Rebirth of a Vegetable Garden with Cedar Raised Beds

During this year's early February snow and ice storm, we lost an old Cherry tree, that completely smashed and destroyed our vegetable garden.

For the past couple of months, after replacing the fence, we have been slowly rebuilding and replacing the old pine raised beds, that had also succumbed to rot and bugs, with beautiful new 2" x 10" cedar planks, 8' by 4'.

The untreated pine planks lasted surprisingly for 5 years, but hopefully the new cedar planks will last double or triple that long.

The raised bed was assembled outside the fence and then placed directly over the old bed.

  and then adjustments were made for a good fit.

In the last couple of weeks, parsley, eggplant, zucchini, squash, peppers, and tomatoes have been planted and are growing hardily. 

National Pollinator Week 2014: How YOU can help!

The US Senate, 8 years ago, designated this week, June 16-22, as National Pollinator Week to bring public awareness to the decline of pollinators.

Last year, in Wilsonville, Oregon, when 50 blooming Linden trees were sprayed with a systemic neonicotinoid insecticide, over 50,000 bumble bees died immediately while feeding on the contaminated nectar and pollen.

(Photo from: http://www.thebritishgardener.com)

The trees were immediately wrapped so other bees and other pollinators would not be subjected to the contaminated nectar and pollen. Because of this incident, many neonicotinoids insecticides have been banned.

(Photo from: https://ferrellgummit.wordpress.com)

Neonicotinoid pesticides/insecticides are used by farmers, gardeners and homeowners and include products from Ortho and Bayer and others. They are systemic, meaning they are absorbed by the plant, including the pollen and nectar.  Bees, butterflies and other pollinators die when they come in contact with these residues.

You can help by NOT using these products OR follow labeled directions carefully, if you must use them. There are many of these products, just a couple are pictured below. See website link below for a more complete list.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Don't use pesticides/insecticides or herbicides when plants are blooming or when pollinators are active, during daylight hours.

The Xerces Society provides a list of these products and further information and excellent articles:
http://www.xerces.org/wings-magazine/neonicotinoids-in-your-garden/
http://www.xerces.org/neonicotinoids-and-bees/

Please help save 

our pollinators, our bees and butterflies and moths 

and other important pollinators 

and spread the word.

Hiveless Spring

After being a beekeeper for the last 5 years, it is very strange to start spring without the hustle and bustle of preparing beehives, installing bee packages and tending to their weekly needs. We are taking a break due to back issues and busy schedules.

The meadow looks so empty:

We moved the apiary from the middle of the meadow to the enclosed blueberry field, just in case there is a change of heart or to be ueber ready for next year.

Some questions emerge:
1. How will the vegetable and flower gardens be impacted with 90,000 more or less fewer honey bees?
2. Will native pollinators fill the pollinating gap again?
3. Will there be more native pollinators with less competition from honey bees and more diversity of them?
4. How will the blueberry plants be effected? Clover?
5. How do honey bees impact native pollinator populations, initially and then over time?

Check back for some of my observations!

Crow solves a Challenging Puzzle

My dear friend, Margaret, shared this remarkable video from a 

BBC video series titled: Inside the Animal Mind, 

showing a crow solving a 8 step puzzle. 

Please enjoy:  http://cdnapi.kaltura.com/index.php/extwidget/openGraph/wid/1_iqiv5jq9

Winter Challenge

This is the 3rd snowiest winter since 1884 for the greater Philadelphia area

 with 61.7" and 11 storms since December 8, 2013. 

The winter of 1995-6 had 65.5" and 

the 2009-10 winter holds the record with 78.7".  

The website, Bucks County Weather, reporting from Warwick, is an excellent site to 

view snow storm totals, temperatures and such, 

dating back to 2009:

 http://www.619weather.us/wxsnowdetail.php?

