Spring's A Poppin'

Our much delayed and much anticipated springtime, once begun, burst upon us like fireworks. These bi-colored Daffodils were among the first signs of real spring:

 The lawn filled with Common Blue Violets:

 The hated and pernicious Japanese Knotweed began to pop up in all the usual places:

A surprise Grape Hyacinth (or a cluster of them) emerged among the Daffodils:

 The second plum tree blossomed and there was a brief couple of days when both plums were blooming simultaneously, giving me hope that they were cross pollinated:

 Plum blossoms are pretty flowers, and a pleasure to have on the property:

 Pear and Cherry blossoms among the still emerging apple trees, with the farm house in the background:

 The cherry blossoms were not abundant, but there were enough of them to provide hope for eating cherries this summer:

 Dandelions suddenly appeared in the lawn and pasture. I know many people hate them, but I think they're gorgeous:

 The pear tree blossomed and I decided these were the nicest flowers of all - at least so far:

The old fashioned Lilac bushes budded, almost ready to burst into bloom and fill the yard with their perfume:

 Wild Shadbush flowers all along every road were almost done for the year, but I found a couple of them to photograph:

More Photos From Around The Farm

Spring finally arrived, and the pear tree was the first to blossom. But spring was short lived and lurched suddenly into summertime. Most of the flowers quickly dropped their petals to the ground. I'll have to wait and see what that portends for fruit production:

The cherry tree only produces fruit every couple of years but it produced blossoms this year. That's a hopeful sign:

And the bigger of the two new plum trees bloomed for several weeks. Not only was it beautiful, but I expect to have lots of plums this year. I also have a smaller plum tree and apricot which flowered sparsely for the first time this year. I can't tell which of those two is which, but I'll figure it out when they produce fruit this autumn:

I was inside the barn one morning when an Eastern Meadowlark landed on a nearby fence post and began singing. Not wanting to frighten it away, I stayed where I was and used my zoom lens to get a photo. I snapped many pictures, but this was the only one (just barely) good enough to keep:

The Daffodils were much delayed and modest in their blooming this year, but I noticed a new variety. These buttery yellow, double flowers put in an appearance. They may have bloomed previous springs, but this year was the first time I really noticed them:

Birds built a large nest in the cedar tree just outside my door and were pooping all over everything. It was only a matter of time before they pooped on me. The dogs were tracking through it. Worse, a baby had fallen out of the nest a couple of days earlier and I found it dead on my porch. Judging by the size of the dead baby bird, I figured the fledglings were out of the nest soon thereafter. I used a long board to push the nest out of the tree while two adult Grackles screamed at me. But I knew there were no eggs or babies in it:

Then I set out to mow the lawn, using the riding mower. When I got to the lawn on the other side of the apple trees, I saw a baby Grackle in the grass with its parents flying around overhead. I think I spotted its sibling, already flying. I switched to mowing on the other side of the house and then ate lunch. Later, when I went back, both the babies and their parents were nowhere to be seen:


The Bush Cherry bloomed copiously this year. It also is a new planting and this will be my first taste of a Bush Cherry. I hope they're good. At least they'll be easier to pick:

The apple trees began budding on a few trees:

And then began opening into flowers. Alas, our late spring and early summer weather meant a short blooming season:

One tree on the far end of the property, however, was in full bloom. This tree was probably a wild seedling but it produces lots of early apples. Oddly, its buds and flowers have very little pink in them. They're almost pure white:

While mowing the lawn, I kept seeing these tiny blue flowers in the grass. I snapped a picture and then looked them up in my field guide later in the day. They were Birds-Eye Speedwell, a member of the snapdragon family:

Spring Is Arriving Full Force!

Yep, the farm is looking like springtime has finally arrived, even though there is much more yet to come. The apple trees were not yet in bloom on this day but my one pear tree was flowering heavily. You can see the farm sign beneath its branches:

The chickens are out all day, every day now - and enjoying each moment of it:

 They spread out across the lawn, circle the barn, explore beneath the apple trees and cross the gravel road to forage in the north field with the cattle. It's a good thing I don't plan to eat them, because I'm sure they'd be tough from all their exercise:

 Oh yes, they also explore the lawnmower. I think they are snacking on grass clippings which collect on the mower deck:

 The fantail pigeons also have freedom every day although they don't use it much:

 

 Occasionally the pigeons come out for a bit of flying exercise, but they're not outdoors birds like the chickens. The pigeons appreciate the comforts of home:

It had been a long time since I'd cleaned the pigeon and chicken coops so when I finally did so, I sure hauled a lot of dry, dusty, stinky bird poop to the manure pile:

  The pear tree was the first to blossom:

 And what beautiful blossoms they were:

 The plum tree which bore fruit last year was the second to bloom. If you click on this photo to enlarge it, you can see a lot of interesting bugs who also enjoy the flowers:

 This is the first year the Bush Cherry will bloom, though the buds were just emerging when I took this photo. I've never eaten bush cherries. I suspect they're not as good as the cherry tree produces but they'll sure be easier to pick:

 The apple trees hadn't yet bloomed, but some of the trees were producing pink buds. I knew it wouldn't be long:

The Ugly And Stinky, The Lovely And Fragrant

The incredible display is over now, but it was just recently that the orchard was white with apple blossoms and the lawn was yellow with Dandelions. Winters may be rugged here, but spring is pure delight:

The extra large, white blossoms in the foreground were pear blossoms. There was a cherry tree blooming right beside it, but you can't see it in this picture. All the rest were apple trees:

And as if the apple blossoms were not enough, the lilacs bloomed so profusely that the air was perfumed. Simply walking out the door was a treat:

Well, that was the lovely and fragrant. Now for the ugly and stinky. I had a two foot deep layer of bedding hay, mixed with cow manure and urine, next to the barn. I wanted to remove it and add it to the manure pile for future compost:

I found it incredibly difficult to scoop it up in the tractor bucket, but I finally learned how (sort of), and began removing it, one scoop at a time:

Mostly the tractor bucket merely rolled it up into six foot high piles. I had to roll it back the other way and then back again to pull apart the long stems of hay before the tractor bucket could scoop it up (sometimes). It took two days, but I managed to get most of it over to the manure pile. And yes, it was sure stinky:

But lets return to the lovely and fragrant once again. Apple buds are pink, but the flowers are white when opened. They have a wonderful aroma, but I have found that I have to stick my nose right up next to them to detect it:

Here's the fully open, white blossoms:

And a view of the farm house and orchard from the barnyard:

A view from the south lawn. Yes, I took a lot of pictures because I was so enchanted by the great beauty of it all:

More apple blossoms:

And let's not forget the animals. The chickens have been roaming free for many weeks now, but the fantail pigeons took longer to avail themselves of their open window. But they too are happy that winter finally ended:

Around The Farm In May

The Daffodils were almost done flowering when I photographed this hen beneath the Mock Orange bush, but it will be covered with flowers shortly. As for the chickens, however, they seem to have begun laying eggs outdoors and I haven't yet discovered where. I'd be happy to collect them once or twice a day - if I could find their nests. For the record, there were no eggs beneath the Mock Orange:

The Rhododendron by the side door began blooming:

The sun shined, the cows grazed, the temperatures soared:

The chickens scratched around in the lawn and in the pastures. They don't seem to miss a square inch anywhere:

The birds were singing their little avian hearts out but I am unable to identify most of the songs and have trouble seeing the birds for an identification. I was on the tractor in the north field one day when I heard a varied song, almost like a Mockingbird, and then spotted the singer atop a tall tree. I used the zoom lens for a closer look  and discovered, when I got back indoors to enlarge the photo, that it had been a Brown Thrasher. They are common around here and are a northern relative of the Mockingbird. This one looked gray until I got to see the photo enlarged:

The chickens know that when I ring the cowbell, grain is about to be served to the cattle. So they come running. No scrap of food, no insect, no plant is safe with chickens around. In this photo, they were snapping up grain which the cattle had spilled:

The pear tree burst into bloom:

And the farm sign was temporarily framed with pear blossoms. I expect it will framed with greenish pears in the autumn:

The Lilac buds began to open:

And my two red Azaleas, recently purchased half price from Home Depot, looked very happy in their new home:

Even the Dandelions and Wild Strawberries were blooming all through my lawn - or perhaps I should say "lawn," for there are more weeds than grass in it:

The farm was looking good, but the flowers were just beginning. I hope to be posting lots more photos soon: