The Battle Against Two Invasives: Tree-of-Heaven and Spotted Lanternfly
The Tree-of-Heaven, Ailanthus altissima, (I call it Tree-From-Hell) is the most invasive, destructive, non-native tree in the eastern United States. This tree is the preferred…
RECENT POSTS
October 13, 2026
I’m drawn to the strength and endurance of the Black Locust trees on our farm. Some in the pastures look like heavyweight boxers in their final round, beaten and exhausted. They withstand so much adversity. Black Locust borers eat their heartwood. Locust leafminers consume their foliage. A perennial fungus attacks […]
Whiskey Creek Almanac: August 2026, Climate Change, Mycofiltration, and the American Barn Owl
Climate Change Journal entry July 18: “I can’t see the mountains this morning.” Smoke from the wildfires in Canada, a thousand miles from our farm,…
Greed, Lies, and Lack of Oversight Led to the Kepone Disaster of 1975
“The story of Kepone was well known 40 years ago. Even 20 years ago, but with each passing decade it bears retelling lest we fail…
The Gardens of Whiskey Creek
When we first moved to Whiskey Creek in 2020, Jeanne asked me why there weren’t any birds here. “It’s because there is no habitat for…
The EPA Unleashes Polluters with the Repeal of the Endangerment Finding
Note: The text of this post was first published by the Augusta Free Press on May 7, 2026 The Environmental Protection Agency has abdicated its…
Earth Day 56: Data Centers and the Swallows of Whiskey Creek
The first Earth Day was celebrated in 1970. I remember it well; I was 15 years old and a freshman in high school. The next…
BOBBY'S BOOKS
Bobby writes about life on his farm, implementing riparian buffers, and the factors that led to the defeat of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline.
Bobby Whitescarver and Jeanne Hoffman are using WaterWatch to document the effectiveness of BMPs on their Whiskey Creek and Meadow View Farms to reduce nutrient, sediment, and bacteria loads into Whiskey Creek and Middle River. Water Watch, created by The Downstream Project, is designed around two cloud-based applications developed by The Commons (formerly Chesapeake Commons): Water Reporter, a social network that shares images, observations, and monitoring data to fuel social media campaigns for improving water quality; and Field Doc, which measures stream restoration impacts of management practices at the project and parcel level. View FieldDoc and WaterReporter…