Covid Journal, Days 73 & 74: Garden Talk

It's hot. 70 in the early morning and just gets hotter as the day progresses.

So we have been making the best of the cool morning hours, getting up at daybreak instead of sleeping til 7. It has been an easy change so far and has made garden work much easier. We are in the gardens by 7 and finished work there by 9 or 9:30.

The air feels soft, and smells sweetly of honeysuckle, wild rose and a bit from my peonies. This morning I stood looking at the wild brushy patch just below the lower garden. Such a variety of plants in there! Honeysuckle, elderberry, multiflora rose, Joe Pye weed, goldenrod, wild aster, jewelweed, blackberries, raspberries, some garlic escaped from the garden...the list could go on and on. The growth is so thick it's almost impenetrable, but what riches for wildlife.

We are almost finished planting. This morning we put in corn, butternut squash and sunflowers. Yesterday we put in more tomatoes, the peppers, yellow squash and zucchini, leeks, some onion plants a neighbor gave us, cucumbers, and filled in where the beans didn't all come up. We still need to plant late cabbage, pumpkins and watermelon. And I have to plant my herb garden but those seedlings are still tiny so no rush there.

The flower gardens are doing okay although no new plants added this year.  I only bought 2 flats of annuals--petunias and begonias-- at the grocery store and those are going in planters. One garden got pretty much ruined when we had so much rain and it got almost washed out. It will be a project for next year. Here's a look at some of what's growing.

 There are a lot of volunteers in this flower bed that I have left where they planted themselves.

 The old crock may not have flowers this year. Or maybe I will put some zinnia seeds in it.

 The AC adapter for my laptop finally came so I can at quit writing on this phone. I admire those who do it all the time!

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

Covid Journal, Day 64: A Perfect Day

55 and a little cloudy, still humid but so nice, with a soft breeze blowing. I took some of my tomato and early cabbage plants out of the little greenhouse to start hardening off. I am really pleased at how quickly my plants grew, considering I didn't get them planted until the beginning of April.

This has been a perfect day. We got outside early to till the garden and plant more lettuce, onions, and radishes. Everything has come up well except the peas, but there are a few plants and we'll get enough to add to salads, as these are snap peas. The purple beans are finally beginning to show up, and the carrots that I'd written off as a loss have also germinated. No mulch yet--these tiny plants need to get a little bigger or they'd be buried in the old hay we use. Still looking for a source of more hay.

When we finished the garden work, we took a coffee break, then took a beautiful drive to a friend's house in the next county to drop off a load of things for him to re-sell for us. We haven't seen him in 10 weeks, so we had a nice, carefully distanced visit. He also is not going out yet, so we felt safe being there. We came home by a road I haven't traveled since the 1970's, even though it's not that far away. It was really nice; we took our time, and people along the way waved to us even though we were strangers. So many people were outside, enjoying their homes on this lovely day.

I took a few photos along the way, after remembering I had my camera with me. We will have to go back and take more as I missed a good bit at the beginning of this road.

When we got home, we had vanilla ice cream topped with some of the blueberry pie filling I made last year. It was delicious. Now Larry is mowing, and I just finished ordering 378 canning jar lids. That should take care of most of the summer, just need wide-mouth ones now. Maybe not the cheapest deal, but $68 + shipping isn't too bad. I think jar lids may be in short supply this summer, with so many more people gardening--a good thing, in my book. I've never ordered from this company before, so we'll see how it goes.

Now I need to get back outside to get to work with my string trimmer, but here's a few photos from today's drive. The homes along this road (Reedy-Golf Course Road, Roane county, WV) show that this area had some well-to-do farmers back in the day, and indeed even today. The homes are mostly large, well-kept and surrounded by well-maintained farmland.

We'll start here, though, the building that caused me to remember my camera: The Boggs School. No date, but under the name it says Dist. 1.

The home has recently been re-sided with the prettiest shade of green.

