Hartley

This morning I went for a walk at the Hartley Nature Center. This time I didn't park in the Nature Center parking lot. I parked on Hartley Lane where the Superior Hiking Trail enters the Hartley Nature Center after leaving Bagley Nature Center. Wow, they have a beautiful prairie here. I stayed on the snowmobile trail or what was formerly known as Old Hartley Farm Road.

This used to be a farm owned by a farmer by the name of Hartley. Look at all the yellow golden rod, Black eyed Susans plus the purple bergamot. Gorgeous yellow and purples.

Hartley had the biggest farm in Duluth. Here are the stairs to what used to be the root cellar to store root vegetables from 1910 to 1920. The lettuce here was great. Hartley introduced a new vegetable to this region - celery! I love celery. I can eat a bunch of celery every week. I remember by "wasbund's" grandmother, who was in her 90's and declining mentally a little bit, was eating a bunch of celery every day. Her family was worried that she was eating too much celery. I thought to myself, if you have to overeat on one food, what better food than celery? She was such a nice Finnish lady. I remember she told me once, on her 94th birthday, "It's embarrassing to be this old!" When Farmer Hartley passed away the farming ended. All employees were let go. The family donated the acreage to the city. I hope Farmer Hartley agreed with that decision.

Look at this plant! I have never seen this before. 

Here is the plant again.

When I get home I look it up in my trusty wild flower book, Wildflowers And Weeds: A Field Guide in Full Color by Booth Courtenay and James H. Zimmerman. This is a turtlehead! And it looks like a turtlehead too now that I know the name. Turtlehead is in the snapdragon family.

What is this one/ I have no idea.

According to my wildflower book this is red baneberry. The berries are poisonous to humans but grouse like them. Good thing I didn't taste one. As I walk along today I destroy the nasty invasive tansy that is everywhere. I rip off the yellow flower head and throw them on the path. Sometimes I rip out the whole plant which is as tall as my waist and throw it down and step on it. My hands turn yellow from all this work but they smell great. I only do this on public paths. I don't do it in private yards except my own. People have been passing me all day today. Some people are on fat tire bikes and some on foot. A handsome jogger goes by without a shirt on. He has a man bun and from the back he looks like a lanky Brad Pitt. I am not sure Brad Pitt has a man bun. I don't follow Brad Pitt that closely.  The Brad Pitt look-alike says, "Hello, neighbor."  My eyebrows go up. A light bulb turns on in my brain. He is the middle school science teacher next door.  "Oh, hi neighbor," I say hurriedly.. "Nice to see you. I thought I saw your car. Keep running though, don't slow down." He smiles and waves. I am not used to being recognized in Duluth. Only a few times have I been recognized unless I am on my own street. I am uncertain how I feel about loosing my anonymity.