Riding the art wave

Hubby and I took another break from house projects this past weekend to get caught up on art projects. We have our one big show at the end of September that we stopped preparing for while we waited to see what was going to happen due to the virus. So far the show is a go, and we need to get moving if we want to get stuff done in time.

It's been super hot around here the past couple of weeks, and the workshop is very, very warm and muggy. Even with a fan and dehumidifier running, we can only handle being out there for so long and then start wither. That being said, we knocked out a lot of projects and got a good start on a few more before we start back up on the home projects within the next week. Normally we are very nature themed in our art, but for the show, called Bizarre Bazaar, we stepped out of ourselves and into a different world! This is the only place we sell art like this now!

Evermore Raven. Hand-carved from bass wood, hand-painted and sanded, affixed to a vintage metal lamp stand that I hand picked from an old tech building basement full of stuff! It also has a metal ring from a vintage pocket watch, and glass taxidermy eyes. This piece is finished.

Battle Scars, because clearly nature is in a battle for its life. Hand-carved from bass wood, hand-painted, glass taxidermy snake eye, hand-made leather eye patch. This piece is finished.

Taxidermy squirrel..yet to be named. Please note that we do not kill these animals just to have something to taxidermy. Usually they are a pest animal on someone's property, and since they know hubby does taxidermy, they offer it to him. I am honored to utilize the animals instead of having them just tossed away to rot. This squirrel is a male, fox red squirrel. This piece is not done yet.

And this. Oh boy, she gives hubby the heeby-jeebies. She was rescued from the garbage at work by a co-worker and I knew right away what I wanted to do with her. I was unable to find any details/value about her online and figured if someone threw her out, then she wasn't valuable. There is another doll too, similar to her, that I finished months ago! This doll has her original clothing and hat, but will have a very special new pet.... This piece is not done yet....

Before

After

In case you are wondering about the show, it will be held on September 26th in Valparaiso, Indiana at the Porter County Expo Center located on Division just off of 49. It is a family-friendly event and they have an event created on Facebook if you want to look them up! Hope to see you there!

When we know better, we should do better

Now look, I am not writing/posting this to start an argument...seriously, I am not. I just want to keep the information and knowledge flowing and maybe just reach one more person about this matter.

I was at the craft store the other day. I don't like to go in there unless there is something specific that I need and I had two things specifically that I needed. On my way to the areas that I needed supplies from, I ran across this display and it stopped me in my tracks. 

I have made many posts about this situation on FB, have commented on others events and posts that include these sorts of things, all to varying degrees of the conversation descending into flames. People think me trying to pass along some information to them is me trying to kill their fun time. Yes, I had a yoga lady state that to me once. Her event popped up in my newsfeed for "Dreamcatchers and Wine" and I very nicely told her that it might be better to hold a different event, or at least drop the alcohol part, unless the person teaching the class was Native (clarifying, that even if it was a Native teaching it, there should still not be any alcohol). That.did.not.go.well. Her yoga Zen crumbled on the spot and she accused me of having nothing better to do than to ruin the fun she and her students were trying to have. Alrighty then.

Back to the picture and display of items for sale. Another contention of mine is the word "dreamcatcher" being tossed around. People think if it's round and has feathers hanging from it, it's a dream catcher. I a lot of what I see people calling dream catchers is what I would consider a mandala. And I word it "what I would consider" because I do not claim to be speaking for anyone else other than myself and what I was taught. Even among Natives there can be disagreements and varying opinions over things as this. Even the word(s) dream catcher...is it one word or two?

 PLEASE do not buy dream catchers from this place, corner gas stations, flea markets, etc. when they are clearly MADE IN CHINA, and do nothing to support the culture of our Indigenous tribes. When we make items like this, it's like a prayer and we fill these with our good energies (that is super important! We think good thoughts when we make these items so they are infused with nothing but positivity!) They are a strong part of our culture and are not made in sweat factories! Even then, after I make an item, I cleanse it in smoke before it goes to another person. Can you even begin to imagine the conditions the people who made these other dream catchers are working in? Do they know anything about the meaning of them? And do they believe?

