Tracking Spring 2012

February 23 - Red Winged Blackbirds return
March 1- Peepers (pond frogs)
March 2 - Robin and Swans
March 6 - Killdeer
March 8- 13 deer (although they are a year round presence, this is the largest I've seen the herd)

Every spring I play a game of tracking and journaling the wildlife that return in the order and preferably with the exact date I witness them.  I adore wildlife and treasure the wet springs if only for the new and rare species I've seen.  Although 2009 was truly a flooded mess; with our barn and most of our land a lake around our house and the ducks and geese swam along our driveway and fish swam in the back yard, it was the year I saw a Belted Kingfisher female diving for fish in my backyard.  It was also the year that I saw Hooded Mergansers and a pair of Teall Ducks for the first time!  It was also the spring that granted me the gift of watching a bald eagle survey our land and ponds for dinner.

I keep an adorable little nature journal handy to track the dates and species spotted and pass a few moments sketching some of them. 

Extending Summer

My husband is brilliant at putting my ideas into action!  Actually in this case the idea came from Lauren and her co-op friends in the Michigan House at U of M, Ann Arbor.  She had posted on Face book how on one of their work days, some of the students who live at Michigan House built a couple of mini hoop houses for their raised bed gardens.

I had learned about giant hoop houses through my work at the Conservation District and the USDA.  I was not interested in these giant structures, although I was intrigued by the prospect of extending the season all the way to December...and starting the season much earlier than May.

Well, when I read about the inexpensive project, and the fact that my daughter was on her way to becoming a true green thumb, my excitement mounted.  Thankfully, I have a very agreeable and hard working husband!  He put these together starting Friday afternoon and finished before dark.  Now we will extend the eggplant, basil, parsley, and swiss chard.  I also plan to start some lettuce and spinach seeds this week.  We'll see just how far we can push back the winter!

Pesto Presto

Lately my garden has had a wonderful abundance of spicy globe basil, and what better to use it for than some nice green jars of pesto? I just love how versatile pesto is, we use it on pasta, potatoes, even pizza! (Chicken Pesto Pizza that is; a recipe that I can provide upon request :) Below I include my much used, and much loved recipe for canned, freezing Pesto.

You will need:  

1 cup pine nuts

4 cups fresh basil leaves, fimly packed

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 cup plus 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

Make sure your fresh basil is washed, then spread the pine nuts on a baking sheet and toast in oven at 450°F until lightly browned.

Puree toasted pine nuts, basil, and garlic in a food processor or blender until smooth.

Add Parmesan cheese, processing just to blend. In a slow steady stream, add 1 cup olive oil through feed tube of food processor or lid of blender while machine is running.

Pour pesto into can-or-freeze jars, leaving 1/2-inch head space. Drizzle 1^1/_{2  teaspoons olive oil over pesto.}

Seal, label, freeze.

Enjoy!

Oh Why-O Did I Ever Leave Ohio?

Shelby and I recently had a short, little road trip in honor of her graduation. When my other daughter, Lauren, graduated High School, the three of us had a cross-country trip to California by way of New Mexico, Colorado, and Nevada. However, with two children now in college, we realized that a small trip was in order this year. Shelby had found this cute little town of Dublin, Ohio while attending a horse expo a few months back and was determined to return in order to check it out. Although Dublin seemed to have the best restaurants, two other towns: Powell and Westerville definitely had the best shopping. We visited antique stores, resale shops, tea breweries, boutiques, and ate at one very good organic Thai restaurant. Plus we stayed in a mansion in Mount Vernon, Oh that happened to be the home of the first female doctor in America.

I loved this shot of a historic building in Dublin, Oh. (if only window units weren't invented)

Shelby posing in Dublin

My delicious organic Thai dinner in Westerville. (Shelby said our waiter smiled like Doctor Who....someone I know nothing about)

Shelby in front of the beautiful in-town mansion in Mount Vernon, it is called the Russel Cooper House.

This is a journal that the guests write in, there was a very emotional entry from a patron during 9/11.

This is the Garden Room. We stayed in the English Country Room, but they were all huge.

One of the gardens near the Russel Cooper House, the whole neighborhood was very inspiring for landscape design.

Me at the gorgeous Innis Metro Park in Westerville, the whole park was donated by the Innis sisters.

I've been wanting to make a Bible Garden for our church, maybe now I will!

I love how this shot frames the landscape.

They had a lovely quilt exhibit in what used to be the Innis Sister's house.

Shelby pretended that this maze was part of the Tri Wizard Tournament and that this statue was the trophy. Don't touch it Shelby, you'll have to meet He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named!

Shelby found a whole new wardrobe of vintage clothing. I loved this vintage wine suite from the 1940's.

We got creative by creating guacamole in the back of our car.

Shelby loved the first dress the best, I loved the middle, and we predicted Lauren would love the third one....we were right!

It's Raspberry Season!

This week my family found the first raspberries off our plants. I can't tell you how excited I am, as we've never had much luck growing raspberries in past years. This year our plants are large, healthy, and full of berries! I spent the morning weeding the garden and the berry beds and picking the first crop of my favorite fruit.

Did you know: An individual raspberry weighs about 4 g, on average and is made up of around 100 drupelets. each of which consists of a juicy pulp and a single central seed.

We have two kinds of raspberries; the traditional red raspberry and blush- a lighter colored variety.

My faithful, hilarious companion Lexi. Apparently he likes the raspberries too!

I got the garden completely weeded this morning...let's see how long it lasts.

This is our gentle giant, Thor. We have a small row of corn growing right in front of the chicken run.

Me, surveying my handiwork with my other companion, Dylan.