ferndale's garden

Raptor Morning !

2012-01-07T12:03:00.000-08:00

Jamie and I had been following the rare bird reports on CO Birds for several Golden-Crowned Sparrows and a few Snowy Owls. We had driven all the way down to Aurora Reservoir last weekend to try and see the Snowy, but no luck. On the way home that day we stopped by Red Rocks, hoping to catch a glimpse of the Golden-Crowned. And although we didnt catch the sparrow, we did get to see 4 of the 15 races that the Cornell Lab of Ornithology says exist. Here's an excerpt from their All About Birds website :

"Regional Differences

There is a huge range of geographic variation in the Dark-eyed Junco. Among the 15 described races, six forms are easily recognizable in the field and five used to be considered separate species until the 1980s. A field guide is the best place to look for complete illustration of ranges and plumages, but in general there are two widespread forms of the Dark-eyed Junco: “slate-colored” junco of the eastern United States and most of Canada, which is smooth gray above; and “Oregon” junco, found across much of the western U.S., with a dark hood, warm brown back and rufous flanks. Other more restricted variations include the slate-colored-like “white-winged” and Oregon-like “pink-sided” juncos of the Rockies and western Great Plains; and the Yellow-eyed Junco-like “red-backed” and “gray-headed” juncos of the Southwest."

We saw the basic Slate-colored ( all we ever saw back east....loved those little guys ! ),the Pink-sided, Grey-headed and the Oregon. A Spotted Towhee joined them now and then at the feeder behind the Trading Post, along with a Song Sparrow and House Finches and of course House Sparrows. A few Scrub Jays, apparent residents of the area, came and went...looking huge next to all the tiny finches and sparrows.

On our way out to the location described for the Snowy this morning we spotted a Northern Harrier, several American Kestrels and a few Red-Tailed Hawks. We scanned the cropped fields in every direction as we got closer to Harvest Drive, and suddenly, there it was...the Snowy Owl...WAY off, standing on a patch of snow in an open area of a dark green, very short cultivated grass/crop of some kind. Jamie set the scope up and brought s/he into view...wow ! What a beauty ! And so far from home. We chatted with some of the other birders for a few minutes and then headed over to nearby Barr Lake State Park. And there, out on the mostly frozen lake were at least 21 Bald eagles !!! Most of the were juveniles in various stages of plumage...looked like all the years were represented, including a few adults. Most were standing about on the ice, some flying, and some perching in the trees surrounding the lake. some gulls and ducks were floating in the small open water area, with the eagles walking about on the edges. It was cold...27 degrees, but no wind. But still...our mesh-topped summer running shoes were not match ! And fingers....how is it that the fingers can get SO cold ???? All in all a really great morning ! Unfortunately I never took my camera out...I would have had to take my gloves off....

Boulder, Colorado !

2011-07-24T12:17:00.000-07:00

Click on the picture to better see the snow-capped Rocky Mountains in the far distance. I'm at St. Vrains State Park taking this picture, a few weeks back. It's about 20 miles east and a few miles north of Boulder. Saw 5 American White Pelicans ( what a sight to see them take off from the water ! ), a platform nest of Osprey with 3 big fledglings, many many swallows ( VG, Tree, Barn, Cliff), Western Kingbirds and several other species. There was a big stand of milkweed near the water that was in full bloom, but no Monarch activity. I need to go back there and see if there is now.
We've been here for almost two months now, and it's felt like coming home from the very beginning. The Western climate really appeals to my early years in California, and the geology is not only spectacular to look at, it also shapes the weather and plant and animal life.

We arrived in Boulder with our two cats, Sam and Tomsky, May 30th. The kitties endured being pressed into tiny cat carriers and stuffed under the seats in front of our feet, for the 3 hour plane ride. We stayed three nights at the Boulder Outlook Hotel. Sam's carrier had to be taken apart for him to get out of it..he'd snagged a claw on the padding I put in there for him. A "single stream recycling" cardboard box provided by the hotel to drop our recyclables into became Sam's spot to pass two days and nights in deep ( comatose ? ) sleep, getting out only to drink a little and use the litterbox. He rallied on the third day and decided to join the rest of us. Yeh ! Hang in there , Sam ! Tomsky spent hours at the big window that faced the dog exercise area, watching people and dogs go by.
Jamie and I set out right away, exploring the town ( and birding ! ) and getting ready to move into the great house he rented for us only a mile or so from Scot and Terry. The PODS arrived as scheduled, my car showed up on the transport, delivered without incident :) Jamie spent a few days ( after working all day ) unloading the PODS. Scot and Terry's youngest son, Byron, came over one day and lent a strong back and some fun. My stupid back doesnt allow me to lift much weight, so I mostly unpacked and sorted things as they came in.
Each day we go for walks, bike rides and/or hikes in the surrounding area or get in the Prius and head up to the mountains, or out to the foothills, hogbacks, mesas, grasslands, plains or flatirons to poke around. Downtown and the farmer's market is just a quick bike ride away. It is so easy to live here.

An Awesome Day

2011-04-14T15:59:00.000-07:00

Wow. A gorgeous Spring morning just got better and better as the sun moved across the sky. An hour and a half of home yoga with sun streaming thru the east window got me warmed up.
A cleaning crew came and got this house cleaner than its been in 12 years in 2 hours ! Why have I resisted for so long ?

I spent some time in the basement getting the slab roller unearthed and the kiln spiffed up...someone is coming by to have a look at it tomorrow and possibly buy it. I am happy to move on. I feel the pull of printmaking again. So simple and direct. And watercolors. And just drawing. Why have I strayed ?

I sat out in the new flower bed ( new as of 2010 ) and pulled a few weeds and just absorbed being in the garden. Had not done that in months and months. A big garden spider ( some fort of wolf spider ) emerged from a hole, its legs looking exactly like teeny tiny threads of incredibly fragile twigs.
Wild violets are blooming. Spring Beauties are blooming. May Apples are up, but not blooming yet. Cutleaf Toothwort and Service Berry ( Shadbush ) are in full feather though. The Spicebush doesnt seem to be putting on quite the show as last year , when they lit up a section of the woods on Rickard road with their tiny yellow flowers. Back in our garden, the Moonbeam and American dream coreopsis are emerging, as are the Echinacea and the Rudbeckia Maxima. The Peonies are up a good twelve inches now. Daffodils are extra bright this year it seems !

I went for a walk and saw a Brown Creeper for the first time in several years. I finally saw a Field Sparrow this season! I'd been hearing them, but could not lay eyes on them !

When i got home I steamed up some bok choy to go with my leftover zuke/kalamata olive fritatta and some mac n cheeze. Yum yum. A smallish chunk of banana cake rounded it all off. And a few Dandies marshmallows.

Yesterday was cool and rainy most of the day, perfect apparently, for the rubbery looking orange fungus pictured here.

I think the neighbor's Chimney Swifts may be back...I'll have to check again tomorrow.

My 55th B-Day and a Move

2011-04-12T14:27:00.000-07:00

Today I turned 55. Double nickel as my hubby would say :)
Big changes happening. We are moving from Northern Virginia ( Lovettsville ) to Boulder, Colorado, for at least a few years. We will rent out our house here, and just rent in Boulder. My brother Scot and his wife and family all live in Colorado. My mother and another brother lives in AZ, and yet another brother and his family lives in Southern California. We are excited about the change, but it's also a little intimidating ....starting a new life in another town. I love our neighbors here. I will really miss the everyday rhythms of the seasons on this spot of the planet, but Colorado will have it's own.
The birding will be very different. But the geology will be awesome !
Just wanted to "check in " and start blogging again...I miss it.
Two books arrived in the mail today, for my birthday...the new Crossley ID Guide, and Zen Birding. The Crossley Guide is the next step in the evolution of bird guides...the author and photographer has combined many positions and proximity shots of birds and even placed them in typical scenery, all on one page, along with a map for each bird. Fantastic ! It weighs in at 3lbs. 13oz, so we won't be taking in the field, but it will be great in the car or back at the house, cabin or cottage. Sally, Laureen and I will give it a workout while up in Point Pelee, Canada, next month !

