Find your place at Spring Bird
Patrick and I are so excited to offer two Artists in Residence at Spring Bird this year! Imani Gardner intends to create “a series of collaborative mix media paintings and a short podcast season exploring Black trans identity, embodiment, and the complexities of existing in …
Last week we welcomed the Spring Equinox and March’s full moon – which is sometimes referred to as the “Worm Moon.” Last week, we also said goodbye to my father-in-law, Pete, through a beautiful funeral service and family gatherings. As many have shared over the …
In this new year, I have found myself walking devotedly throughout the trails at Spring Bird. I try to set foot upon every inch of human trail and sometimes an accessible deer path each time I set out. I walk as quickly as I can …
I have been lucky enough to have been awarded the honor of being the Elgin Fringe Festival poster artist for 2025. While the main festival and poster isn’t arriving until September, Side Street Studio Arts in Elgin hosted a one day Mini-Fringe Festival during which …
Calling All Artists! Writers! Musicians! and Makers!!!!! It’s time to apply to the 2025 Spring Bird’s Artist Residency Program!!! This Residency is for anyone wanting to finish that project they’ve been meaning to complete, OR for those dreaming of something new that they’d like to …
Patrick and I are so excited to further the connections of art, nature, and land with this year’s recipient of the Spring Bird Cottage Residency – artist Stephanie Sailer! Stephanie intends for “this project is to explore the surrounding forest and forage for small, unassuming …
The Shiitake Mushrooms are BLOOMING! Get your fresh shiitake mushrooms – cultivated on oak and maple logs. Pick up from Spring Bird at your convenience. Delivery options available within 20 miles of Spring Bird. We currently have 3 or 4 lbs blooming this week with …
Last Spring, we inoculated 100 logs with shiitake mushroom spawn! This Spring – like – in a few weeks- these logs will begin to fruit with fresh, log grown shiitake mushrooms! We will be selling both fresh shiitake mushrooms as well as the whole logs …
Calling All Artists! Writers! Musicians! and Makers!!!!! It’s time to apply to the 2024 Spring Bird’s Artist Residency Program!!! This Residency is for anyone wanting to finish that project they’ve been meaning to complete, OR for those dreaming of something new that they’d like to …
I’ve been working on some branding elements for selling our log grown shiitakes. What do you think about these color schemes? More on shiitakes coming soon. . . and hopefully a resurrection of the Spring Bird Newsletter!
Did you know that there are evergreens that lose their needles – and I don’t mean your dried out, spent Christmas tree – but living deciduous conifers? I wasn’t aware of these trees until living at Spring Bird, where there are both larch trees and …
A couple of days ago, Pat harvested this bunch of log grown shiitake mushrooms. They are our last mushroom harvest until Spring, and they tasted delicious sauteed in butter! In actuality, this Fall, we’ve had a couple of months of harvesting mushrooms from oak logs …
One of my favorite family traditions is creating a wall calendar together. There are four of us and twelve months. So, each of us gets our birthday month plus two more to paint, draw, collage, or illustrate in whatever way we see fit. (Feel free …
Wait a minute . . . is that a new fence at Spring Bird!? Why . . .YES! We* did recently finish the installation of the fence surrounding our once and future Food Forest Farm AKA our Multistory Agroforestry System AKA our Multifunctional Woody Polycultures. …
I do so much of my work by the light of a desk lamp – well it’s actually by the light of four desk lamps. I find them beautiful and essential, and even though they have been around forever (many new technologies have come and …