Rebecca Terk

@rebeccaterk

Feeding people. Growing things. Protecting land & water. He Sapa, SoDak, USA

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Rebecca Terk@rebeccaterk· 13d

“Escaped” the heat (mid 90s vs mid 100s) by heading up to work in the timber this weekend. Can’t say we got a lot done thanks to a B-A-D D-O-G who thinks it’s fun to chase cows grazing our pasture & roll in fresh manure. 🤦🏼‍♀️

A large black & brown dog lies flattened in the grass. She has been told she is a b-a-d d-o-g for chasing the cattle that were just turned out on our pasture.

Fluffy seed heads of Red top grass illuminated in the sunlight, growing along a creek bed

A fuzzy yellow bumblebee with black stripes on a bright pink thistle flower

An elder black Corgi mutt with white muzzle lies on the grass next to a metal folding chair and overturned bush hat. He's happy because he knows he's a good boy and a grown ass dog who doesn't chase cows or (well, most of the time) roll in sh*t

Rebecca Terk@rebeccaterk· 16d

Thanks for adding an iNaturalist observation in my project area, “fartknocker98”! 😂

A screenshot of an INaturalist observation from “fartknocker98” of a Sawsepal beardtongue in bloom along Ditch Creek Road near Deerfield Reservoir in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

Rebecca Terk@rebeccaterk· 18d

Finally, the season of cucumbers is upon us! Favorite simple breakfast activated: toasted bagel, cream cheese & fresh garden cuke slices, sprinkled with za’atar. Once in awhile I buy a grocery store cuke, only to be reminded how crappy (& expensive!) they are.

A toasted sprouted wheat bagel on a plate. It’s spread with cream cheese and covered with cucumber slices, sprinkled with an herb blend of oregano, sesame seed, sumac, and salt.

Rebecca Terk@rebeccaterk· 23d

Morning basil harvest! We’re heating up again, so I did an overall cut back ahead of fertilizing. Gave the green to my neighbor, now looking for a taker for the purple (already a ton in the freezer, plus pesto in the fridge). #gardensky

A whole mess of Italian large leaf basil on a white-striped red towel on a blue countertop

A whole mess of purple “Opal” basil on a white-striped green towel on a blue countertop

Rebecca Terk@rebeccaterk· 24d

Another round of heat brutality approaches. My hair is crispy & scalp itchy from the last round of repeated creek-dunks. I *could* just mix some rosemary & tea tree into olive oil, BUT! Did you even know they still make this stuff? Found at Boyd’s, OF COURSE.

A box of (2) Alberto VO5 hot oil hair treatment vials.

Rebecca Terk@rebeccaterk· 27d

Made it through the heat & rare humidity yesterday, & we’re finally on a cooling trend (smoke will start moving in) 🙃 Cutleaf coneflowers are in majestic full bloom along the creek—their roots tapping into alluvial water. #flowersky

Stalks of golden yellow coneflowers with green centers stand against a backdrop of boulders and a rushing creek. In the distance, deciduous trees line the creek edges and a steep, pine-fringed canyon wall rises with daylight breaking over the rim.

Rebecca Terk@rebeccaterk· Jul 15

Rapid Creek legit saving my life today. That’s one reason why I work to protect it!

A cold mountain creek rushes between rocks into a deep pool. In the background, canyon walls rise in the evening light, rimmed with willows, grasses, deciduous trees, and pines.
I am standing in this pool cooling off after another 100+ degree day. This is not the first (or even second or third) time I’ve been in it today

Rebecca Terk@rebeccaterk· Jul 14

Prairie native wildflower & medicinal plant! Very high in thymol

A native pasture meadow in the Black Hills of South Dakota filled with fluffy pinkish purple blossoms of bee balm (Monarda fistulosa). In the distance, a dark spruce forest circles the meadow’s edge

Rebecca Terk@rebeccaterk· Jul 13

Yeah, you can acclimate up to a point. We are privileged to be able to take our body temps down fast—living on a clean, cold, fast-running creek. Still? This heat wave is a heads up that a portable AC unit to cool at least one room is a necessity (& especially if there’s wildfire smoke)

A thermometer mounted on a wooden post reads +/-118 degrees Fahrenheit.
The air temp isn’t this hot (getting some reflected heat from the house), but we also get a lot of reflected heat from the canyon walls that creates a more intense microclimate than what our forecast would otherwise predict.

