In weather terms

Being outside in this unusual weather makes every day special.  There is never a dull day in paradise. Activities vary with the weather. When it is sunny and hot, there is haying, swimming and lots of weeding to do. When it is cold and rainy, there is mulching, green house work, planting and less watering of the garden. Either way, the weather and the time of year determines the types of projects around the garden. For the past two weeks a lot of things have been happening around the garden. The rows among the beds have almost all being redone. I decided to dig out the paths and put that soil with the old wood chips onto the beds and then spread the new wood chips.  This way, I saved myself from some extra weeding.

We built our homes in the beaver's land

Green Frogs ready to go to their new home

I was optimistic about the presence of the beavers down the road, I was hoping to see them repairing their dam or perhaps eating some twigs, instead a local told us that they are not there anymore.  Most likely they were killed because they were eating white birches near a private fishing pond.  I cannot understand why would you compete for space and resources with beavers. They are a key stone species and gifted architects of beautiful ecosystems.  Last April a family of beavers in Thetford, VT was sentenced to be trapped and killed because they were causing damage to a main road.  People in the town spoke against it, including students that raised money to come up with a solution. Here is the video that made news.

Beavers and phoebes

 I finally had the time to go photograph some wildlife. Most of the time I don't have to go further than my backyard.  Having a nice lens helps too. While we were going for a walk with Fugee, we found a beaver dam.  We don't know for sure if it is still active.  The wood shavings near the chewed trees look pretty recent.  I hope that they are still there. I will check on the dam later in the summer. Photos follow.

Beans of all types and colors!

Soybeans 

Black turtle beans 

Royal burgundy bush beans

Yellow and green bush beans 




















This year we are growing soybeans, green beans and storage beans. 
The chipmunks ate some of the soybeans soon after I planted them, however, some of the soybeans sprouted and now they have pods on them.  I have to wait until the pods swell up a bit more before I can pick them.
The black turtle beans are for storage.  It is best to let the plant flower, set pods, fill up and die.  Then I will thresh the collection of plants and collect the seeds, that is before the chipmunks get to them first.
The other type of beans, you want to eat them before the pods fill up. You can dehydrate them or can them for storage.  We are eating them fresh now. 

Porcupines, monarch butterfly and bats

There was a family of porcupines near our cabin, eating twigs and plants on Thursday night (around midnight).  We saw a young one climbing up a tree.  I also saw a Monarch Butterfly in our garden fluttering around the milkweeds.  I hope she lays eggs in a milkweed.  We were seating in our porch Friday night and we finally saw three bats fly above us.  I was so happy to see them, since their population has declined in past years due to the white nose fungus/disease.