Tennessee Nature & Gardening News

09/06/2026

09/06/2026

09/06/2026

Turns out, sometimes the best river engineer is a beaver 🦫

Since 2019, researchers and wildlife officials in Utah have been relocating beavers from places where their dams cause conflicts with people to dry landscapes where their skills are desperately needed. Once there, the beavers get to work building dams that slow rivers, create ponds and wetlands and keep more water on the landscape. Researchers say these habitats can improve water quality and provide homes for fish and other wildlife.

And they’re already seeing some remarkable results. One female relocated in 2022 established a family in her new home and helped widen a stream. When researchers returned, they found a newly formed pond filled with native Yellowstone cutthroat trout. The program now relocates about 60 beavers a year — giving animals once considered “nuisances” a chance to become ecosystem engineers somewhere they’re needed.

09/05/2026

This is just a photo to show the different caterpillars that become butterflies.

08/30/2026

If you walk past a Shagbark Hickory because you think it is just another tree in the woods, you might be walking past one of the most useful wild foods on the homestead.

Most folks know about hickory nuts. They are rich, buttery, and fantastic for eating fresh, roasting, baking, making nut butter, or even turning into nut milk. But here is the part that surprises people: the shaggy bark can be turned into an incredible syrup.

And no, you don't tap the tree like a maple.

Shagbark Hickory Syrup is traditionally made by gathering naturally shed pieces of the shaggy outer bark, cleaning them well, roasting them to deepen the flavor, then simmering them in water to make a strong hickory "tea." Strain it, sweeten it with sugar, and cook it down into syrup.

The result is something completely different from maple syrup. It has a deep, smoky, toasted flavor that reminds me of the woods themselves. Put it over pancakes, biscuits, ice cream, oatmeal, or use a little in a glaze for pork or chicken.

The best part is you don't have to damage the tree. Shagbark Hickories naturally shed strips of their outer bark, so collect loose or fallen pieces instead of peeling bark that is firmly attached.

This is exactly why I love learning old homestead skills. Sometimes the things we walk past every day are food, medicine, tools, or resources simply waiting for somebody to remember how they were once used.

Next time you're walking through the woods, look up. You may be standing beside breakfast.

SAVE and SHARE this one with somebody who has a Shagbark Hickory growing nearby. I bet they didn't know you could do this!

Have you ever made hickory syrup, or is this going on your "I've got to try that" list?

08/28/2026

https://x.com/Rainmaker1973/status/2093326949506490777

08/23/2026

https://x.com/Rainmaker1973/status/2091145864341573987

Massimo@Rainmaker1973Groundbreaking botanical research is challenging the long-held belief in human exceptionalism, suggesting that plants possess forms of spatial awareness, intentionality, and consciousness. For centuries, humans have regarded plants as passive organisms, but pioneering studies ar...

08/10/2026

THIS IS AN INCREDIBLY RARE PLANT THAT GROWS ONLY IN TENNESSEE — NOWHERE ELSE IN THE WORLD.
I need to get some of these seeds.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service calls a recent discovery “a big win.”
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One of our biologists, Robby Cogburn, was visiting a landowner when he spotted a plant that stopped him in his tracks- his first thought? “Is this an April Fools’ joke? 😁
It wasn’t. He’d just discovered an endangered Pyne’s ground-plum thriving in the wild in Wilson County, TN.
Here’s why that’s a huge deal: Until this moment, this rare plant was only known to exist in a neighboring county about 30 miles away.
This new discovery gives the unique plant a real shot at long term survival.
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Now, they are working to restore the property's limestone glades and collect seeds to protect this species for the future.
The Pyne’s Ground Plum is listed as a federally endangered species in the United States and ranked globally as critically imperiled.
It is a federally protected, rare species, there are no established health or medical benefits for humans, and the plant must not be harvested or consumed … not edible.
Wow.
Wonder where in Wilson County?
Far from me on Tater Peeler?
AWESOME.