Grimm Acres, Diversified

11/05/2024

8 out of 9 woolly bear caterpillars agree it will be a mild winter. Severe or mild, they'll all be frozen solid under leaf litter anyway. In the spring, these caterpillars will thaw out, pupate within cocoons and emerge as adult Isabella tiger moths.

While there's no scientific backing to the idea that the banding color can predict winter weather, it's still fun to watch for patterns. Even caterpillars from the same clutch of eggs can have a wide variation in color!

📷 USFWS

09/04/2024

“All who are not lunatics are agreed about certain things. That it is better to be alive than dead, better to be adequately fed than starved, better to be free than a slave. Many people desire those things only for themselves and their friends; they are quite content that their enemies should suffer. These people can only be refuted by science: Humankind has become so much one family that we cannot ensure our own prosperity except by ensuring that of everyone else. If you wish to be happy yourself, you must resign yourself to seeing others also happy.“

— Bertrand Russell, The Science to Save Us from Science, The New York Times (19 March 1950)

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08/19/2024

Congressional Medal of Honor Society
Stories of Sacrifice

Harold Alva Garman
Details
Rank: Private (Highest Rank: Technician Fifth Grade)
Conflict/Era: World War II
Unit/Command:
Company B, 5th Medical Battalion, 10th Infantry,
5th Infantry Division
Military Service Branch: U.S. Army
Medal of Honor Action Date: August 25, 1944
Medal of Honor Action Place: near Montereau, France
Citation
For conspicuouus gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. On 25 August 1944, in the vicinity of Montereau, France, the enemy was sharply contesting any enlargement of the bridgehead which our forces had established on the northern bank of the Seine River in this sector. Casualties were being evacuated to the southern shore in assault boats paddled by litter bearers from a medical battalion. Pvt. Garman, also a litter bearer in this battalion, was working on the friendly shore carrying the wounded from the boats to waiting ambulances. As one boatload of wounded reached midstream, a German machine gun suddenly opened fire upon it from a commanding position on the northern bank 100 yards away. All of the men in the boat immediately took to the water except one man who was so badly wounded he could not rise from his litter. Two other patients who were unable to swim because of their wounds clung to the sides of the boat. Seeing the extreme danger of these patients, Pvt. Garman without a moment's hesitation plunged into the Seine. Swimming directly into a hail of machine-gun bullets, he rapidly reached the assault boat and then while still under accurately aimed fire towed the boat with great effort to the southern shore. This soldier's moving heroism not only saved the lives of the three patients but so inspired his comrades that additional assault boats were immediately procured and the evacuation of the wounded resumed. Pvt. Garman's great courage and his heroic devotion to the highest tenets of the Medical Corps may be written with great pride in the annals of the corps.
Medal of Honor Recipient Harold A. Garman
Medal of Honor Recipient Harold A. Garman
Additional Details
Accredited to: Albion, Edwards County, Illinois
Awarded Posthumously: No
Presentation Date & Details: April 6, 1945
Munetx, Germany, presented by Gen. George S. Patton
Born: February 26, 1918, Fairfield, Wayne County, IL, United States
Died: August 13, 1992, Albion, IL, United States
Buried: Samaria Baptist Church Cemetery (MH) , Albion, IL, United States

12/02/2023

Red Delicious-er!

Customers often ask us for suggestions for equivalents to their favorite “grocery store” apples. We can’t offer any direct comparisons since we think the varieties we offer are far superior in flavor and character than those widely available in stores. But here are some suggestions or varieties that share qualities with some familiar commercial apples.

11/28/2023

Why does Fedco sell bare-root trees?

Reason #4: Bare-root plants aren’t root bound, which is always a risk with potted plants.

Root bound root systems will continue to grow in the same circle as though they are still in the pot even after being planted in the ground unless you cut the roots or tease them apart to interrupt this growth pattern. The roots of bare-root plants will continue to grow naturally once planted and with less stress to the plant.

https://fedcoseeds.com/trees/

11/28/2023