiser. And this is in the day if Covid 19 so the event is outside. I noticed that the heavy rains of late have compacted several areas in the beds and washed away some soil. It will be an opportunity to to talk about living soil,

I spent time researching different types of compost and mulch. Natures Way Resources compost native plants, is locally owned and located in the Houston area. The owner is a soil scientist. I had a long conversation with him today and he really knows living soil. I can't wait to see life return to the garden.

Here you can see how the soil is wearing away without having plants/roots hold it down. You can also see how the rain hitting it had compacted the ground. When the soil becomes compacted it stops absorbing water. .

i arrived in california in 1960 to someone raised in el paso. texas in the forties, it was transcendent the ocean the state parks the tree lined streets on the hills and the flowers flowers everywhere i still rermember west texas with its deserts and mountains i look back on therm with awe the franklin the pass to the north el paso del norte mt cristo rey carlsbad caverns there was no t.v. i still can recall these locales and vistas i carry my landscapes with me san francisco was another country the fog the hippies the hills the bridges the bay the theatre of the haight ashbury all were intoxicating i paid my way by teaching and designing sets and costumes and inadvertently with help from many others eager to change the landscape of the american theatre we succeeded at some point i wanted to become a fine arts painter and moved gradually to painting my feelings about the abundance around me landscapes that were both spiritual and cultural sadly two years ago i had to leave california and move to columbia missouri the heart of the midwest a wise man once said the midwest is the last frontier and i am beginning to believe he was right the lanscapes here are bolder the huge skies the seas of grass the trees a bald cypress that is over 800 years on the old lewis and clark trail the big muddy the great missouri i still think of el paso and san francisco at night in my dreams in this time of covid i cannot go back thankfully i carry my landscapes with me

Looking at changing landscapes through my work, I find inspiration in my uncle’s poetic expression of landscapes through grand brush stokes on canvas, eloquent theater designs and rivers of prose. He posted this on Facebook earlier this week. Clearly Travis genes are deeply rooted in love for landscape and nature.

Uncle Warren to be closer to family has retired to aunt Genie Lou and uncle Widgies’s ranch in Columbia Missouri. He is still actively painting and keeping up with his website.

https://www.johnwarrentravis.com/

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