Life In The North Country

Just when I thought all the different varieties of Daffodils had bloomed, these small white flowers opened:

They look much like orchids and are perhaps my favorites of all the varieties:

Alongside a nearby road, I saw large, wet areas filled with Marsh Marigolds in bloom:

This road is rife with wildflowers every spring, so I make sure to pay it a visit. Here's a close-up of a Marsh Marigold plant:

And on the same road each spring, I also find huge quantities of White Trilliums, officially and accurately called Large-Flowered Trilliums:

They are spectacular, including some with a pinkish hue:

The town or county had mowed the edge of the road this year, yet there was still a band of Trilliums along the side and beyond the mowed strip, creating quite a spectacular display:

Back home in my lawn, Wild Strawberries began to bloom in abundance:

A new species of Violet appeared in my lawn, this one with smaller leaves and pale, smaller flowers. I went to my field guide to identify it but was unable to do so. I'll just call them the small, pale Violet:

Winthrop, New York is so small that it doesn't qualify as either a town or village. I guess that makes it a hamlet, but a new Dollar General store just opened there and local wags call it "The Winthrop Mall." I noticed the other day that they have several designated parking spaces for Amish buggies, complete with horse manure (AKA road apples) to prove they are being used:

The fantail pigeons are happy and healthy. They still have not produced babies, but I have all the birds I need and am not anxious for more:

This lady, however, is trying to have a successful nest:

Spring Now In High Gear

My north field is filled with Bobolinks and Meadowlarks this year, but especially Bobolinks. They sit on fence posts and telephone wires, singing their loud, happy, bubbling song. This photo is from the internet because I couldn't get a good close-up:

I could, however, get a video of a male singing on a fence post. That's my north field behind him, and the tree in bloom in a Shadbush. The Bobolink is facing the camera and you can see the flash of gold from the back of his head every time he looks to the side or toward the ground:


 One of the Plum trees and the Apricot tree both burst into bloom:

 The Apricot tree, planted six years ago, has never bloomed before. I'm hoping to taste my own apricots this year:

 The Plum tree has bloomed before but never borne fruit because it is not in blossom at the same time as the other Plum tree. This year, however, its flowers coincided with the Plum trees across the road. Maybe there is hope yet:

I collected the last of the Daffodil flowers, put them in a vase and brought them to church:

And while I was at it, I clipped off some PJM Rhododendron branches, put them in a vase and brought them to church also:

The fantail pigeons are nesting but so far there have been no babies (except one dead one):

The bantam hens are laying eggs, but (I am happy to say) at a much slower rate than in the past:

They seem happy and content in their room inside the barn:

I have only 11 birds left and don't plan to get any more when they are gone:

Spring Planting!

It finally began warming up here and my attitude was "Better late than never." I resumed planting, beginning with two Bleeding Heart plants, a gift from a neighbor:

My PJM Rhododendron bloomed nicely:

And then it became even more beautiful:

I continued to put the Begonias, seed trays and baby roses out on nice days. They seemed to benefit from it:

And then one day I planted five of the six baby roses in the front yard, next to last year's hardy roses:

The sixth baby rose, a vigorous climber, got planted beneath the old sign frame. I'm hoping it will grow up over the whole frame. I'll cut off some of the cherry and pear limbs to give it more sun, but I want to wait until after they bloom:

Violets bloomed all through the lawn:

And Grape Hyacinths sprang up next to the bicolor Daffodils:

At close range, it's evident how this plant got its name:

And a new, fourth variety of Daffodil began to bloom, this one with small, buttery yellow flowers:

My neighbor saw me mowing my tall lawn grass and stopped to see if he could rake up the clippings for his cows. Of course I said yes:

He and his uncle raked grass clippings while my dogs watched. Only Fergus continued barking after they saw who it was. Fergus just can't help himself:

Growing Things In May

The bantam hens can't go outside anymore, but they seem happy and content in their room inside the barn:

They have not yet totally soiled the pine shavings I put down when I cleaned their room:

The fantail pigeons are paired off and making nests, but nothing yet has come of their efforts:

They have soiled their pine shavings more than the chickens have, and I have to clean my shoes each time I leave their room:


But on to cleaner topics - One of the plum trees suddenly put out buds:


And then just as suddenly, the whole tree burst into bloom:

I cut some branches and put them in a vase, which I brought to church. It was so tall that I had to set it on the floor next to the pulpit:

And my PJM Rhododendron put out buds:

And then the flowers began to open. This was the first open flower, but I hope to have pictures in future posts when the entire bush is in full bloom:

Seed tray number one, with my two new Begonias at one end. The seedlings, from top to bottom, are  Gaillardia apricot, Gaillardia red, Gaillardia sunset, and New York Asters:

Seed tray number two, top to bottom. Bachelor's Buttons, Rose Mallow, Chives, Globe Thistle. Sadly, the Rose Mallow seeds again did not germinate:

A new variety of Daffodils was the last to bloom, this one white with a pale yellow center:

Around The Farm - Part 2

The Daffodils in my lawn have outdone themselves this year. The first to bloom were the white and yellow variety:

Then the pure yellow variety:

Then the yellow ones with the orange center. All three varieties were then blooming together, putting on quite a display:

My internet went out and we had a warm sunny day. So, while waiting for a repairman, I tackled another big project:

I had an old stump in my lawn, four or five feet in diameter and covered with wild, thorny shrubs and grape vines. It had been too solid for me to remove with the tractor a few years ago, but I decided to try again:

Most of the giant stump broke into pieces, some of them nearly as big as the tractor bucket. I drove all the wood and brush across the north field and into the woods, where I dumped them on a brush pile:

Furthermore, as you may have noticed in the preceding photos, there was a cedar tree growing there which blocked much of the sun for the flowers I was planting. Cutting it down was problematic as it would have hit the power lines, but just then my sheep farmer neighbors stopped by with a better idea. He used my tractor to push it over, snapping the trunk. I then dragged the entire tree behind the tractor (using a logging chain) across the north field and into the woods:

I cut the cedar stump lower and then used the tractor to smooth off the ground. I filled the bucket with more brush and the cedar stump, then made one final trip to the brush pile:

But I wasn't done yet. I then used the tractor bucket to back-drag the gravel which road crews had pushed up onto my lawn. I moved it back out onto the road so I could safely mow. The grass was growing rapidly already:

And then I added more garden bed along the dogs' fence. I now have about 35 feet of garden bed, 4 feet wide and filled with 2 year old compost, in which to plant all the flowers I've purchased for this year. I also intend to plant where the old stump and cedar tree were removed:

And speaking of new plants, I have been hardening off the baby roses and Begonias by carrying them outside on nice days so they will get used to the sun, wind and temperature fluctuations. Then I bring them back indoors to where the seed trays are: