Springtime Arrivals

Each spring I look forward to the spring peepers, little frogs that belt out a lot of noise in early spring evenings. When I hear the peepers I know spring is here at last. I like to keep track of first sightings and compare them to last year.

Each year 5 starlings arrive in my yard, in 2010 they were here March 14th and this year March 17th. The butterfly that flitted by March 15th 2010 did not appear until April 22nd this year. I looked forward to the woodcocks which called, flew up and then plummeted down in the dusky evening March 19th 2010 but were not seen until April 6th 2011. The call of the sandhill cranes can be heard long before you see this large beautiful bird gliding over, they came on March 31st last year and, April 11th this year. Juncos were 10 days later from April 10th 2010 to April 20th 2011. The Spring peepers I enjoy so much hollered their little hearts out April 3 2010 but since this year the ponds were still frozen over on April 3rd and we had 5-6” of snow on the 20th they were pretty brave to poke their noses out on April 22nd .

It seems most arrivals have been over 10 days later than last year it would be a good idea to keep a close watch on temperature forecasts before planting the garden.
It may be the end of May before we can safely place out seedlings in the ground to give them the best advantage. Especially so for pepper plants, if they get a chill they may not grow into a nice sized bush or they will bush but not fruit.

Always best to keep an eye on Mother Nature before taking a chance and just going by the calendar.

Watch the Meteor Shower... or listen to it!

Tonight we plunge through the thickest part of the Swift-Tuttle dust cloud giving us a better than usual night sky show.
The crescent moon will slip below the horizon around midnight leaving us with a clear field of view so start watching the show as soon as it gets dark with it peaking between 2 and 4am.
The build up to tonight has been great with last night’s show giving about 20-30 per hour. Tonight could see 90-100! The further away from light pollution you are the better viewing you will have since the fainter meteors will also be visible. On a clear night smoke trails may actually be visible when baseball to basketball sized meteors shoot through the atmosphere.
For those in areas with clouds obstructing the show you can actually listen to all the action as the meteors sizzle their way through. Space Weather Radio has a great link to the Air Force Space Surveillance Radar where you can hear echos of passing dust and rock particles impacting the atmosphere. To hear the meteor shower tonight click here.
NASA operates a sky cam in Walker County, Georgia which videos anything bright that impacts the sky such as lightning, satellites, planes and of course meteors. Click this link to see the Meteor Cam.
The sky is predicted to be clear in both northern and southern Ontario tonight so grab a lawn chair and look up.

Luna glory

This morning an anticipated visitor arrived, a Luna Moth was clinging to my kitchen window frame. This marvelous creature has captured my attention since the first one I saw in 2005 fluttering in the dark at my living room window drawn by the flickering late night television. This mornings visitor was at the end of a hard journey. Not pristine as those previously enticed by light in the darkness, this male Luna had traveled a hard road. Winter weather returned with winds and snow which also left some very hungry birds on the hunt about the time it emerged. One ratty wing had lost at least a third of its green glory and the breeze that pleased me by keeping the emerging black flies from having breakfast on me (literally) had the Luna cling tight in the morning sun. Battered and torn he would not be able to fly off to a safe daytime hiding place so I gently collected him. He gave no resistance, no fluttering, just climbed onto the cardboard I slowly slid under the front legs and, protected by a clear plastic bell, I took him to the shelter of my log pile for a safe place to stay. I have often seen pictures of these large moths but until I moved north I was not fortunate enough to see one, now I look forward to their arrival and seeing a few of them in the late spring and early summer nights. Living in the winged form only about 7 days their beautiful light green long lobed wings are unmistakable and the four simple eyes are dynamic. The size of this beauty always takes my breath away and makes him a hard creature to miss. Late at night one may flutter at the kitchen window when I leave the light low so I don’t fall over a cat or the dog as I wander through or when I leave the outside light on I sometimes find one clinging to the door amongst the myriad moths and insects. A flashing glimpse is sometimes caught in the car beams during a nighttime drive down my road. It is usually later in the season, when the nights are warm, that I find a Luna, this fellow may not have even been able to mate if there is not a female around yet but batter and torn as he is he is no less beautiful than a newly emerged Luna on a warm July night.