There are MANY authentic dream catchers, and other Native cultural items, that can be found across the United States and I encourage you to seek them out over something like these. I get that they appeal to people with their colors and fru-fru-ness, but trust me, you can get something similar or even better that is authentically made. I keep my prices around what I see in this display, so it is possible to get something that's not made in China for a similar price. 

Thank you for understanding. Wa do, unalii (thank you, friend) (please note that I am not a carded tribal member and do not advertise my items that I make as "Native American Made". If I do sell them, I have to word it "Native American inspired." and I clearly state to people that while I try to honor and follow the traditional ways, I am not a carded Native American and therefore cannot claim the items as authentic.

Our Beloved Lake Michigan

My husband and I had a date day recently. He had originally taken that day off for us to see our son off to the airport for his trip to Europe with the German class, but with that getting rescheduled for 2021, we decided to make the most of the day and enjoy the beautiful weather! Although we had been reading about a lot of difficulties at the lake front beaches, and we were a little nervous, we decided to give it a try and head North! 

It was 90 some degrees that day, no breeze anywhere, not even at the lake. It takes us about 40 minutes to get there, and we always go early to beat the crowds and riff raff. Some times we'll stop at the Dunkin' Donuts that is along the way and we'll get coffee and a doughnut to enjoy on the beach. I'm always antsy though to get up and moving to start picking up garbage. I don't know how people can just walk right past it and enjoy their time at the beach sunbathing while being surrounded by it. I hope I never become that person. Getting to the lake early also usually means calm waters until boats and wave runners come out and then we get the lulling sound of the crashing waves.

I have a system of a zigzag walk to try and spot as much of the garbage as I can, and I walk a long distance and then turn back and do the zigzag again back in the other direction I came from. That really makes a difference, coming back the other direction. Sun, shadows, etc. I always find stuff that I missed. While I am always looking for garbage, I also keep my eyes open for little treats from Mother Nature, but I really try and focus on that when the working part is done.

I found the usual trash that day...cigarette butts, various food packaging plastics, toys, swim goggles, plastic cigar tips, lighters, a Posh vape device, bottle rocket debris, elastic hair bands, and a large chunk of broken glass from a beverage bottle. I no longer go barefoot on the beach and keep my EarthRunners on. I also had to go out into the lake to fish out a plastic food bag floating in the water but sadly had to leave another one that was too far out for me to get to. That kills me to have to leave behind what I can see. 

Once I had filled my bag up, my arms were shaking from the fatigue of carrying the bag for garbage, a little plastic toy bucket for treasures, my phone, and using the grabber to pick things up with. While hubby said all morning that he'd help me carry stuff, he bailed as usual once it began and opted for a walk and a nap. He got his though when two young boys walked by with their mother and pointed out that he was sleeping and should be kicked off of the beach because nobody should sleep on the beach, they should be playing. HA! I loved that!

I took a little break and sat down for a moment before heading out on the other side of the beach to pick up garbage. I could tell an older man was watching me, and that's not uncommon when I am out there picking up garbage. A lot of people stare, which I just don't understand, and some say thank you as they walk past me and lay out their stuff and have a good ol' time without ever picking up a piece of the garbage they walk by. I can't judge people though, I know. But it is frustrating. The man that was watching me called out, asking what I was finding. I got a little closer and we talked for a bit, him telling me that he lives up there in town by the lake, but didn't know about a clean up group that meets once a week. So I told him a little about that. 

Now, I don't need a clean up group to pick up garbage. I've been picking up garbage on that beach for YEARS, posting the pictures and previous blog postings (that have now been deleted so I can start fresh) on our FB business page. (Soapwood Carvings). I begged for people to do even just a little bit each time they are there, and nobody ever reached out to me. I will keep the rest of my comments to myself, because I don't want this to become about something other than our beautiful lake and honoring her while also planting a seed with people to help take care of her.

