Shoots Show/Growing Time 2024

Lily of the Valley

Shoots Show/Growing Time has come and gone for another year. It's a month that whips by because nature is bursting forth.

This month began with the planting of cool weather loving plants, like chard, kale, cabbages and lettuce.

Planting lettuce

I set out the lettuce at the beginning of the month.

Lettuce on May 25

Here's how it looks now.

All of the rest are growing, too.

Cabbage today before mulching

The potatoes are all up and some were tall enough to be hilled this week.

Hilling makes more potatoes

Shiitake and Winecap mushrooms are also starting to come in...

Shiitake mushrooms

... and we got our first ripe strawberry this week!

Just the beginning.

This one was a bit precocious. None of the others are this close to being ripe yet.

We've spent the last several days working in the garden: preparing beds and planting out the tomatoes, peppers, eggplants and sweet potatoes. We've sown green beans, cucumbers and squash. Tomorrow we'll begin to sow the corn and the drying beans.

We're busy, busy, busy!

Last weekend we stopped at our local Amish owned nursery for some flowers and picked up three holly bushes (1 male, 2 female) for half price! 

Bob planted them in the small bed where our deck used to be.

Bob plants the holly bushes

We already have two hollies in the bird garden. Until a couple of weeks ago, the female was covered with bright red berries. One day I was looking out of the window and noticed the bush rustle. I saw a good-sized flock (I lost count at 16) of Cedar Waxwings mobbing the bush. Within an hour they had stripped the bush of all the berries, except for the lowest branches. They returned the next morning to finish the job. It was quite a sight. Now they will have two more bushes to enjoy.

Our Orioles, Rose Breasted Grosbeaks and Towhees have returned. The Wood Thrushes are singing in the woods again. This is one of our favorite sounds.

We've been so busy outside that Bob's not making a great deal of progress on the bathroom. The drywall is all up and the plumbing re-route is done. He needs to get the taping and mudding going next.

We were able to get away just once this month. At the beginning of the month we made a day trip to the Roger Tory Peterson Institute in Jamestown. 

Peterson was a famous Naturalist

On the way home we stopped at the Allegany State Park and walked on the Flagg Trail of the Quaker Area. There were tons of spring wildflowers: Wood and Rue Anemone, Hepatica, Red and White Trillium, Spring Beauties and Fringed Polygala.

Spring Beauty

There was an Osprey's nest next to where we parked our car. As we walked to the car to leave, the male and female birds changed shifts at the nest, so we got quite a show.

Osprey incoming!

Really, we enjoyed the State Park more than the Peterson Institute.

Once the garden has all been planted, we hope to make a couple more day trips, as well as some shorter ones.

That's what we've been up to lately. We hope you've all been enjoying the spring and have some fun things planned for the summer.

Till next time,

Kathleen and Bob

Rue Anemone

A resident of Allegany Park

Shoots Show/Growing Time 2023

Spitzenburg Apple Blossoms

BOING!!  Spring has sprung! Our full Flower Moon has technically brought an end to our month of Shoots Show/Growing Time. But the growth spurt continues.

We've had some cooler and wet weather, but it appears things are starting to turn around. The sunshine and warmth are welcome.

Here's what's up and what's in at Thistledown:

The mushroom garden is done. Now we tend it and wait.

The finished mushroom garden.

Bob seeding the Winecap bed

Our small fruits are coming along nicely.  Red and black currants are blooming. Blueberries have many buds. The strawberry plants are looking good and the rhubarb will soon be ready to harvest.

Rhubarb

   

Strawberries before blooming

In the vegetable garden, I've set out my cool weather plants, planted potatoes and sowed peas, early beets and early carrots.

Pea planting time

Setting out a cabbage plant

The garlic and shallots planted last autumn are up and looking fine.

Shallots and garlic

And I've made my first harvest from my perennial herbs. They really add zest to a sandwich.

Cress, Chervil and Chives

Today is the first day my warm weather plants are outside to begin hardening off. Just one hour of sunlight today, then one additional hour each day until planting time at the end of May.

Regarding other areas of the homefront:

The fuel oil tank from our old heating system is finally gone!

