~
Tuesday, May 31, 2011, 8:00 a.m.
72 degrees, breezy, sunny
Yesterday was the first time it hadn’t rained
in eighteen days! It was a real gem of a day,
and we finally planted the tomatoes outdoors. We only
have ten plants this year, which really
is more than enough for two people. The rest of our
seedlings will go into the ground this morning,
peppers, parsley, and more celery. The first row of beans
we planted last week has germinated a
hundred percent, and we sowed another short row yesterday.
I will also plant a flat of broccoli
seeds today, so we can have a second harvest of that in
September. We are slowly catching up
with the garden tasks, and although a little storm front
will pass through tomorrow that will take
away some of the heat, the skies are predicted to be blue
for the next seven days. It certainly
has been an interesting spring so far; I am looking
forward to seeing what happens next. We
have already had a flood on top of our steep hill; I sort
of expect a June blizzard or a new
volcano to appear up by the beaver dam on the Mackay Road.
Anything can happen...
Have a great day,
Daisy
Monday, May 30, 2011, 9:30 a.m.
71 degrees, breezy, mostly sunny
What a gorgeous morning !
As usual we had a bunch of rain overnight,
which seems to be the theme of this odd and waterlogged
spring.
We were sitting out around a fire last night as the sun
went down, hardly a
cloud in the sky; the first few sprinkles tickled our
bare faces, then the downpour began.
Thunder, lightning, and very loud raindrops accompanied
our late supper; no need to put any music
on the stereo, we had the full surround sound experience.
We planted corn yesterday, and spent the rest
of the afternoon wandering around the meadows and walking
for a while on the Smith road. We stopped to
admire four new bluebirds that had just hatched in one of
our nesting boxes. They don’t even look like birds
when they are fresh out of the egg... more like little
reptiles with a bit of fuzz here and there. Only four out
of
five eggs hatched, and if the last one remains intact the
mother will probably remove it to a distant location.
She has already taken the bits of broken shell out of the
box, and will carry out fecal material as well until
the young are fully feathered. Both male and female have
been in and out of the box frequently this morning,
bring food to the babies. Three of our other boxes have
tree swallows sitting on eggs as well, but as of yes-
terday none of them had hatched. The grackles in one of
our spruce trees have been making all kinds of
noise, the fledglings doing kind of a Janis Joplin cackle,
and the parents calling out now and then to keep
track of them. I assume they have left the nest but are
still in the tree. Soon we will see them strutting
along on the lawn like little dull brown versions of the
grownups. We have a fine stretch of weather
ahead of us, and hope to get the rest of the garden crops
planted before the week is over.
Our tomato and pepper seedlings are huge, and when the
soil dries out a bit they
will be so happy to finally be snug in their summer homes.
It finally seems
like summer, as is only fitting for this Memorial Day,
the unofficial start of the season.
Have a great day,
Daisy
Saturday, May 28, 2011, 7:00 a.m.
60 degrees, windy, mostly cloudy
We had some pretty intense thunder and lightning last
night, arriving just as we
sat down to a very late supper with friends. We were on
the sunporch, so we had
a great view of the action, which was accompanied by fast
and furious rain. After the
storm passed, moths and june bugs were attracted to the
windows in droves. Soon the
luna moths will be making their way into our territory, a
fleeting visit that is very hard to catch.
The only time I saw one of these large pale green
beauties was in broad daylight; it was perched
on a corner of our barn, like a poster child for gorgeous
strange creatures. We had some fog earl-
ier, but it has lifted and I can actually see a few
little bits of blue sky; perhaps today won’t be a
washout. We are headed to the Valley for a bit of fun, so
no outdoor work for me for a change.
Have a great day,
Daisy
Friday, May 27, 2011, 7:30 a.m.
63 degrees, windy, mostly cloudy
Thunder and lightning accompanied last night’s
rain, which was heavy at times.
The storm was short lived, and zoomed away as quickly as
it started. We had been
teased by thunder to the north all morning long, and to
the south during the late afternoon,
so I imagine some neighborhoods received more attention
from the Storm King than ours.
We managed to plant our potatoes before lunch, but it was
a real race as we expected rain
at any moment; we cut the pieces and let them dry a bit
while we prepared the furrows, then
worked as a team, one dropping the chunks into the rows
with the other following behind and
covering them up with soil. We used our rotary cultivator
with a plow blade, so the hardest part
(making the deep trench to receive the seed pieces) was
fairly easy. There was a stiff wind, so
black flies were not a problem. Deer flies have arrived,
but not yet in great numbers, so all in all it
was a pleasant, if frantic, job to get the spuds in the
ground. Last night’s heavy rain watered them
in without washing them out, thank goodness. After the
storm passed I opened the bedroom win-
dows and was kept awake for a while by enormous june bugs
throwing themselves against the
screens, sounding much more ferocious than they actually
are. I haven’t seen any of these big
bugs during the day; I wonder where they hang out? That
is research for another day, as there
is much to accomplish before the weekend arrives, along
with much-anticipated friends from afar.
Have a great day,
Daisy
Thursday, May 26, 2011, 8:30 a.m.
