Foodie? Catch up...

Spring calls for wild food. I skipped the wild ramps this year, Rich doesn't like onions that much and I have a tiny plot of chives out the back door that I can use anyway.

However, he had a taste for Morels. I hadn't been able to find any until yesterday. I found Morels and I found several places that had Oyster Mushrooms. I leave enough oysters alone so they will spore out and create more on the same log or tree.

The Morels were not huge, but I will cook them up for hubby. It is his favorite. 

I thought I'd try some Pheasant Backs too since they are so plentiful.  They can be found mainly on box elders that are dying. I read up on when to pick them and how to process them.
 

I decided to just try a few and see how they tasted.

Scrap off the spores with a spoon. And it surprisingly smells 

like

cucumber!

Then peel off the brown top...

Chop into thin slices...

One recipe called for white wine and butter. I went with another that called for dipping them in eggs and flour/seasons, then frying. 

I can fry or sauté pretty good aside from boiling water that is...

They were okay. After all, what doesn't taste good fried in butter? Not as good as Morels or Oysters though.

Meanwhile there is mowing, fencing, grooming, to do.

The toilet took a dump and died. I was impressed by the same day service from 608 Plumbing. The price was?  Well. You pay a good price for a plumber. Joe was super nice and said if we wanted him to adjust the flush, just let him know. 

I quipped, as long as the s--t goes down, I don't care about the flush!

The farrier[s] were here too. They are a father son team. All mules behaved and Lil' Richard was probably the hardest for them to do since he is only 31" tall.
One of his jobs is to keep the hill in front of the machine shed trimmed.

We had some rain overnight so I'll be out foraging again for Morels and perhaps dig up some parsnip for fresh veggies.

I did manage a trip to the Kickapoo Valley Reserve to knock off another trail section and do some exploring. More about that when I get time.

Hectic Week! I'm looking forward to 2 quiet days! Next week the Mini Split will be installed!

20 seconds of Orioles

Weekend recap

Early morning hunt for eatable's in the forest with Olive.

Olive took a shot of me takin a shot
of the twisted trees...

Olive. Just as nutty as me!

Sunday morning's fog and morning walk...

Infrared IRChrome shot.
IR picks up more light and works

well on foggy scenes. IRChrome sees green

as red.

Cherry blossoms in the fog

Dandy-lions...

Multiflora Rose

Virginia Pinks

Wild Strawberries

Pheasantback mushrooms starting... I wasn't the only one interested in them!

It was warm and humid Sunday with occasional showers but I got a lot of gardening done. I hauled buckets of dirt from the old manure pile to patch up holes in the yard. I cleaned the gardens around the house and added dirt from that old manure pile to enrich the soil.

I dumped the old dirt out of my 3 containers I have for geraniums and refreshed them with new dirt. 

The mules all walked up for a grooming and I had an assembly line going. Each one walked up to me, got curried and then I tapped them on the rear end to move them along for the next in line. 

Last but not least. The first hummingbird showed up as well as the first Oriole. 

Tweet Tweet....

Busy day

Tuesday, the sun came out and melted off more snow. Charlie and I headed to the woods to see how the rest of the fences faired out. We wanted to see if the Virginia Spring Beauties were still around and look for other signs that Spring was coming despite the snowfall.

I was surprised that the electric lines were just fine except in the places where the deer had knocked them off their insulators. I took an insulator count for replacement.

We found Pheasant Back mushrooms forming on a tree that fell over the winter.

This surely was a sign of spring!

In fact we had to sit down on the forest floor and get a closer look:

When we did, we found this in the leaves!

And we found Mayapples or as my Grandmother called them Maypole flowers. I don't know why but she did.

Of course there was Frank the Trooper Dude who decided to sit on a log and get in touch with Nature. He brought Birdie and they relaxed in the sunlight.

Hobby found some leeks or wild ramps just above the creek where water was actually flowing this Spring from the bountiful moisture and the snow melts.

Soon it will be time to walk along the creek and gather wild parsnip roots for a fresh veggie to be seasoned with wild garlic and some wild ramps. The parsnip and wild garlic are invasive species but eatable so why not eat them?

Wild parsnip roots:

Spring culinary delights await in the woods.

Boring

Boring Saturday. 

The little mule in the middle is Fred. He has always been the boss mule. He rules the roost at 35 years old. Yes, that is totally old for any equine.

Fred could use dentures as his old teeth have pretty much worn out. However, after a life time of service to my hubby, attending our wedding, and teaching numerous people how to ride, we have decided that Fred has earned a retirement with grain and special feed.
He prefers the pasture and chasing girls though. 

Here Mica joins the group. She is often pushed out. I wonder if it is her color?
The reds hang together as well as the bays.

Fred had decided that he would try and convince everyone that they were in heat. Yes, mules do come in heat. He kept nuzzling all the gals until everyone decided to take a morning nap.

Fred is a gelding and has always been this way.

Lil' Richard is our small stud who had a job telling us when the mares we bred to our Jack were ready to be serviced. We'd put the little stud pony next to a mare when we expected her to be in heat and Lil' Richard would work with her until she'd stand for him. Poor little guy could never do the job, but he was accurate.

Now he is simply a mower and fertilizer. 
He and Sven keep the hillside mowed and trimmed among other places like the tractor in the weeds and other piles of 'junk'.

