Marric Gardens

05/15/2026

Old-Fashioned Rhubarb & Apple Custard Squares

Vintage Rhubarb and Apple Custard Bars with a Buttery Crust

Ingredients:

- 2 cups rhubarb, chopped
- 2 cups apples, peeled and diced
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar, for dusting

05/05/2026

Beautiful birds! We have had them nesting here for the past few years.

That bird on the telephone wire — the one that looks like a robin with better posture — is a falcon.

American kestrel. Weighs about as much as a deck of cards. Smallest falcon on the continent. And it's doing something right now that no human can do.

It's reading the ground in ultraviolet.

Voles and mice leave urine trails through grass. Those trails reflect UV light. To a kestrel on a wire, the ground isn't just grass — it's a map of where every rodent has been in the last few hours.

When it spots movement, it hovers — wings beating fast, head perfectly still, scanning the trails below. Then it drops with talons extended.

🐦 Quick ID from the ground:

- Small — barely larger than a robin
- Pointed wings, rapid wingbeats (not a soaring hawk silhouette)
- Two dark facial stripes on each side of the head
- Hunts from wires, fence posts, and open-air hovers

The sharpest eyes on the wire. Reading a map painted in light most animals can't see 🌿

05/05/2026

04/27/2026

🍂 The “Dry Crunch” That Can Shatter a Spring Miracle

A male Eastern Bluebird—cobalt wings catching the low March sun—drops a brittle, dried mealworm into the gaping mouths of four nestlings. To the parents, it’s precious protein. But inside those tiny stomachs, the dry husk swells like a sponge, stealing moisture meant for growing bones and fragile flight feathers.

⚠️ The misconception: Dried mealworms are a convenient protein boost. In truth, they can hydrate themselves on a chick’s internal fluids. For nestlings that get every drop of water from their food, this “moisture theft” can rapidly lead to fatal dehydration, impaction, or—at minimum—overworked kidneys that can’t support healthy growth.

🔬 What’s happening right now — March is the cusp. Across the eastern U.S., Eastern Bluebirds and American Robins are staking territories and building nests. Robins tug earthworms from thawing lawns; bluebirds hawk early insects. Both species are shifting into a protein-hungry breeding phase. Yet access to free-standing water remains unreliable, especially during late cold snaps or in arid yards. Offering dry mealworms unsoaked forces parent birds to choose between a quick calorie and a hidden threat to their brood.

🌎 Ecological reality: In healthy systems, native shrubs and insect-rich meadows already provide the hydrated caterpillars and beetles that nestlings need. Backyard feeding should supplement—not replace—that natural pantry.

🫴 What you can do — The 15‑Minute Soak: Steep dried mealworms in warm water until plump and soft. Place a clean birdbath within sight of the feeder. If your budget allows, offer live mealworms, which mimic the wriggling prey that triggers feeding instincts. And always treat mealworms as a garnish, not the main course—sow native plants like Vaccinium (blueberry) or Amelanchier (serviceberry) that host wild caterpillars.

💙 A nest full of silence is the cost of convenience. A bowl of warm water is its cure.
📚 U.S.-Based Scientific References

North American Bluebird Society. (n.d.). NABS Fact Sheet: Mealworms.

Sialis.org. (2023). Supplementing Calcium: Feeding Crushed Chicken Eggshells, etc. to Birds.

Johnson, T. W. (n.d.). Out My Backdoor: The Appeal of Mealworms. Georgia Department of Natural Resources.

04/27/2026

A simple flower calendar makes planning so much easier, especially when you want color in the garden across more than one season 🌷
🌸 I like mixing quick bloomers with flowers that carry the show later
☀️ Spring and summer flowers usually get all the attention, but fall and winter color matter too
🍂 Bulbs are one thing I try to plan ahead for instead of waiting too long
🪴 A little staggered planting makes the whole garden feel fuller for longer
It is so much easier when there is always something coming up next.

04/21/2026

THE NEST YOU MOVED WAS ABANDONED WITHIN 24 HOURS.
You noticed a Northern Cardinal nest in a low, exposed bush. Fearing neighborhood cats, you carefully lifted it four feet higher to a sturdier branch. You did it perfectly.

We assume moving a nest to a "safer" location protects the vulnerable eggs.