If you're longing for a house in the country, this one with its red roof is for sale by Calhoun Realty. I couldn't find a price listing for it though.

Perched high above the road is the Mount Olive Baptist Church. It doesn't look, at least from the road, as if it is still in use, but look at those windows!

Another small, well-kept home. The family was on the back deck, enjoying the day.

Green, green fields everywhere. There will be good hay this year, I think.

Winding along, between the sycamore trees and over a small creek.

I have a thing for old barns, It makes me happy when I see one being taken care of, like this old-timer.

A fine long home, perfectly maintained.

And a plantation-style home. There may well have been slave-holders at one time on this road, given the size of the farms, but most likely no one owned more than a few. This part of West Virginia did not have many slaves, as I understand, but there were many Southern sympathies, and just as many Northern which led to a great deal of friction between friends, family members, and neighbors.

Until tomorrow! This old lady must get to her string-trimming. But what a perfect day this has been.

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

Covid Journal, Day 62: How the Mighty Are Fallen

57 this morning, might be a pretty day, with a few thundershowers. Yesterday got pretty warm, so I had the ceiling fans on in the house.

We had a surprise the other day. There was a large oak tree that we noticed was leaning about a month ago. I was keeping an eye on it, and we discussed when would be a good time to cut it down. Could we wait until fall, when the garden was done?

Then Wednesday morning I saw that the tree had leaned a lot more, and there was no question about when to drop it--it had to be soon. So Larry took down the electric fence and moved a planter or two. We hoped it would fall right between two bushes, and miss my flowerbed. We could also see that the tree was most likely fall on the little damson tree.

Larry had everything ready Wednesday afternoon. That evening, Larry was sitting on the porch, thinking about his plan of attack on the tree, when the tree started to move--and in less than a minute it was on the ground.

So no effort required on our part, and that was a relief, because you never know what might happen when cutting a tree like this--it could be hollow, and split while you are cutting, which is not a good situation, or it could kick off the stump, also not good. While it looks like the tree fell close to our van, it's actually a good thirty feet away.

Now comes the work. Larry began cutting away the top branches and hauling them off yesterday. Since our driveway is a circle we still have access so he didn't have to worry about that. It's not like we're going anywhere anyway. His main goal right now is to get it out of the garden so he can put the electric fence back up. Then begin cutting it off the driveway.

After Day 1's cutting:

Larry likes his new saw (bought with ebay earnings last month). It's a beast, bigger than his last chainsaw, but given the size of the trees that need to be cut, it's what he needs.

He had a lot of help.

This is one of the world's most curious cats, I swear. Whatever we're doing, he wants in on it.

The wagon full and ready to haul off the third load of trimmings.

Who can take pictures when this face keeps getting in the way?

Clyde found the branches a nice scratching station. He's such a pest! No matter what we're doing, he's always right there to see what's up. We love this old boy. He's 11 years old but still has plenty of kitten in him.

I told the tree how much I appreciate that it fell in the best possible place. It did take out part of the damson tree, and although it went between the spirea bushes they got a little beat up too. But the damson and the bushes can grow back. And the tree is down safely, so all is well.

Living in the country--you never know what to expect. I think this tree, like many others that have fallen recently, was a victim of the 2003 ice storm that severely damaged so many trees here. That, and the heavy rains and high winds we've experienced for months, have taken their toll on our forest.

Larry's cutting again today.


Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

Covid Journal, Day 58: Green Bottom Wildlife Area, Part 1

39 again this morning, and overcast after a night of rain and wind.

Green Bottom Wildlife Management Area in Cabell county, West Virginia, was once a thriving plantation on the Ohio River where corn, wheat, cattle, hogs and other crops and livestock were raised. Today, the house stands empty, renovations stopped mid-stream due to electrical issues, and all of the cropland is long gone, having turned into marshes when the locks and dams system were installed on the Ohio River, and a railroad and a highway created a barrier to the former shape of the landscape. It is a magical place, full of wildlife, plants, water creatures, and insects.

