Iced Over, photo by karstenphoto
Stephen shot this photo on Lake Michigan on February 26th using Fujifilm Velvia 100. View it background bigtacular and see more in his winter slideshow.
More film photography and more winter wallpaper on Michigan in Pictures.
Mr. Sunshine…, photo by Dr. Farnsworth
Michigan Gardener is a fantastic site that can give you all kinds of help with what to put in your garden and how to make it grow. They have a nice article about sunflowers featuring Bob Koenders, owner of the Backyard Bouquet Farm. It begins:
According to the Michigan Department of Agriculture, in 1997 there were 32 farms growing sunflowers on 1,522 acres, and by 2002 there were 91 farms with 2,275 acres. Most of the fields of open sunflowers are oil seed type, grown for oil or seed (for birds or humans). Their heads were bred to hang down, making it more difficult for birds to eat the seeds and rain to ruin the harvest.
…According to the National Sunflower Association, the wild sunflower is native to North America, but commercialization of the plant was done by Russia. It was only somewhat recently that the sunflower plant “returned” to America. Native Americans first developed the wild sunflower into a single-headed plant with a variety of seed colors including black, red, white, and striped black and white. Some archeologists suggest that sunflowers may have been domesticated before corn. The Native Americans used the sunflower seed for grinding into flour, trail snacks, purple dyes, body painting, ceremonial, and medicinal uses. Sunflower oil was used for making bread, as well as on skin and hair. The dried stalks were even used for building materials.
They add some fun facts about sunflowers:
Read on for lots more including tips about growing sunflowers and get tons more sunflower info from the National Sunflower Association.
Check Dale’s photo out background bigtacular and see more in his Flower slideshow.
Grand Island’s North Shore, photo by Rudy Malmquist
Whereas Pictured Rocks Day is this Saturday and whereas this blog loves the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, I’ve decided to dedicate the week to posting about one of my favorite areas of Michigan. ;)
Wikipedia explains that the Grand Island National Recreation Area is part of the Hiawatha National Forest. The 13,500-acre island is about 8 miles long and is located about a mile off the Lake Superior shore at Munising. Congress made the island a National Recreation Area in 1990 after the U.S. Forest Service purchased it from the Cleveland Cliffs Iron Co.
Grand Island’s geology is an extension of the sandstone strata of the adjacent Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. Island sandstone cliffs as tall as 300 feet (91 m) in height plunge down into the lake. A 23-mile (37 km) perimeter trail skirts much of the island’s shoreline.
Native Americans quickly found the fisheries around Grand Island to be a resource for seasonal and year-round living. Artifacts from as early as 3300 years before the present (1300 BCE) have been found.
Grand Island National Recreation Area is served during summer months by a tourist ferry and island tour bus. The ferry ride, which is less than 1 mile (1.6 km) long, shuttles between a dock on M-28, northwest of Munising, and Grand Island’s Williams Landing. Ticket fees and an admission fee to the island are charged. During the summer months, the ferry makes several trips to the island each day.
Also see the Forest Service site for Grand Island, a Google Map of the island and the Grand Island Ferry Service which has all kinds of recreation information including the fact that the island has bike-friendly roads & trails! Here’s a video of that gives a taste of biking there, and definitely check out frequent michpics photographer Nina Asunto’s blogs about Grand Island for an in-depth look at this island.
I’m pretty confident that the biking drew Rudy to the island. Get the photo big as Superior and see more work from Rudy in his slideshow.
See the Grand Island North Lighthouse, the Grand Island East Channel Light and more Michigan islands on Michigan in Pictures.
DSC08382, photo by ansonredford
Crocuses have to be one of my favorite flowers. In addition to being beautiful, they are also one of the leading harbingers of spring in Michigan!
Check this out background bigtacular, get yourself in a springtime mood with Donald’s Flowers slideshow and see more of his photos on Michigan in Pictures.
More flowers on Michigan in Pictures, and if you want to be particular, here’s just the crocuses!
DSC02860_1_2_3_tonemapped, photo by ansonredford
Donald writes that he’s never seen a quad-silo barn before he came across this one – me neither!!
Check this out big as a barn and see several more looks at this barn in his Barns & Silos slideshow.
More barns on Michigan in Pictures.
Leaping in a Winter Wonderland, photo by karstenphoto
Today is Michigan’s 176th birthday. For the 175th birthday last year we compiled some fun facts that you can check out. Here’s hoping that you get a chance to get out and celebrate what Michigan has to offer this weekend!
If you’re staying warm inside, consider reading about Michigan’s statehood and associated documents at Seeking Michigan.
Check Steven’s photo out big as Michigan and see this and more winter fun in his winter slideshow.
Winter 2011 – Lake Ice, photo by danbruell
The Great Lakes Echo reports that:
A composite map of the Great Lakes produced by NOAA’s CoastWatch organization shows near-historic low ice coverage across the region.
The map, known as the Great Lakes Surface Environmental Analysis, is a composite of data taken from NOAA satellites orbiting the earth’s poles and radar scans of the lakes by the National Ice Center. The resulting image shows surface water temperature and ice coverage, important data for region scientists, fishermen and boaters. The map’s data is updated daily.
“Previously, the lowest ice coverage year was 2002,” CoastWatch manager George Leshkevich said. “2012 came very close to 2002, and this year is looking very similar to last year.”
Lack of ice cover leads to increased water evaporation, a serious concern in light of already-low lake levels.
You can read more about last year’s ice cover and impacts on Absolute Michigan.
Check Dan’s photo out background bigtacular and see more in his Lake Ice slideshow.
More winter wallpaper on Michigan in Pictures!
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