Bird Love

2010-12-30T01:58:00.000-08:00

Man, I love birding. Nothing is as absorbing and rewarding as being out there, catching glimpses of birds in the air, in the trees or on the ground. The rewards are ephemeral...nothing you can keep (unless you have made the effort to photograph )
and what sightings you get can often be hard-won.
I spent most of yesterday counting birds with Bruce and Helen, and Helen's daughter, Holly. We were covering a small sector of Loudoun County, Va. for the 111th Audubon Christmas Bird Count. It was a little cold, but not too bad...it started out around 25, but shot up to 50 by 2:00. Patchy snow here and there. No wind to speak of. And lots of bright sunshine. Considering that most of the east coast had just endured a massive snowstorm, that left up to 30" in some areas of New Jersey, and 18" in Boston...we were actually very lucky! Our highlights included getting a good long look at a hovering Sharpie and seeing a flock of 15+ Northern Flickers going over an Osage Orange tree for what we werent sure, but something in or on the tree was very attractive to the Flickers and a small troop of Titmice. We stopped about 10 feet away and watched for a good five minutes.
Collecting information for scientists to use for projects like this Occurrence Map put together by eBird is such a privilege :)
The Christmas Bird Counts in our area are organized by Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy, which itself is a crucial organization striving to, among many issues, educate the public about the importance of wild places for wildlife and people.

2010-05-30T09:05:00.000-07:00

Hmmmm.... in last post I was gushing about the raised beds we had set up ( did I thank my sister-in-law for helping me clear out the Fenced Garden?....I don't think I did ! ), and here I am having a Chickpea-of-the-Sea sandwich on rye with a small salad's worth of the last of the lettuce on it ! I picked it all this morning. We are expecting high temperatures, and it was wanting to bolt. I gave some to a neighbor, will give some to Dad, and will still have a lot. Jamie is in Brussels at the moment ( just called to say he's still alive after the Brussels 20k race ! ) , but when he gets home, he'll love the big salads we'll have for a week or so, till the lettuce ' turns' in the fridge. the picture here is of a sandwich I made a few weeks back with more CoftheP, sprouted lentils and tiny thinnings from the beets. Even that small, you can taste their sweetness.
I planted out around 65 milkweed seedlings...some as thin as threads. Some milkweed is coming up from last year...from wintered-over tubers ( rhizomes ? ). I think that is Swamp Milkweed. I've bee pulling up the Balloon Milkweed seedligns that are everywhere....I grew those last year. The Monarchs loved them, plants and blooms. They bloomed all the way up till a hard frost. But they are not native to our area, and I'm trying to plant only natives now, to help local species. I wish that I had been cued into this years ago...! The second anniversary of my brother Bill's passing is coming up June 2nd. All the Milkweeds got planted in his garden. AND, I think I may have seen a Monarch this morning !!!!

New Year and Raised Beds

2010-03-29T02:07:00.000-07:00

Yikes ! Almost a year since the last post !!! I don't know how that is possible...I think of this blog often. The plants, bugs and animals that enter my life... I make mental blog entries , but then apparently never actually type the words.
Time to reconnect !
And we are starting this new year out with a re-invigorated veggie garden, including two new 4x8 foot raised beds, 12" deep. Jamie built the beds from old 2x6's and some plastic raised-bed corner thingys we've had for years ( I think I got them at a yard sale )but had never really used )that hold the boards in place. These beds will be for all the greens, lettuces, beets, carrots and a few herbs. I'm just finishing up some arugula, collards, chard and kale a very generous neighbor gave me at the end of last year's growing season. I blanched and froze the greens in batches so that I could easily add a servings worth of the super nutritious leaves to what ever I wanted. They've been used all Winter in soups, stews, over rice, quinoa and even rolled into burritos. The tomatoes and peppers will go in the ground , in the old hen yard, behind the hen house, after we till in some extra leaf mold and kelp meal.
Stink bugs kept us company all Winter, only occasionally going off and confirming that yes, they can stink...quite a bit! But for the most part, they tried to stay out of the way and were gentle reminders of the abundance of insect life.

Wild Peaches

2009-05-16T02:23:00.000-07:00

Our compost pile has had a small fruit tree growing out the back of it for several years now. Jamie has insisted that it not be cut down. I reluctantly agreed...we keep a pretty casual yard and compost heap, and random trees sprouting here and there are a constant challenge. But this year the tree bloomed...nice big pink blossoms, right about the time the domestic cherry trees were blooming. But something about the leaves, that eventually developed the long, curved, slightly V -shaped look that I associate with peach leaves...and sure enough...tiny fuzz-covered fruit started to develop. I'm not sure if we must thin them out, or let it happen naturally, or hope that some peach disease doesnt take them all off ! this picture was taken yesterday, the 15th of May.

Lettuce Still Confined to Tofu Tubs !

2009-05-08T13:28:00.000-07:00

These guys are so ready to go in the ground, but I've been busy (and neglectful)and they are quietly ( how else ?? ) waiting to be planted in the earth and spread their roots. Meanwhile, the slugs have discovered their confinement and sent word out to all of slugdom that there are sweet tender leaves, neatly contained...just waiting to be mowed down. Please hang in there guys...just a few more days, I promise !

Return of the Swallows

2009-04-30T02:34:00.000-07:00

Last year we put up a bluebird box, hoping to attract some Bluebirds to our yard. We were quite surprised to see Tree Swallows show up, seemingly out of nowhere, set up house keeping, raise a twittering brood of six, gather with other Tree Swallows in the area and then disappear...all in a matter of just a few weeks. It was this date, April 30th, that they arrived last year. This year, they arrived on April 12th, (my birthday ! )and immediately started arguing with the House Sparrows as to who was going to use the box. We set up another box, about 100 feet away from the first, and watched the Swallows and Sparrows duke it out, while a pair of Chickadees decided that Box#2 was perfect for them and worked for several days building a nest. Then the Tree Swallows gave up on Box # 1, evicted the Chickadees and moved in. I'm clearing out House Sparrow nests from Box # 1 every few days now. The Chickadees moved on to less contentious grounds. Welcome back Swallows ! This picture was taken yesterday, through the misty rain.

Slow-Cooked Kitten Goodness

2009-01-19T05:35:00.000-08:00

OK, not very sanitary, but I couldnt help it ! Tomsky is not supposed to be on the counter at all, let alone in a pot, but my back was to the counter and he jumped up and into the pot, and hunkered down so as to hide....such a cat-like thing to do :>...I just had to laugh !
Most of the seed catalogs are in and I've made many lists of what I'd like to grow, but the reality of the cold, hard January ground right outside the window and the awful state I left all the garden spots in the Fall, gives me pause as to just what I can realistically expect out of myself. Lettuce, peppers, beets and tomatoes are definites...potatoes, chard and zukes I want to grow, but the bugs so love the potatoes and squash leaves that it's hard to keep ahead of them.
I've followed Eat The View's efforts to replace at lest some of the White House's lawn with an organic garden ...what a great idea ! In fact, we are going to grow some food in our front yard this year, too...peppers and tomatoes would do well out there. All this lawn drives me crazy...grow it just to mow it...how dumb is that ?

2008-12-19T02:52:00.000-08:00

Here's the first new addition to our family in almost 10 years. He's the sweetest kitten ever. But hell on the houseplants. Most of the plants are crammed into a spare bedroom, yearning towards the weak winter light filtering in through the North facing window. The Banana Grove, however, spends its winters basking in the glow of Southern exposure of our master bedroom. The only drawback for the Grove, this winter anyway, is the tiger twining through its trunks and casually drawing a claw through a shading leaf, or, more worse: getting used as a juicy scratching post...ouch !

Tiny guy's Flight Schedule

2008-09-20T15:49:00.000-07:00

Here she is, just seconds before take off...which I also missed !

Tiny Guy Emerges on Sept. 18th

2008-09-20T15:40:00.000-07:00

Here he ( she actually ! ) is seconds before and after popping back into the world. I kept on eye on the chrysalis for 5 glorious hours....5 hours of watching the world of birds, bugs, trees and 'weeds' right outside my back door. And while stretching my legs for a minute, Tiny Guy presses the 'eject' button !

