Yips and Howls
A Writer's Reflections on Nature and Culture
  • Home
  • About
  • Biodiversity
    • Species of the Week
    • Wild Encounters
    • Wild Plants
  • Writing
  • Photos
  • Main Website
  • Contact
  • Subscribe

Sustainable Gardening

Our Live Christmas Tree

Our Live Christmas Tree

By Elizabeth Enslin on December 25, 2009

I used to be the Christmas tree enthusiast in the family. I’d drive around Seattle for hours looking for the perfect tree, set it up, decorate it….

...read more

Posted in Recent, Sustainable Gardening, Wild Plants | Tagged holidays, nature, Sustainable Gardening, wild | 2 Responses

The Pardoned Potato

The Pardoned Potato

By Elizabeth Enslin on December 3, 2009

On Thanksgiving, we couldn’t bear to slice and roast this huge homegrown potato face. Nor could we boil and mash it….

...read more

Posted in Humor, Recent, Sustainable Food, Sustainable Gardening | Tagged food, holidays, photography, Sustainable Gardening | 2 Responses

Persimmon Joy

Persimmon Joy

By Elizabeth Enslin on November 18, 2009

I love how persimmons hang on the tree after the leaves have fallen.

...read more

Posted in Images, Recent, Sustainable Food, Sustainable Gardening | Tagged beauty, persimmons, Sustainable Gardening | 2 Responses

Ama: My Greatest Teacher

Ama: My Greatest Teacher

By Elizabeth Enslin on November 10, 2009

Growing food this summer in northeast Oregon, I relied on all that I’ve learned over the years from books, conversations, observations, and personal experience. But I probably heard Ama’s voice more than any other….

...read more

Posted in Cultural Diversity, Publication, Recent, Sustainable Food, World Travel | Tagged creative nonfiction, inspiration, stories, Sustainable Gardening | 2 Responses

Ancient Lessons in Food Storage

Ancient Lessons in Food Storage

By Elizabeth Enslin on October 31, 2009

One of the things I loved best about teaching high school social studies was shaking up students’ perceptions of history. And one of my favorite lessons was in Ancient History. I’d bring in a a jar of beans and a potato with so many sprouts it looked like an octopus (the fact that I always found one in my cupboard could have doubled as a cautionary lesson in the domestic arts)….

...read more

Posted in Politics and History, Sustainable Food, Sustainable Gardening, Yurt Living | Tagged ancient history, anthropology, archaeology, Homesteading, patience, Sustainable Gardening | Leave a response

Revolutionary Potatoes

Revolutionary Potatoes

By Elizabeth Enslin on October 24, 2009

Like many who follow environmental and sustainable agriculture news, I woke this morning to tweets and retweets of a Michael Pollan quote: “A vegan in a Hummer has a lighter carbon footprint than a beef eater in a Prius!”
I’m not vegan or vegetarian and suspect the statement glosses over vast differences in the way meat  

...read more

Posted in Sustainable Food, Sustainable Gardening | Tagged climate change, Sustainable Gardening | 6 Responses

Five Lessons From My Inland Northwest Garden

Five Lessons From My Inland Northwest Garden

By Elizabeth Enslin on October 5, 2009

The cool, clear nights that make autumn so beautiful here in the Blue Mountains also bring frosts that kill tender vegetables. With the harvest spilling over boxes and racks around our tiny yurt, it’s a good time to reflect on what I learned this summer….

...read more

Posted in Humor, Sustainable Food, Sustainable Gardening | Tagged food, photography, Sustainable Gardening | 8 Responses

Fermented Pickles

Fermented Pickles

By Elizabeth Enslin on September 15, 2009

My mom made sauerkraut when I was a kid, and it was good. But during the years I lived in Nepal, I discovered a fermented world that went beyond cabbage….

...read more

Posted in Homesteading, Sustainable Food | Tagged food, pickles, Sustainable Gardening | Leave a response

First Melon

First Melon

By Elizabeth Enslin on August 29, 2009

A photography of the first melon to ripen in our garden this summer.

