Its Spring.....officially

It has been not really winter for most of the winter, I have enjoyed it, for as you all know, there is very little about winter that I like. Since early March it has been Spring-like, not Spring really but like Spring, now into April the weather has become a bit more seasonal, and there is no question, it is Spring.

There is plenty of wood left, waiting for fall. No, I certainly am not waiting for fall.  it doesn't matter that some of the things I had planned to do last winter didn't get done. they can wait too. They aren't eating any bread, and they don't mind the wait.

There are leave on the apple tree, perhaps they are not as tender as I thought as they survived 2 nights of temperatures in the single digits.  Last years apple crop was huge, who knows what this years will be like.   Tiny frogs called peepers, who  shelter in the marshy area near this tree sing for me each warm night, during the Spring.

The last remnants of a tree that came down in a storm last July are standing guard over the sight where the brush pile were burned,   that area that was once a brooder house, then a garage, and later a weedy spot where all sorts of flowers and weeds grew amid the stacked wood.

Next to the picnic table is a heap of leaves ready for the compost, a heap of leaves from the pungent sorta garlic sorta hotter-than-hell, but oh so tasty wild edible the leek or ramp.  True not everyone likes them, but to me they are a true delight.  Leaves diced and fried with eggs or potatoes or the whole leaf, fried crisp, have a smokey flavor. if you were hardcore you could add fresh leaves to a salad.

The garlicyflavored bulb can be carefully fried also and is very mellow.Or raw it can be mixed with creme cheeze or what have you to make a dip, some of us eat them raw. The white portion can be pickled in either your homemade brine or left over brine from commerciallly made pickles.  They can be frozen, especially if you place them in strainer, salt them with uniodized salt, cover them withe ice and let them drain overnight.  Be creative,  use them in ham and potato soup, ham and beans, roasted them with chicken...pretty much anything you can use garlic for.  So these stinky little wonders, that taste oh so good might not make you the most popular person at work, unless of course you bring in some dip and crackers so that everyone can enjoy.

Bon appetite!

New Leaves Moon

The full Moon of April is traditionally called the Full Pink Moon, for it's resemblance in color to  the soft pink of  wild ground phlox, which appear at this time. The pale pink tint of the moon is, if it is visible, due to the atmosphere, how unromantic!!








It is also known as the Sprouting Grass moon, the Egg Moon, and the Fish Moon

 New Also called the New leaf Moon, though it is usually much later in the month that we see the first leaves here.  It would be more appropriate to call it the Last Snows Moon.

Pictured is the waxing gibbous Moon, early on Tuesday evening.

The frog moon, as small fogs appear and the voices of spring peepers can be heard on warmer nights


Nesting moon, the birds are still courting, and the woods are filled with their songs, but soon the courting will be over and nest building will start.


Here in the woods, April usually starts out more like winter and ends more like summer.  The daffodils that mark the foundations of long forgotten house burst into bloom, as they have done each year, long after the name of whoever planted them is  forgotten,


Last nights nearly full moon, rose latter and shown through  the patches between  clouds.  I usually give each moon a name, a name meant only for this Full Moon, it hasn't been easy to choose one this month, nothing seemed to fit well, so I have named it the  Sleeping Dragons Moon. One never knows what will happen next.