A Riehl Family Sunday (at Evergreen Heights) by Erwin A. Thompson The Bible sets Sunday, the seventh day of the week, as a day of rest and worship. Through the years, we humans have tampered with this rule, adapting the day tour own uses and choice. Big machinery that costs money to shut down and…
At our weekly Sunday brunch we looked at nuts my niece and her children had gathered on our place. My great grandfather was a premier nut grower and grafted new varieties. I wondered if these nuts were Hickons (a cross between hickory and pecan). My niece said: “I think these are just pecans–pecans are, I…
Evergreen Heights, the place founded by E. A. Riehl and our homeplace still…where he communed with nature and forged paths to become one of the 8 premiere horticulturalist in the world at that time. E. A. Riehl was a pillar of the community, though known not to suffer fools gladly. The lane which ends in…
River Bluffs I have lived on the bluffs that overlook the Mississippi River for all but the first nine months of my life. The family owned a good pair of field glasses, and they were one of my great experiences, to look through them and watch things like the building of the rafts when they…
We’re in the time of Summer Solstice now when summer is in fullest bloom with the longest day and shortest night. To celebrate this time on Riehlife, I’m sharing a peony bouquet plucked from an email correspondence between Susan J. Tweit and my father…about the horticultural history of our homeplace, Evergreen Heights. Photo by Susan…
Evergreen Heights, the place pioneered by E.A. Riehl, my father’s grandfather As a family, over generations, we developed some of our own Christmas traditions. PROVIDING CHRISTMAS TREES FOR THE COMMUNITY My Grandfather Riehl was a pioneer in this part of the country in raising evergreen trees for Christmas trees. We took orders, in those days,…
Pop’s a cover boy! He’s made the front page of the ACTIVE LIVING section of THE TELEGRAPH. (When I was growing up, known as “The Alton Evening Telegraph”–but it now comes out in the morning.) To read the cover story “Clearing the Years: Brush-clearing helps 92-year-old reclaim youthful outlook” it says on the cover. Inside…