We have stopped here several times over the years and enjoyed the ever-changing, strange beauty of the place. (Click here to see Green Bottom in summer photos, or here for a little more about the history of Green Bottom) I’ve been wanting to go back, so Sunday we celebrated Mother’s Day by packing a light picnic, camera, binoculars and a bird book and making our way to Green Bottom.

Here is just some of what we saw there.

A lone fisherman in a kayak takes advantage of the beautiful day.

Something big has been here. Maybe someone brought their dog along on a walk?

And someone lost a fluffy white feather. The marsh is full of birds of many varieties. I was happy to see a new one for me, a Great Tufted Flycatcher. I may have seen these before, but this time I could positively identify it. I got no bird photos today--they were far too quick for me.

And something little is here too--hundreds of minnows in a puddle. On the way back out we saw a killdeer merrily feasting on the hapless little things.

In summer these plants--I believe they are a kind of lotus--will be beautifully in bloom, reminding me of Monet's water lilies paintings.

This plant looks like purslane, but must be some other species since it lives in the water.

A fleabane sports vibrant pink petals against the red leaves of a baby maple tree.

And into the woods...

Ol' mud turtle was enjoying a nice sunbathing session. I am not sure what that cross is behind him. Any ideas?

Pretty Star of Bethlehem is a garden escapee that seems at home in the marsh.

A family of geese--mama, papa, and a string of young'uns.

I have more photos to post tomorrow of this beautiful place. It's a habitat so completely different from where we live that it just fascinates me. We hoped that there would be few people here, and we were right. Although several family groups and couples passed by, everyone kept a good distance apart and altogether I doubt we saw 20 people in the 3 hours we were there.

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

Covid Journal, Day 54: Outdoors and One Morning in May

40 this morning, but what a lovely day! It hasn't warmed up much but enough to spend a lot of time outside.

Larry has been working on the mower--again--and weed-eating. He has figured out the problem. Did you know, these new riding mowers have plastic carburetors? And they need 93 octane non-ethanol gasoline or those carburetors will get all gunked up and then there's trouble, trouble, trouble. So new fuel filter, a few other parts, cleaned-out gas tank and new gas and it's finally running almost right. Geesh--and it's only a year old! Some time on Google and Youtube were a great help to finding the problem.

I've been piddling today: ebay listings in the morning, then baking brownies.

Finally I got outdoors in the afternoon and messed around pulling some weeds, harvesting some herbs,

picking flowers,

Sweet Rocket (I'm sure it has some other name, but that's what I call it) and lilies-of-the-valley. So fragrant a bouquet!

and watching birds.

The bird-watching station. My chair is on the right in the photo, a gift from m youngest son and my hubby about 20+ years ago. His was a $10 auction find that just needed a little love.

It's a great way to spend a day. I also went out the ridge to a patch of wild blackberries and picked leaves to dry for tea. They might be free, but I can tell you they exact their pound of flesh! Even the leaves have thorns, so it's a prickly job. And guess who forgot to take gloves with her?

Blackberry leaf tea is delicious; I like to mix the leaves with orange peel, rosehips and red clover blossoms. Now that's a great tea. I'm waiting on the red clover to bloom next.

Then back home to tidy the deck and just enjoy the rest of the day. Tomorrow more rain is in the forecast, and then temperatures will plummet to the point that even snow is possible on Saturday. I'll be monitoring the temperatures carefully and we may have to cover some plants if the weather develops as predicted. It has been many, many years since we've had frost or freeze in May.

I'll close today with this version of one of my favorite ballads, The Nightingale, also known as The Bold Grenadier, and also as One Morning in May. I know the Appalachian version; this first version is from someone's kitchen in Ireland (and near a place we visited in 2017) , and I just like it because there's the coffee and the cups on the table, makes me feel like I'm right there listening.

This second one is also from Ireland, by Liam Clancy.

And the last, I think is my favorite, but one of my favorite Irish singers, the late Al O'Donnell. This is a very short video, sadly.