70 degrees, windy, mostly cloudy
Yesterday we were able to plant pole beans,
parsnips, and sunflowers, and set out a row of
broccoli, cabbage, and celery seedlings. It is quite a
job to cut saplings and anchor them all firmly
into the ground, and by the time we had finished it was
time for supper. We had some light rain over-
night, so there is no need to water anything this morning.
I always put some water in each hole to en-
courage the roots to grow down, even yesterday as wet as
the soil already was. We are going to try
to get the potatoes planted this morning before the rain
moves in; radar shows a fairly fast-moving
storm front currently near Buffalo, coming our way at a
good clip. At least the wind should keep
the black flies away. The spud patch is all tilled and
ready to go, all we need to do is cut the
seed potatoes into smaller chunks and poke them into rows.
Better get crackin’!
Have a great day,
Daisy
Wednesday, May 25, 2011, 8:00 a.m.
56 degrees, breezy, mostly sunny
It is a gorgeous sunny morning, perfect in every
way. We managed to mow the lawn yesterday,
and till up enough garden space to plant some corn and
beans today. Tomatoes and peppers are
under the protection of the back porch roof, beginning
the process of acclimatizing to outdoor condi-
tions after a happy infancy on the enclosed sunporch. I
may set out one or two tomato plants and protect
them with plastic sleeves made from five gallon pails, in
hopes of getting an early start. A chickadee has been
picking dog hair out of the net bag that I hung for the
use of orioles. It is the male chickadee who fashions the
nest, usually in a cavity such as a bluebird or tree
swallow would use. Hair or fur is used not only to create
a soft lining for the nest, but also to cover the eggs
once the clutch has all been laid. I have never found
chickadee eggs in any of our nesting boxes, but there are
many woodpecker holes in our area, which
would provide a perfect natural cavity for these cute
little birds. He has returned to the hairball,
and has plucked out a wad the size of his own head; I am
happy I put that out where
I can watch the action. I wonder if goldfinches will
visit the stash too ?
Have a great day,
Daisy
Tuesday, May 24, 2011, 8:00 a.m.
61 degrees, windy, mostly cloudy
You know, I believe I have lit a fire in the kitchen
range every morning since last September;
it feels so good on a chilly damp windy morn such as this,
even though we are nearing the end
of May and it should seem unnecessary by now. Not only
does the Kalamazoo’s warm glow
give my bread dough a cozy place to rise, it also helps
dry out our rain soaked walking shoes.
The dog and cat often curl up right on top of our
footgear to enjoy a sauna break, wrapped
around each other so closely it is hard to tell where one
blond begins and the other one ends. As
long as the stove is fired up, I might as well combine
all of the leftover bits of potroast, chicken, and
ham that I toss into the freezer and simmer a savory soup,
toss in some wild leeks and greens, fat run-
ner beans, a few jars of tomatoes, and yes, why not a
handful of frozen corn kernels? Wouldn’t that
go nicely with a thick slice of potato bread, hot out of
the oven? Since it rained for most of the
night, we still won’t be able to work in the gardens
today, so I might as well have fun in the
kitchen for a while, listen to NPR and rustle up some
good vittles. Chocolate pudding !
Have a yummy day,
Daisy
Monday, May 23, 2011, 9:00 a.m.
60 degrees, overcast, windy
A stiff southwest wind sure has things moving out there
this morning.
I am happy that I didn’t put out any seedlings
yesterday, as they would surely
be battered about by these hefty gusts, not to mention
the torrential downpour that
arrived late in the day just as I was covering the last
of the bean seeds. I did manage to
plant beets, carrots, a few beans, and chard to replace
what was washed away last month.
Lettuce and spinach have been thinned and weeded, and are
finally starting to grow larger. While
all of the rain has kept us from putting in our main
crops of potatoes, corn, broccoli, and cabbage,
it has worked some real magic on the total view. I have
never seen such shades of green, and every
day has me wandering around like some slack-jawed yokel
drinking in the healing living color of such
lush abundance. The sun will eventually come out, the
soil will dry enough to plant, and everything will
catch up to where it should be. Birds are unconcerned,
needing only their warm bodies to keep their
eggs and young hatchlings warm and dry. For sure, the
waterlogged earth has given up more than
its share of wriggly snacks, free for the yanking. The
orioles have built a nest in the aspen tree,
which I discovered while gazing out of a second story
window. Male and female have
been coming and going, putting the finishing touches on
the hanging pouch,
and it won’t be long before there are new kids on
the block.
Have a great day,
Daisy
Sunday, May 22, 2011, 9:00 a.m.
59 degrees, breezy, mostly cloudy
After a brief tease of warm sunshine, the air has
become chilly and damp with a southwest
breeze carrying a hint of rain. We hope to plant some
things in the garden today, but if we get
any more rain those plans will have to be put on hold.
