Beltane Approaches

The weather is warming up and the rains are slowing to a drizzle with only occasional showers.
Trout are plentiful in our river and Konswan is an awesome fisher-woman.



Some of the larger ones are nearly like Salmon.



The fertile soil has been amended for good measure and the beds are ready for planting.



The young transplants of Chinese Cabbage are thriving in the extra hours of sunlight.



Our Jerusalem Artichokes are pushing through the soil, opening up their tender new leaves.



And our meditation garden is a lovely spot to take a break or watch the sunrise.  The boxwood hedges are growing in and the flowers are spreading to cover the earth.

Beltane is only days away and we are waiting eagerly to embrace another fertile year of abundance and growth.

Adorable Little Thieves

"Red-Headed Thief" caught red-handed. This is the female Sylvia atricapilla. "Black-Headed Thief. This is the male Sylvia atricapilla." Tiny little things---amazing how they get here at all and from where? These guys got into the netting, but could not figure out how to get out. After untangling them from the netting, they were photographed and released. We do not know what variety of bird they are so far. If any of you know, send me a link and I will post it along with the name. (Thank you to Emily Harris Griffin for identifying our little culprits.) These little birds love to eat all of our lettuces, all greens from the Brassica family (that includes pak choi, broccoli, cauliflower, mustards, all cabbages, and much more), even the spicy mustard seedlings. As a non-lethal preventative measure, we put netting around and over the newly transplanted Chinese cabbages. Above the newly planted garden with netting is the cold frame in which we sow seeds and nurture the seedlings until they are transplanted. It is raised-bed garden covered with discarded windows. We built the stone retaining walls to take advantage of this protected space with full sun.