Til tomorrow!

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

Covid Journal, Day 50: Back to Joe's Run

62 and raining this morning. It was very warm overnight, and now today we've had thunder, a little sun and a lot of rain and heavy clouds. A good day to stay inside.

I feel like I've been a slug this weekend. I can't seem to get up the energy to get into anything much. So I sorted books and packed some up to send to various people, cooked, finished my book, little things like that. Yesterday was a beautiful, warm day and I got out and did some weeding in the flowerbeds but that's about all.

I still have photos from my walk the other day to share, though, so here we go.

The wild larkspur are finally coming into their own. This beauty is growing right at the edge of the pavement.

Here it mingles with wild phlox. This roadbank used to be carpeted in the phlox but time changes what grows where in the wild.

I do not know what this tiny bluish-white flower is. It is growing with the roadside grasses, and has at least a 6-inch stem. It lines one part of Joe's Run.

I kept hearing a goat, I thought, as I was walking, and assumed it must be in a nearby field. But no, it was a young lady out walking her 4-h lamb, getting it ready to show at the county fair this summer--if there is a county fair this year. We had quite a traffic jam: a neighbor coming home from work, the girl and her lamb, and me with my camera.

Mayapples, or mandrake, is also a common plant here. It is often harvested for its many medicinal uses.

 Here is the mayapple's flower. So shy, hiding beneath the plant's big umbrella leaves.

Here's a bit of lore I collected last year for my wildflowers workshop:

The botanical name Podophyllum peltatum comes from the greek podo and phyllon meaning "foot-shaped leaves" and Peltatum meaning "shield".
Folklore:
• Allow the bearer to work in secret, or to allow his or her actions to not be revealed too soon.
• The whole root can be tucked under the mattress to ensure the fertility and virility of the couple who sleep upon it.
• Kept in a high place in the home, Mayapple root is said to draw prosperity to the home and protect it from bad luck.
Uses: Modern medicine has found compounds in the rhizome that are useful against cancer and it is used in the treatment of genital warts and skin cancers in Asia. It is also under study for use against dropsy, dyspepsia, biliousness, and various liver conditions.
According to lore, Native Americans used this plant for its healing attributes but also to commit suicide.
Listed as "unsafe" by the FDA and most experts agree that its action is too strong for self-medication even by experienced herbalists. Every part, excepting the ripe fruit, is deadly poison and can kill an adult human within 24 hours.
Symptoms of mayapple poisoning are salivation, vomiting, diarrhea, excitement, fever, headache, coma, and death.
Culinary Use: Only the ripe fruit or "apple" of the mayapple is edible. The fruit is ripe when it is yellow and slightly soft. Despite its name, the flavor is more like lemon than apple. Mayapples may be eaten raw, but they are best cooked or made into jelly. They may also be juiced and mixed with sugar and water to make a beverage similar to lemonade(remove all seeds before juicing). These fruits should be eaten only in moderation and only when perfectly ripe.
Has been known to cause technicolor diarrhea. Can you just imagine that!!

I need to find out what this shrub is called. It's plentiful here, and has berries later on. I have wanted to learn about it, and if the berries can be used to make jam, jelly or tea.

Sweet white violets mixed with cleavers, grass and a bit of dead-nettle.

The trilliums are nearing the end of their run for this year. My friend Carmen has found several varieties of this beautiful flower in her area of West Virginia, but in this region we have only the one. That's quite enough to make me happy. Years ago I tried to transplant some, but now I prefer finding it in the wild.

A bank covered in trillium.

Two hemlock trees, not that common around Joe's Run, and in front the invasive kind of mustard.

 Stonecrop can make itself at home anywhere, even on a drainpipe! That's coltsfoot leaves in the foreground.

One of many little wet-weather waterfalls along the road.

Two beech trees seem to be hugging each other.

And so back to ridge and to home. I still have a few more photos to share; perhaps tomorrow.

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.