Again. We had showers off and on all day
yesterday, with periods of dazzling sunshine and a brisk
breeze drying the laundry in between little
cloudbursts. It was a truly stunning day, but did not
serve to dry out the waterlogged muck that our
gardens currently hold, instead of healthy little
seedlings. We have something very unusual going on in
the unplanted potato patch; a pair of rock doves (ordinary
pigeons) are doing a mating dance, a slow
bob and weave that involves a great deal of feather
fluffing and tail fanning. We had a small flock of
these graceful birds on Gomer Hill for the entire winter,
but this is the first time any have chosen our
forty acres for their summer home. It will be interesting
to see where they choose to build their nest,
if in fact they end up doing that. Our bluebird boxes are
popular, with tree swallows nesting in three
and bluebirds in one, maybe two. The orioles have
abandoned the aspen as their nest site, even
though I hung out a net bag of dog hair clippings and
strands from my hairbrush. Hummingbirds
have been plucking dog fur from the stash by the beak
full, but so far they are the only species
to make use of my offering. The robin sitting on her eggs
in the privet hedge has been stal-
wart, staying put even after the lawn mower made a very
close pass yesterday.
Birds are settling down into the business of hatching
their broods,
which seems to be unaffected by the rainiest. spring.
ever.
Have a wonderful day,
Daisy
Saturday, May 21, 2011, 7:00 a.m.
60 degrees, calm, fog
We awoke to bright sunshine and blue skies, but
heavy fog rolled right on up the hill,
even as we sat in the sun on the back porch. Now it is
chilly and damp outside, and so
misty that I can’t tell what kind of birds sit in
the aspen tree except by their size and shape;
their colors seem to be swallowed up in the fog. There
isn’t a breath of wind; the whole outdoor
scene looks like one big moody black-and-white snapshot.
I can tell the sun is shining above the fog,
and hope that the air clears so the garden soil can dry
out enough to plant things. Yesterday I planted
pansies and bee balm in the annual flower bed, and edged
the perennial beds and weeded them. I pul-
led all of the garlic mustard out of the rose hedge,
being sure to discard the plants away from the com-
post pile, as this is a very invasive plant and hard to
kill. Some folks eat it, but I am not fond of any
of the wild mustard family except for watercress.
hummingbirds have been hovering up against all
of our windows that have geraniums blooming on the sills;
their main food in our yard so far this
season has been the myrtle blossoms that cover the bank.
They are diligent about seeking out
anything that blooms, but are particularly fond of the
color red. This time of year, before the
crimson bee balm blooms, I don’t dare to wear a red
headscarf, or I will be a target for
the pointy-billed little birds; they are cute when viewed
from a distance, but a little
scary hovering an inch from my eyeballs. The fog seems to
be even thicker than
before, but a little breeze has kicked in; perhaps it
will blow the mist away.
Have a great day,
Daisy
Friday, May 20, 2011, 8:00 a.m.
59 degrees, calm, mostly sunny
After yet another night of rain, with thunder threatening
from a distance but never arriving here,
we are treated by a deep blue sky, puffy white clouds,
and the beautiful warm May sunshine,
which has been a real stranger this year. We had better
enjoy it while we can, as there are
multiple disturbances on the radar that are swirling ever
closer, coming from the east, which
is not our usual weather pattern. We are resigned to the
fact that an early garden is not a pos-
sibility this year, as it has been too wet to till or
plant since the greens went into the soil a month
ago. In a normal year, we would be eating the thinnings
from that lettuce and spinach by now, but
what seedlings didn’t get swept away in the flood at
the end of April rested for a while in cementy
hardpack, only recently loosened up with a small weeding
fork and a lot of patience. Fall-planted
garlic is doing very well, and it won’t be long
before we can trim the scapes from them and enjoy
their fresh pungent accent stir-fried up with just about
anything. Wild leeks are still producing
spicy little bulbs, and cattail shoots are big enough to
harvest and add to our salads. For now,
I believe I had better get the dog out for a little romp
before the clouds move back in.
Have a wonderful day,
Daisy
Thursday, May 19, 2011, 8:00 a.m.
60 degrees, windy, overcast
It rained hard all night long, but the culverts
and ditches kept up with the runoff.
We are working at grading the mess in front of the barn,
but until we reseed it to
grass there is always the danger that the new soil will
end up eroding before we can
establish a good root network to hold it in place. The
rain has to stop sometime, yes?
Or should we start gathering animals two by two? We found
some awesome fossils in
roadside ditches that were uncovered by that storm three
weeks ago, with imprints of
shells, corals, and large sea snails reminding us that
this was once part of a vast inland
sea, so long ago that even I don’t remember it.
Mother Earth is constantly in a state of
flux, usually shifting subtly and slowly, but often
presenting us with violent and abrupt
changes, earthquakes, volcanoes, floods, or wildfires
caused by lightning strikes. Per-
haps this is Her way of seeking attention, like a two
year old who throws a noisy
tantrum in the middle of an otherwise serene church
service. Take some time
to pay attention to our planet; stand barefoot on the
grass to really connect
your physical self to the Earth. Be grateful for Her
gifts and blessings,
and clean up your corner of the world as best you can.
Have a great day,
Daisy
Wednesday, May 18, 2011, 8:30 a.m.
60 degrees, windy, mostly cloudy
Some drizzle and sprinkles have been around since
late yesterday, but they have stopped for now,
and the sky seems to be brightening up a bit. Bobolinks
have returned to Gomer Hill; their happy clatter
fills the air this morning, most welcome to us as a sign
of true spring. The meadow grasses and weeds are
growing by leaps and bounds with all of the moisture, and
soon blackbirds and bobolinks will build their
secret woven nests in the thickest parts of the greenery.
