Woods

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    Spring in the Woods

    We had a dry April mostly with above normal temperatures. We weren’t complaining because it is spring.

    molly in garden_450

    Molly began her garden plan in late winter and started tomato and other seeds indoors. In late March into April she’s been planting onions and potatoes in the garden along with seeds and this weekend she hopes to plant her indoor-started plants in the garden.

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    I’ve been taking walks when there’s been a chance and one day I noticed that the redbud trees were blooming. This is a small redbud tree on the edge of the garden. In the background the large shed and the shack can barely be seen.

    redbud and bug_450

    Along with buds there are bugs!

    dogwood_450

    And flowering dogwoods of course.

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    This is a patch of wild dwarf iris on the county line road south of our home. I hadn’t noticed this patch before. There is another patch across the road from our house and even more iris in the hollows. The iris is flowering now.

    We’ve had a week or more of rain and it’s cooler. The rain encouraged the trees to leaf out. Last week we could see our garden from the house, now we can’t because of all the green.

     

  • Fall in the Woods

    north_fall

    We’re in the midst of fall color here in the woods. This photograph was shot from the house up in the loft through the window by our bed. This was in mid-October, just as leaves started to turn and the maples and hickories were golden. Now more than half the leaves have fallen and the colors range from bright red to dark brown, with a few trees still green.

    Leaves hadn’t really started to carpet the forest floor (or our yard) in mid-October. In early November we’ve already raked and mowed the leaves around the house, shop and shack. We’re getting cold fronts passing through with a fair amount of rain for each, so this year the threat of forest fire hasn’t been so great. Once the leaves dry from the most recent rain we’ll begin raking and mowing again.

    The raked leaves go into large compost piles, two next to the yard and one in the garden. Eventually the composted leaves go to the garden, either as mulch or “soil” to enrich the beds.