And a very sad event : Our son-in-law's Father passed away this same day, after a long fight with cancer. I only met him once, but was impressed with his love for his family and I know he must have been a great father, judging what a wonderful man his son is. The following is an excerpt from a book put together by the Monarch Teacher's Network ..... "According to Aztec belief, birds and butterflies escorted the souls of those who died heroic deaths ( in battle, through sacrifice, or in childbirth ). The butterfly ( papalotl ) delivered these souls to a special heaven in flower gardens that provided nectar to sustain the butterflies. Like the butterfly, the souls also sipped the sweet nectar of flowers."
And also this :
"In the State of Michoacan, Mexico, most people believe that the souls of dead family members and friends come to visit their families once a year in early November during the "Days Of the Dead". It is also believed that the spirits of loved ones are permitted to return to Earth In the form of Monarch butterflies, since it is at this time that Monarchs come from the North to spend the winter in Michoacan. The families make alters with fragrant flowers and many foods for the spirits to enjoy. To be sad or to cry would disrespect the dead, so music plays and the Days of the Dead become a happy celebration of reunion."

Nice.

After this year's premature loses of life in our family, it has been such a comfort witnessing the incredible metamorphosis life cycle of the Monarchs...watching the caterpillars change to butterflies, and the butterflies bravely rise up and take on a life's journey of thousands of miles....aloft on airy wings of determination. And perhaps within them, a few human souls that have fought illness or never even made it into this world, as well.

Tiny Guy Update

2008-09-11T02:40:00.000-07:00

Tiny Guy is now metamorphosing into a butterfly, privately, within its jade cloak. Here he/she is less than two days before giving up the exclusive milkweed diet and life as an Earthbound caterpillar. In the 17 days it took to hatch from the pearly egg on the underside of a milkweed plant to the jewel-like chrysalis presently hanging in the Monarch's rearing tower, Tiny Guy has been a unique presence in our home. An eating/pooping/growing machine has now withdrawn to transform itself into an ephemeral-looking winged insect that will fly almost 3,000 miles, winter over in chilly Mexican mountains and begin the journey back several months later. Assuming he/she escapes storms, predation, fatigue and disease. Every Monarch you see on the wing around this time of year is probably heading South to join millions of other Monarchs in their great migration. Tiny Guy will join them on or around September 16th.

Emergence Continued...

2008-09-10T12:20:00.000-07:00

Here's a little montage I slapped together while playing in Photoshop...trying to get the emergence sequence in order. Not sure if I was successful or not :/
hmmm...guess I need to redo the writing with the Text tool...my hand writing looks like I've been drinking !
Click anywhere on the picture to get a better look at the butterfly :>

Emergence !

2008-09-04T17:24:00.000-07:00

The first caterpillar we collected from wild milkweed in our yard, on the 19th of August, emerges from its jade and gold chrysalis September 1st, Labor Day. Click on the picture to enlarge it...and check out the intricate structures that were created inside the chrysalis...amazing !
It was a perfect day to enter the world on wings...warm and sunny with jsut the lightest breeze.

Glorious Milkweed Community !

2008-08-29T06:47:00.000-07:00

Here's a fantastic stand of milkweed...perhaps Purple Milkweed...it is just now blooming, and the "classic" milkweed is way into pod-dom already. This stand is in a meadow in Bluemont, Virginia. The landowner carefully mowed around the milkweed when he bush-hogged his acres in May, at the special request of his wife. This month it has been full of Swallowtails, Monarchs, bees and a variety of insects. Smells great too!

Praying Mantis

2008-08-28T11:40:00.000-07:00

And now for something completely not Monarch-related.
This spring-green Praying Mantis really stood out against the pink of the Autumn Joy sedum. And even though she was busy finishing off a Bumblebee meal, she didn't seem to mind my intrusion too much. I've seen lots of Mantids this year, and more Grasshoppers than I've ever seen...all kinds of them. I'm now wishing I'd kept track of all the kinds there are ! I wonder what set of conditions converged to give them such an advantage this year ?

Tiny Guy's 6th day as a caterpillar

2008-08-28T11:05:00.000-07:00

While changing out the old milkweed stems for fresh ones , I had an opportunity to get a photo of Tiny Guy. 6 days out of the egg. Seriously cute at this stage.

Another caterpillar went Chrysalis yesterday afternoon. But first I rescued it from the inside of a big milk bottle that was holding the new milkweed stems....and lots of water ! The caterpillar's front antenna were dangling in the water...there it was, adhered to the damp glass sides by most of its feet...a sticky substance gluing the feet to the bottle. I ran outside and found a long twig that I slipped between its legs and applied a little bit of pressure so that it would have to push back on and hopefully cling to the twig. I waited until it had backed up a segment or two and then very gently pulled it up and away from a watery grave ! Whew ! After a brief rest the cat went on "walkabout" and found a better site on the wire of the rearing tower ( the cage ). We'll be moving the 3 chrysalids in the next day or so, and we've got two more to go !
Today it's about 65 degrees and lightly rainy...awful butterfly weather...I'm hoping we have some good, warm sunny days to release ours out into.

Tiny Guy

2008-08-24T15:29:00.000-07:00

We thought this little one had died. But here he is, Tiny Guy, on his 4th day of life ! After paper-clipping a piece of the birth leaf ( with him on it ) to a fresher younger milkweed stem, he disappeared for a whole day. Was there something on the new stem that sickened the little guy...a virus or bacteria ? But this afternoon, there he was ...very still ( dead ? ) but sporting a new look...tiny stripes on a less transparent body. Then, a few hours later we noticed a little hole in the leaf, right next to the caterpillar with some telltale latex sap leaking out from the ragged ( nibbled ) edges....proof that he was eating ! This one is in his 2nd instar...he will shed his skin a total of 5 times before transforming to a chrysalis.

The second fully grown caterpillar is on 'walk-about'....cruising the whole cage for a secure spot to carry out its final metamorphosis. This is where I feel the most conflicted about collecting and caging them....there is no way I can provide exactly what it is they are looking for...I can only try and anticipate what a creature so different from me might need.
And this is where the intensive 3 day workshop with Monarch Teacher Network, that I took several weeks ago, really pays off. A total immersion in all that is Monarch for 3 days. They do this through games, books, films, sharing stories, a field trip and probably most importantly...lots of actual eggs, caterpillars and adult Monarchs to gain hands-on experience. Complete respect, even reverence, are practiced in the handling of every stage of the butterfly...from egg to wing. And all carried out with great humor and understanding. I am still in awe of their mission and commitment.

We will release "our" butterflies as soon as they emerge and their wings have stiffened up enough to begin their incredible journey South to Michoacan, Mexico.

Playing In Photoshop

2008-08-22T15:30:00.000-07:00

Milkweed plants deserve a better name...the 'weed' designation really reduces it to 'pest', when in reality it is food, home and nursery ( and death bed ! ) to a huge community of organisms ranging from bacteria and viruses to many kinds of insects and spiders. I have even see a groundhog eating them with relish...sitting up on his haunches, clutching the stalk between his two little hands and chomping it down like a banana.
This is a logo I played with in Photoshop while daydreaming about running a nature-themed Bed and Breakfast in some imagined landscape. All guests would slow down and drink in the sights, sounds and smells of a less planned, less managed life. Milkweed would grow all around the edges of the meadow and the air would be alive with butterflies and the hundreds of other winged insects. The milkweed plants themselves are hosts to a teeming community of life from bacteria and viruses to aphids, wasps, beetles and butterflies ! A large weathered brick circle, each morning swept of sand and twigs, would provide a perfect area to practice early morning yoga to start the day. We would dine on simple, seasonal fabulous vegan food and sleep with open windows so as not to miss the crickets,fireflies and cool night breezes. Ahhhh.

Big Guy's New Look

2008-08-22T13:55:00.000-07:00

Here's the freshly formed chrysalis of the first caterpillar I collected from our wild milkweed. I'm humbled everytime I even think about the process. Within two weeks a fully-formed butterfly will emerge and point South towards Mexico.

Monarch Caterpillars Pack It In !

2008-08-22T13:10:00.000-07:00

This picture was taken on the 19th...the biggest caterpillar formed it's "J" that evening and 24 hours later became a chrysalis. What was , just hours earlier an active eating, pooping wave-legged bug, is suddenly a still, silent gold-spangled trinket hanging from a twig. So interesting ( and slightly scary ! ) to observe these caterpillars make these critical changes in the relentless succession that nature demands.
The teeny tiny hatchling is not in this picture...it had not hatched yet.

Let the Eating Begin !

2008-08-22T12:55:00.000-07:00

The egg hatched yesterday and the tiny new life is enjoying milkweed, milkweed and more milkweed. We'll call him Tiny Guy. I transferred a bit of his "birth leaf" and the caterpillar to a new stem of fresh young milkweed and it didnt miss a beat. That's my thumb in the lower left...for scale....!