In reality, native Northern Cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis, Status: Secure) rely on pinpoint spatial memory. Right now in March, as they lay their first early-spring clutches, they memorize the exact coordinates, leaf cover, and approach angle of their chosen site. When moved even a few feet, the nest becomes virtually invisible to the mother. Studies show 80-95% of displaced nests are abandoned. She searches the empty space, finds nothing, and leaves.

As vital interconnected foragers, cardinals control early-spring insect populations and disperse native seeds, sustaining the local food web. An abandoned clutch fractures this fragile seasonal cycle.

You can protect them without touching the nest. Keep domestic cats indoors, delay bush trimming, and leave nests exactly where they were built.

You moved it four feet. To her, it completely vanished. She searched the original branch for an hour, and the eggs were cold by dawn.

04/18/2026

Most butterfly gardens focus only on nectar — feeding adult butterflies at the final stage of their life cycle. But butterflies won’t stay unless your garden supports every stage: egg, caterpillar, chrysalis, and adult. Skip even one, and you’ll only get visitors, not a thriving population. These nine plants create a complete butterfly habitat from start to finish. 🦋🌿

🌱 Milkweed (Zones 3–9)
Essential for monarchs — it’s the only plant where they lay eggs and where their caterpillars can survive. No milkweed means no monarch butterflies.

🌱 Parsley (Zones 2–11)
A host plant for black swallowtail caterpillars. Those striped caterpillars on your herbs aren’t pests — they’re future butterflies.

🌱 Fennel (Zones 4–9)
Perfect for swallowtail caterpillars. They may eat a lot, but the plant regrows — and without it, butterflies won’t return.

🌱 Violet (Zones 3–9)
Fritillary butterflies rely on violet leaves to lay eggs. No violets, no fritillaries in your garden.

🌱 Aster (Zones 3–8)
Supports painted lady caterpillars and provides vital late-season food when other plants fade.

🌱 Bee Balm (Zones 3–9)
Bright tubular flowers packed with nectar — a favorite energy source for butterflies during peak breeding season.

🌱 Coneflower (Zones 3–9)
Flat blooms act like landing pads, making it easy for butterflies to feed without wasting energy. Long-lasting summer blooms keep them fueled.

🌱 Joe Pye W**d (Zones 3–8)
A magnet for multiple butterfly species. Its large flower clusters provide abundant nectar before migration season.

🌱 Viburnum / Spicebush (Zones 3–9)
Offers shelter for chrysalises — a critical but often overlooked stage where butterflies need protection.

🌿 Plant with the full life cycle in mind, and your garden transforms from a quick stop into a permanent butterfly home.

04/18/2026

Five-inch wingspan. Yellow and black. Bigger than your palm. I look like I belong on a flower.

I'm on your driveway. Proboscis in the wet gravel.

I'm an eastern tiger swallowtail and right now I need something your flowers can't give me. Sodium. I'm extracting it from the minerals dissolved in the mud and gravel on your wet driveway.

Nectar gives me sugar for flight. But sodium runs my nervous system, my muscles, and one thing that matters more than anything else right now — my s***m. I store the sodium and pass it to the female when we mate. She transfers it to her eggs.

The mud puddle isn't a mistake. It's a strategy.

I'll raise two broods this summer. My caterpillars eat tulip tree, wild cherry, and birch — the big trees, not your garden plants. They're green with fake eyespots that make them look like tiny snakes.

You'll know me by the stripes — four thick black bands on yellow wings. Hindwing tails. And a gliding flight that looks more like soaring than flapping.

🐾 Where to find me:

- Mud puddles, wet driveways, and damp sand — I'm extracting minerals, not lost
- Flower gardens — I'm a strong pollinator of deep-throated flowers
- Forest edges and river corridors — my preferred habitat
- If you see a cluster of us on wet ground, we're almost certainly all males

I didn't choose the parking lot by accident. I chose it because your flowers don't have what I need right now. 🌿

04/18/2026

Don’t guess with lookalikes like this one ⚠️ I always tell people to check the stem before anything else because that detail can save you from a very dangerous mistake.
🔍 Queen Anne’s lace has a hairy stem
🟣 Poison hemlock has a smooth stem with purple blotches
🌿 The flowers can look similar at first glance, which is why I never go by blooms alone
🚫 If I’m not completely sure, I leave it alone and do not touch it
This is one of those times where a close look really matters.