april 25 Sunshine, snow, sunshine, repeat

This aspen, growing in town where it's slightly warmer, has already busted out with leaves.  

 Stuff keeps getting in the way of posting here.  I wanted to keep track of the weather and temps each day, so a year from now I will be able  to note how spring progresses compared to now.   The last few days have been wildly fluctuating weather-wise.  Sun, clouds, very cold, pleasant. Probably the only constant has been the wind. Always the wind in the spring.
So, going on memory now,...
22nd dawned very cold, about 13 degrees. I lost some plants in the garden that were not protected enough.
The 23rd was nicer, but so breezy that it continued to feel cold. I think it was near 20 in the morning, and supposedly got up to about 50, but didn't feel like it.  I had on a hooded sweatshirt all day and wanted more.
Yesterday, it was again cold in the morning, around 18, but with clear skies, and a bit less wind, it seemed pretty nice.  I think it got up in the mid to high 50's by afternoon.
And then today, it was downright warm in the morning. Near 40 degrees at 7am!  But we are completely socked in with clouds, so it hasn't warmed up much since.  The forecast is for snow showers or rain showers, maybe some thunder....

 This is the stage for most of the aspens around here... still flowering.

  This was taken Tuesday, when suddenly snow clouds rolled in. Yep, that is snow headed my way.  Didn't accumulate, just felt wet and raw.

Hummer!  I had to take this with my ipad through the kitchen window, so of course, it's not a great photo.  this little guy sat on a branch in the trees behind for the longest time before he finally decided to fly to the feeder. I don't know what they eat otherwise. There sure isn't much growing. Maybe they feed on the aspen flowers!

April 21 - Coming Alive

 April 21. The day dawned sunny, clear, and warmer. If you consider 32 warmer. Still, that's better than it has been.  With clear skies and sunshine all day, it does feel like spring.  The high today was about 55.

 I noticed yesterday that the aspens in some sunny areas are starting to flower... Pretty soon, they will be covered in the most brilliant spring green leaves you can imagine.   Right now, it is more like grayish fuzzy flower buds. This is not my photo, I borrowed this from an audubon website so you can see what the flowers look like.  I'm going to mark yesterday as the first day I saw flowers, as that's when I first noticed them, but did not have my camera.  Like everything else in nature, family groups vary.  Some aspen are flowering, some are not.  Some groups on the same hillside are at different stages, leading me to believe that
genetics plays a part in flowering time, just as it does in other aspects of growth.  

I banged up my knee yesterday when I tripped and landed on a rock, so I can't wander too far... just when things are getting good too.  So I had to stick closer to home.

 The rhubard that I thought was dead, is starting to bud! yay!

My sad little patch of daffodils is finally beginning to flower. I don't know why they don't grow well here. Daffodils grow just about ANYwhere.   Even these few small flowers bring joy, with their brilliant clear yellow trumpets.

 The baby chicks have gotten so big, they can now go outside.  I had to get them out of the studio...They are much happier out here, in their little nursery pen.  I made a temporary divider in the run to keep the older hens from pecking at them.

Look at baby Elroy the rooster! He already looks like a rooster!   I guess they are about 5 weeks old now.

Hopefully, this banged up knee will be better soon, and I can wander in the spring forest, now that things are really beginning to bud, and  take some photos...

April 20 - Growing Things in a Pine Forest

My hoop houses in the new garden space.  These are an inexpensive, quick way to create a greenhouse effect.

For about $100, I have 240 square feet of growing space.  

Today dawned cloudy and cold again.   It was 28 at 7am this morning, with mostly cloudy skies, so it seemed really cold out.  I think the high today reached about 56, but it never really felt like it. The clouds stayed around all day, and even a few spits of snow here and there.  This time of year the weather is unsettled.  

All these cold temps, wind, and unpredictable weather patterns make trying to grow anything up here a real challenge. Sometimes, I wonder if it is worth all the effort... but then, whatever DOES grow in the garden really brings a sense of accomplishment along with the joy of eating fresh wholesome veggies.

I just started the garden last  year, and even my original small planting area required herculean effort to create
any kind of growing environment.   I chose a slope on the south side of the house, which got the most sun, and radiant warmth from the foundation.