Monarchs In The Air and In Our Living Room

2008-08-21T16:33:00.000-07:00

Monarch Butterflies have followed me most of my life, as it turns out. I was born in Monterey, California when we owned a house in Pacific Grove...the Winter destination for the Monarchs West of the Rocky Mountains. Here on the East coast, the butterflies have a different flight pattern.

This egg I watched being delivered on a milkweed plant by a gorgeous female Monarch Butterfly, out in our Virginia yard on the 18th. I cut the stem and about half the plant and brought it inside to watch the unbelievably swift process from egg to wing. The egg hatched out today, less than 72 hours after it was attached to the underside of the leaf. The newly-hatched caterpillar has already eaten a tiny hole in the leaf, and the the big 1 1/2" caterpillar that I collected off of a milkweed on the 19th, split its caterpillar persona and became a chrysalis over the last 24 hours. Whew...so incredibly fast !

Spring !

2008-03-18T04:44:00.000-07:00

Yea, Spring ! Just when all outdoor plant life looks really, really dead and gone, trees start to flower and bud out, Spring bulbs begin to nose out of the Earth...and suddenly.... Winter is over. Not that we had a hard Winter. Just the lack of green, growing plant-life brings me down after awhile. Houseplants help for sure, and the Dwarf Banana tree ( now a small grove ! )that shares our bedroom for six months out of the year has a definite living, breathing presence of its own. But watching the return of the mighty Hostas and Bleeding Hearts always seems incredible...so delicate looking, yet there they were, frozen root clumps for a good part of the year. Actually, frozen and defrosted several times over.
Yesterday I sowed some seeds out in the Fenced Garden, in a bed I prepared several months ago with some veganic plant food from Garden's Alive, some kelp meal and compost from our own heap. I sowed Red Cloud Beets, Short 'n Sweet Carrots, and Osaka Purple Mustard Greens. Garlic is coming up where J planted some out last October....or was it early November ? The weeds will be starting their race any day...some have already begun, but not in earnest yet.
Yellow Goatsbeard seeds got planted in a flat of seed-starting mix. I harvested the seeds from a crazy-looking seedhead down the road. I think S helped me collect the seeds. We'll see how they do...I kept the seeds in a closely closed baggie in a laundryroom cabinet all Winter.

New Leaf Vegan Society

2008-01-26T11:57:00.000-08:00

I'm playing in Photoshop more....and trying to learn XHTML and CSS at the same time. Boy do I feel dumb a good part of the time...so many news angles to learn...!

I am looking forward to spiffing up our site and getting more information out to people about the truth of industrial-scale animal agriculture, and how easy and delicious and better for everyone involved, a vegan diet is.

Pirate Sam Dammit

2008-01-26T11:39:00.000-08:00

Sam will be 12 years old this May. He's still got the energy and humor of a kitten. His left may need to be removed soon, and just for fun I fitted him up with a patch on Photoshop.

2008 Begins in the Heap

2008-01-01T17:05:00.000-08:00

Ah, it's been a busy couple of months...I havent posted anything in months, and now that Winter is setting in I'm ready to garden again !
But the gardens need serious cleaning up, and I need to wait for Spring to come back around.
I did start a new compost heap today, seemed like the perfect way to start the New Year. We'd been tossing all of our veggie scraps, coffee and tea leavings in a loose pile of straw and leaves, waiting for there to be enough to build a big enough pile to contain the heat that the microbes give off while living their lives. Too small a mound and the warmth dissipates too soon, leaving the colony subject to freezing. Make it big enough and the heap will live on and work all through the winter and reward you with nice compost and worms aplenty in the Spring. I love our compost heap :)

I've been reading a lot lately about food. The history of American food production ( Kitchen Literacy by Ann Viselis), world food issues ( Feeding People is Easy by Colin Tudge ), Feeding your family on strictly local viands ( Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, by B Kingsolver ), and of course all the food related issues in the news ( that I can find time to read ! ). Several new vegan cookbooks have come out, including The Joy Of Vegan baking by Colleen Patrick Goudreau and Veganomicon by Isa Chandra...both very inspiring cooks and human beings.
And who knew that global warming was caused in large part by our shamefully wasteful and cruel methods of animal containment, torture and consumption of their body parts and excretions? Including transporting said body parts, "by-products" and other food stuffs around the globe. I guess we should have seen it coming. The reports have been out for several years now, and still it barely gets attention. "Try to eat less meat", is about the strongest message you'll hear on the subject. Sigh.
I remain hopeful though.

Because I don't know how else to stay sane.

Going and staying vegan has been incredibly easy, rewarding and fascinating. The hardest part is busting old habits and myths, and keeping an open mind. For instance: I just yesterday got around to making almond milk from scratch. I could not believe how easy it was. I've been vegan for over a year and still felt like milk ( rice, almond or soy milk you can buy in stores ) had to come from some factory and packaged in a carton. Like some magic made it "milk" behind factory doors. Jeez ! So you soak raw almonds in water for some hours, grind it up, strain it, and there is : nut milk ! The almond milk was very white ( even using unblanched nuts ) and barely tasted of almonds...perfect to splash on cereal or make into a chocolate pudding ( this afternoon's delish experiment ). So everyday I learn something new and wonderful that has been out there for years and years. And there's the hope : that others will catch on and look around, and realize that going vegan is so worthwhile, on so many levels.

Hamish Passes

2007-10-03T16:33:00.000-07:00

Our Americana hen, Hamish, died today. She was 7 years old on June June 19th. We've lost several others in the last month, but her passing seems like the end of a family era. She laid gorgeous big bluish-greenish eggs....was still laying up until about a month ago, when they all stopped laying. J buried her in the Fenced Garden saying that the garden was as much hers as ours. She spent many happy hours in there with the others, scratching for bugs and bits. Hard to believes she's gone....so robust and smart we figured she'd be the last hen standing out of their flock.

The hens started out as something our daughter wanted to do in her senior year in high school...actually she wanted to rescue a bunch of chicks that were hatched at school ,( in one of those misguided class projects ), but I said, "no"...let's order some from a hatchery ( ugh...that was before I became vegan ! ), and before we knew it, there we were, in love with the little peeps that arrived via the post office, in a cardboard box. I think we always gave them good care...lots of room to run about and explore, good food, fresh water, and we even built a nice hen house which has become a focal point of our yard.
When our daughter went off to college, the hens needed me to take care of them and I loved the rhythm they brought to my day. The girls would be crowding the door to be the first out to start the day's bug hunt. Just before dusk they would amble back in to the house and arrange themselves on the roost, fussing about who would sleep where. Some of the smaller ones worked their bodies up under the wings of the two big Cochins, some would roost apart from the others, all murmuring ancient chicken songs to themselves and each other. Rain they hated. Falling snow was intriguing, but accumulated snow was a problem. One year snow drifted 3 feet deep in the hen yard. I shoveled high-walled alleys so they could get outside and stretch their legs and watched them parade single-file down the blue corridors.
Only three hens left. Who will I bake giant pans cornbread for in the bleak dark days of Winter ?

Mom's Birthday Butterflies

2007-09-26T17:23:00.000-07:00

This chrysalis all but opened on my Mom's 79th Birthday, she LOVES butterflies.... especially Monarchs, so I'm calling it her's ! It did open and fly away the next day. Next year I'd like to get some pictures of one as it's emerging from the gold speckled cellophane envelope. I'm still seeing lots of Monarchs, and still reading Four Wings and a Prayer. It's getting a little tedious and disappointing to keep reading how petty some of the early researchers were about sharing their information with other researchers, both citizen and degree-ed scientists. More writing about the natural history and migration of the insect would be welcome. But I guess this way I'm getting the whole picture on how the information that we do have came about...so I'll quit gripping !

Summer's End

2007-09-22T17:06:00.000-07:00

Wow...here it is already...the last full day of this Summer.
I walked down our gravel road towards the setting sun late yesterday afternoon and found myself in a sea of airborne plankton...winged motes of life, swimming, floating, wind-driven...lending dimensionality to the invisible. Threads of cast spider webs, yards long, caught the light twisting and turning, spinning in the currents. All constant motion, lit from behind by the gold of the sun.
Earlier in the day a Monarch butterfly hatched out of its chrysalis in the hen house. I missed its departure, but didnt see it in the hen house, so I'm thinking that it got out and into the world to start its journey South. I'm reading Four Wings and a Prayer, by Sue Halpern, about one woman's experience with Monarchs, and now I would like to tag some butterflies next Summer....hopefully in our yard. tiny little stickers you adhere to a hind wing...amazing. I've seen more Monarchs than ever before this year, which is odd....Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy reported a very low year for that species. I see them EVERYWHERE...not in big numbers, but everywhere I go...even parking lots and highways. Maybe I'm just suddenly attuned to seeing them, like when someone you know gets a new car, and suddenly you notice just how many of that kind are on the road !

Deep Hot Summer Day

2007-08-09T18:05:00.000-07:00

Wow. What a day. I was out in the yard, watering, weeding, and just hanging with the plants at 6:45am. Spent a nice, solid 3 hours engrossed in everything Plant. Did a light cleaning of the hen house too, and realized that I could add the poopy straw to the Very Neglected Compost Heap. So the heap itself became a mini-project...hmmm...need to weed around it, straighten up the end panels...ok, so layer the goodies on with helpings from the rotting mass of veggie scraps, weeds, and Willow Oak leaves from last fall that havent really broken down much. Water it from the hose to get it all nice and damp for the microbes and macro-life to multiply and work their composting magic. Ah, I love a good heap.
The chickens got weeds and over-ripe tomatoes to nibble on. Wish I could let them run free, but they would not last a day. They've got a pretty large fenced area to roam around ina nd I try and supply interesting things for them to peck and scratch at. The 5 hens are 7 years old now and seem content to just stroll around their fenced areas and take siestas in the shade when the sun is hot. We are getting from 0-3 eggs a day at the moment.
.
Picked a bunch of Hillbilly tomatoes, a few Brandy Boys and a Mortgage Lifter. The Hillbillies are really a gorgeous tomato...brilliant streaky sunsets within. The San Marzanos look like they might be a bust...many are getting the dreaded Blossom End Rot. The first Mr. Stripey might get picked this weekend. Oh, and some extra sweet Sun Gold cherry tomatoes. The Swiss Chard plant is still doing great...I'm still picking 4-5 big leaves off of it every ten days or so. picked up a neighbor's CSA for her, since she and her family went out of town. Got to pick out peppers, tomatoes ( ! ), cucumbers, eggplant, squash, chard, peaches, and a cute little yellow rind watermelon that I dropped off at their house for them to enjoy when they get back.

It is J's Bday today. 54! For the dinner I made tacos, complete with the fried corn tortillas , guacamole, salsa and other goodies. also made a fabulous vegan Pineapple Upside Down Cake...really yummy, and the cake part of it was perfect...I'll have to remember that recipe ...from vegcooking.com. Oh, and we ate the cake with a scoop of coconut ice cream ( vegan of course ! ).
Listened to a heartbreaking podcast on Compassionate Cooks....about motherhood and maternal instincts. I cried out of pure sadness and pure frustration for the animals and for the willful blindness that perpetuates all of the unnecessary suffering imposed on the creatures we enslave and then slaughter. How did we get this deep into such a nightmare ?

Sunflower Serendipity

2007-06-27T17:38:00.000-07:00

Weeks and weeks ago i transplanted a 3" tall volunteer sunflower seedling from between stones on the Stone Patio to the Kitchen Garden, about ten feet away. It has since thrived and shot up to over 6'. Four days ago I settled sunflower seeds into vermiculite-filled soy yogurt cups and gave them a good soak. This afternoon, the first flowerhead on the Volunteer is unfolding just as the Yogurt Cup guys are emerging. The YC sunflowers I started especially for my son and his fiance's September wedding...I'll try to communicate ( to the seedlings ) the importance of timing their blooming to the wedding date, and see what happens :>
I also started some Morning Glories a few weeks ago and now have those in the ground and in a big pot...they have really taken off in the last day, with the heat ( and extra water)...Heavenly Blue...wonderfully cool crisp , fraglie flowers. The unexpected pleasure of re-using the yogurt cups over and over ...tomatoes, Cardinal Climbers ( up to 9 feet today, but no blossoms yet ), MGs, Sunflowers... has been fun. They're the perfect size, and with little slits cut into their bottoms, they soak up water from tubs, and drain off nicely.
I've been seeing a few 2" long Praying Mantis' energetically skipping among the tomato plants...hope they're finding lots to eat ! I rescued a 3/4" brown one from the kitchen counter the other day ...not sure how he got there, but I was so happy to get him/her out the door undamaged.
I've put off posting this till the sunflower seedlings were big enought to show...and here they are ! The tall leafy vine in the Silk cup is one of the Morning Glories, still waiting to get planted. As you can see, there are several brands of soy yogurt available... Trader Joe's , Whole Soy, Stonyfield and Silk are represented here. Not seen is the Wildwood brand, which has the advantage of coming in the quart size, unsweetened and unflavored...very nice to have on hand for uses other than the morning's first bite ! Some grocery stores carry a few brands, some carry none...you do have to do your homework to stay staocked up as a vegan !

Summer Solstice Afternoon

2007-06-22T03:01:00.001-07:00

What better way to end the longest day of the year than with a double rainbow ? Our next door neighbor alerted us to the gorgeous event unfolding outside our door, off to the south east. Too bad the rainbow doesnt offer any magical properties to the cows and calves on the farm, such as exemption from ending theirs lives as living , breathing beings and going to slaughter, but still...what a beautiful sight.

A June Wedding

2007-06-21T12:20:00.000-07:00

On June 9th my amazing daughter and her wonderful man got married up at Cooper's Rock State Park. This is the rock that they got married on...it is not THE Cooper's Rock, but a fabulous rock nonetheless ! It's hard to tell how large it is without people around it, but I'd say from the ground to the level part by the ferns, where they took their vows, is a good 10 feet or so. The weather was perfect,this after thunderstorms and drenching rains moved in the evening before. The Bride and Groom wanted a casual ceremony with "a picnic in the woods" sort of theme, which suited them perfectly. I love how they did just what they wanted and didn't sweat all the silly details and expectations created by various religious notions or the very wasteful and profitable Wedding Industry. They've started their life together with care, honesty ....and a nice piece of land to build on !

Summer Solstice

2007-06-21T03:21:00.000-07:00

Here it is, the longest day of 2007 already ! This is the view from our front yard, practically. It was taken at about 5:45 this morning. The light plays over it all day, a constantly changing show. The seasons work their magic, also...fog, snow, rain , even the amount of humidity in the air all create very different effects.

It overlooks a "calf and cow" farm...I think that's what it's called....pasture impregnated beef cows on these rolling hills, let them calve and keep the young ones with their mothers for a few months and then it's off to a " finishing" process for the young ones while their mothers stay , graze and grow wide with the next calf developing inside her. I read somewhere that that cycle goes on for 5 or 6 years for the mother cow and then she herself is sent off for slaughter. I can see how people have a hard time connecting the contented looking animals they see out in the sunny pastures, to the meat industry as a whole. They never see the fear, pain and suffering endured by the animals in transport to and at the industrial slaughterhouses that turn living, breathing sentient creatures into sanitized steaks, burgers , leather, dog food and so on.

This morning while walking with two friends ( and all of our dogs ) we walked by another such pasture, only this one was empty but for one very young calf all alone, not another cow or calf in sight in the acres and acres of fenced fields. He could not have been more than a few weeks old. He stared and stared at us, about 15 feet away, unsure what to do. WE weren't sure what to do...and as we moved off , he just hung his head and slowly wandered off, stumbling a bit. My heart about broke...he's given up already ? Where are the other cows, where's his mother ?! About that time a truck drove by that we flagged down and pointed out the calf. Luckily it was one of the men who work with the cows and he was going to take care of the situation. He said that they had moved them all to another pasture yesterday and this little guy must have gotten separated. I'm happy in one way...the little calf will be reunited with his mother and won't starve , he gets to live on to.... make it to the...slaughterhouse and become...just...another piece..of...meat. Oh.
While going vegan and taking oneself out of the meat-eating loop does make you feel good about not participating in an incredibly cruel and unnecessary industry, it doesn't lessen the heartache felt for the animals having to live their lives out as resources, commodities or entertainment. I think it actually heightens the emotion. Advocating for the animals, speaking up for them, is about the only thing that really lessens the pain and anger on this end, for me , anyway. Not that calling attention to the stranded calf was advocacy ( that was just common sense )...I mean leafleting and supporting vegan efforts to raise consciousness of the cruelty of animal agriculture.

