Wednesday, July 21, 2010

The Habit of Grumbling at the Weather

The habit of grumbling at the weather is the most senseless and futile of all expenditures of human effort. Day by day we complain and fret at the weather, and when we are done with it we have — the weather. The same amount of energy put into wholesome work would have set civilization far in advance of its present state. Weather is not a human institution, and therefore it cannot be "bad." I have seen bad men, have read bad books, have made bad lectures, have lived two years about Boston,— but I have never seen bad weather! — L.H. Bailey, Outlook to Nature

Monday, July 19, 2010

BROWN BAG BIOLOGY: What Would Bailey Plant?

BROWN BAG BIOLOGY/LUNCH & LECTURE
Wed., July 21th, 12:30-1:30 PM
Liberty Hyde Bailey Museum

903 S. Bailey * South Haven, MI * (269)637-3251
Come to sit under the museum's historic Walnut Tree with your lunch for the free program that started it all! Topic: "What Would Bailey Plant?"


In 1862, a young Liberty Hyde Bailey witnessed his mother's passing from diphtheria in the very room he was born in only five years previously. Sara Bailey, left behind at the Bailey homestead, a collection of cottage of pinks, Dianthus, that she gardened. The young, grief stricken Bailey, continually kept-up the garden, marking a rite of initiation into the world of Horticulture and Botany. He writes in his book, The Garden Pinks, "From earliest boyhood the pinks have been my companions. Mounds and rings of Grass pinks were in the front yard, left there by my mother...to this late day the memory of them lingers." This is his list of his mother's extensive pinks: Dianthus Deltoides, D. graniticus, D. Alpestris, D. Arenarius, D. Petraeus, D. Caesius, D. Plumarius, D. Caryophyllus, D. Gallicus, D. Atrorubens, D. Croaticus, D. Cruentus, D. Barbatus, D. Laciniatus, D. Heddewigii.
 
Find out more at this program at the Bailey Museum!

Monday, July 12, 2010

BLUEBERRY ICE-CREAM FESTIVAL at the BAILEY

BLUEBERRY ICE-CREAM FESTIVAL Saturday, July 17th, 2PM-4PM
Liberty Hyde Bailey Museum, 903 S. Bailey Avenue, South Haven, Michigan
Bring the family and taste the season's best! Locally grown blueberries from the southwest Michigan Fruit Belt adorn locally made Sherman's ice-cream. Being ecological never tasted so good! $5 suggested donation.
BLUEBERRY FACTS
• Only 80 fat-free calories per cup, blueberries are a good source of dietary fiber and vitamin C.
•Blueberries rank high in antioxidants that help protect against cancer, heart disease and other age-related diseases.
• Researchers have found compounds in blueberries that help prevent urinary tract infection.
• A single bush can produce as many as 6,000 blueberries a year.
• There are only three fruits native to North America: blueberries, cranberries and Concord grapes.
• Botanists estimate that blueberries have been around for more than 13,000 years.

Friday, July 02, 2010

Museum Becomes a Certified Wildlife Habitat™

Nature cannot be antagonistic to man, seeing that man is a product of nature. We should find vast joy in the fellowship, something like the joy of Pan. - L.H. Bailey, The Holy Earth

The Liberty Hyde Bailey Museum, a National Historic Site has it all for wildlife now: food, water, cover, place to raise their young and sustainable gardening. These are the criteria set out by the National Wildlife Federation. As they mention, "Whether you have an apartment balcony or a 20-acre farm, you can create a garden that attracts beautiful wildlife and helps restore habitat in commercial and residential areas. By providing food, water, cover and a place for wildlife to raise their young--and by incorporating sustainable gardening practices--you not only help wildlife, but you also qualify to become an official Certified Wildlife Habitat™." Check it out at their webiste, Garden for Wildlife.