This nice man offered me one of his rocks that he had found. I initially refused, it didn't feel right, and if they called out to him, they should be his. But ultimately I agreed and chose a rust colored granite. I'm a sucker for granite. It was time to move on, as my arms were shaking again with holding everything and although the shoulder I had surgery on feels pretty good, the other really bothers me and I have to really think about my posture, etc. So, I headed back to hubby.

It felt good to not really be on any time constraint or to have our grown boys with us asking when we were leaving an hour after we got there. It was just the two of us, taking our time, laughing, reminiscing about how we'd take the boys there when they were little. We went for a walk out to the water, and although it was cold, you get used to it really quickly. The water is SO clear anymore! Lake Michigan used to be darker, and the clearer water--while gorgeous--isn't really a great thing for the creatures that live in and relied on murkier waters. Zebra mussels have been a big part of that issue and while I don't find many shells of them along the shore, we hear about them.

I also have a method for looking for what I call "pretties". Anything that Mother Nature and the lake offer me in appreciation for cleaning the shore. The biggest gift of the day came from seeing a Tern feeding off the shore. I initially thought it was a gull, because that's pretty much all we ever see there, and commented on the behavior that I had never seen from one before. It would circle the water, then dive down in, completely submerging itself, and then fly back up and out again. Then it started flying our direction and as it was flying, it shook the water from its wings!!! What a beautiful motion that was to witness! And then I could see that it wasn't a sea gull after all, it was a Tern!!! (which is a type of gull, though not as commonly seen around here.)

(image from allaboutbirds.org)

It had a such a vibrant orange beak and legs!!!

And then in the water, doing my method for finding pretties, I run across these beauties. Completely submerged, but waiting for me. The quartz was literally glowing, the crinoid conglomerate textures catching my attention and begging to be picked up. Don't worry, this part of the lake, you are allowed to pick up rocks, though there are places across the shores of Lake Michigan where you cannot.

Then I took our youngest son up to the lake yesterday morning to help clean up with a group that meets there, get him some fresh air, and some volunteering experience that he can put on resume's. He spent an hour, I spent about an hour and half picking up more garbage. The usual stuff, though this time I found rusty metal instead of broken glass, and food scraps (highly irritating), and water balloons (so.freaking.dangerous. to the wildlife!). Orange rinds, chicken bones and pistachio shells. The way some people rationalize that, I'll never understand.

I didn't drop this garbage, but I'm out there picking up before I allow myself to enjoy the beauty and benefits of having such an important natural feature available to us. I can only hope that each and every person who steps on its shores can adopt the same way of thinking. If you are one of the people who drop your garbage on the beach or in the water, you should not be allowed to enjoy those places. 

Nature girl, radish edition

While I love the thought of being completely food sufficient, I know better. My gardening skills are entwined with the name of this blog...."Flying by the Seat of My Pants". It's always a crap-shoot on if something will work for me, and since gardening is a lot of that anyway, the odds are always stacked against me...and the plants who are in my care.

I did manage to get some organic radish seeds going in the greenhouse and although I transplanted several seedling into the garden bed, only two took. Hubby thinks I'm not loosening the soil up enough when I plant seeds and seedlings. I think he's right. I tend to just make a whole or trough and in goes the seed or plant. I see pictures of people I follow who are great gardeners and one thing they don't have around their beautiful and luscious plants is hard, packed soil. I really need to pay more attention to that from here on out!

But. All of that being said, I did manage to grow two radishes!!! Hubby said he thinks I didn't plant them deep enough and that I probably picked them too early, but I was just so excited and eager to taste them! He was wrong when he said they probably wouldn't have much flavor, they were PERFECT.  And of course, my kitty had to check them out too. She will cry pitifully at the window and dance around my feet when I come inside until I bring her something fresh from outside for her to smell, rub up against, or play with.

