Green Spaces

I just returned from another trip to China. This time I was lucky to spend a few days in Shanghai.  I have to say it is my favorite city in China.

I think one of the things I liked about Shanghai was the amount of 'green space' I saw.  There were a lot of parks all around.  Some were very tiny, others quite large.  For someone like me who likes to be outside enjoying nature, they were great spaces to recharge while being in the heart of the city (there are over 20 million people in Shanghai).

I enjoyed the trip, but it was good to get home.  I spent yesterday working on my 'green space' - mowing grass, trimming weeds, and finishing the planting of our vegetable garden.

The potatoes have emerged, the turnip, green beans and spinach have sprouted.  We put in the tomatoes, basil, hot peppers, some herbs and kale.  Our gardens are not as formal and large as those I saw in Shanghai, but they give me just as much pleasure.

I hope you are enjoying your 'green spaces'!

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all in the Blogosphere.

And . . .

. . . Happy trillium day (at least its the first time I saw trilliums in bloom this year)!

(sorry for the low resolution - taken with my phone's camera when I was out cycling today)

I suppose I could also call it Happy Marsh Marigold Day as I saw them also!

Garden Time

A few years ago the wife and I had visited Sturbridge Village.  It is a recreation of an early 19th century New England village.  I overheard one of the farmers talking to one the the visitors.

"What are you planting?"

"Corn, beans and cabbage."

"What about tomatoes?"

"Oh - you must be one of those city folk.  Since you can buy staples in town, you must have time to grow tomatoes!"

I guess I am one of those city folk also.  I love to grow tomatoes.  But . . .

. . . it is still too cold to put out tomatoes in (or green beans, basil, lettuce, chilis, etc.).

We did put plant some potatoes, carrots and turnip today.  They don't mind the minor frosts we might still get.  The new raised beds should be great for them.

I put up trellises for the green beans.  

I already put up the tomato cages.  I decided to do something different this year.  Instead of pushing the cages into the ground, I put the cages into the beds upside-down before I put the soil in the raised beds.  I folded the long tangs over to strengthen the cages.  They are super sturdy.  I'll let you know how they work.

Yard Work

We had snow 2 weeks ago.  Temperatures were in the low 20's just a week ago.  I had been away on vacation, and came back to a yard which was in much need of mowing and weeding.

I started by weeding the shade garden.  A lot of grass, dandelions, and maple seedling had taken root.  I pulled a wheelbarrow full of weeds out.  I am glad to see my single trillium was back.  There appears to be a small second plant at its base!  Can't wait to see if it is a second trillium.  Maybe it will bloom this year.

I knocked back a lot of weeds in the white garden and by the compost bins.  There were a lot of fallen branched about.  I then spent a few hours mowing . . .

A little over a week ago it was cold.  Many of the trees were not in leaf.  Now, most of the trees are in leaf. The lilacs are also starting to come out.

It took me six hours to weed and mow.  Some do not like yard work, but I find it relaxing.  Do you like yard work?

Whump . . . Whump . . .

We had a lot of rain last night.  It was needed.  The temperatures slowly dropped as the day progressed.  The pellet stove was doing it job keeping us warm.

I woke around 6:15 AM.  All was calm.  Suddenly I heard a loud 'WHUMP" outside.  It was warm in bed, the wife was asleep.  I did not want to investigate.

A few minutes later I heard another "WHUMP".  This time, it seemed to come from the front of the house.

What was it?  Someone slamming a car door?  Nah.  We can't hear the neighbors.

"WHUMP"

I got out of bed and looked outside.

SNOW!

There was just a few inches.  It was warming up outside.  The WHUMP noise was the snow sliding off the metal roof onto the ground.

There were school delays and closing nearby!

As I came home from work, it was still raining.  There was a little snow mixed in.

The creek came up some.  It is running dirty brown.  It is cold and angry.

Just think - we were in the 80's last week.  This is why we don't plant our garden until Memorial Day around here.