Looking back, the 2009-10 winter's snow accumulated with mainly 3 storms, 1 in Dec. and 2 major blizzards back to back in February as this table shows, after having a 3-4 year snow drought: 

Table 1: 2009–2010 Mid-Atlantic Snowfall By The Numbers

City	Dec 19–20	Jan 30–31	Feb 5–6	Feb 9–10	Season Total	Previous Seasonal Record	Average Seasonal Total
Richmond, VA	7.4	10.0	6.6	2.8	28.0	21.6	11.9
Washington, DC	16.4	6.4	17.8	10.8	56.0	46.0	15.2
Baltimore, MD	21.1	5.0	24.8	19.5	77.0	62.5	18.2
Philadelphia, PA	22.5	2.1	28.5	15.8	78.7	65.5	20.5
New York city	10.9	0	0	10.0	51.4	75.6	23.6
Table 1 Notes: (1) Individual storm totals are based on preliminary NWS data; (2) seasonal total for 2009–2010 includes snowfall from storms not shown in this table; (3) previous seasonal record based on data extending back to the late 1880's; (4) average seasonal snow total based on official records from 1971–2009; (5) all values for snowfall are shown in inches.

(http://www.weatherwise.org/Archives/Back%20Issues/2010/July-August%202010/mega-snow-full.html

The following photos capture some of the major snow events experienced this winter season: 

A beautiful sunset 3 days after the January 22nd storm:

During this February 3rd storm, we received initially some light snow and then 

on the 6th, heavier wet snow and ice fell that stuck to the trees and branches and added up to over 17" in Doylestown, causing many limbs to fall and cause power outages:

This snow also had a bluish cast, as seen here: 

The iced trees were beautiful,

 but dangerous.

We lost a Black Cherry tree that was well over 200 years old, which completely 

toppled over from all the weight of the ice:

Already reeling from this storm, another storm came barreling down, adding an additional 17.8":

A couple of days later, the temperature increased up to 41 degrees and created this 

iced snowy bubble effect:

Temperatures held steadily cold and more than a foot of snow remained in place into March.

Only just this past week, have temperatures normalized and 

finally, the snow is melting ever so slowly. 

Moments to Cherish!

I was reflecting on those moments in life that are rare and special. Moments that unlikely will be duplicated again. Moments that bring joy and wonderment. Moments or sightings that I might take for granted and presume will happen again next year or next season, but often don't. 

Such as . . .

 the bluebird at the window in the middle of a snowstorm taking shelter, 

the bunny teasing Sigi at the porch door,

the deer twins edging closer and closer, curious to know more,

a beautiful painted turtle crossing our path as Sigi and I took a fall walk,

the group of goldfinch in the spring eating the seed pods from the catmint at my window,

discovering a young fawn in the meadow, lost and confused and later united with her mother the following day,

finding a baby bunny hiding INSIDE my garden fence,

the fox in the upper meadow just hanging out,

walking out the front door and discovering the tiniest baby turtle right on the sidewalk,

finding baby bunnies huddled innocently in a mulch pile,

capturing the most beautiful afternoon rays of light shining through the petals of 

these Richard Ahren's anemones,

and watching one of our bee girls in the spring collecting nectar. 

(Our last hive died last week in the extreme cold).

Here are some quotes that I find fitting for these reflections: 

"The only constant in life is change." 

(Heraclitus)

"Learn to flow with life like a stream. 

Change is the constant in our world, 

everything and everyone is always 

in a constant state of change. 

Learn to flow with life, 

relax and 

enjoy the ride." 

(Kemmy Nola)

Rollercoaster weather and the Subnivian Zone

Just two days ago, this meadow was covered in 8 inches of snow and sealed in ice after there was freezing rain all day and the temperatures never rose above 32 until after dark. The next morning, we awoke to pouring rain and 56 degrees and this view - 

As you can see, the meadows are mowed again after 3 years.  Below you can see how the mice, shrews and voles had a field day in the upper meadow, 

creating numerous trails in the air space or subnivian zone in just a couple of days. These trails were only present in the upper meadow and not the lower meadow, which has less plant diversity and consists mostly of golden rod, sweet gum trees and some reeds. 

I'm re-reading Winter World by one of my favorite authors, Bernd Heinrich, who describes this zone very clearly. He writes that, 

 the temperature in this zone is "regulated" a degree or two of the freezing point" as snow acts as an insulator from above and heat rises from the earth below. In this space, the animals have freedom to move and search for food without the fear of being spotted by a predator.

By the end of the day, the temperatures have dipped back into the 30's and today, we awoke to 0 degrees and 25-35 mph winds, thus -21 with wind chill and blue skies. 

What a wild winter!