 The original garden area. It slopes down maybe 10 feet from the patio area, so it required me to terrace the hillside. And THAT required me hauling tons of rock from the forest or whevever I could find it, by hand, one rock at a time.   It was quite alot of work. And I broke many fingernails. :-)

Nothing much growing yet, this year. That's the garlic right in front, planted last fall, and I can't wait to harvest this summer!

These are the cold frames against the foundation of the house.  With lightbulbs for warmth on really bitter nights, I can get most seedlings off to an early start.  

this is an inexpensive little mini "greenhouse" I got at Home  Depot - a floor model, so it was only $23!  It's just a set of shelves, with a plastic cover and a front zipper to open and vent.  It actually has amazed me with it's ability to retain heat even overnight, though for smaller seedlings, I try not to let them get below about 50 degrees till they are a bit bigger.   It's also a good place to harden off larger transplants.  This time of year, I do alot of hauling these trays of seeds in and out of the house, depending on weather.  If I am not careful and attentive, it can get well over 100 degrees in here really fast.  Sometimes monitoring all these feels like a full time job.

Now this might be a bit hard to see, so let me explain.  One thing we have plenty of in a pine forest is.... PINE NEEDLES!   So I raked up about 5 wheelbarrows full of them (this took approximately 15 min. - they ARE plentiful) and made this makeshift raised planting bed. First I took old burlap feed sacks from the feed store and filled them with compost.  (I didn't get a photo of the compost heap - maybe another time)

I planted potatoes in the bags, and then surrounded them on all sides, all the way to the top, with pine needles.  There is a fence on one side which provides a little extra support.  Using this natural resource allows me to plant the potatoes in the bags, which will make harvesting really easy later this fall. I can just dump out the bag when they are ready. The pine needles do two things. They insulate the roots from these early cold temperatures, and they act as a mulch, retaining moisture.  And they will break down faster like this than lying on the forest floor, creating more hummus and compost for next year. This is an experiment. We will have to see how it turns out.  

 Pretty much everything I do in the garden this time of year is to try to mediate the cold temperatures... mostly the soil temps.  Pretty soon, I will be planting things under those hoop houses, which create an environment approximately 15-20 degrees warmer than outside. Pretty nifty.

April 18 Spring Rituals

Man, it is COLD again!  Was 13 this morning.   Partly cloudy, which didnt help it feel any warmer.  Even in really cold temps, the sun up here is so intense that it feels warmer, but when it is cloudy, the chill really sets in.
I had appointments in town today and was gone most of the day, but i did get to see this beautiful raven displaying for a mate right outside my window.  I had to take this photo from inside, or risk scaring him off, but it was entertaining watching him call and do a sort of little dance , announcing his availability to all the females who might be in the neighborhood. At least, thats what I believe he was doing. In the bird kingdom, only the males sing, though both sexes can vocalize.  I am sorry the photo isnt better, but i am on my ipad without any photo editing. I took a short video, but cant get that to load.  Will try tomorrow on the big computer.

We have had a pair of ravens in the neighborhood as long as i have been here.  I suspect this young fellow is one of the offspring, perhaps from last year.  

We have observed lots of bird activity - moutain bluebirds scouting for food ( they should have chicks by now), and recently a pair of crows doing an aerial ballet, rolling and tumbling mid-air, grabbing each others claws and spinning around.

All these things tell me it is spring, even if the thermometer makes me think otherwise!

April 17 The Joke is on Me!

Well, ha ha.   After yesterday's bluebird day, Mother Nature decided to have a little joke.
It was 30 at 6am this morning, not too bad.  I went out to start working in the garden, and
it started to snow.

Murphy the cat doesnt much like it.  He opted against leaving the shelter of the garage.

April 16 Spring, maybe for real

This morning it was an amazing 40 degrees at 6:30am!  The sun is peeking over the eastern ridges, and beginning to shine on our little parcel of land.  The air feels crisp and clean.  And the birds are singing.