The orioles added two more bits of fiber to the
end of their branch yesterday, but have not been back.
What they have done so far has withstood
some pretty hefty wind gusts; I am surprised that it
held fast. I hung a mesh bag full of dog hair
clippings and strands from my hairbrush under their site,
hoping that if I provide them with
some materials they will finish their nest. It is a warm
and windy morn, so I think we
will get out and hike for a bit, knowing that black flies
will be literally blown away.
Have a great day,
Daisy
Tuesday, May 17, 2011, 8:30 a.m.
50 degrees, breezy, mostly cloudy
Clouds are silvery with diffused sunlight, and
valley fog is slowly lifting to reveal a good
view of the valley with the Adirondack Mountains still
hiding for now. The greens of spring
are very bright this morning, so dense with color we can
see it leaking out into the air with a
shimmer and shine not seen any other time of year. I
can’t believe my good fortune; a female
oriole seems to be making a nest right outside my window!
She has a few strands attached to
a branch with some slender fibers hanging down, what
appears to be the foundation for the fin-
ished product, a tightly woven pouch. She hasn’t
returned to the site for a half hour, so perhaps
this could also be a kind of wind-sock, to show how such
a nest would fare in a breeze. There
was a nest in this same tree last spring, but it was on
the other side of the tree and I couldn’t
see it from the window. Orioles will often use the same
tree many years in a row, but will
never reuse the same nest. Rain may move in later today;
it is an excellent morning to
pull weeds from the flower beds, and perhaps plant out
some pansies. Oh! now
both orioles are on the aspen tree, not carrying any
nesting materials, just perch-
ed and checking things out. I could easily watch them all
morning, but have
other things to do. I will certainly check that branch
several times today.
Have a wonderful day,
Daisy
Monday, May 16, 2011, 8:00 a.m.
45 degrees, breezy, overcast, rain
The hayfields and meadows are loving all of this
rain, but the weather has kept us from
planting much in the gardens because the soil is simply
too wet. Garlic, onions, lettuce, and
spinach are doing very well, and I am happy for that, but
usually by mid-May we have many
more crops sown. Rain is in the forecast until the
weekend, so it looks like the only thing we will
be cultivating for the next five days is our patience. It
could also be he Universe’s way of telling us
to put our energy elsewhere; today, for example, we are
going to dismantle some cellar shelves and
discard most of the stuff that has been stored on them,
things we haven’t used for twenty years. A few
things will be kept, like all of the bottles I have dug
from old farm dumps over the years. I don’t think
any of them are very valuable, but I would hate to donate
them all to the thrift shop before finding
out for sure. The internet has made that kind of research
much easier than when I first started
collecting such artifacts. I still poke around old
foundations this time of year, in the hopes
of finding some old milk glass or a pretty blue Vicks jar.
The more common bottles
have been given away over the years filled with garden
flowers, but we still have
a few dozen interesting ones that we will hang on to.
For now, anyway.
Have a great day,
Daisy
Sunday, May 15, 2011, 9:30 a.m.
50 degrees, windy, fog
There is rain north and south of Turin, but for
now we are merely enveloped in thick fog.
It is very windy, and it is a perfect morning for
imagining all of the misty moor parts of Wuthering
Heights while wandering barefoot on the grassy paths.
I have been doing some barefoot meandering
lately, trying to better connect with Mother Earth, and
letting my petty cares flow right down through my
feet and into the ground. This is usually pretty pleasant,
but if done on a rainy night, be prepared for the
unnerving sensation of hundreds of night crawlers
slithering back into their mudholes as you tread on them.
Last night the frog chorus was singing in full voice when
I let the dog out before bed. That is one of my favor-
ite sounds, as it usually means that true spring has
arrived, and snow will not return until after the harvest.
Yes-
terday I dug some horseradish roots from around the
compost pile, volunteers that have established quite a
nice patch of the spicy condiment. I had never prepared
it before, and a friend told me to peel it, cut it into
chunks, and whirl it around in the food processor until
it was minced fine. This took a while; I added some
cider vinegar to help it along. I took the lid off to
sneak a peek, and thank goodness I did it at arms length
!
The whole kitchen filled with fiery fumes, so I tied a
wet bandana around my face before scooping it out
of the bowl into jars. We haven’t tasted it yet, but
I’ll bet it is much hotter than any we have
purchased
from the store. I think I will so some more today, and
store the finished product in the freezer.
Getting something for nothing always makes my day !
Have an excellent day,
Daisy
Saturday, May 14, 2011, 10:00 a.m.
60 degrees, breezy, rain, fog
I took some time earlier this morning to trek
around the meadows to get in a little exercise
before the hard rain moved in, which was actually shortly
after I started walking. Fiddleheads
are in their last gasp of sweet curly goodness, and some
of the ferns have unfurled into lush green
beauties, looking quite tropical when glistening with
rainwater. I was soaked to the skin when I returned
to the house, and happy that I had thought to light a
fire in the kitchen range before setting out. Who knew
that a wood fire would feel so good in the middle of May?