Earth Day

April 22nd 2010, the 40th Earth Day, do something for yourself and the Earth.
Eco shows and fairs abound last weekend and this coming weekend with many projects and earth friendly activities today. The choices are many and the information is easily found to green your home, your work and your life. Simple activities are the best to start and implement on a regular basis.
Being aware of your surroundings and the conditions in your neighbourhood is a great start. Take a walk. Walking is relaxing and you become more aware of your community, parks, people and wildlife. Walking with family and friends is a great bonding time while you connect with your community. Walk the green spaces, knowing they are there and using them will help to keep them functional and safe. Pick up one piece of garbage during your walk and you help to clean your environment.
Washing just a few dishes? Use a bowl to wash them in and save water (& dish detergent). Shorten your shower by 2 minutes to save water, drive a dusty vehicle a little longer before you wash it. Set your lawnmoor to cut your grass longer, it will require less water to remain thick and green plus it will be able to crowd out weeds.
Find a cause and sign a petition. Check out www.savejapandolphins.org if you saw or have heard of the movie The Cove and disagree with herding and slaughtering 19,000 dolphins in a little cove each year.
Find a web site in touch with your local issues, in the Sudbury area I highly recommend Green Sudbury, the web site www.greensudbury.ca and the Facebook page. Locally written blogs, farmers markets, food cooperatives, local marsh conservation groups, and animal rehabilitation sites such as Wild at Heart www.northernontario.org/wildatheart the only place for injured and orphaned animals in this northern area. You will find something you believe in with all the choices there are.
You do not have to know everything or do it all, little things add up to a big difference, you just need to find the ones that fit you well.
Make every day Earth Day at your home or work by doing just one extra thing. Be a champion for those who have no voice. Enjoy and be kind to your neighbourhood, community and your Earth.

New Vegetable Varieties and Spring Preparation

My website, www.naturesgardenheirlooms.com, is being updated with some exciting new varieties and should be ready to view in the next week or two. I am expanding the tomato, pea, bean, lettuce, cucumber and pepper varieties with many more great choices for us northern gardeners.
The starlings are back and picking through my gardens for newly emerging bugs. Moths are gaining in nighttime population and butterflies have started to flit through the warming sunny days. I even thought I saw a frog bounce from the beaver pond mud flat into a grassy hummock. Though the temperatures are going up and down, spring is here, we just have to wait until it.... ripens.
The garden soil is still nice and crumply from the snow and ice melt which makes it a great time to weed. Roots are pulling effortlessly right now making the job faster and so much easier than it will be once those April showers flatten and compact the soil again.
Time to get out and enjoy those sunny days, getting gardens prepared for spring planting is a bonus. For me there is another good reason to weed now, I am trying to beat those immense clouds of marauding black flies. Wildlife in the countryside comes in all sizes!

The Receding Snow

The snow has just receded from the little patch of catnip I planted in 2006 for my three cats to party in. This morning I moved the fallen leaves and sticks underneath the dried stalks and actually picked a few fresh green leaves, and this in March zone 4b! Spring is coming, though probably not before another snowfall or two. For me, however, Spring is now fully ensconced in my heart, while my gardening fingers are itching. I already tried weeding, note to self: dig the dandelion’s root out in the spring once the ground has actually thawed.

Where are the Finches?

Well, 59 days late and still no show. Where are the Redpolls?

Of the 6 Januarys I have spent here three times the finches arrived on or very close to January 5th. Once they were about 10 days later and another year I did not notice the exact day of arrival. While inquiring of many people I meet a gentleman said the last week of February he read in the paper one had been seen in Lively (40 km west of me). It made the paper!! I am not the only one watching the nyjer feeder and wondering where these beautiful little birds are.

Last year a field sparrow arrived on March 10th and the starlings are pretty regular arrivals by mid March, (last year on the 16th). There are two Canada geese who nest at our pond each year, they land solidly on our driveway between March 23rd and 29th to claim their territory for the spring and summer. Later in the month between the 26th and 31st the amazing sound of the woodcock echo through the woods and bringing up the rear between March 28th and 31st is the traditional sighting of the robin.

March is the month of moths, last year they were at the nighttime window on the 12th. The last days of the month last year brought us iris and hawkweed aka my lawn!

There are lots of arrivals to look forward to in March. It will be interesting to see if the other birds are on schedule, but, I will still be wondering... Where are the Finches???

Fall Garlic Planting

I have finally planted my garlic garden. I really like being able to plant a garden in the fall and then watch it pop up in the early spring. It almost feels like it does it all on its own, when I am just getting started on long days digging and planting these little beauties are reaching for the sun.

When I pull the garlic out I start to prepare the garden for the next planting right away. I like to put roughage in the soil to replace the roots and bulbs I removed. I cut the raspberry canes back three years ago I kept the long stalks, cutting them into 6-8” pieces, intending to use them in the composter but finding so many usages for them along the way. Turning sticks, twigs, fall leaves, old garlic stalks into a garden provides compostable materials and an avenue for rain to filter down deep into the soil and opens airspaces up for worms. Worm highways are important in a healthy garden.

Once the soil is prepared I select the larger bulbs from my harvest and break them apart, I poke holes and drop a clove in point up and cover it up. A hole about 2 ½ times the length of the clove so 2–2½“deep is fine. sometimes the cold will pop the clove back up, you will find them poking out of the soil or lying on top, poke a hole in with your finger, or a screwdriver works well, and tuck it back in. A friend uses a piece of doweling with markings for ½”, 1”, 2” and 3” and pokes all his planting holes with that. I find three inches apart works well, it leaves plenty room and a small space can give me lots of garlic.