Wrens

2007-06-01T13:33:00.000-07:00

This Carolina Wren was furiously stuffing this decorative bee skep with grasses...he ( she ? ) seemed to be in a BIG hurry. I think I saw another one flitting in and out of the shrubs. This skep is on our front porch, just sitting on a table. I don't mind them moving in, but I worry that it is not such a great place...in fact, the cats ( two ) could just reach right in, really. I think I'll move the whole thing up...maybe hang it in the corner of the porch. There is also a pair of house Wrens out back...raising a second wave of wrenlets in a Bluebird house hanging in the Wisteria. Early eviction of House Sparrows ( removed nest ) back in April seemed to send the Sparrows on their way,and then I left the door open...didnt want ot keep clearing out HS nests ! But then J closed the House back up, and within two days the House Wrens took charge. I'd heard that you can have multiple wrens in your yard, they just need to not see each other. So front and back yard territories seem to suit these couples just fine.
A friend, Laureen, and I monitored the Bluebird boxes out at BRCES this morning. She was really great to have along, unafraid to get dirty and intensely curious, as is requisite of all of us amateur naturalists :) She did most of the work...unscrewing the door, looking or gently feeling for babies or eggs. We saw some VERY young , naked babies. The tiny nubs of wings; wrinkled, pot-bellied translucent bodies and gigantic bulging still-sealed up eyes seem far to frail to digest still-kicking robust insects caught by the parents and stuffed down their throats...yet they not only manage, but thrive. Amazing.
We also saw a Northern Oriole, a Worm-Eating Warbler and several Indigo Buntings. The birds were all pretty quiet, perhaps because of a big Scout Training event with Wood Badge.
Zillions of gnats swarmed around us , but none of them bit ( thank you Gnats ! )
What a great start to June !

volunteers

2007-05-22T17:13:00.000-07:00

What is it about volunteer plants sprouting up as seedlings in our yards and gardens that gives me such a thrill ? Is it that they mysteriously show up, unaided by human hand, in unexpected places...leaving us to wonder just how the seed got there in the first place ? Maybe it's that little feeling of gratitude: our garden was chosen as the perfect site for this particular plant. Now, I do spend an inordinate amount of time ripping out volunteer grasses, mints and bindweed gone wild, but I still feel surprised and honored when something totally unexpected shows up. This little Dill plant was hiding amongst a thick patch of weeds next to the strawberries , down in the Fenced Garden. A bird was almost certainly responsible for delivering the seed ( or seeds ) from my neighbor's Dill Forest that takes over her garden every Summer. But still. Its tender pale stalk and feathery bluish leaves were instantly recognised for what it was, and carefully weeded around.

2007-05-08T16:19:00.000-07:00

Wow...it's been awhile since I've posted. Last i wrote we were heading out to AZ to spend time with my brother. He thrived under Mom and S's care while in Sun Lakes, but once home started to lose weight again. He's now in the hospital...I think it's been a week since he went in. Liquid nutrition is all that he can take in now, and the hospital is trying to track down how he can get the stuff he needs outside of the hopital. Uh, why don't they just sell him what he needs, since no one ele on the island carries the stuff ? How hard is that ?
The dinosaur amongst the pansies is to remind myself just how fleeting life on Earth is, to fully appreciate our lives and those of our family's. The Brontosaurus ( does that name still apply ? ) was found on a gravel road while out on a morning walk with my walking friends...seemed a shame to leave it lying in the road. It had already lost one leg and deep dusty gouges run the length of its body. Why not give it a new life in our garden ? Toads, slugs, worms, birds and uncounted insects will keep it company.

Couldn't Resist !

2007-04-18T13:39:00.000-07:00

Every Dandelion in the County got the word to open up today, it seems ! Thousands of the gorgeous little things are everywhere...in lawns, on roadside edges, in fields. In light of the awful shootings at Virginia Tech down in Blacksburg, and my brother's and father's cancer...these obstinate, persistent YELLOW flowers are a strong cheery sight. Grazing animals eat their leaves ( our chickens love a basketful of their leaves, stems flowers and roots) and flowers...people even cultivate Dandelion greens for themselves. Insects collect pollen and nectar, and the seeds feed various finches...including Goldfinches. Last year, out at the Blue Ridge Center, Jamie and I saw hundreds of Goldfinches lift off of a field of Dandelions gone to seed in a single undulating wave. I'll never forget it.
Who knows what sort of microscopic agreements, arrangements and connections are happening underground between the Dandelion and the incredibly abundant world on the other side of the grass ? Despite being labelled a Weed by some people, it carries on its multifaceted life, laughing all the way, I hope !

Off To Arizona

2007-04-18T10:57:00.000-07:00

Jamie and I leave for Sunlakes, Arizona , to visit with my Mom and my 4 brothers. The main reason for the gathering is that one of my brothers has pancreatic cancer and we all want to have some time together. Dad can't make it..he's staying behind to deal with one of his own cancers, and then he's off to Hawaii to spend some time with his son and his wife, who I got to know some when Mom and I went out in November '06...I'm so glad that they have each other. I really like her down-to-Earth attitude, and her compassion :>
We'll be gone from Virginia for a week....a lot can happen in a garden in a week ! This picture is of a big Dicentra (I took today ) that puts on quite a show for weeks in the Spring, and wears out later in the Summer. I'll take another picture when I get back and see how much it's grown. No sign of the Garden Toads yet, although we've heard some frogs/toads or peepers in the area. We are honored to host an area for some toads to live. Each Summer evening they patrol the Stone Patio for bugs and slugs. We leave out little Toad Pools ( shallow dishes of water ) for them to soak in when it's dry, hoping to create a nice toad habitat.
We've had close to 3" of rain over the last few weeks...maybe more...our electronic rain gauge fell over, and I didnt keep perfect records of the manual gauge...and it looks as thought it is finally going to warm up. The Stitch Club is on Junco Departing Watch...we're trying to figure when they leave the area. Their numbers have definitley fallen in the last few weeks...they are off to the Boreal Forests to nest and raise their young on the forest floor...I can't get over that...why not up in a tree ??!!! We'll be looking for the first Catbird before long...last year I saw the first ones in our yard on April 25th. It was a great year for Catbirds...they were everywhere it seemed ! Love their tiny little black caps.

Bluebirds and Cold Rain

2007-04-17T08:25:00.000-07:00

Jamie and I arrived at the Blue Ridge Center on Saturday morning, the 14th, ahead of the coming Nor'Easter , in time to check on the Bluebird nest boxes on the Farm Loop trail. We saw Bluebirds perching on wire fences, in the trees and even a pair on a box, but we didnt see any finished nests in the boxes. One box held a single 6" long white chicken's feather...probably brought there by a Tree Swallow. I've wondered...do they collect feathers for their nests off the ground, or do they pluck them out of the air as the discarded feathers of other birds are lifted by wind gusts ? Last year, there were lots of Tree Swallows in the boxes...out of the 12 boxes available, I think 7 were occupied by them. Amazing creatures of the air, and brave defenders of their nests...they'll swoop repeatedly at your head, until you are sure that it is going to take a piece of you ! Kaufman's bird book describes their call as "liquid twittering"......can't think of a better way to describe it. I also read that although most of their diet is flying insects, they will also eat berries.

Into the Allium Patch

2007-04-13T17:59:00.000-07:00

Today I got about 16,17 marble-sized Purple Onions into the ground, next to the garlic and the little purple onion plants I rescued from the compost heap. I don't know that the soil is as loose as they might like...this coming fall I MUST layer up horse maure and leaves and compost to deepen the beds. Our next door neighbor gave us the onions...he's already planted 2 pounds of onion sets and didnt want any back from me. I ended up turning all the extras into the heap. Also in the heap are some "compostable" plates made by Earth Shell. I peeked at them today, two weeks after they settled in, and they seem to be about halfway "composted". The heap was warm, with hundreds of worms...think I'll have to heat things up a bit.