Actually, anyone who has spent any time on Tug
Hill in any season knows that there isn’t a month of
the year up here that doesn’t need a little fire
going once
in a while, even in mid-summer. Yesterday I rode bike
with some friends up the Smith Road. While access
is still limited from the Gomer Hill end, you could get
there from Crofoot Hill Road, if only to see the wealth
of wildflowers blooming along the one-mile expanse of
truck trail between Smith and Plummer Road. This
stretch of road is closed to ATVs, and has suffered great
erosion from the last storm, so an AWD truck,
bicycle, or shanks mare are the best ways to see this
beautiful wooded lane. Velvety red trilliums carpet
the woodland by the hundreds, flanked by dainty pink
spring beauties and the nodding yellow bells of
trout lilies. A few creamy white squirrel corn flowers
were a nice accent, and we also found a patch
of wild ginger in bloom, the maroon blossoms nearly
hidden under the heart-shaped ground-hug-
ging leaves. The leaves overhead have started to assume
their mature shapes but are still an in-
effable shade of green, the quintessential color of a
North Country spring. We have a rainy
stretch ahead of us, but don’t let that keep you
from exploring outdoors. It’s only water.
Have a great day,
Daisy
Friday, May 13, 2011, 8:30 a.m.
58 degrees, windy, cloudy
Yesterday’s summery aspect has morphed back into
that of a moist spring morn.
Soft rain fell for about an hour in the wee hours, and
the view is so shiny and green
that adding sunshine would make it almost unbearably
bright. The forsythia is at its best
ever this year, and has started to add green leaves to
the branches that are already jam-packed
with golden blossoms. Yesterday we worked at getting the
gardens back into some kind of shape.
Several tillings will be necessary to fluff up the soil,
which compacted into bulletproof hardpacked
clay after being pounded by the late April deluge. I
scratched around the lettuce and spinach with
a three pronged tool, aerating the soil around the sturdy
little seedlings and thinning as I went. We
need to replant the swiss chard, as that end of the
garden was scoured away right down to bedrock.
When we have the back garden graded into lawn we will use
some of that soil to fill in what was swept
away in the flood. For now, we will just accept the fact
that some of our beautiful rich soil that had been
lovingly tended and built up with manure, compost, and
green cover crops over the past thirty-odd years
is currently enriching the east meadow, where most of it
ended up. The flood deposited a large number of
rocks in place of the dirt, mostly shale, and we
appreciate that they will add some minerals into the soil
as
they break down, but we need to double the amount of
manure that we spread next autumn, and sow
winter rye on every square inch of exposed dirt to
prevent this kind of erosion from ever happening
again. In light of the current Mississippi Delta disaster,
where countless acres of prime farmland
are being destroyed, our loss is insignificant, and we
are blessed to have as much as we do.
Have a great day,
Daisy
Thursday, May 12, 2011, 8:00 a.m.
63 degrees, breezy, sunny
On a morning like this we can feel summer lurking
around the corner. I think I will plant
a short row of beans, on the off-chance that the days
will continue to be warm enough for
good germination. A female baltimore oriole has been
examining every square inch of the aspen
tree outside my window, probably planning a nesting site.
She had one in that same tree last year;
it would be cool to watch her weave one; it is such an
intricate structure that hangs down from a
slender branch like a dowager’s pocketbook from a
time-furrowed forearm. Yesterday we were
tied up in Watertown longer than we had planned, but
there was still time for a good walk around
the meadows after we returned to Gomer Hill. We carried
pails, scissors, and a spading fork. While
the dog sniffed at or rolled in anything remotely stinky,
we dug leeks and snipped fiddleheads. The
leeks are at their peak, but the fiddleheads are near the
end of their run. We can enjoy leeks for
several more weeks, but the tiny tight baby ferns will
only be available another day or two. We
picked some dandelion and sorrel leaves as we trod back
up the hill, and cooked everything
into a spring pie, a savory mixture of wild veggies, eggs,
milk, and several kinds of cheese,
dotted with thick smoky bacon chunks and baked in a whole
wheat biscuit crust. Yum !
Best part, since there are only two of us, there is
leftover pie for lunch today !
Have a wonderful day,
Daisy
Wednesday, May 11, 2011, 7:00 a.m.
63 degrees, breezy, sunny
I can’t believe how fast spring is springing
now that the sun has been shining for a few days.
I can practically watch the tree foliage grow. Yesterday
I mentioned that the aspen leaves would
be big enough to spin in the wind by this weekend; they
are fluttering a bit this morning in the gentle
breeze. They have doubled in size from the tiny hearts of
yesterday, and are a beautiful bright char-
treuse against the deep blue sky. Yesterday we planted
onions next to the garlic, which is already
a foot tall. Because of an outbreak of garlic nematodes
in New York State last summer, we will
rotate our allium crops, putting them in new ground every
year to lessen the possibility of nematode
infestation. The garlic we planted last autumn was spared
any flood damage because of the thick straw
mulch we spread over it; much of our garden soil was
eroded away during the deluge. We are slowly
straightening out our plots, but have decided to let our
oldest garden become part of the lawn. Only
some pretty intense grading can level out that space, as
there are several channels worn right down
to bedrock from the recent rush of water. We will leave
the raspberry patch where it is. That area
is one of the flattest places on the whole farm, and it
will make a fine venue for croquet, horse-
shoes, or badminton once we seed it to grass. We are
headed to Watertown today, and I
expect that trees up there will be fully in leaf, and
ornamental shrubs blazing with color.