A thermostat (for our pellet stove) reads 79.7 degrees Fahrenheit. This is just about the max temp our split-level house will get on the lower level. The upper level? Much hotter, and without AC relies on cooler nighttime temps to get to a reasonable temperature (we do have a loft fan to expel hot air)

Rebecca Terk@rebeccaterk· Jul 11

This heat ain’t kidding

A mercury thermometer mounted on a wooden deck post reads 110 degrees Fahrenheit

Rebecca Terk@rebeccaterk· Jul 7

Morning water sampling run on Nichols, and the South Fork of Castle Creek. Bonus: breakfast at Mountain Meadow, where they know my order by ❤️

A mountain stream lined with Junegrass and Black Hills spruce runs over a rocky bed under a partly cloudy sky.
This is the South Fork of Castle Creek, just upstream from its confluence with the mainstem of Castle Creek (and a few hundred yards upstream of where they flow into Deerfield Reservoir).
This whole complex is part of the Rapid/Castle Creek Watershed in the Central Black Hills of South Dakota

Rebecca Terk@rebeccaterk· Jul 5

Skorts are the way! I’ve slowly built my collection of Free Fly ones with the comfy stretch bamboo shorts underneath. Can’t imagine ever giving them up (in my 50s now)

My chubby freckled leg sporting a light blue skort with stretch bamboo shorts underneath. The shorts even have a phone pocket (not shown)

Rebecca Terk@rebeccaterk· Jul 5

Hooray for the red, white, & blue (Swamp milkweed, Water hemlock, Blue vervain)

Swamp, or red milkweed, Blue vervain, and white flowered water hemlock along a creek with large boulders in the background.

Rebecca Terk@rebeccaterk· Jul 2

Ok it’s random & lightweight, but please squee with me about these adorable lil food grade squeezable silicon camping/picnic condiment containers I found while waiting to check out at the grocery store. A steal at $5 for all three.

Three small silicon refillable condiment squeeze containers (white, red, and yellow) on a blue bamboo-patterned countertop with wine bottles & other kitchen gadgets in the background.
They are freakin adorable.

Rebecca Terk@rebeccaterk· Jun 30

Two days working on the land. Wearing out our bodies & replenishing our souls.

A grassy June meadow comes to a point in the distance, surrounded by forest of spruce and pine. Clouds in a blue sky overhead are streaked with evening light

A yellow-shafted grey and white feather is propped on a dry forked stick on a ground covered with dry grass, pine needles and cones

A grassy area with a two-track road passing through it. There are scattered tall pine trees, and some shorter pine and spruce.
In the background a mountain is visible with wooded sides and a “bald” grassy peak

Looking up toward the top of a snapped-off aspen tree with mushrooms growing out of it too far up to reach. Leafed out aspen trees are in the background with blue sky and wispy clouds

Rebecca Terk@rebeccaterk· Jun 30

This is what the cold shoulder looks like from your dog who totally earned that infernal death-poop stink finding a fresh deer kill & consuming/rolling/ becoming one with it & HOW COULD YOU entrap and scrub it off me I can never have the best doggie things my life is misery despite all those treats

A very fluffy large black and brown dog lies on a couch facing away from the camera in absolute misery because her humans would not allow her to bring her massive stench from rolling in dead poopy remains into the house and so enticed her with treats into a collar and leash and washed all that beautiful perfume off of her and omg how could they?

Rebecca Terk@rebeccaterk· Jun 27

Hallelujah we have a fence! Friends may remember how our adjoining neighbor, with whom we’d negotiated grazing contracts in years past, last year negotiated a contract utilizing our land without our knowledge or permission, telling the rancher he was “managing” our land for us. How kind 🙄

Wooden fence corner posts with barbed wire in a grassy meadow with pine and spruce trees. Behind the fence there is a bright pink painted wooden boundary survey stake

Rebecca Terk@rebeccaterk· Jun 24

Yep.

A warning sign at Sage Creek Campground at Badlands National Park indicating that wild rodents in the area as well as the fleas they carry may be infected with plague

Rebecca Terk@rebeccaterk· Jun 24

It was time! New kitty, kennel (Humane Society) name “Violet.” She’s a sheddy chunk o’ love. Vet check up this morning. Dog intros…when she’s good & ready.

