Taking the long way to the garlic farm

Today we got the call that we could pick up our garlic.  This is from our neighbors who have been raising garlic here for probably twenty years or more.  We thought they had ended their garlic business two years ago, but it turns out the weather ended their garlic business for those two years--especially 2013 when we got 53 inches of snow in April.  Not good for garlic!  But this year they had a bumper crop and it was time to pick up our order.

Since they live just around the corner and up the road, we decided to take the back way...the REALLY back way...back through our woods.  This is a trail we haven't attempted since sometime early this spring because it's been so wet.  But today would be the day.

This is what it looks like at the start:

Even when it's really grown up--like it is now--you can usually tell where the trail is, or at least Leann can.  Today there was one point where she asked ME where the trail was.  She should have known better!

When several weeks/months have passed without going through on these trails, we often run into places with branches and logs crossing the trail.  Some are small and just require a clippers like the ones below.

And some are bigger and need to be dealt with in a major way or we need to back up and turn around.  Luckily we had the right equipment with us.

 This giant mushroom was right in the middle of the trail.  I placed the saw next to it for some perspective.

The rest of the trail was pretty uneventful, but she put the pedal to the metal so we could get through the swampy parts without getting stuck.  And then on to the garlic farm.

But first, here are some of their onions!  We got to go upstairs in their barn where they have already dried all the garlic--and onions--and have them all organized by kinds.

She had all her garlic orders arranged in boxes like this, all categorized by numbers according to the varieties she's planted this year.

And here's her list of kinds of garlic for this year--22 kinds!  And she still has more left after all her orders, so if you'd like some garlic, I'll let her know!  And the sad part is that she says this is absolutely her last year of doing garlic.

She wants to have more time to do/plant more of what she wants to do.  Their gardens--flower, succulent and vegetable--are all beautiful.  We love going there to see what's growing.  She has two climbing bean plants that must be 10 feet high!  Below are some of her dried beans--this one is the yin yang bean.

 And here are some more beautiful beans.  Don't you love the colors?  So we went home with our garlic and two eggplants--a variety that grows up in this climate...unlike the ones we planted that DON'T grow in this climate.  As with all things garden, live and learn from others!

Sometime around 7:30 we went for a ride down to the lake.  It seemed almost too dark at our house to catch the sunset, but we made it in time.  This is the marina area looking west.

And this is the slough or backwaters looking east toward tonight's showy full moon!

Wow!  Just, wow!

Parks and Recreation and Weeding?

To my surprise, we now have the start of a park up in the meadow/orchard behind our house.  You may remember, or maybe you've seen it, previously we had several trails leading through areas of grass and weeds as tall as I am.

But then Leann had an idea.  She talked to Carl, a neighbor up the road who has a tractor and brush-hog, and now we have the start of a park!

He said he could get it down shorter, but it's pretty tough since it hasn't been mowed--or tilled--in over 50 years.  This used to be a field where they grew crops until farming stopped and it went wild with apple trees and weeds.

I told him we'd call him back for another go at it next year, and he suggested doing it in July before all the weeds go to seed.  As it was, he said, he was really just spreading seeds yesterday...and not the good kind!

I was driving around in our 4-wheeler while he was working, but without our defined trails, I got pretty disoriented.  We still have our little numbered markers, but the trails are blended into the whole mowed area.  Of course, now we can drive wherever we want and don't need the trails!  I hope we don't get lost!

I know Leann is already planning how she's going to mow up closer to the apple trees and REALLY get the "park" looking nice!

And speaking of looking nice, our little post office was moved to its new building on Washington Street sometime in the early 1980's.  At the time my father was newly retired here and offered his landscaping expertise and his labor to landscape the south side of the building by the parking lot.  

Fast forward to summer, 2014.  The USPS has cut the hours of our post office so it's only open noon to 4pm weekdays and a couple hours Saturday morning.  Our postmistress had to cram more work into fewer hours (surprise, surprise!) and the weeds were taking over.

So we went down there today and took a first stab at cleaning it up a little.  After just a half hour, a small section was cleared out, a giant weed/tree was whacked out of a good tree, and the back end of Cammie was full of brush!

Just a little less shaggy but we'll be back...with a broom next time!

Don't you just love black-eyed Susans?

The good, the bad, and the no-it-can't-be-so!

A beautiful August day up here in the land by the Lake!  We spent it doing laundry from our guests from the last couple of days and then mowing everything so it would be cleaned up for the next guests tomorrow night.  We also went downtown to vote in the primary and check in with friends in the Gallery.  A great day!

Tonight Leann wanted to do some work on the trails up behind our house, and that led to other jobs up there and, of course, pictures.  So, first the good:

I know I shouldn't count our apples before they are ripe, but, boy, do they look nice this year!  And these are the ones up in the meadow in our "wild" orchard!  They are big and plentiful and relatively free of blemishes...compared to most years.  We'll see how things look in October!

Now for the bad...  Remember tent caterpillars or army worms? Those creepy green caterpillars that munch their way through all the leaves on the trees?  Well, last spring there was some threat that they would be coming through this summer.  Then later that threat was changed to maybe next year.  And then we started seeing some tents up in our apple trees. 

So tonight we drove our trails looking for these tents, cutting them out, and then later torching them in the fire pit.  We found 7 or 8, and we know it's a drop in the tent caterpillar bucket, but we feel better and the ugly is gone!

(Yuck!)

And now for the "no-it-can't-be-so" picture.  Below is a maple tree with leaves changing color.  Maybe the tree is ailing somehow for it to be changing so early.  Or maybe these early morning temps in the 40's are sending some message to the trees.  But, no, it can't be so!

And one more from the Lake tonight.  The clouds looked ominous to the north so we drove down to see how it looked over the Lake.  What we found were a series of rain showers drifting across to the north east.  Nothing much landed by our house though.  More watering tomorrow, I gues!

It's time to hit the trails!

This is how our meadow/orchard acreage up beyond the creek looks in its natural state:

Apple trees, pine trees of various kinds and lots of weeds and very tall grass.  And guess who's hanging out on and around that very tall grass?  Wood ticks...lots of them...as some visitors of ours recently found out. 

So we decided on this beautiful day that it was time to go up there and mow the trails.  Now the above scene looks like this:

We, actually Leann, is able to do this using a walk-behind brush mower.  She makes it look pretty easy but she's always just as happy when the gas runs out and it needs to cool off for a while.  But she's also very pleased with how they look when it's done!  Me too!

Above is another section of trail before mowing and after mowing below.  The little bird houses were gifts to Leann from her students when she retired.  This one says, "Miss Hess."

Below is one of our trail markers that we place where the trails intersect with each other.  We also have maps in the making.

 One of my favorite spots!  A bench to stop and take it all in.

 And what do I do for this project?  I run the SAG wagon!  I have cold water, extra supplies for the mower, and I watch for bears!  Well, not really...we haven't seen a bear around here all summer.  Mostly I think I'm there for moral support and keeping the "wagon" near where she's cutting.

And back at the house...we had these crazy winds all morning and afternoon.  These two poplar trees fell down this morning in all the wind.  We also saw another huge tree blown down in town.

But...other than trees falling down around us, it was a BEAUTIFUL day!

Thinking about Normandy...and apple blossom time

We had to make another trip to Ashland today for another eye exam.  On the way we listened to some of the NPR coverage of the events over in Normandy in France today on the 70th anniversary of the Normandy Invasion.  I had the opportunity to visit those historic beaches several years ago and it's so incredible to think of what those troops must have gone through that day.  And then they had to face the next day!

I remembered that I had a Stephen Ambrose book on my iPad, Citizen Soldiers, detailing the coverage of the war from D-Day to the Battle of the Bulge.  Since I had some waiting room time today, I started reading that book and I learned that what they ran into the next day was almost as bad.

That part of France used "hedgerows" to delineate their fields and property.  Hedgerows are high and wide barriers of earth with trees and vegetation growing on top of them.  The Germans had been located there for several months so they knew how to negotiate them, but American intelligence had only seen them in aerial pictures and didn't know that were as high and daunting as they turned out to be.  They were like mazes for American troops and equipment so they had to spend some precious time figuring out how to get themselves, huge tanks and things through the hedgerows and not become victims of them and targets of the Germans waiting for them.

More information for how they navigated in and around hedgerows - http://www.lonesentry.com/normandy_lessons/

Don't know why, but this stuff fascinates me.

We got home this evening in time to get up into the meadow to take pictures of the apple trees.  I was afraid it would start raining before we got home, but we made it.  Rain is hard on apple blossoms!

So I was still thinking about the Normandy book, then thinking apple blossoms, and next thing I know  I'm hearing the Andrews Sisters in my head singing, "I'll be with you in apple blossom time,"--on the hit parade in the '40's, I'm sure!

And now here are some pictures from our meadow and our "wild" apple trees growing up there.  It's so pretty up there.  Too bad the mosquitoes like it up there too!

Tomorrow - some pictures from our "tame" orchard!

Icebergs, soggy trails and foggy evenings

When I made my trip down to the harbor today, I was surprised to see this iceberg island covered with seagulls!  I couldn't zoom as close as I wanted, but I think you can tell it's a pretty big chunk of ice!  Then my thoughts went to whether the birds were some variety of Arctic tern that took a wrong "turn" and ended up on our ice island.  (JK) Pretty cool, I thought.

Ice along the beach - it's going to be hard to wade this summer...

And earlier today, I saw this website (below) of pictures of other icebergs taken this past weekend.  These were taken over in the Bayfield area and are really quite beautiful. If you'd like to see more, just click on the link in the caption area.

http://thecookerymaven.com/2014/05/an-iceberg-expedition-on-may-17th/

In my quest to get my 10,000 steps every day, I went for a walk up into the fields behind our house.  I should have worn boots!  All the rain showers we've had lately create lots of little streams and puddles, making walking a challenge.  I don't know when we'll be able to drive Cammie, our Ranger utility vehicle, up there.  (Cammie - because it's camo-decorated.)  Here are some pictures:

The dead-looking trees are apple trees with blossoms and buds still hidden.  Hoping for a great apple year this year!

Leann put this mailbox up on our trails for people to leave notes on their walks.  But right now the trails are all pretty soggy like the picture.  Maybe if/when the frost finally goes out.

 After my meeting tonight, I still needed 3000 more steps, so I took off up our road...into the fog...kind of a Stephen King adventure.  The picture below is looking toward our house, so I just needed to head for the light...

And I got all my steps for today!