The oil tank, about 6'x4'x3'

We swapped it to an Amish roofer in exchange for some roof repair that we needed.

Tank gone and lots of nice space

 Now we have that out of the way, some nice new space in the cellar and no more leak in our porch roof.

Speaking of the porch, work has begun there.

Here's a photo of the site before work began.

Porch area before, with weird angled, high step 

Bob's cleared the area, removed one concrete step and also the old propane line. Now he's putting in the framing for the new porch.

Bob busy on the porch today

I've finally finished all of my spring cleaning, ending with the windows all washed, the final freezer cleaned and the refrigerator cleaned. 

Outside, I've gotten the rose bush pruned and the flower beds trimmed and ready for new growth. Things look so much better tidied up.

We're pleased that, even with all this work, we've been able to keep up with our goal of at least one outing a week.

We visited Fillmore Glen State Park and saw many hepatica in bloom.

Falls at Fillmore Glen State Park

Hepatica blooming at Fillmore

Next we revisited Teeter Pond in the Fingerlakes National Forest.

Teeter Pond

We made our first visit to Smith Woods in Trumansburg. There we saw many Trillium, both red and white. Also many trout lilies (past bloom) and mayapples (before bloom).

Smith Woods (big Beech trees)

Trillium at Smith Woods

Finally, we travelled to the Montezuma Wildlife Refuge. There we saw our first Glossy Ibis (sorry, no photos). It was quite a treat!

As you can see, we've been very busy, but our nice winter's rest has prepared us (mentally and physically) for our current tasks. It's good to have the energy we need for this new season.

Take care and my you grow along with the season.

Till next time,

Kathleen and Bob

My Bleeding Hearts are lovely this year

Red Trillium at Smith Woods

Blustery Winds/Awakening Time 2023

 

Coltsfoot, Spring's first flower

We've been through our time of Blustery Winds and Awakening Time. The winds blew in the change of season from winter into spring.

Our last measurable snowfall

On March 11, we received what I believe will be our last measurable snowfall of the winter season.

Our weather is now definitely springlike - warm and rainy.

Flowers are blooming.

Tiny Tete a tete daffodils only 2" tall

 

Faithful old Snowdrops

We've been able to get out for some nice walks, too.

April 1 at Taughannock Falls

We hope to make time to get away at least once a week through the spring, summer and autumn.

Here we have other ways to tell the season is changing:

We're down to nothing but beets in the root cellar.

One freezer is empty. It's been cleaned and is waiting to be refilled in the summer.

The second freezer has a few boxes of greens, cabbage and green beans left. And lots of fruit. It's going to be some mighty strange meals for a while. We're already tired of eating borscht. Tonight for supper we'll have waffles topped with fruit (of course).

Clean each and every jar!

Spring cleaning is another of our seasonal hints of change. I have finished the major work. All that remains is to clean the refrigerator, defrost and clean the second freezer and wash all of the windows. I'm waiting for some really nice weather to do these last chores. It really worked out well for me to divide the house into five units and just do one unit over a Saturday and Sunday. In five weeks I got the whole house done without wearing myself out or neglecting regular chores.

Cabbage, Kale and friends

This morning I took my cool weather plant starts outside to begin hardening off. These generally go into the ground in a couple of weeks. Sometimes it takes that long to get them accustomed to a full day of sunlight.

The warm weather plants are still being pampered inside with heat and lights, but are growing nicely. Today I also sowed my flower seeds inside.

Feeders for ill Hummingbirds that can't hover

Bob has also been busy. He finished this round of perches for the Wildlife Hospital. He made 50 perches in all, and really enjoyed the project. He looks forward to making more next winter, should they need some.

His next project was the music stand for my harp. This was a kit that he purchased, so it made up quickly. Yesterday we put it to work.

The finished harp desk

It looks great and works very well. This clamps onto my harp's pillar.  It brings the music much closer than if I use a floor stand. This is very helpful because now my aging eyes can see all of those little notes. (The multiple ledger lines below the staff are particularly troublesome!)

Now that the stand is finished, he's turning his attention to his mushroom garden.

We moved a shade awning into the garden area and he's been inoculating his logs with shiitake spawn.

Driving the spawn into the log

 

The finished log

He has finished nine of the twenty logs that he plans to do. He will also build a woodchip bed and inoculate that with wine cap mushroom spawn.

Once this is all done, he turns his energy and attention to the construction of our final porch. Yesterday afternoon all of the necessary supplies were delivered. The weather ahead looks great for the work to be done.

Bob will be busy with these things. I'll be busy in the yard and garden. The seasons have definitely shifted!

Joyous spring to all of you! We'll see you again next month. Now, on to Shoots Show and Growing Time!

Kathleen and Bob

Sunrise on March 10th

Blustery Winds/Awakening 2022

Daffodils are blooming!

Our month changed yesterday with the full moon. Blustery Winds/ Awakening has stepped aside and a new month begun. To sum up the old:

Our weather has been very erratic. We have all of the seasons here. Sometimes all in a very condensed span of time! This morning it alternates between snow flurries and sunny patches. Right now it is sunny and snowing at the same time. Last week the temperature was in the 70s. That's how it goes here. 

In spite of the "confused" weather, nature is moving ahead - awakening- here.

Bloodroot emerging

Bloodroot have emerged in our woods...

Bloodroot only open on sunny days

... and violets are blooming, giving off their sweet scent. Willows and honeysuckles are leafing out.

In the garden:

Allium bed is awake

the garlic, shallots and walking onions are up, and the rhubarb is emerging.

All of my plants have been started and are up under the lights.

Sunflower seedlings

Sweet potato sprouts

Seedling trays under lights and heat tent

I've taken the cool weather plants outside to harden off before setting them out in the garden. I have already sown some lettuce, spinach and half of my peas. Tomorrow I plan to sow more peas, my beets and carrots, and plant my seed potatoes. I certainly hope I'm not planting in a snow flurry.

Bob prunes an apricot tree

Bob has finished pruning all of the fruit trees and is planning out the next porch renovation project.

New porch site

This new porch will replace one that was removed last year. It will connect to and complete the existing porch on the house's east side. What remains of the back deck which you see at the left edge of the picture will be removed and replaced with a patio.

This year we are making more changes to the garden. We had been contemplating what changes to make last year. Then, when the trench was dug for the geothermal system, our decisions were made for us.

When the trench was dug, they didn't actually dig up any of the garden, but they piled the dirt on top of 2/3 of each bed on the extreme south edge of the garden. Now the area is covered with uneven lumps of clay and is basically a big mess. We had been considering what to do with this area because its productivity had waned, in part from lack of adequate sunlight. We have decided to abandon it, returning it to lawn area. We will keep the undamaged 1/3 of the beds, using them for future strawberries, fall raspberries, compost and straw storage.

To compensate for the loss of some of this planting area, we're removing the herb bed and returning that space to annual crops. I've not been using the herb bed as much as formerly, so it's not a huge loss, but it has been a chore to dismantle.

Herb bed as it had been

We had to dig out and remove roughly 200 bricks. These will be reused elsewhere. We then had to dig out large amounts of lovage, sorrel and chives, not to mention weeds! We finished this job last week.

Digging out bricks. Who needs a gym?

Last autumn, we also dug out all of our raspberry plants. Some were in the way of the trench digging. All were showing signs of disease, so we decided it was time to start fresh.

We will put half a dozen black raspberry plants next to the currants. Another half dozen fall red raspberry plants will be put in at the south edge of the vegetable plots. That's about a quarter of the amount that we had, but just two of us don't need so many berries. I have many other interesting things to spend my time on besides gardening.

Our birthdays are here in the early spring. The weather was less than spectacular for both, so no nice walks this year. We each had a nice take out lunch for our day. I got a "chore free" day and some new harp music. My library is now far larger than my repertoire, so I need to get busy! Bob got a new sweater vest. He's so skinny that he likes these to help him stay warm. I refer to them as his "artificial fat". We also went to the art museum on the Cornell campus for his day.

That's all the news for now. By next time things will be progressing in the garden and hopefully the weather will have become more consistent.

Don't forget to look for the signs of awakening in and around you.

Happy spring,

Kathleen and Bob

Violets are up!