I thought you might enjoy hearing the sounds of a spring morning, which, it seems, also includes, if you listen closely, my cat winding around my feet calling for his breakfast.  :-)

April 11 Snow and Neighbors

Cold this morning!  17 at 7:00am, but the sun came over the mountain and lit up these trees beside my house.
Before long, lots of melting going on.
This snow was really needed.... it will add to the moisture levels in the forest, and at least, for now, delay fire season a bit.

In this forest, we are remote from any big city.  The post office is a 50 mile round trip.  The dump is even farther than that.  So, when our water system sprung a large leak, it was neighbors who pitched in to find the problem, and repair it.    Finding a suspiciously wet spot in a meadow, one neighbor determined there must be water leaking so much that the ground was saturated.

Funny, I had eyed this meadow last year, green as it was, and open and sunny, as a great location for a community garden.  Now, I know why it was so green (huge water leak underneath the ground) and also,
take a look at the depth of topsoil in these photos!  I am almost salivating looking at this dirt!  And the guys said, as they were moving the dirt out of the hole, that there were earthworms the size of your little finger in there. Amazing, when you consider that I have about 2 inches of dirt and the rest pumice, and dry, dry, dry.
Hence, my lusting after all this good dirt.

 The water line was nearly 7 feet down.  The crew is waiting for the water to drain in order to repair.

My good friend Harold working the back hoe.  This was quite a hole to dig for this small tractor.

Like I said, big hole. The ground was so saturated from the leak, that it required benching so the guys could work safely in the hole and not fear a collapse.

It sure is wonderful to have such great neighbors.  This is all volunteer, and without them, we would be without water.  They estimated this leak to be between 4 and 10 gallons per minute!

Hebrews 13:16

And do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices, God is pleased.

April 10 Digging Out and Being Thankful

Where the truck was parked.  

29 at 6:30am.  High of 43.  Mostly cloudy all day, until just before dusk, and the sun poked its head through the clouds and lit up the snow-filled trees. Beautiful.

The Spring snow turned out to be a pretty good storm.  We got at least a foot of heavy, wet snow.  Just what the Dr. ordered.  That fire is sure no longer a problem, and this good moisture will  help all of the forest.  It was hard slogging through it, though, so I did not go out into the woods today. There was plenty to be done here anyway

Shoveling the driveway was hard work.

Part of living up here in these woods is learning how to be as self sufficient as possible. I have learned many new skills, ranging from soap making to firearms.  One of the things we do as "Homesteaders" is raise our own chickens.

I have a batch of new chicks in my studio right now.  I handle them alot to get them accustomed to me.  Additionally, I like for our dogs to (hopefully) get the idea that these chickens are not toys!  Here is a little 3 week old pullet and our dog Gibbs meeting for the first time.

Dont make eye contact.. don't make eye contact......

Oh darn... he caught me looking......

Hey, why are you licking your lips?

okay, this is a little nerve wracking....

I guess you're okay....

The snow is a blessing. Any moisture in the spring is wonderful.  I am thankful for it, though of course it makes for lots of work.  My garden needs it. The forest needs it.  

who needs a dining room table? This time of year, my house gets taken over by hopeful seedlings.

James 5:7

Therefore be patient brethren until the coming of the Lord.  The farmer waits

for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains.  You too be patient, strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near.

April 9 Spring Snow

29 degrees at 6:30 this morning, and here at 10:30, it is still only 33.  And snowing!  First thunder and rain last night, then sleet, and now snow. Living in the mountains, we expect mountain weather.    I welcome the moisture in any form, though I suppose this means I won't be planting the potatoes today.

The garden is fine, even with the snow. The tender seedlings are in the cold frames, toasty warm.

 Part of the garden and the cold frames lined up along the south wall of the house.

Inside, seedlings are doing just fine!  The larger plants are cauliflower, and the small seedlings are

brocolli, kale, and brussel sprouts.

These garlic wont mind the snow much.  They were planted last fall, and lived all winter under about 6 inches of mulch.  

The girls, however, are not crazy about the weather. They refuse to go out their open ramp door.

I was going to do spring cleaning of the coop this week. That will have to wait a little longer. 

These wild birds don't mind at all.   I had to take this video through the kitchen window to avoid spooking them. I scattered some extra sunflower seeds on the table for them.  Earlier, there was about a dozen evening grosbeaks here enjoying the feast.

Job 37:5-7
God thunders with His Voice wondrously,
Doing great things which we cannot comprehend.
For to the snow He says, "Fall on the earth,"
and to the downpour and the rain, "Be strong."
He seals the hand of every man,
that all men may know His work.

April 8 Sulphur and Smoke

29 degrees at around 6:30am. High around 55, but feels colder.  Clouds rolled in around noon, and the winds have picked up considerably. These spring winds are expected, but they also bring with them danger of fire, as they dry everything out quite rapidly, and also often carry "dry lightening" to spark a fire.  This is of concern as I will note below.

As I mentioned yesterday, these mountains were formed from a massive volcano, aeons ago.

There is still volcanic activity here, resulting in numerous hot springs, as well as sulphur vents.

Here is one such vent. I wish I could put a  scratch and sniff sticker on this blog, because the

sulphur fumes here are quite strong.  Note how the sulphuric acid bleaches out the rocks and clay to white.

This photo was taken standing on my front yard. That is the roof of my neighbor's cottage, and that is smoke from a fire burning on the hillside beyond us.  Folks, this is CLOSE, and we are having at least 35mph wind gusts, blowing right in this direction.  The Fire Department is up there, I can hear chain saws, so I know they are doing what they can do, and hopefully will be able to keep it contained.  But with the winds forecast to be even worse through tonight and into tomorrow, it is easy for things to get out of hand.
If you look between the second and third foreground tree, about halfway up the photo, you can barely see a bit of roof peeking through the trees. This is a friend's house, and it is really uncomfortably close to this burn.

Fire is something we live with in this forest.  We had to really get used to this idea, moving as we did from wet, green New England.  Fire was a foreign concept there.  Most everybody has a "go bag" ready for fire season, with important documents, computer back up drive, and clean underwear, not necessarily in that order!  I think maybe I should make sure I have a few things gathered, just in case.

April 7 Cold Feet, Hot Springs

This morning, 29 degrees at 7am.  Scattered clouds, but mostly sunny. Light winds.  The daffodils and tulips are poking their heads through the garden bed.  The last bit of snow has finally melted near our house, and the apples trees have tiny buds showing. (yay!)  The winds, as typical for this time of year, picked up greatly by mid day into afternoon. 

We are fortunate to live near the watershed for two major rivers, the East Fork of the Jemez, and the San Antonio, which converge some miles from our house, and form the Jemez River, which in turn flows to the Rio Grande.  The East Fork and the San Antonio are both wild and beautiful rivers, and in this dry land, they are life giving and refreshing for both body and spirit. People (and wildlife) are drawn to these waters.

Generally speaking, the land begins to fall away just south of us, into deep canyons, carved by ancient forces, with some dramatic views. Our trek today took us down the Jemez Canyon, where we first had to cross the East Fork.  Two winters ago, high snow melt washed out the bridge, which has not been replaced (budget cuts?), so we hopscotched across on rocks and logs.  But near impossible to get through without getting wet feet!

River Crossing.. not too deep here, but  plenty cold!  The bridge pilon can be seen above our crossing.

Near the top of Jemez Canyon.  We will be following that right edge along the cliffs.

 Watch your step!

Looking back up canyon

The East Fork river is down below.  We could hear it rushing and running over the rocks, even though we could not see it until we dropped nearly 2000 feet.

Before then, we were treated with another body of water.  Due to the  still-active volcanic origins of these mountains,  (we will probably all blow up one day)  there are various thermal outlets and sulphur vents in the region.  Though the sulphur vents are not too pleasant (think rotten egg smell) the thermal outlets in the form of wonderful hot springs are a real treasure.  Our journey today took us to one such spring, flowing out of the side of the canyon into several nice sized pools, which have been built up over the years by visitors.

the spring starts here, on the far right, bubbling out from under the ground.

 It then flows into this larger pool.  There's a good bit of algae and duckweed on the surface,but the water is clear and the bottom is gravel.

it then flows into this pool, which is lovely and crystal clear and  fairly large.  Water here is about chest deep if you sit down.  Quite wonderful.  Many, many years ago, someone released some tropical fish into this spring.  There are neon tetras and some other species that continue to make this their home.   Very unique!

 We have finally reach the canyon bottom, and are greeted with the wonderful refreshing waters of the East Fork, the same river we crossed earlier, some 5 miles upstream.

We stop here, beneath a large rock outcropping known as Battleship Rock.  It rises several hundred feet above us.

We turn around and head back up canyon.  We pause to look back, and we are now far above Battleship Rock, which is dead center in this photo.
And yes, we had to get our feet wet one more time before we got home!  But, we didn't care.  Water is such a rarity and a blessing here, and the cold water felt pretty good on our tired feet and legs.


Revelation 7:17
For the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe every tear from their eyes.

April 6... Elevation and Forest Compostion

View from Peggy Mesa looking northeast

32 degrees at 7:30am. (we woke up late)  The day started gloomy, with clouds and the threat of rain, and a cold, raw feel to the air.  However, suddenly, the sun popped out, and the skies cleared, and it was about as nice a day as one could ever hope for.  High was probably close to 65.  

Today is dump day.  There is no trash pick up where we live, so we take the trash and recyclables to the transfer station, which is about a 60 mile round trip from our house.  So, of course, we try to consolidate trips to save gas.  Since we had to drive down that direction, we planned a hike in the area.

I always find it interesting to see how the forest changes, sometimes quite dramatically, as one goes up in elevation.  Nothing earth shattering here, but I just took note of what vegetation and trees thrived in each climate zone as we climbed higher.

We started at around 6200 feet.  It was downright hot. I was down to a tank top and shorts almost immediately.  Here, the forest is dusty dry and is predominated by three species: Pinion Pine, Juniper, and Gambrel Oak.  Pinion and Juniper almost always grow together, literally, right next to each other. There is some kind of symbiosis going on that benefits both species. If you have ever eaten "pine nuts", you are eating the seeds from the Pinion Pine.

 Ponderosa Pine don't usually grow much below 7,000 feet, and, right on cue, here are the first ones we see, right at 7,000 feet.  They tower over the shorter pinions.

By 7500 feet, we have left behind the pinion and Juniper, and the forest is almost completely Ponderosa, and still some Gambrel Oak. (these guys do not seem to drop their leaves from last year, until the new ones push them off.  They have not started budding yet)

 The doggies found a small stream of water, and gratefully fill their bellies with cold water.  They were hot.

At 8,000 feet, the forest has changed dramatically.  It is cool, there are still a few snow patches (which the dogs definitely enjoyed) and it is now a mixed conifer forest.  Almost no Ponderosas, except on south facing or west facing slopes.  The forest is dominated now by Engleman  Spruce, Douglas Fir, and Blue Spruce.  Those Gambrel Oak still hang on around the fringes, and some of them are tall, instead of shrubby.  This is just about as perfect weather as one could ask.. Cool breezes through the trees, and sunshine.  A bluebird day.

We enjoyed walking through this large stand of  Aspen, which didn't appear until around 8800 feet.

We topped out, elevation wise, at around 9200 feet.  The forest remained green and cool and we ran through occasional patches of snow that in some places were still knee deep.  I forgot to take pictures. 

As we dropped back down to the area where our truck was parked, we saw the same changes of the forest in reverse, like unwinding a movie...... the aspen disappeared first, then the spruce and fir, and back down to the Ponderosa, then back to Pinion and Juniper.  Only there were still Ponderosa most of the way, because it was east facing, and thus slightly cooler.  All of which says, the composition is mostly related to temperature and moisture rather than strictly elevation.... We did see some large stands of Ponderosa as high as 8500 feet, on sunny west facing slopes.  We could look on the other side of the rode, on an east or north facing hillside, and it as still all mixed conifer woods.  I just find it all interesting. Every tree has it's place, and purpose in the whole stucture of the forest.

We accidentally took the wrong road/trail down off the ridge, which required us to do a few extra miles on the main road to get back to our truck.  The sun was getting low, and we were already in shadow down low, with the last rays hitting the mesa tops above us.  

Tired, but happy with a 23 mile hike, we loaded up the dogs, and headed home.

Psalms 72:3

Let the mountains bring peace to the people, and the hills, in righteousness....