Have a great day,
Daisy
Tuesday, May 10, 2011, 8:00 a.m.
50 degrees, calm, sunny
It is a rare morning when the wind doesn’t
blow on Tug Hill; it is almost as if time has stood still
since sunrise,
with a quiet air of expectation hanging over the view
like the long catkins on the aspen tree, motionless yet
poised
for action. Tiny heart-shaped leaves top the fuzzy
flowers, and in a few days they will be big enough to
spin in the
breeze, an indicator of wind speed almost as accurate as
an anemometer. We are hoping that this stillness
won’t
last long, as black flies have appeared in our
neighborhood. I noticed them when I walked in the meadow
yester-
day; they were fine unless I stopped to pick a flower or
examine some animal tracks, then they were swarming
all around me like biplanes on King Kong. Fortunately,
they weren’t biting. Yet. Even a gentle breeze is
enough
to sweep the black flies away, and we plan to plant
onions this morning. Our head-net hats will be kept handy,
just in case. In a dry spring, there often aren’t
enough vernal ponds for many pests to hatch. This has
been any-
thing but a dry spring, so I anticipate quite an
infestation of not only black flies, but mosquitoes as
well. Plenty
of breeding grounds this year, that’s for sure! I
went to Remsen yesterday, and the tree foliage in that
area
has exploded into hundreds of shades of yellow-green, and
forget-me-nots paint the ground blue where
they are thickest. It won’t be long before we are
similarly blessed with an abundance of color here on
top of the world. There is nothing prettier than a spring
day; even when there is fog or rain, the colors
just pop, from the bright tulips and daffodils to the
deep blue and pumpkin of male bluebirds. Keep
your eyes open on a day like this, and bring the memory
of it forth on the dullest day of midwinter.
Have a great day,
Daisy
Monday, May 9, 2011, 8:00 a.m.
50 degrees, windy, sunny
A gusty north wind took nothing away from the
sunbeams that bathed my bare legs and upturned face
earlier on the back porch. I reckon I got a good dose of
vitamin D before putting my broad-billed cap on,
allowing my toes to toast a bit longer. Crested
flycatchers arrived over the weekend, and their high-pitched
rising one-note call was the dominant voice in the
morning concert. Most of the other birds have finished
their
mating songs and are busy building nests, so the choir
has thinned out a bit. We haven’t seen or heard any
tur-
keys lately either; their mating display in our back
meadow was very brief this spring. Yesterday I weeded the
strawberry patch, forking out dandelions and pulling up
the long roots of clover and vetch. I need to start a
new row after this year’s berries have ripened, as
the weeds will soon take over. We move the berry patch
about every three years; all of our strawberries are
descended from just three plants that I put into the
ground
about twenty-five years ago. We also took some time to
clear the largest rocks from the hayfield, ones that had
washed over the road during the recent high water. Late
in the day we walked up the Smith Road, crossing over
the ruined culvert on the far right side of the damage,
steering clear of the parts that are still cracking and
plum-
meting down to the creek far below. The town has been
hauling dirt and rocks to the site, so I reckon a re-
pair is planned for the near future. Coltsfoot, trout
lilies, and red trillium bloom in profusion throughout
the
woodland. False hellebore and marsh marigolds have turned
the seeps and little creeks into lush green
grottoes. The latter is loaded with tight buds that will
soon burst into waxy yellow flowers, as
cheerful a wildflower as you can find in spring. We have
tilled up more garden space,
and should be able to plant early crops as soon as the
dirt dries out a bit.
Have a great day,
Daisy
Sunday, May 8, 2011, 9:00 a.m.
55 degrees, breezy, mostly sunny
A soft breeze from the east has set the forsythia
blossoms into motion, and the forked sticks
that are balanced on the clothesline sway back and forth
gently. Those sticks are there for birds
to perch upon, and this time of year there is nearly
always at least one bluebird sitting out there look-
ing in at me as I write. There have been two pairs of
bluebirds out and about our farm this spring, the
males stunningly vivid, the females a bit less so. After
they lay their eggs, most of the color will fade from
the females; they become almost grey with the merest hint
of blue. Yesterday was a beautiful day, warm
and breezy, and the clouds were one of the best features,
big and bright white, huge shining ships sailing
across a sea of deep blue. The deciduous trees are
beginning to show tiny little leaves, and after a week
of warm sunshine we should have some pretty yellow-green
foliage to add to the view overhead. Today
is Mother’s Day; no matter what your status is,
don’t forget to honor The Great Mother, this
beautiful
planet that nurtures us all. She is in big trouble, and
as we rejoice with gratitude for her many gifts, we
must also pay attention to her problems; send some
healing energy and prayers to Mother Earth,
and to those who have lost so much from recent
catastrophic events.
Have a grateful day,
Daisy
Saturday, May 7, 2011, 7:00 a.m.
50 degrees, breezy, mostly cloudy
The sun is inconsistent this morning, but boy does it
feel good when it shines !