I took a walk in the rain yesterday just to get out of the house. Endless loops of Alias on TV was driving me nuts. Binge watching is not my idea of a day well spent.

I found more Pheasant Back fungi and made a discovery. These trees that used to produce Morels are now dead enough to produce this fungi. This tree produced 3 or 4 bags of Morels about 4 years ago. Now? Just these fungi. I noted it on other old Morel trees too. 

The Honey Suckle is blooming. Yes, it is invasive but it sure smells nice!

This was on my neighbor's land. They don't manage it, don't keep up the fences, or do anything with it. 

Higher on the ridge I found Jacob's Ladder. At the top of the ridge I found wild geraniums.

Different levels of the hillside had different temperatures and that creates mini climates.

A bee was hiding inside the blossom. I imagine it was stuck there because it was cold.

My second woods walk landed me at the far back of our acreage. I found Oyster Mushrooms...I think.

Since I don't have enough knowledge about edible fungi, I just admired them and moved on with Charlie.

We found so many trees that had antler rubs on them that I figured that Big Buck was still hanging around in the prickly ash woods. Smart Big Buck. He knows how to hide well.

I had to laugh when I saw the Spider on the Tree. I'd put that up a long time ago when decorating the Spooky part of the Woods for my neighbor's kids Treasure Hunt.

I was looking just above our creek for signs of any sort of fungi or if the light rain had brought out any interesting new plants when I spotted something pinkish under a geranium.

Showy Orchid aka Galearis spectabilis. 
Yep, I prefer the name: Showy Orchid 

I have found these once or twice before in our woods just about 20 feet above the creek. They are really hard to spot and like hiding.

If I can spot these, why can I NOT spot a morel?

Probably because it has been too cool, too dry, and just a crappy year for them.

I wandered through the Buckthorn Forest and decided I'd turn the mules out there after I roached their manes and wormed everyone. 

The grass simply looks abundant and delicious.

And bam! It got fun!

May rolled in with hot weather and high winds. Our fire danger was Extreme which is unheard of in our neck of the woods. The land of steep valleys and plentiful streams.

But it was true. Our stream banks were dry and the water levels were low. Mosses had turned brown and had gone dormant in the forest. I found two types of fungi in the woods. A Pheasant Back and one lone Morel.

Pheasant Back. I've heard from others that these are eatable. And since I am grew up hearing that all mushrooms would KILL you from my grandmother, the only one I am confident on in the wilds is the morel.

88 degrees with winds that howled and tossed branches around was a summary of May 1st.
We watched dust devils whirl about in the winter pasture. The interior of the house was at 65 degrees and felt cold when we went inside. I read on the porch most of the day. So the 1st was a bust.

I got up at dawn for some reason on Sunday and decided to go for a morning walk. The hot weather made the wild apple trees burst forth with blossoms. I decided to go for a walk up through the old meadow and woods to get Saturday's mail in the early light.
In spring I feel that need to be out every day and watch in wonder as trees that have been so barren and stark all winter burst forth with leaves and flowers or catkins. It is Fall in reverse. 

I pulled out my books on trees and wildflowers and set them aside for when I got back from my walk with Charlie.

Knowing my trees is important while hunting morels. So after years of putting off learning about trees and ID'ing them from their bark, shapes, and leaves, I have decided to make another attempt at it. Maybe if I can figure out my trees, I can find morels faster? I don't know!

My husband said there were NO elms left because of Dutch Elm disease. Imagine my surprise when I ID'd this shot below. Classic elm tree shot, right? I think so! I've seen several of these in the woods. After the seeds drop though, the leaves look so similar to the Ironwood tree that litters our forest.

This one could be a slippery elm.

This one is obvious. The oak tree. But what type? 

I'm pretty sure this is a red oak. 

There were several types of maples leafing out. I think this one is a Red Maple. 

I know the neighbor on the ridge taps the 'Sugar' Maples but I'm not even sure if I can tell the difference in them until they fully develop leaves. As I said, I'm no expert but am curious to see if I can learn the difference.

Below is where I get all my apples. They are wild apple trees probably planted by the cattle that used to roam these woods and pastures or the birds? I even named this tree after my mule Opal. Opal Apples. This tree makes the best apple jelly of any of the wild trees. Opal used to rise up on her hind legs and pick apples. 

It was a sight to see!

I have many photos to go through. I have a possible cherry tree and perhaps a Prickly Ash and any regular Ash trees I can find. 

There were some bushes along the road that perplexed me. I've noticed the flowers before and the bush but never could figure out what exactly they were. 

I'll save those for later.

My all time favorite tree is the Hawthorne Tree. It has sharp spikes and interesting leaves and flowers.

I went through the meadow to the edge of the woods to see if the Hawthorne was blossoming yet.

I love its structure and its leaves.

It generally has blossomed out by the first of May.

I'll be going back every day until I get the blossoms. Walking through all those wild apple trees is like walking through a Pez candy container. The air is sweet and delicious.

Charlie went with me in the afternoon ... but decided he'd had enough of tall grasses. He simply sat down eventually in the grass and refused to move.

He decided when we got home to take his place on his throne, also known as the porch bench and rule his world from a more comfortable place.

His underbite gets me all of the time. His expression is priceless.

I think this is his imitation of being 'The Godfather'.