Happy Earth Day

I remember the first Earth Day back in 1970.  I was in elementary school.  We had a whole series of outside activities.  Our school system started a program called ECOS.  We spent a week each school year studying nature, collecting plants, learning outdoors skills, studying ecology.  I loved it.  I always likes being outside, seeing the wonder in nature.

I still love being outside watching nature.

The warm temperatures we have enjoyed these past weeks finally came to an end.  We had some highly welcomed rain yesterday, with more today.  The ground is dry, and the creek barely came up an inch.  We are expecting more rain tonight.  Excellent.

I put the tomato cages up in the new raised beds.

It will be some weeks before we can put them in.

I noticed the Knotweed is emerging!  It seems a few weeks later than previous years.  My guess is that it has been too dry.

I noticed that our female Holly bush was absolutely loaded with berries.  Maybe it was all the rain we got last year.  I'll need to watch what happens this year.

Keep watching nature and learning her lessons . . .

Garden Beds

In a previous post, I mentioned that I had decommissioned our old garden beds.  It was a pain to mow around them, and we wanted to expand the garden.

We looked at just digging a larger bed, but the soil around here is all gravel - this area is old glacial moraine.  You go down 1 inch and hit gravel and rock!

We decided to put in raised beds.  The area in front of the barn is very sunny, and the barn would shield the garden from the cold north winds.  It was a natural place for the new beds.

We put in 8 4'x4' beds.  Two beds were double height.

I had to bring in some garden soil.  The beds needed about 2.5 yards of soil.  The minimum order was 4 yards!

Challenge accepted!  We got the soil yesterday.  With the dump wagon and a good short-handled shovel, I was ready to move some soil.

I stopped counting at 1000 shovels of soil.  My back is not too tired.  The beds are in, and the excess soil is back behind the old chicken coop waiting for some inspiration (maybe we'll put a few more beds in...).

So we will be planting:

• Tomatoes
• Chili Peppers
• Pole Beans
• Spinach
• Leaf Lettuce
• Basil
• Potatoes
• Carrots
• Turnip
• Broccoli

We'll still do lot of herbs in pots.

Maybe we should put in some beds for cucumbers and squash?

Do you want some soil?

Happy Easter!

We have had mild weather the last few weeks.  No rain, and temperatures just below freezing up the the 50's.  

The creek is very low - it looks like summertime levels.

I've started back about the yard and gardens.  I raked out all the flower beds, including the 'White' garden and the 'Shade' garden.  The hostas are coming up.  The larger ones are thin in the center.  I probably should divide them!

The sedum are also coming up.  I moved one of our sedum that was near the barn.  This sedum we call the 'Nanny Regan' plant as it was from a cutting that my wife's maternal grandmother took from a plant from her mother!  I also divided it, so we have one to share.

The daffodils have been up for quite a while . . .

The stella d'oro lillies are coming up . . .

. . . as are the tiger lillies, irises, bleeding heart and peonies.  I've noticed the black-eyed susans coming in.  I am on the lookout for my lone trillium, as well as the shasta daisies and other favorites.

I transplanted an old rose bush near the barn where I don't have to mow around it.  It is a hardy plant and seems to do very well.

The warm weather has the grass growing quickly.  I did my first mowing yesterday.  I ca't remember mowing in early April!

I  'decommissioned' our vegetable garden.  I pulled out the stone border, leveled the space, and seeded it with grass seed.  We are going to put in raised beds in front of the barn in the next few weeks.   I expect we will triple the size of the garden.

I turned over the compost piles.  I consolidated them from three bins into two bins.  By the fall, I'll have 1/2 a bin of compost for the vegetable gardens.

The wife and I have to agree on the raised beds and what we will plant.  Tomatoes and green beans are always a favorite.  We might try potatoes.  We put herbs and peppers in pots.  We'll also grow spinach.

Humans 3, Varmints 0

If you frequent this blog, you know I constantly have to thwart the attempts of various varmints to make a home where I don't want them.