The overnight low was mild enough that frogs sang for
much of the evening, the
first I have really heard them in large numbers this
spring. Dandelions are slowly
appearing in the meadows, which means it is time to plant
potatoes. If we have a
few dry days we should be able to catch up with our
gardening jobs. The tomato
seedlings on the sunporch are doing very well, with
strong stems and good bushy
foliage. Broccoli and cabbage are much happier since I
transplanted them into
deep cellpacks, and the sweet pepper plants have achieved
an almost tropical
lushness, deep green and extra shiny. We are headed down
to the Turin Fire
Hall for the annual Library book/bake/barbecue. There
will also be a craft
fair, to benefit the volunteer fire department. This is
the major fundraiser
for our little library, and there are also many yard
sales in the village
as well. It is a fine day for it, that’s for sure !
Have a wonderful day,
Daisy
Friday, May 6, 2011, 9:00 a.m.
54 degrees, windy, mostly sunny
The wind is right out of the west and pretty stiff, but
the back porch is on the east side of the house,
and time spent in the morning sun for a few minutes will
certainly be a highlight of this particular spring
day. Birds have started to build nests, and it is rare to
see one flying by without trailing a few twigs and
long blades of dry grass clutched in its beak. We have
been watching a robin construct a nest in the privet
hedge outside the sunporch window, and the evergreens
have a steady stream of grackles and robins com-
ing and going. A pair of brown thrashers has been singing
lustily every morning, and will probably raise their
brood in the center of our biggest forsythia bush, as
they have done for many years past. Goldfinches have
arrived, and are the most frequent visitors to the
birdbath. The Hill is teeming with life on this beautiful
spring morn; I must remember to step outside of the
cellar from time to time to take it all in. We have
the two new freezers up on cement blocks, at least two
feet off of the floor, and the contents have
all been re-distributed and sorted. Now it is simply a
matter of cleaning the mud off of everything
that was under water last week, no small chore. Yesterday
we took a walk around the meadows,
and found fiddleheads springing out of the duff, hundreds
of curly little heads just beginning to e-
merge. I have about a five day window in which to gather
them; after that they will be too mature.
I anticipate a fiddlehead and wild leek pie for Sunday
supper, that is something to aim for anyway.
Have a great day,
Daisy
Thursday, May 5, 2011, 8:30 a.m.
42 degrees, windy, mostly sunny
After yesterday’s will it/won’t it rain
tug-of-war, it looks like we are in the clear for today.
It isn’t terribly warm, but the sun takes away the
northwest wind’s chill nicely. A friend arrived
from out of state yesterday to help with our flood clean-up
tasks for a few days, so I should act-
ually be able to get into the garden to transplant some
of our hardier seedlings, such as celery, pars-
ley, and greens. The lettuce I started indoors is big
enough to eat, and we have been enjoying the thin-
nings for several days. I will probably only put out
about twenty of those, as they are so big I don’t
know
if they will be able to withstand much wind. Nothing
ventured, nothing gained... that is so true, but espe-
cially in the garden. I just might set out a couple
of tomato plants as well, protected from the elements by
a cardboard barricade. I have enough plants that it
wouldn’t matter if I lost a couple, and imagine if
they
make it; that would give us some pretty early tomatoes.
Before I do anything today, I need to take
the dog for an off-leash romp around the meadows. It is
so easy to get wrapped up in our chores
that our furry friends take a back seat at times. Dogs
need exercise every day; even a fifteen
minute game of fetch in the barn on a rainy day is better
than no playtime at all.
Have a great day,
Daisy
Wednesday, May 4, 2011, 8:30 a.m.
40 degrees, breezy, overcast
Fog has lifted to reveal a bright sky filled with high
thin clouds; it has moved off the Hill
but lingers in the valley. The radar map shows that most
of the rain has moved on to the east.
We might get a little blow-by as the front continues to
stream on past, just grazing the eastern edge
of Lewis County. When it started to rain really hard
yesterday afternoon, I was worried that we might
once again receive more water than the ditches can hold.
I have never seen the ground this supersaturated
with water, not at any time of year. The cornfield across
from us is under a couple of feet of slick muck, just
waiting to move into the culverts and plug them anew. I
was awakened in the middle of the night by another
deluge, and went to the bathroom window to see how fast
water was running through the yard. I don’t
know if I will ever again be able to sleep through a hard
rain after the mess we had last week. We con-
tinue to clean things off in the cellar, and have help
coming later today to haul one new freezer down the
bulkhead stairs and shuffle the remaining big chests
around. We are lucky that the flood happened in the
spring, when the supply of frozen chickens, pork, fruits,
and veggies is relatively low. We had one freezer
die entirely, and our largest is on its last legs, its
motor running all of the time. We were able to pick up a
new
one last weekend, and have another coming next week. We
haven’t had much spare time to enjoy the beautiful
spring that is unfolding, but every break I get will find
me wandering around listening to birds, admiring newly
emerged wildflowers, and thanking my higher power for the
many blessings that surround me. The little
pauses in the daily work to watch the ravens wheeling in
big circles, listen to the brown thrasher
sing its complicated tune, or sniff the hyacinths by the
house, these remind me that there will
always be beautiful things to enjoy, even when ugly
things have happened to us.
Have a great day,
Daisy
Tuesday, May 3, 2011, 8:30 a.m.
45 degrees, fog, rain/mist
This morning is cool and damp, with more fog than rain.
