| All Blogs | Page 1 Of 1 | |
|
Squirrels
Posted On 2008-11-29 , 11:57 AM
Squirrels
Squirrels are everywhere this time of year. Fall is a wonderful time to observe birds and squirrels, because they are not hidden anymore by the leaves on the trees. Squirrels will sometimes remind me of Christmas shoppers; they scurry up the trees and down the trees, looking for nuts or a place to hide them.
The squirrels on our property are crazy. They are hunting for as many nuts as they can find for storing away. On our farm, it is mostly acorns and black walnuts that the squirrels gather to hide away for later. Just walking out to the car can cause them to scurry up the trunk of our maple tree. Sometimes the squirrels will run up the tree to a limb and just sit there watching me, with an acorn in its mouth. Then there are times when a squirrel will run up the tree and chirp down at me. Other times, a squirrel will run up the tree and jump to another tree; I don’t know if the squirrel is hiding from me or hiding the nut.
We have electric lines that run along the front of our property. It is not unusual to look out the bedroom window and see a squirrel scurrying along the line to its destination. It does not notice me, because it is too busy worrying about where it is headed.
Now that the leaves have all fallen off the trees on to the ground, I notice the squirrels digging under the leaves. They suddenly pop up their heads, look around and then go back under the leaves. Sometimes I see a squirrel pop up from the leaves with a nut in its mouth, and then it runs off with the nut.
I have enjoyed watching the squirrels scurry through out the gardens, always looking for food. The squirrels need to be on the lookout, because our cats are ferocious squirrel hunters. We have found on our porch, on more than one occasion, squirrel skins with the tails attached. Our cats clean everything. But they really need to watch out for the cars. They usually do, but the other day, on the way home from Thanksgiving, a squirrel stopped in the middle of the road with a nut in its mouth. It did not know which way to go; it was stuck in the middle between two cars at a stop sign. Finally, after a few seconds, it walked, not scurried, to one side. I don’t know how long that squirrel will last.
comment
|
Fall
Posted On 2008-11-12 , 1:28 PM
Fall
Fall has finally arrived here in south central PA. Now I realize that the calendar says that fall arrived back in September, but we have had some mild weather. Yes, we had a day here and there that was cold and we had our frost, but overall fall has not been too bad.
It has been mild enough that last week I gave the grass its final cut for the year wearing shorts and a t-shirt. I am not fond of fall, because I am a warm weather person. I know that winter is just around the corner, and I am not pleased. Getting back to grass cutting, which was the second “final cut”, I noticed some interesting things. The grass was just as thick and green this fall as it usually is in the summer. As I passed by my forsythia bushes, I noticed they were blooming again. I thought about cutting some for inside the house but then remembered my goal of cutting the grass.
As I continued to cut the grass, I was constantly reminded that it is fall because of all the leaves on the ground. The leaves have been beautiful this fall, and although there were many on the ground, there were still quite a few leaves left on the trees. I noticed that the driveway was covered in leaves and decided to blow them off to the side with the mower. Just another slap in the face that fall is really here was the next day, after a cold front went through; the driveway was gone, completely buried in leaves. The deciduous trees were almost barren now; all of their beautiful leaves were on the ground.
Once again, I need to get back to the grass cutting. Here it is the middle of fall, it is close to 70 degrees and I am dressed for summer, and I am thinking isn’t this great. I am having a grand time, because to be honest with you - I love cutting the grass. It allows me to do a lot of thinking. Just some background info; our yard is filled with moles and mole tunnels. Our cats have fun trying to extricate these little pests. There is one place in the yard where it is a gulley of mole tunnels, and I always try to remember to take it slow through this area. Well, I am so enthralled with this beautiful fall day that I forget the ‘spot’. I go zooming through this area and almost get thrown off the mower - I don’t- but I do manage to bang my wrist on the mower steering wheel. So, now I am wearing a brace on my hand, all because of a beautiful fall day.
It has become cooler but not cold in this area. We still have plants on our front porch this late in the fall. Normally, we would have brought them into the house by now. Fall is starting to get ugly, and we will have to bring them in or lose them to the weather. I just have to find a place to put them.
comment
|
Harvest
Posted On 2008-11-08 , 1:35 PM
Harvest
Some of us have been planning our gardens since receiving the winter’s catalogs and anticipating fall harvest. After all the work of preparing the soil and planting the seeds and the plants, there came a brief time of relaxation. Waiting for that first blossom…then that first fruit from the blossom…and then the first ripe vegetable, seemed to take an eternity. Then vegetables and fruit start ripening, and we hurried to harvest these and possibly can some for the winter.
As the days grew shorter, there was less to harvest, but just around the corner, frost was rearing its ugly head. There was a constant watch of overnight temperatures, and the decision of when to harvest the last of the tomatoes or harvest the basil weighed constantly on our minds.
I harvested the last of my tomatoes, placing them in a cardboard box to ripen on their own. They were not doing much of anything at that point. I also place a box on top of them to keep out the light and have had good success with this method. I harvest the last of my herb plants from the garden for drying, or in the case of basil, making pesto for freezing. The herb plants that I have in pots, I also harvest for drying. I cut back these plants and place in our greenhouse. I can then harvest them during the winter when fresh herbs are needed. The herbs that I harvest can also be used to make herbal vinegars.
Despite this mad rush to harvest as much as possible from annual plants, there is a wide variety of cold weather plants that can wait to be harvested. Pumpkins, gourds, broccoli and cauliflower are a few that can be harvested after frost hits. At this time of the year it is wonderful to look at a field of pumpkins. The pumpkins have been hiding under the cover of their vines until frost hits, and then suddenly overnight they appear. But as fast as they appear, they disappear, being harvested for Halloween and fall displays.
For those of us who live in a frost zone, the fall harvest is bittersweet. Knowing that I must harvest the last of the tomatoes is sad, because I know that when they are gone, I will have to rely on store-bought tomatoes. But it is also good to reflect on this past growing season and all of its wonderful harvests, and maybe not so wonderful harvests.
comment
|
| All Blogs | Page 1 Of 1 | | |
|
|
|