6/15/2021 | This resource was created by Joanne Vogel and Kate Reilly.
Summertime will sizzle on the Duke Farms Distance Learning Portal through an eclectic array of environmental topics that feature the sights, sounds, and smells of this sensational season as was artistically captured in Dunbar’s historical work. We hope that you are inspired to find your own nature-based adventures and create reflections and memories to last a lifetime.
Summer in the South
The Oriole sings in the greening grove
As if he were half-way waiting,
The rosebuds peep from their hoods of green,
Timid, and hesitating.
The rain comes down in a torrent sweep
And the nights smell warm and pinety,
The garden thrives, but the tender shoots
Are yellow-green and tiny.
Then a flash of sun on a waiting hill,
Streams laugh that erst were quiet,
The sky smiles down with a dazzling blue
And the woods run mad with riot.
Paul Laurence Dunbar, born in 1872, is the author of numerous collections of poetry and prose.
He is one of the first African American poets to gain national recognition.
Did you know that collectively, the US has more than 40 million acres of manicured, grassy lawns? That's roughly the size of New England. Sadly, that means that our native insects and wildlife have a hard time finding suitable habitat and food - lawns are non-native plants that decorate them as essentially food deserts for wildlife.
Insects are the basis of all life on the planet. There's billions of them, but a staggering number are going extinct. For the most part, it's human action (like creating pristine lawns) that's to blame. How can we welcome keystone species and make our lawns a shared space with wildlife?