And in my efforts to use up as much as I could (I do take my kitchen scraps to a local chemical-free farmer for his compost piles), I decided to try and make radish top pesto! I usually make a pumpkin seed and basil pesto, which is cheese-free but tastes like there's some in there, and it is my absolute favorite! But when I did a little looking online, I was intrigued by the recipes using radish tops. I seriously doubted I would like it, and after handling the prickly little dudes, I thought for sure I'd choke and gag, but the recipes ensured me that the texture of them raw was completely unnoticeable in the pesto.

So I tried this recipe, from Food.com.
https://www.food.com/recipe/radish-leaf-radish-top-pesto-435728

And my verdict? I LOVED it! I did modify it a tad for the machine I was using to make it, and what I had on hand. I probably didn't have 2-3 cups of the greens, but it still turned out! I keep a container of minced garlic in the fridge and that's what I used instead of the fresh, I used more than two tablespoons of olive oil because there's a certain consistency that I prefer and again, the machine I was using is a cranky gremlin. I used the cup container that was too big, not thinking ahead to the bushy greens getting mashed down in the blending process. A little more olive oil helped keep things moving (although it might look really liquidy in the picture, it was the right state of solid for my likings). I left out the sugar and used almonds in place of pine nuts (because $20 a bag, yo?! I'll use what I have on hand, thank you very much). A bit of  fresh ground Himalayan salt, but no pepper, sprinkled with some freeze-dried organic basil. And yum!!!

It was just the right amount for me, since nobody else was interested in trying it and, yes, the texture was perfect! No choking or gagging for me! So I ran outside and tried planting some more seeds in the garden. I'm sure it's not the right time of year now, but you never know what will take, so it's worth a try! I will definitely make this pesto again anytime I have radish greens on hand!

Lavender project

For the past few months my goal has been to clean out my house, to determine what projects I will actually move forward with doing with the supplies I have laying around, and to finish projects that I have started. Unfortunately, there's a lot of those. I have different projects for different areas of the house.

Upstairs in my oldest sons old room: machine sewing and any ironing

Bedroom: a plethora

Living room: crochet and cross-stitch

Kitchen: whatever I feel like making when I want diffused sunlight, table space, and when I feel like letting the kitchen witch out to play.

Workshop: Holy Shazbot, a little bit of everything.

And in every single one of those areas are many assortments of projects in various stages of doneness. Recently, while in the sewing room, I ran across some small inserts that I had sewn to make lavender and flax seed pillows. These small pillows are fabulous warmed or cooled, for use with headaches, sore muscles, sleep, and I always loved them on my eyes after yoga while in shavasana.

I couldn't believe how close I was to done on them! I know I had stopped working on them because I had run out of lavender and didn't order any until recently that I needed for another project. I talk myself out of spending money quite often, which is great on the pocket book, not great for when you don't want half-finished projects piling up. I also grow lavender, one plant of it, but knew that it wouldn't be nearly enough to finish the bags. Plus, I always leave the first bloom of the season for the bees.

So, I set out to finish the bags and that is no small feat for me. Any time I sit down at the sewing machine is a crapshoot on how that will turn out. Some times I surprise myself at how well something came out and other times I'm stopping every two seconds to deal with the gremlins in my machine! My pincushion is skull so that I feel a little more badass and let my machine know who's in charge. (HA!)

The pillow covers are cotton and made from fabric that I've had here. I don't have a lot of fabric, according to me, but I have enough to stay busy with little projects like this. I have no idea where I ran across the original sewing pattern for these, but have been making them for years. I tried a different sewing pattern (again, I don't remember where I got that one from) and didn't like that one. It was smaller than I liked, didn't go to together as well. It's the bottom one in the picture of the three pillows. I needed to stick with what I was doing! It was working, why change it? You can find many variations of patterns online to try! I used to even make sleep masks too, but you can't machine wash those and eventually the fabric can feel kind of yuck and you can only spot/surface clean it.

