Not at this time of year. It became supper for my beagles after I cooled it. Too many worms and wolves possible in the summer. After frost they’ll be going in my freezer.
Garden...
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Not at this time of year. It became supper for my beagles after I cooled it. Too many worms and wolves possible in the summer. After frost they’ll be going in my freezer.
Mason Michaels
Verified User
As long as it didn't go to waste.
ThatOwlWoman
Leftist Vermin
Chokecherries are amazing!
ThatOwlWoman
Leftist Vermin
Things are finally coming ripe here both in the garden and in the forests. Went trout fishing again this morning; Trout 198 - Owl 0. lol Despite the lack of rain there are still some chanterelles to be found. Blueberries, wintergreen berries, and thimbleberries are doing great! My wax beans are finishing up; going to try to get in another crop before frost. Fall-planted garlic has been dug up and is drying. Signs of fall are appearing... cricketsong in the ripening wild grasses; goldenrod is blooming up in the highlands; purple asters dancing with bright yellow tansy along the roads. Fireweed tells us that autumn is coming. We've already lost more than an hour of daylight since Solstice five weeks ago.
ThatOwlWoman
Leftist Vermin
Another sign of fall -- yes, that's a fire in the woodstove, on August 1st. Blessed Lammas!
Irish Exit
Verified User
Another sign of fall -- yes, that's a fire in the woodstove, on August 1st. Blessed Lammas!
Must be nice. Our power went out an hour in a thunderstorm just now and the temperature inside soared to 71 degrees. Thought I was going to have to go fetch one of the solar lights from the garden to read me some Bible verses and get right with God with Armageddon upon us and all. I finally said F it and called it in and the lights were back on in 5 minutes. Clearly the AntiChrist works for the utility department and didn't want me sitting there reading the good book.
ThatOwlWoman
Leftist Vermin
LMAO..... guess he's not called the Prince of Darkness for nothing, eh? What do you keep your a/c set to?
Irish Exit
Verified User
71....but that is not the point. I am very pro-active when it comes to End Times. Without the ceiling fans circulating the cool, it was like fire and brimstone up in here. Just hope the torrential rain didn't whack my second planting of green beans that are just up to their second leaves right now. The groundhog is going to need him something to celebrate Labor Day on.
ThatOwlWoman
Leftist Vermin
LOL @ groundhog. Say, maybe those things are delicious on the grill?
Irish Exit
Verified User
I have cooked them every way imaginable. I have eaten them in fancy joints. I have eaten them in dives. They are never delicious. They always taste like grass.
Jade Dragon
And I'm the one that jaded you.
I would grow them, but I'm learning the stems can be toxic to animals. I bought 3 things I dove into already. Chokecherry Honey, chokecherry syrup, chokecherry liqueur. I was also got some berry types I've never tried, and one I never heard of. I have been wanting to try haskap berries, and bought some preserves in Canada. I was introduced to a new berry called Marionberry, which is sort of blackberry hybrid, in Government Camp, Oregon. Also got quite a few huckleberry stuff as well. Yum.
ThatOwlWoman
Leftist Vermin
I never heard of chokecherries till we visited our Fairbanks friends' house one May, when it was early spring there. They had a line of trees covered with amazing fragrant white blossoms, that were in turn covered with huge yellow swallowtail butterflies! They were chokecherries. I am thinking of seeing about putting some in; maybe if they are mildly toxic the *&%$@# deer will leave them alone.
ThatOwlWoman
Leftist Vermin
Mr. Owl is helping me terraform the open acre below us that is kind of the "backyard" between us and the Lake. When we got the house two years ago the area was full of pin cherries that had sprouted and grown up from the originals that had been cut down by the sellers. Best as we can tell, they cleared this acre out to make the view better. But without constant vigilance, the cherries returned.... along with baby red pines, red and mountain maple, and white oak. Last fall he chopped most of them down. Of course this spring the stumps re-sprouted, so he's been busy lately removing the sprouts. He still has one more stand of mature trees to remove as well. It's cool to see how this area is transitioning in just one growing season. The blueberries that languished under the shade are now producing fruit. Raspberries, thimbleberries, mullein, ox-eye daisies, asters, hawk-flower, and other wildflowers are starting to flourish, as the bracken ferns die back. Our hope is to finally vanquish the cherries and transform this acre into a fruit and wildflower meadow.
The "soil" is mostly sand yet things still grow there. Lots of fresh and old deer tracks and scat.... and fresh bear scat and tracks as well. We're not the only ones who enjoy a meadow filled with good stuff.
In photo, can you find Mr. Owl? He's in the center.
The "soil" is mostly sand yet things still grow there. Lots of fresh and old deer tracks and scat.... and fresh bear scat and tracks as well. We're not the only ones who enjoy a meadow filled with good stuff.
In photo, can you find Mr. Owl? He's in the center.
ThatOwlWoman
Leftist Vermin
We haven't had as much rain so far this season as we did last year. I'm happy to report to you today that my pessimism about the chanterelle harvest was unfounded! I gathered 2+ lbs this morning within a half mile of our home. Tomorrow I will clean them, cut them in smaller pieces, gently saute them in butter till halfway done, add some white wine, and then pack into half-pint jars and put in the freezer. When you thaw them out for a dish, they taste like you just picked them that morning! They are beyond a doubt the best-tasting (and most fragrant) of all mushrooms I've ever eaten. When harvesting I only take about half of a flush; the rest will stay to form spores and create next year's delights.
Still in repurposed onion bags that I use for gathering; my hand is to show scale.
One of the mother lodes that I found today. This is only half of this flush!
Still in repurposed onion bags that I use for gathering; my hand is to show scale.
One of the mother lodes that I found today. This is only half of this flush!
ThatOwlWoman
Leftist Vermin
Oh wow.... a beautiful swan! I wonder if there is a way to dry and preserve it, and paint it?
Althea
Althea told me...........
Exactly what the misses said! I could try to dry it without it shriveling. Often, they rot on the inside. I do see dried gourds around halloween...I could read up on it.
Irish Exit
Verified User
I think to be successful you would have to leave them on the vine until the vine dies or at least the stem attached to the fruit dies (which is what you are supposed to do with gourds as well)
yer making me hungryIt depends where I’m fishing and what kind of catfish. I’ll be using cut shad this week as I’ll be fishing mainly for blue cats where we’ll be. For channel cat my absolute favorite bait is catalpa worms. I gather them when they’re out and put 25 of them in snack bags, then put the snack bags in gallon freezer bags and freeze them. I have catalpa worms the year round. When fishing for flathead (or yellow cats as the Texans call them) I use live perch...the bigger the better. I caught the one in the pic (42 lb) on a blue gill that was as big as my hand. Disclaimer: these pics are from a couple years ago.
ThatOwlWoman
Leftist Vermin
I'm thinking you're right. I'm growing bottle gourds this year and that is the advice that I was given. Once the vine is dead you put the gourds in a box of sand or newspaper in your garage or some other cold/cool place. They'll develop a mold on the outside. In the spring you scrub off the mold, then cut them and scrape out the innards. Then you can paint them, varnish, decorate, carve them, whatever you desire. I bought this beautiful bowl last week at the Farmers Market in Marquette. The couple buys the gourds, he does the sanding and carving, she does the artwork. The border on the top is circled with dyed Florida pine needles (they live in FL in the winter). He gave me the advice on how to grow/save the gourds.