Saw the first warbler in our yard today...not sure which kind...deeply yellow throat, white wing bars, dark streaking on flanks and head...argh ! wish I had gotten a better look ! Jamie and I are going out to the Blue Ridge Center tomorrow morning to monitor Bluebird boxes before the big Nor'Easter due to arrive sometime after Sat evening. We probably won't see anything but nests in the boxes, in fact, bluebird babies at this time are pretty risky...no reliable bugs about yet. I'ave heard that the parents have had to stuff their babies full of dried seeds and berries in the absence of insects during cold, wet Springs...and the babies die :<

Arizona Cactus Bloom

2007-04-09T03:28:00.000-07:00

Well, since things seem to moving pretty slowly here ( another freezing morning ! ), and not many things in flower ( other than the hundreds of daffodils ! ), I got to thinking about Arizona's desert blooms. Cacti that stand mute for most of the year are suddenly shouting " Magenta !" "Yellow ! " " Red ! " Insects, birds and even bats answer the call and join the plants in mutual relationships of give and take. This is a picture my Mom is AZ took several years ago of a neighboring cactus in bloom...incredible color. Nice shot, Ma !

There is a tiny poppy of the purest orange that unfurls its petals as the sun comes up...if you are hiking amongst some of Arizona's many mountains, hills or outcroppings you might catch one in the act of presenting itself to its world.
Ocotillos are fascinating...looking like nothing more than a shabby bundle of thorny sticks for months at a time, they can grow several sets of glossy boxwood-like leaves several times a year. In times of drought they drop all their leaves to conserve energy . Yet they bloom every April without fail, providing hummingbirds with crucial nectar at a time when food may be scarce.

Red Onions' New Home

2007-04-03T03:38:00.000-07:00

Here are the little guys snuggled in with last Fall's garlic. Hope they form some bulbs !
We are testing the "compostablity" of some compostable tableware...Earth Shell. We used a few plates the other day and this morning I'll bury them into smallish compost heap we've got going. I think it's got some heat going on in the middle, but it does need to be built back up. I think I'l just slide them into the middle of the heap and check on the progress in a week or so.

Red Onions

2007-04-02T09:54:00.000-07:00

March 31st I found this clump of red onions growing on the edge of the compost heap. Seemed such a shame to just turn them under when they looked so healthy and happy to be growing. It looks as though maybe a seed head of onions started there...where would that have come from ? maybe they're just red "spring onions" that will never form a bulb ? Where would those have come from ? I lifted the clump and seperated out 8 of the sturdiest looking ones and planted them alongside the garlic that was planted last October. The very next day a neighbor gave us some small red onion sets...proper little onions bulbs. Having never grown onions, I read up a little and see that I have to put a little thought into planting them ! I really wish that I had spread thick manure and straw over all the beds last Fall ! Well, I'll give some a try anyway.

March 31st is also Circumference Day...the day we go measure the circumference of most of the trees in the yard. It's a fun thing to do, something I wish we had started the year we'd moved here. As good a clelbration of the return of the growing season as Easter, I think. Pop came over and helped J and I measure and record the trees' girth. The big surprise was seed pods on one of the baby Catalpas that I started on Pop's 72nd Birthday started in Feb. of '01. We had a nice Mexican casserole ( layers of corn tortillas, roasted veggies, tofu, beans ) a big salad for dinner and then watched Who Killed The Electric Car. Everyone should see this film. Especially anyone contemplating buying a new car. It's a wake-up call for an individual's responsibility as an informed consumer and a scary look into how that information is twisted manipulated by and for the automobile and oil industries, aided by friends in the White House. Yikes.

Tender New Lettuce

2007-03-21T12:28:00.000-07:00

I bought these at a wonderful local nursery/garden center yesterday. A few were plucked from the greenhouse...they have not spent a day or night outside yet. I'll harden them off in the next few days and then plant them in a few galvanized "wash tubs" I got for cheap at HD. I'll sow some lettuce seeds amongst these little guys to take their place as they get eaten .

Soil Ruminations

2007-03-21T11:17:00.000-07:00

I find myself thinking more and more about soil as an actual organism, rather than just something that plants happen to grow out of. Our appreciation of both the intricate relationships between the separate organisms within the soil, and their sheer numbers and diversity grows each day. here's a nice example of soil life, lifted from
http://web.ukonline.co.uk/fred.moor/soil/formed/f0105.htm

Soil Inhabitants

"Bacteria
As well as plants, other life arose in the soil. Some of it is more fascinating that the world we see each day. In one tablespoonful of soil, there are more bacteria than there are people on the entire planet. A quarter of a million of them could sit on the full stop at the end of this sentence. They can live in air, water, extremes of heat and cold, and are able to function without sunlight. There are bacteria that can take animal excrement and purify it. Others can take nitrogen from the air in the soil and convert it into nitrates that are needed by higher plants for growth. Being contained within a single cell, they cannot eat solids, but feed by secreting enzymes to dissolve their surroundings to a form which they can digest, then re-absorb as lunch.

Another of the most impressive things about bacteria is the range of material they can break down to digest. Carbon compounds like naphthalene present them with no problem, something we as humans find difficult to do unless we have a laboratory.

Fungi
Essential to the breakdown of woody organic matter, fungi are another mystery in the soil, Some are parasites on live or dead plants, others live in harmony with plant roots, helping to create the ideal conditions for both to flourish.

Algae
Like plants, but more simple in composition, algae can take up carbon dioxide from the surface air (although a few do it deep in the soil) and convert it to oxygen as part of their food production process. We, of course, are happy with this, because oxygen is replenished by such means and we get to live.

Microscopic Animals
From simple celled amoeba and protozoa running their lives in the soil moisture, through nematodes that can damage the roots of the plants we want to grow, your soil is teeming with unseen life all of which plays its part in the complex chain of interdependency that is life.

Other Creatures
The most obvious are earthworms. The gardener’s friend, they play a huge part in mixing organic matter from the surface into the lower depths of the soil, and in doing so, they provide the source of food for countless numbers of other organisms who feed on the organic matter. Their burrowing also leaves (by comparison) huge aeration channels and fissures in the soil, along which air can diffuse and water drain. It is estimated that there are somewhere between 200 and 600 worms in every square metre of your garden.

Then there are the beetles that assist in clearing up the decaying organic matter, and who themselves provide food for small animals all the way up the food chain to man.

So, as we have seen, soil is a hugely complicated microscopic world, teeming with interdependent life chains."

Now would be a good time to have a national reading of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring. Not only to marvel at her prescience and courage, but as a wake-up call. From the chapter, The Obligation To Endure:

"Future historians may well be amazed by our distorted sense of proportion. How could intelligent beings seek to control a few unwanted species by a method that contaminated the entire environment and brought the threat of disease and death even to their own kind? Yet this is precisely what we have done. We have done it, moreover, for reasons that collapse the moment we examine them."

Time to get outside and fluff up the compost heap again...got it re-invigorated yesterday...stirred in more leaves that were shredded in the Fall, turned in the kitchen scraps that had accumulated on the heap...folded it all in with the worms and microbes from the bottom of the pile. It'll heat up nicley in a few days...yea, Spring !

the mustard greens project

2007-03-16T13:13:00.000-07:00

Here are the little mustard greens and friends 11 days after their debut on the blog. The daffodils in the little vase were cut from plants out by the front steps. They were fat buds till this morning, when they started to unfurl. Yesterday's high of 72 dropped steadily after about 2pm. Light rain fell with the temps and now we've got snow and 32.9 degrees. I am so over the cold and the snow.

Cat-Minty Madness

2007-03-13T12:21:00.000-07:00

While doing a little more clean up in the fenced garden, before I let the hens out for the day, the cats, Sam ( pictured ) and Nemo The Plush came in and discovered clumps of catmint I had pulled up ( the ground is nice and soft at the moment...it easily gives up the weeds ). They went crazy twisting and rolling on the clumps, even batting them around a bit. Sam started kicking his own head while grabbing at his tail; Nemo cavorted about like a kitten....very cute. Here's Sam looking a little wild, just before he sprang away. The Catmint becomes a bush in the right conditions, and the insects LOVE it. Its free-seeding ways must be looked after though, or you end up like me...with hundreds of young plants that grew quietly over the Winter and are now setting the stage for Flower Bed Domination.

hens in the garden

2007-03-12T15:30:00.000-07:00

Our hens are 7 years old this Spring, and we have 7 left from the original 15. Although I am now vegan, and don't eat eggs, it's not often an issue with them...they are pretty causal about laying. I like to provide them with room to scratch the dirt, look for bugs and worms to eat, and some dry, bare dirt to hold their elaborate dust bathes. Nothing looks more blissful than a hen laying in a dustbowl, stretched out in the sun ...they can look positively comatose. They were all out, helping me get a look at what's going on in the Fenced Garden (FG )...fenced against deer, mostly. But it keeps the hens in and foxes out, too. The girls are not allowed in there all of the time...once the growing season gets going, they'll have to move their activities to another little "field".
Pictured is Aurora ( aka The Khaki Barn ), a Buff Cochin and Top Poly, the more dominant of the two Polish Tophats.