A grey domestic shorthair tabby cat mix with yellow eyes. She has white feet, perky ears, and the “M” mark of a mighty mouser on her forehead. You can’t see her tail in this picture, but you can see enough of her body to know she’s pretty chunky.
She’s standing on a grey tile floor next to a dark grey vanity cabinet and person’s blue Jean-clad leg

Rebecca Terk@rebeccaterk· Jun 12

Eastern eyed click beetles always spook me, which I guess is the point. What big eyes[pots] you have!

A large segmented black & white beetle with two large black eye spots rimmed in white. It’s on my wooden front step.

Rebecca Terk@rebeccaterk· Jun 11

Shhhh. I like it better than sauerkraut. It’s sauerruben, and it’s what I make every year with about 4lbs of my spring turnips, a few garlic scapes, and some coriander seed & peppercorns.

A half gallon jar sitting in a shallow bowl in a pantry. A fermentation cap is attached to the jar. Inside is a mix of bright-white shreds of spring turnips, dotted with green flecks of chopped garlic scapes (the immature flower stalk of a garlic plant), light brown spots of coriander seeds, and an occasional black dot of a peppercorn.
Fermented turnips are called sauerruben and to my mind, taste better than kraut!

Rebecca Terk@rebeccaterk· Jun 9

First turtle I’ve seen up in this part of the canyon! Floof-pup was signaling “snake,” so I investigated to make sure she wasn’t feinting at a rattler or bugging a bull, milk, or garter. Calmed & removed her & told her turtles are friends (so are most snakes here, but don’t want anyone hurt).

A painted turtle on grassy terrain in the Black Hills of Western SoDak

Rebecca Terk@rebeccaterk· Jun 8

Big cooking project & chest freezer running out of space. Emergency batch of chicken stock to clear out carcass bags. Because I totally needed a side quest on a Monday afternoon 🤦🏼‍♀️

Bubbling batch of chicken carcasses in water & apple cider vinegar with a random bit of lemon.
This is a 22 qt stockpot full of roasted chicken bones and inedible parts that got stowed in our chest freezer over the past several months & now need to be processed so there’s space in that freezer for other food that needs temporary storage.
But I really could have used not to deal with that chicken carcass issue while I’m making other food that needs storage

Rebecca Terk@rebeccaterk· Jun 8

Sure, it feels cooler in the house. With a cooking project going that can’t really wait, just shy of 80 degrees is today’s “cool.” In the Badlands for 3 1/2 days without shade in just over a week, so this functions as my acclimatization. (Yes, also, I am begging the gods for cooler temps) 🥵

Rebecca Terk@rebeccaterk· Jun 7

Far be it from me to interfere w/ a bonding project between my husband, his brother, & our son-in-law in 95-degree heat. I did suggest we borrow the neighbor’s wood splitter & packed the beer cooler to facilitate the ask. A hot job that’ll provide a lot of winter warmth!

A large stack of split, mostly hardwood firewood sitting on pallets. Death to invasive Siberian elms!

Rebecca Terk@rebeccaterk· Jun 6

Suited up to do heavy mowing, dragged machine out, and let’s say it didn’t appreciate the way it was stored. So instead of mowing, I’m at Willy’s, waiting for them to open so they can help me unload what I stupidly loaded by myself. Bonus stop at hardware store for kitchen drain opener! 😬

A chainsaw & engine repair shop located in a brown house

Rebecca Terk@rebeccaterk· Jun 5

It’s blue time in the high Hills…western blue flag, blue-eyed grass, silvery lupine, violets upon violets. Finally some moisture has leafed out the most reticent of the aspen, too.

Western blue flag, a wild iris native to the Black Hills.

Rebecca Terk@rebeccaterk· Jun 2

If you’re smelling a strong, musky (and slightly grape-y) perfume in a riparian area these days but can’t identify the source, it’s likely the subtle but hugely fragrant blossoms of riverbank grape (Vitis riparia)

Vitis riparia (riverbank or riparian wild grape) blossoms & leaves

Rebecca Terk@rebeccaterk· May 31

I mean, I did peg this as a serious possibility after the icky heat+humidity of this day. We are officially in “summer weather pattern” and the hail cover better get on the gardens sooner rather than later. #gardensky

A terracotta pot full of lemon verbena and large pea-sized hail

Rebecca Terk@rebeccaterk· May 28

Just fell off the turnip truck #gardensky