got bees???

we're not crazy, honest. we just have lot's of time on our hands...actually, a garden needs bees and bees need keepers so it all works. besides, the dog needs a new hobby.

spring wildflower walk, warner park

we had the opportunity to take a guided wildflower walk in warner park yesterday. first, our guide deb beazley walked us around the nature center and showed us just what is actually growing in our lawns. we saw chickweed, bitter cress, red dead nettle, henbit, speedwell, bluets, black mustard, wild onions and field pansies.

these plants were all over the common area at the nature center and all are considered weeds. most of them are beneficial to honeybees and are also edible. we have many of them in our own lawn and we plan to keep them for the bees we will be adding soon.

after exploring the lawn, we ventured out around the other buildings on the site to look at the many plants in bloom. we saw many more than are featured here and we also saw many other plants such as sedum, many different ferns, shrubs and trees that are currently blooming or setting buds. there were too many to photograph and remember so i suggest that you go over to warner park and take a guided walk sometime, it is well worth the time.

bloodroot-sanguinaria canadensis

virginia bluebells-mertensia virginica

the creek that runs through the nature center was a beautiful sight.

at this point, we broke up into groups and travelled to the deep well trail head to hike on the mossy ridge trail and see what was in bloom.
it's not hard to see why it is called the mossy ridge trail. this is a north facing slope and there were many outcroppings covered in moss.

false rue anemones-isopyrum biternatum

stinging nettle...i was standing there and i looked down and asked ever so ignorantly-"what's this plant?" luckily, i was wearing long pants and didn't have to worry about it stinging me!

the bell of the ball, trout lily-erythronium americanum

look carefully, this hillside was covered in trout lily blooms

the largest tree in the park, a tulip poplar estimated to be about 150 years old

speedwell

we finished the day where we started, a picnic lunch at the visitors center with a table next to a small gravesite for the children who were born and died in the original house on the property.

get out there and see what's around you!

welcome back spring!!!

you know it is spring when the hellebores bloom

the toad lily has begun to sprout

daffodils are blooming

the goldfinches are eating thistle seeds like there is no tomorrow and the males are now sporting yellow feathers

and it is warm enough for the shiitake logs to start pinning and fruiting!

critters that go munch in the night

okay, i can admit it. things are a little out of control in the garden. darry was baiting the feeders to attract squirrels to entertain the cat-she stays indoors. he discovered that we have any number of interesting visitors at night...

the little bandit stealing squirrel food. actually, it is snacking on peanut butter sandwiches.

sorry about the photo quality, the only camera i could use at the time was the one in my cell phone.

on the left, bubba, the biggest possum we have ever seen and a dedicated snacker of peanut butter sandwiches.
bubba and rocky. bubba doesn't like rocky in his tree and he was turning around to try and bite him or at least scare him away from the sandwiches.
this little guy was out in the yard and he froze when i approached him to take his picture

a front shot of big bubba

we also have a fox that stops by but so far, no photos

GOT SNOW?

as of 11am, this was the front yard. we are expecting about 6-10 inches...should be an interesting afternoon in the neighborhood. if the streets freeze up we won't be leaving the yard for a while!

holy shiitake batman!!!

if you are following this blog, then you know about the shiitake logs. this is an update on the progress of the logs.

darry periodically soaks the logs in a baby pool if we have not had any significant rainfall.

while doing this, he found a pin-it is dead center in the photo

the whitish stuff is the actually mycelium, it is growing through the logs and on this one, it decided to fruit on it's own.

he found two pins and brought in the logs to monitor them and control the conditions.

fully grown-his first two mushrooms! we hope for a larger yield next time. keep watching for more updates.

it's indian summer, let's keep it going

we have been so lucky the last few weeks. the weather has been wonderful, not hot and not cold with many days around 68 and some sun. we've had little rain and after all of the wet weather we had earlier this year, it was a nice break. as of today, we still have not had a true hard frost and our garden is still producing lettuce, greens of all kinds, peas and the cauliflower will hopefully produce heads soon too.

here's a look at what is still going on in the yard:

my crazy christmas cactus is always covered in blooms before thanksgiving!

they are so pretty while they last

this pineapple sage is still going strong and if the bees are out, they flock to it.

the moss is filling in the patio nicely

as the season progresses, i will fill in the gaps

the leaves are finally in the corral, or near it if you want to be technical

sugar bear is growing her winter coat and she looks a little plump, but it is all fur!

our new bell by the back door

leafing it up again...

it's that time again...i'm sad to see the summer go but then again, it wasn't much this year. we had so much rain and cool weather that it never really felt like summer to me. now we move on to fall and all of the fun tasks it brings. what would that be you ask, in a word, leaves. we collect them all every year and use them for composting and mulching.

after 5 years of doing this by hand on a 2/3acre lot, we broke down and bought a blower/mulcher/vac to aid in the process. here is darry blowing the leaves into a pile so i can begin raking them up. most of the leaves he is blowing aren't from our trees. this gully is part of the storm drain system that runs through our neighborhood and leaves from the trees across the street seem to collect here. while it is annoying to have to clean up some other person's leaves, we get to keep them and compost them.

we still have to get them to the corral and we use a barrel to do it

darry's new toy. we wanted one of the back pack models but just couldn't pay the $300 it would have cost us.

the long walk uphill to the corral. look for the soccer net in the top right corner, the corral is right next to it.

the leaf corral

the compost pile. we use open pits and we have 4 different stages going at once. this is the first stage and we cover it with the leaves that we collect. consider composting leaves for your garden, it beats sending them to the land fill!!!