Our forsythia hedge is in full flower,
with bright golden blossoms from top to bottom. It glows
even through the fog that is as thick
as it ever gets up here. Bluebirds that sit on the line
are bluer than ever; the fog must act as a mag-
nifier for color on a morn such as this. We were able to
accomplish many necessary tasks outdoors
yesterday before sprinkles started to fall after lunch.
We cleared out the culvert under our driveway,
which had packed full of dirt and rocks from last
week’s storm. Once we dug out everything we could
reach with long-handled shovels, we wriggled a tall pole
around until we had room to snake a piece of
steel cable through. By repeatedly dragging a few tire
chains down the culvert with a tractor, we slowly
managed to clear away most of the debris within.
Ordinarily, this is a task the town road crew would
undertake, but they have been working dawn to dusk trying
to piece entire roads back together. We
wanted to clean that pipe out before the next hard rain
arrives, possibly later today. I managed to get
most of the laundry nearly dry before the clouds leaked
fine rain, and spread them on rods indoors to
finish, giving the house a wonderful fresh air scent that
still lingers today. It is a good day to transplant
the broccoli and cabbage into cellpacks, as the seedlings
aren’t yet big enough to survive outside.
All of the geraniums need to be trimmed and fed so that
they ready for their summer spots
around the yard, as soon as the risk of a hard freeze has
passed. The moon is full on
the 17th and that should be the last chance of frost here
on Gomer Hill; the valleys
usually have frost into June. Although it seems like
spring is finally under way,
the chance of a snowfall in May is more the norm than the
exception.
Have a great day,
Daisy
Monday, May 2, 2011, 9:00 a.m.
55 degrees, windy, mostly cloudy
There is a chance of rain later today, but I am
optimistic and have hung out some laundry to dry.
The wind is from the south and the sun has popped out a
few times, so I think most of the moisture
will be blown away before any of Mother Nature’s
natural rinse cycle starts. Yesterday was an awe-
some day, with fabulous weather and a high quotient of
fun. Some grrrrl friends arrived mid-morning
and helped me gather flowers for a May basket; every time
I look at the assortment of blossoms and
greens this morning I think how fortunate I am to have
such an amazing variety of friends of all ages.
We headed out on our bicycles, traveling up the Gomer
Hill Road, and after dodging a big dog and
an even bigger fugitive horse, finally pedaled up to the
beaver pond on Moore Road. We made sev-
eral stops to admire the roadside flora, which included
oodles of coltsfoot and the first trout lilies I
have seen this spring. It is a fairly hard ride to the
high point of Gomer hill, which is where the old
fire tower sits at 2110 feet above sea level. It is a
gradual but steady uphill climb to that point, then
a really fun downhill run all the way to the beaver pond.
We hung around on the shore, listening to the
tuneful gurgle of water over several small dams, and
picked through the colorful rocks that have been
hauled into the area as fill for the culvert. Movement in
the water caught the eye, and it was a beaver
working on a lower dam. It dived a few times before
finally settling into a lazy swim back and forth,
as if posing for the camera. Look what I can do!
We crept quite close, and the beaver watched us
but seemed unconcerned. It was a huge animal, and really
pretty cute. The ride back was a long easy
glide, after a slow mile of climbing up the Moore Road
hill to the high spot again. The neighbor’s horse
had been corralled, and we arrived back at my house
without major mishap. A fine potluck lunch com-
plete with chocolate cake was a perfect finale to the
outing, and we felt like we earned every delicious
calorie consumed. We walked up to look at the big hole in
the Smith Road to help settle the feast, and
then checked the nesting boxes that are scattered around
the meadows. Three of them have nests started,
and one has a nest nearly completed. I can’t be sure
what the species is until there have been eggs laid, as
bluebirds and tree swallows build nests that are quite
similar. Swallows usually line theirs with feathers, but
not always. I see that the mister is tilling up the
washed-out mess in the side garden, and I will plant some
beets and lettuce seedlings before the rain moves in. The
spinach, lettuce, and chard that went into the ground
three weeks
ago has sprouted in their rows, needing only a few
moderate days to get them going. I am amazed that
anything
survived the rush of water that passed through our land
last Thursday. Now the sun has come out, yay !
Have a great day,
Daisy
Sunday, May 1, 2011, 8:30 a.m.
55 degrees, breezy, mostly sunny
Happy May Day! Blessed Beltane! Fabulous Flora
Fest! I have already sprinkled my face with morning dew,
and am off to collect some small blossoms for a May
Basket. This is one of my favorite days of the whole year,
the beginning of the busy season of growing things and
nurturing our flora and fauna. We were going to celebrate
by taking a long bike ride up the Smith Road, however the
Smith Road is missing a big chunk a half mile from here.
Where once was a dip in the road over a huge culvert is
now a sheer cliff dropping forty feet to the creek below.
There is a thin strip of berm left, but I am not brave
enough to cross it on foot, let alone lead a group of
cyclists over such a tenuous bridge. I don’t know
how our road crew will go about repairing such a deep
insult. All I know is that, if I want to continue to
enjoy hiking on that road, I must find an alternate route
across the creek. That will be a project for another day;
for now, there is a May Day festival about to begin!
Have a great day,
Daisy
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