The inserts for the original ones I did are made from cotton muslin that I had laying around in my stash. I'm out of that now and need to get more if I want to continue making them.

I mentioned that the filling was flax seed too. I bought a high quality brand, raw flax seed=expensive! I'll be using a more economical  filler moving forward! These take more filling than you might think they would. Two of three have already sold though to friends and it feels good to get things done and where they are meant to be. 💜

Flower pot bench: a little art, a little re-using, a whole lot of color! UPDATED

After working diligently on finishing up the deck railings (they are completely installed now, but there's still some work to do on the deck boards and the facade of those), we decided to take a day for art! It's funny how before this shutdown of everything, art was my everything. If I couldn't work on something at least for a few moments each day, I'd get cranky. And then when I had my shoulder surgery and all I could do for weeks was read or watch t.v., I was going through withdrawals! But now? I am sated in my life. I flow more. I guess it took a lot of holding back, damming up the Pisces, to finally get me to see what I needed to see.

This bench that we've been working on, well, I thought it had been about a three year project, but after looking through pictures yesterday to find a good one to enter my cat into a cat calendar contest (don't judge me!), I see that this bench as actually been a project five years in the making! While that surprises me, it doesn't really. It's the status quo around here.

We used leftover wood from other house projects to build it. I don't know if hubby came up with the decision on his own, or saw something for inspiration.

This is how it will be intended to be used! BTW, I no longer have those plants, I killed them. I am SO bad with keeping plants alive! I got the outer two for free and they ended up having/getting a horrible case of aphids. Even neem oil couldn't save them. But you get the point. Each end pot is in a hole that was cut out for it (hope I still have those pots, or something else that will fit in there!). I actually used it in this stage of completion for awhile, but it wasn't finished yet! We also ended up torching the wood and then sealing it with a sealer several times (I'll do that each year when it goes outside, as well because FIVE years to finish this? I want it to last a long time).

Then came the artsy fartsy part. Hubby went through a phase of wanting to try stained glass, and per my usual stance on things, I would not let him discard any of the scrap pieces. He argued with me on that. I won. And it's a damn good thing! Now, let me just say that I thought the idea of doing a "mosaic" type project was going to be fun...and maybe it started off as that...but quickly turned into a draining jigsaw puzzle rabbit hole. This is when I finally called it done with the glass pieces and we were getting ready to grout it. You can also just see the torched wood too.

Hubby insisted on being the one to grout it. I mean, I don't know if it was because I had put so much effort into the colorful part of it that he wanted to give me a break or what. But he made the comment as he was smearing the grout on that he was going to make this into a masterpiece. Um, s'cuse me? Someone needs to stop drinking because now they're saying stupid stuff. Well, more than he usually says stupid stuff.

He was upset that he accidentally bought the stuff he had to mix..I guess he likes using the pre-mixed stuff? I have never used grout before, so I don't have an opinion. He also stated that he had JUST enough of the grout to cover! Phew! Five years and that close? It would have really been a bummer to run out, especially since a trip to the store is nearly an hour round trip!

Then he complained about one particular kind of glass that I used and how hard it was to clean the grout off. That glass is super special to me because I found it in the basement of an old tech school building, in an old musty dresser drawer. I also used said glass to make leaves for my Moontree sculpture! I'm pretty sure that glass is vintage since the school hadn't been used in a long time, but it's hard to say. One side of it was smooth and the other side wavy and bumpy. Hence hubby's difficulties in getting the grout completely wiped off!

But he persevered and he wiped and he wiped and he wiped......

And then it was done!

And now I have no plants to put in it...so trip to the garden center this week and then I'll post a picture of it completely set up in all its finery! I actually had another mosiac project in mind....and that one is circular...I might need to take a break for awhile before starting it!