...read more

Posted in Sustainable Gardening | Tagged food, Sustainable Gardening | Leave a response

Website for Ajamvari Farm

Website for Ajamvari Farm

By Elizabeth Enslin on August 18, 2009

I finally finished the website for Ajamvari Farm, a family run permaculture project in Nepal that hosts volunteers.  I helped develop the farm fifteen-some years ago while living in Nepal and discovered a passion for growing food that still runs strong today.
The website provides information on opportunities for homestays and volunteering at the farm as  

...read more

Posted in Cultural Diversity, Sustainable Food, Sustainable Gardening, Travel, wordpress, World Travel | Tagged blogging, cultural anthropology, inspiration, Sustainable Gardening, web design | Leave a response

Popular Posts

  • Horned Lizard: Species of the Week
  • Mystery Web: A Tarantula Lair?
  • Desert Tarantula: Species of the Week
  • Pacific Tree Frog: Species of the Week
  • California Condor: Species of the Week
Next »

About Elizabeth Enslin

A writer based in Oregon, I look for inspiration and distractions in nature. An anthropologist, I ponder the places where nature and culture meet. A kitchen gardener, I promote biodiversity and learn from farming traditions around the world. A recovering academic, I try to do all with compassion and humor.

More squawks about me here, or at elizabethenslin.com.

Or follow my chatter on Twitter.

Find My Writing Online

  • Fringe Magazine Fringe Magazine Fringe Magazine
  • High Desert Journal High Desert Journal High Desert Journal
  • In the Mist In the Mist In the Mist
  • Opium Magazine Opium Magazine Opium Magazine
  • Oregon Literary Review Oregon Literary Review Oregon Literary Review
  • The Smoking Poet The Smoking Poet The Smoking Poet
  • Topics
  • Tags
  • Calendar

Around the Northwest Biodiversity City Parks Cultural Diversity Eco Travel Explorations Following the News haiku Homesteading Humor Images Kudos NaPoWriMo On Blogging Pacific Northwest travel Pets Poetry Politics and History Publication Readings Recent Seasons and Rituals Social media Southwest Travel Species Humor Species of the Week Sustainability Sustainable Food Sustainable Gardening Travel Wildlife Encounters Wild Plants wordpress World Travel Writing Writing Process Yurt Living

amphibians beauty blogging books childhood climate change cows creative nonfiction cultural anthropology desert exploration food holidays Homesteading Humor inspiration literary nonfiction maturity memoir music nature nature writing Nepal nostalgia Obama oceans passion patience photography photography play Poetry rhythm sex snow species standard poodles stories Sustainable Gardening twitter web design wild wildflowers wordplay wordpress

March 2010
M T W T F S S
« Feb    
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
293031  

Recent Comments

  • Another Poem Finds a Home 
    • jason: Congratulations! What a great achievement, and two in such short order must be a good sign of things to come.
  • Bushy-Tailed Woodrat: Species of the Week 
    • Melissa: Delightful post. I recognize the struggle between viewpoints: frustrated homeowner sees destructive pest...
    • jason: Too cute! I was tickled by their bravery, not to mention the idea of having to take inventory at the yurt so...
  • Contact 
    • R.A.M: Hi Elizabeth, I’m a pharmaceutical sales rep who sells antivenom for rattlesnake envenomations in CA,...
  • How I Grabbed My Poetry Career by the Horns 
    • Priscilla: Liz, what a great practice–pondering a cow’s view of the world! Congrats on the poem, and I...
  • Building the Yurt 
    • Joshua: Thanks for the reply Jerry and Elizabeth! I had forgotten that I had asked you about your panels on your...

Networking

Nature Blog Network
Read Write Poem

Blog Carnivals


Festival of the Trees

Tweets

  • Also wonderful to see that high school I helped create is thriving.
  • Inspiring to see students I taught in 9th grade give their senior project presentations today.
  • RT @LitChat: If you would like @HeidiDurrow, author of THE GIRL WHO FELL FROM THE SKY, on #litchat, please raise your hand (by way of RT).
  • Thanks for #ff @elizabetheslami. Honored to be be on list of "PDX's finest."
  • Tell textbook publishers: Stand up to the Texas Taliban http://bit.ly/asde5g (via @CREDOmobile) Pls RT

Follow Me On Twitter

Follow Me On Twitter
twitter peacock

Cultural Exchange

  • Volunteering to Learn – Nepal

Blog Bling

Thanks Erin, Carole, and
Irene.

Copyright Elizabeth Enslin 2010 Yips and Howls. Please don't copy or use any content on this site (including photos) without permission. Powered by WordPress and Hybrid. Log in

Technorati
Blogged
Blog Directory
Non-Fiction Blogs - Blog Catalog Blog Directory
Blogher