The best crop is when I cover the garden with mulch.

You can use hay, straw or in the spirit of using what Mother Nature provides, I use grass. I cut long grass from the meadow, this year the seed heads were well over 5ft! I take a handful and with yard scissors or hedge clippers cut a couple inches up from the ground. I take the grass and cut the seed head off so I am not planting grass seed in my garden, I don’t want more than what I already have. Then at the garlic garden I clip the stems into 8 – 12” pieces and spread them and inch or two thick. This will protect the cloves, keep the moisture in and warm the ground early in spring when you will see fresh green shoots poking through the grassy layer as soon as the snow starts to disappear. Long grass can be gathered from the roadside, field or empty lot, when you start to look you will find many great gathering locations close by. When you cut the seed heads off you just might want to keep them in a paper bag for a quick yard fix that I will be posting soon.

I leave the mulch in place until all chance of frost is gone and the sun is reliably warm then I pile it at the end of the garden so I can turn it into the soil after the garlic is out.

I have left the grass in place until harvest and found it suppressed grass and weed growth really well, I just like to turn the grass late spring, early summer or after an unusually wet season to be sure there is no mould or insect issues and let it air out.

So, plant your garlic now and relax until you harvest it, you will have plenty time to gather great garlic recipes and don’t forget about garlic preserves, you will have lots of garlic so make it last. New Garlic recipes have just been posted at naturesfoodrecipes.blogspot.com. ENJOY!!

Fall Fireflies

What a wonderful night. Cool, clear and a wondrous sight down my driveway. All along the side of the driveway in amongst the short mowed grass are fireflies. We have had a few hard frosts and here are fireflies burrowing into the grass and lighting up like micro solar lights. Living in the country there is always something to surprise and intrigue you.

Meteors and Fireballs!

The Perdeids meteor shower peaks tonight, so, just after dusk gather the lawn chairs and head out for the yearly show. 80 to 100 meteors per hour is the expected peak for any year, but this year we have an added treat. A really interesting time will be about 4am when we slam through a really dense cloud at 150,000 km per hr bringing a spectacular burst of about 200 shooting stars per hour. The shooting stars we see are from a cloud of dust sized particles, a wonderful display from something so small. The dense cloud will also bring fireballs, baseball to basketball sized space rocks entering the atmosphere that can even leave a smoke trail in the clear night sky.
Last night about 2:30am looking out the window I saw a fireball that lasted for about 5 seconds even though the moon was bright enough to walk around the pond without a flashlight. When the moon rises, turn your back to it to block the effect and get ready for a really great night.
Lately it has been cloudy, hazy, humid, and so just in case you do not have a clear view to see the meteor showers, how about listening to them? The USAF Space Surveillance Radar scans the Texas skies, yes, from Roswell, and if you want to LISTEN just click this link.
Whether you watch or listen, tonight will be impressive.

The International Space Station, Blueberries and Fireflies

Tuesday night Northern Ontario had clear skies and, according to spaceweather.com, the International Space Station was to be visible traveling across the night sky about 11:18. Outside at 11:15, away from the house to get the best view, standing and waiting, the mosquitoes were in full force, but, the night sky was perfectly clear. Then, there it was just above the trees, then it was gone, then it was back again… what was going on?? No, that’s not the space station, that’s a firefly, just a bit eager for a view of the station maybe. A little patience and then a great view of the space station traveling above us. It was simply a light in the night sky but knowing what it actually is makes it a wonderfully amazing sight to see. Yesterday, July 24th, a Russian supply ship, Progress 34, was launched from Kazakhstan and can now be seen following the Space Station.
The space weather site is a great place for date and time information on everything from sunspots, aurora alerts, asteroid encounters, satellite tracking, the Space Station and Russian supply ship, and even space weather which, currently, shows the Solar Wind speed at 486.4 km/sec with a density of 1.9 protons/cm3. Want to know what that means? The site will explain that as well. Cool site for those who look up. If you are really, really, into the alignment of planets, geomagnetic storms, meteors, Space Station flybys or when the best aurora’s will be in your area, well, they even have a service that will phone you and tell you so you will never have to miss another one.
From looking up to looking down now, the wild blueberries are coming along well. I picked a 2lt basket last Tuesday in about an hour. Not bad for the backyard, especially since I am a picky picker, I pick the bigger ones and I don’t take all the berries from any area. I leave lots for the wildlife as well as for new plants next year and I am cautious not to pick the unripe or damage a plant, so, needless to say, I take my time. They call for rain for the next 5 days, a few nice sunny days will help to increase the sugar content in the berries. More picking in my future I can assure you.
Looking up, looking down and eating healthy food.