Kitchen Door Daffodils

2007-03-12T14:50:00.000-07:00

The cold has kept the daffodil's development down and bit, but yesterday and today it 'soared' into the upper 50's...yea!!!!! There are some daffs out front, that get more sun throughout the day, and are a little further along, but not as easy to watch their progress. The first few years we lived here I planted bulbs each Fall, forgetting each year how hard it is to plant them in clay-bound rocky soil. Those gorgeous gardening books show people casually tossing bulbs into 6-8" deeply groomed beds that must have taken weeks to prepare. Or worse, some glib TV host is showing how to plant bulbs in the lawn, for a natural look...he or she sinks a trowel up to its hilt, pulls it aside a bit, drops in a bulb and then seals the earth back over the slit that now contains a flower bulb, nestled firmly in the ground. And this is under trees for crying out loud ! What, no tree roots ? No rocks ? Give me a break. Or better yet, give me a couple of seasons to forget, so that I can be lured in once again by the promise of Spring and load up on bulbs again next Fall. I just remembered the Alliums ! Their flowerhead's spherical shape mirrors many other forms in nature...diatoms come first to mind, then dandelions and their tribe. The gigantic Gladiator alliums are showstoppers ( we don't currently have any of those growing...at $5.00 a bulb, I just can't seem to go that final mile and actually buy them ! ) , but the late-season white ones ( actually a garlic I think ) are a nice contrast with the Echinacea and Asclepia....and who knows where else this year...they seed pretty freely.

up and coming flower show

2007-03-08T14:38:00.000-08:00

The snow is gradually melting/evaporating away...none too soon for me! these daffodils have been coming up for weeks, but just a few days ago started showing flower buds. I thought it might be fun to follow one bunch's emergance into flower and see where it goes from there...maybe a trip to the compost heap ? Maybe some microscopic pictures from the heap later in the Spring...hmmm...

cardinals

2007-03-07T07:39:00.000-08:00

This morning, amid light snow flurries, 25-30 cardinals (both male and female) seem to be stocking up at the birdfeeder. Blackoil sunflowers seed is the only thing we put out. It is hard to tell from this picture ( taken just minutes ago ! ) that there are 10 cardinals in it ( and a squirrel )...the females are well hidden in the greenybrowny grass. There is also a heated bird bath near the feeders to offer water during the freezes. We've had a troop of around 15-20 most of the Winter, but they really seem to be concentrating now. Saw a few Robins walking about...first ones I've seen this season, here at our house. Earlier in the season S, L and I would see a good-sized flock of Robins down our road, in the woods...about 20-30 I'm thinking. The Juncos are still here, but not in the numbders we've had in the past...maybe 15-20 at most. A few White-Throats.

a creature of summer warmth

2007-03-05T10:05:00.000-08:00

Came across this picture, and in the interest of practicing uploading picture files and wanting to bring some juicy green life to the blog, I felt the urge to post it ! I have to say that I'm looking forward to seeing and hearing insects about again...the winter months seem so sterile without them. Is it that they represent some unsaid diversity ? I think we need to have an Insect Day....a day to celebrate their myriad forms, incredible solutions to ancient issues of climate, predators...hmmm...perhaps some day in mid June ? Or wait until the Cicadas are out and about..finished with their underground existence and have literally shucked it off, leaving their papery husks to be consumed by birds, dogs, and collected by children ? It would be a day for all insects...not just "beneficials" or the pretty.

lettuce and mustard seedlings

2007-03-05T09:05:00.000-08:00

Here's the little guys in their natal seedling tray. they really need to be separated and given some space. So far the mixture is hard to tell which types are which. The little brown specks on a few of them are, I hate to say....sunburn !!!! I had watered them from above and then set the tray back in the sunny window... the sun magnifying through the water droplets on the tender young leaves...burning little holes ! :< But they will survive. Today they got a drink of chamomile tea and some leftover coffee. ..this time I watered more carfully !

the power of seed

2007-03-03T07:57:00.000-08:00

Fresh, silky milkweed floss in late summer ( or is it early fall ? )...about to carry the next generation into the wind and colonize new territory in the Spring. Paper-thin wrinkled discs hardly look capable of growing into great stalks of sturdy milkweed plants. Each individual plant seems like a world unto itself : aphids, leaf hoppers and spitbugs sip their juices, milkweed beetles thrive on them ( not exactly sure what they do...? ), Monarch butterfly caterpillars eat the leaves. All sorts of insects visit the sweetly scented flowers to sip on nectar or collect pollen ( or dine on smaller insects that are collecting nectar or pollen ) I've witnessed at least one groundhog chow down on the young plants ( less than two feet tall ) in our own yard, leaving bare stems weeping white latex. Who know what goes on under the ground...what sorts of relationships they have worked out with fungi, bacteria and other microorganisms. Where there is now seemingly barren ground, milkweed seeds await their cues to continue their version of life on Earth.

Spring is possible !

2007-03-03T05:25:00.000-08:00

OK...now it seems possible for the ground to thaw, for mud to transform back into soil and for green shoots to emerge from dormant roots, rhizomes and seeds. The past few weeks have seemed a little bleak, what with lingering snow and ice... but really when compared to the 11 foot snows they've had to endure in upstate New York, I shouldn't complain. Yesterday was nice...50-ish with the sun out...streams and creeks alive with snow melt and the rain that fell during the night.
I am reading "The Snow Geese" by William Fiennes. A Brit, recovering from a long illness decides to follow the snow goose's route from winter grounds in southern Texas up through the Mid-West and on to Baffin Island, where they nest in the summer. Wonderful, evocative writing. Here he is describing a pet of a new friend:

Saila was three-quarters wolf and a quarter husky, with the colouring of a wolf, and the figure of a Shetland pony: fourteen years old, lame, deaf, almost blind, her dark eyes swirled through with milkiness.....her legs no longer hinged at the knees:they were as stiff as crutches. Each step forward beat the odds, bucking a trend. She tottered.She moved one foot and waited before following its lead, as if to verify that the limb could support her weight....we'd walk down the corridor together, one step at a time, blind Siala listing from side to side, slewing into stacks of boxes. One morning she knocked over a box mark "christmas decorations" and stood confused in a spill of rosettes, pompoms, and paper-twist angels.

tiny greens and big bananas

2007-02-28T18:49:00.000-08:00

The first lettuce seeds did not sprout. I think they were too old. What did sprout were a variety of chrysanthemum that is grown for its edible leaves. I re-sowed the lettuce area with some "Hotshot" mustard greens mix ( from High Mowing Seeds ) they started sprouting within 2 days ! I'm going to have to do some thinning and potting up within the week.
I whacked back the biggest banana tree in the pot...an invasive ( and almost impossible to get rid of ! ) White Impatiens has been making life tough for the 3' plant. its edges were browning and it was looking a bit chlorotic. But the 3 little ones will live on and grow into a fantastic little grove outside this summer...this year I am going to put them in the ground, just for the summer...first they must be pried out from the pot, and I hope to tease out the Impatiens then...without killing the banana ! today's picture is of a banana tree I saw at the Ala Moana Center in Hawaii back in December of 06.

Winter Impatiens

2007-02-26T07:11:00.000-08:00

This guy blooms merrily all winter long. I've brought them in for the winter before, and wonder why they arent as popular as Amaryllis and Paperwhites for indoor winter gardening. You can even multiply them as they grow...just start more from the cuttings that you've got to thin out now and then !

greens in the bedroom window

2007-02-25T16:49:00.000-08:00

This is the first entry into what I hope will be a fun way to keep track of and ruminate on experiences with plants and their allies ( bugs and all ). this first picture was taken last summer in our Fenced Garden area...it's a Tiger Swallowtail caterpillar dining on parsley. I never did find any chrysalis. So I don't know if a bird ate it, or the magic happened unseen by me.
Two weeks ago I started what I hope to be a bed of lettuce. A clear plastic clamshell that held purchased lettuce a few months ago is serving as the seed-starter bed. The warm, sunny South-facing window of our bedroom is where the lettuce seedlings share their first days with a 4 year-old potted banana tree and a pot-bound Impatiens brought in to bring cheer throughout the winter.