centralrappvnps

by Stacey Churchill, June 30, 2026 I will admit to a bit of a panic when I saw we were nearing the end of the month and I wasn't sure which book I would write about this month! I decided to go with a super useful and beautiful plant guide. The Maryland Native Plant Guide Piedmont Region was produced by a partnership between the University of Maryland Extension, the Maryland Native Plant Society, the Department of National Resources and the Maryland Department of Agriculture. That is a...

by Stacey Churchill, May 26, 2026 I have been fascinated by permaculture concepts for a long time, but it has always seemed too big and too challenging to implement in an established garden space. All the same, I keep reading about it, trying to pull out ideas I can put to use. In her book Think Like an Ecosystem, Amélie des Plantes lays out a vision for gardens that function like self-sustaining wild spaces. She discusses the need to begin permaculture planning by observing your land over...

By Stacey Churchill, April 18, 2026 I was captivated by Dr. Simard’s Finding the Mother Tree , and despite (or maybe because of) the criticism her work has received, I knew I wanted to read her latest. While Dr. Suzanne Simard’s research in her latest book, When the Forest Breathes , is rooted in the Douglas Firs and Birch of her native British Columbia, her message carries a truth that resonates for me here in Virginia. Whether you are standing beneath a Douglas Fir in British Columbia or an...