UPDATE: and here it is with some flowers! I chose petunias so I could take a flower in occasionally to my kitty and she could enjoy them and be safe.

Nature Warrior, Honeysuckle edition

* Please read to bottom where I include some very important information about the new Terrestrial Plant Rule in Indiana. Various species of Honeysuckle are on that list!*

I am finding the amount of work on our less than an acre of land to handle invasive/non-natives plants overwhelming and I feel so far behind! I went into the small and narrow treeline last week to keep pulling Dame's Rocket (I did not plant those! Hell, it seems like 99% of what I've got growing here and need to remove is not something we planted!) but was promptly, and without grace, repeatedly carried out by the mosquitoes! I barely filled one bag and that was done with much swatting and cursing. I did manage to get a couple of armfuls of those plants out, plus some stinging nettle, burdock, etc.

The honeysuckle is in bloom right now and I've got one large tree/bush of it in the that treeline and a few smaller ones that aren't matured yet. It is yet another invasive that has made it to the new Terrestrial Plant Rule list here in Indiana and it is a prolific beast...as most invasives are. Why do invasives and non-native plants have to be such pretty colors and have such heady scents, damn them!?

Honeysuckle was one of the first invasives I was taught to identify (along with wild grape vine), at a watershed preserve I volunteered at a couple of Summers ago and it's one of the few plants that I can identify usually by just the bark. I used to work at a county park for a couple of years and was horrified to see how much was there, not to mention have you looked along roadsides?! The park assured me that they have someone who comes and takes care of them (by getting rid of them, of course), however, I just recently took a walk through that park a couple of years later and it is the same as ever. Those plants have not been touched at all. There has been no attempt whatsoever to do anything about those...and there was a lot of garlic mustard still there as well. Part of the reason I left!!! Anyhoot. I digress.

Honeysuckle. Research it a little and you'll find variations of it, like so many damn other plants, and some sites will say that there is supposedly a native species of the plant here in Indiana (a trumpet honeysuckle. But people will hear the word Honeysuckle and just assume they are all okay) and others will tell you that there is no such thing. It's super important to talk with people who work in this kind of field, to help take a wide array of information and zero it in a little and make sure it's correct. You also have to be sure that the information you are reading is for your particular state. I've read something, saw that a plant was considered bad, and didn't notice that is for another state. Here though? These honeysuckle are all coming out. But I wanted to utilize the blossoms one last time. DO NOT plant honeysuckle in the state of Indiana  just to utilize the blossoms. Again, these were already growing wild, and we are taking them out! I've had many people ask me why I wouldn't just leave them in order to utilize the blossoms each year? Because that is not important to me. Because that would be irresponsible and when we know better, we should do better. Because this crap, as with many invasive species of plants and animals, get out of control REALLY.FAST. And I want a healthy and diverse NATIVE eco-system.

Woodchuck (the hubby) made me a drying screen. We had some packages of oak snap-together frames that he used and then some metal screen that he hastily stapled on (never mind my delicate- skinned fingers!)

I raised the screen to get air flow and just rested each corner on some tall mason jars that are filled with various rocks that I've collected over the years. Nice and sturdy! I like to pick anything in the morning, when it's not still dewy, but before the sun gets high and hot. Fresh and supple is my goal. Some times I just go off of smell of each plant (Flying By the Seat of My Pants? I'm telling ya, it's fitting in so many areas of my life!) The hubby forgot to take the lid off of stain can for me before heading to the store, and I needed something to do, so I went and did the sniff test and looked at the blooms and determined that they were ready for me! (is anything ever really ready for me? HA!)

White blooms are the freshest and newest, more yellow-ish blooms are older and beginning to dry up and wilt. Those are super easy to get off, but also too easy to knock to the ground. Maybe laying a sheet or something underneath the area will catch those? I wanted to be careful anyway since we have poison ivy growing in this area I was in. Blooms are usually in three's from what I've noticed on the plant that is here.