It might be hornets.  We had a big nest under the porch roof last year.

I've had to put bird netting up to stop them from nesting under the porch roof.

The warm spring weather has let me get out and do some much-needed yard-work.  It has also signaled the starlings to be on the lookout for new nesting sites.  You need to pay attention.  Look to see if they are perched in unexpected areas.  Do you see them flying with grass or twigs?  Watch to see where they go.

I found three places I had to cover with metal flashing on the house and barn.  The starlings were trying to make new nests!

I won the battle today, but the war continues . . .

March 7, 2006

It was 6 years ago today that my brother Kevin passed away unexpectedly.

There is not a day that goes by that I don't think about him.

Early 1960s - Kevin is 2nd from left in the front row.

Early 1970s - Kevin is on the far left.

Late 1970s - Kevin is on the far right.

Mid 1980s - Kevin is in the middle.

Early 2000s - Kevin is on the right. 

Early 2000s - Kevin in the center of back row.

2005 - Kevin

We miss you Kevin!

Early Spring

It has been a very mild winter.  I haven't used the new snow blower, and I only plowed the driveway twice.  Even then, we only got a few inches of snow.

Last year we had a lot of snow . . .
 

. . . as we did two years ago!

This year there are just a few piles on snow by the barn.

I checked by the rock wall near the barn, and the daffodils are starting to push up.  They should be emerging in a few weeks.

I went cycling today, and heard the call of red wing blackbirds.  I was lucky to see one displaying. I also heard robins, though I haven't seen any yet.

I am sure we will get more snow - maybe even a significant storm.  But you know spring has arrived when the red wing blackbirds appear!

Did You See It?

There have been some spectacular astronomical conjunctions lately.  The Moon, Venus and Jupiter are very close tonight.  They will be close tomorrow night also.  Look to the west after sunset.

I shot this with my camera (a Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ4) at 3X.  This was a composite of a 15 sec "starry night" exposure and a 7 second "night scenery" exposure.  I replaced the Moon (which was overexposed) in the 15 second exposure with the image of the Moon from the 7 second exposure.

Jupiter is the bright object on the top of the photo.  The crescent Moon is obvious, with Venus nearby.

Go out and enjoy the scene!

Maybe I Need to Remodel My Barn

I spent the last week in China on business.  I was able to take in some sights, including the famed Terracotta Warriors, Tienanmen  Square and the Forbidden City.

While visiting the gate buildings and temples in the Forbidden City, I marveled at the detail of the structures.  The building were originally designed during the Ming Dynasty and were of wood construction with tile roofs.

Maybe I can redesign our gardens . . .

. . . or build a new ramp to the hay mow!

I could add some decoration to the gables . . .

. . . or paint the post and beam timbers.

I could add some decorative door hoods . . .

. . . or replace the door pulls and latches to the hay mow!

Maybe I should have put on a tile roof instead of a metal one?

What do you think?

Back Home

The past year has had us splitting our time between a job in Vermont and back at our home.  Work has brought us back to the farm!  We are so happy to be able to spend more time here with our old farm and barn!  We are much closer to family, and will have more time to putter about the barn.

I'll miss Vermont, especially the people, mountains and Lake Champlain . . .

. . . but we'll continue to enjoy the Finger Lakes area.

 It's good to be home!

Still Looking

There was a big solar flare this week.  There were reports that we might see Northern Lights!  I have never seen them (it is one of my bucket list items).

I went out after dark.  I drove out of town out to a small rise by an open field.  It was cold and windy.  There were a few inches of snow on the ground.

I set the camera up on a stand, pointed it to the north, and tried some 60 second exposures.  After a half hour of freezing my hands and feet, I came home to see if I had anything.

Nothing.

You could see the glow of the city to the north.  Some of the shots were away from the glow of the city, but they did not show the Northern Lights.

I spun the camera around and took a few shots of Orion.  Kinda nice . . .

You got to keep looking up!

Happy Birthday Mom

We wish you were still here with us!