I don't let them sit in this container for long and get them right to the drying the screen. I should add that the workshop these are drying in has a dehumidifier running, so it makes the perfect place for drying out herbs and such. I don't let them sit in the container for long because I want to get airflow around them, and I have forgotten herbs/flowers before and then they got moldy. Lots of pollen, and some tiny little bugs...it will all settle down.

I sprinkle them around, trying to not have any clumps, because again, air flow is key! They'll start to darken (yellow) and shrink as they dry. I don't rush this, I don't want to jar them and then have them mold because they weren't dry enough. Sprinkle and then walk away and forgot about them. You'll notice most natural things will start to shrivel or dry up very soon after being picked.

I use this same technique for things like lemon balm and dill too! I have a hanging thingy that is mesh and tiered and supposed to be for laundry, but I've tried that too with the dill with good results though it's not as easy and accessible as this screen. But this also takes up our workshop table and if we want to work on other projects, this has to be moved. I should also say, I have used regular window screens too for this! Literally. Hubby takes it out of the window to put the a/c in and I snag it. He doesn't like that (because what if my herbs and flower suddenly wield swords and cut the screen!?), so that's why he was more than happy to make this for me on what was already a very busy day for him!

Now, back to being to be a responsible steward of this precious land I live on and call home, because I'm dealing with removing invasives and non-native plants here for some very specific reasons. I care and I want a healthy eco-system that can be as it's supposed to be as much as my two little hands can make possible. This new (and fabulous!) Terrestrial Plant Rule that was recently passed here in the state of Indiana makes it illegal to gift, sell, transport, etc., any plant that is on that list. These blooms were harvested for my use only, with the intention of taking out the plant completely soon. We've already removed a winged burning bush (sold to me years ago at a farmers market. Make sure you do your homework before buying any plants from farmers markets, online, home improvement stores, etc. Some plants are just misidentified and marked incorrectly because of it and others know exactly what they're doing selling invasive plants and they don't care about the ecological impact it's having on native territory and plant species) and some Tree of Heaven to deal with (I have no stinking idea how it got here, and it seems like it's going to be very difficult for a layman to get rid of. Sigh.) So. Don't go transporting, planting, selling, gifting anything on the list in Indiana. Big no-no. And you'd be very naughty and on my shit list.

Also, I was taught that if the honeysuckle has Its berries, do not drop the cuttings on the ground. Just as a rule for myself, any invasive that I take out gets bagged in a heavy black bag. SOME plants can be left to dry that way (in the bag) and then burned once completely dried out, but we don't like to burn, so we bag them and them throw them out. Sadly, I was not able to find ANY written information (it may be spoken in one of the many YouTube videos I ran across but did not watch) on not letting the berried trimmings lay on the ground, but it makes sense, right? If it's spread by self-seeding and birds, you wouldn't want the berries laying at ground level or out in the open. Same with Autumn Olive and Burning Bush when they have their berries (and I was also told when we took out the winged burning bush here, not to let the roots come into contact with soil again or they'd take root again. In other words, no throwing the root ball in a field, ya'all!) I'm lucky to have become friends with the gal that I was volunteering under to remove invasive plants and I've just to send her a text with a question and maybe a picture and she gives me a lot of valuable information and helps me identify plants that I don't know yet.

Here are some sources to check out! Once you learn to identify non-native plants, and trying to remove them, you begin realizing how they are everywhere and just how big of an issue this has become.

 https://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/us/indiana
https://www.entm.purdue.edu/iisc/pdf/Terrestrial_Plant_Rule_Fact_Sheet_final.pdf
https://www.in.gov/dnr/6351.htm
https://www.indianawildlife.org/wildlife/native-plants/
https://www.misterhoneysuckle.com/
https://greatriversgreenway.org/honeysuckle/