Thursday, February 25, 2010

Barely Barren



Things are a little drab around here, what with a real winter and all.

Wussup wit dat?


The bare bushes on the right side of this photo are my resting blueberries. The stump is a little oak that got big and was shading too much of my garden/blueberry zone. He has kept us warm this winter and provided a robust smoky flavor to my BBQ ribs, chicken, etc.



The little green hut is the "mallard mansion" ... a leftover from our duck days. It's a garden tool shed right now.
The view of that green shed would be blocked by worn out chicken pens, but we cleaned those out recently. At the far end of the garden zone are some nursery beds, a fish tank, and the hog pens.


Laya and Son of Hoot roost in this East Palatka Holly every night ... can you tell?
I have to shovel that pile up every so often so it doesn't kill my pretty native holly.

The pond puddle has grown with our El Nino inspired rains this winter. This pic is a week old at least and it has crept up even more. The frogs should fill it with babies soon. Already the chorus frogs are singing nightly.

I listen and hope the tiger salamanders hear the frogs singing of the return of water.


The palm glade where I did my prescribed burn last winter has recovered nicely. It is one of the most pleasant places to be on the property.


Here is a section in the same zone that was not burned. I like a mix of thick and thin, so this area may just be left alone to do it's thing.


The pocket gophers have been busy in the back corner near the planted pines. The fresh mounds fascinate Bear. He sticks his nose in the still damp earth and sucks in all kinds of data about what lies beneath.



He keeps this to himself and I can only wonder.




The sky alternates between barren and quite productive this winter.






15 comments:

Thunder said...

We returned from out trip to Beijing only to find 2 feet of snow on the ground! Spring can't come fast enough for me!

Sayre said...

Thanks for the tour around the property... It looks quite brown here too, but for the rains which spark little bits of green. Cold again for the next couple of nights - with possible snow (yeah right... I've heard that a lot lately) on Friday evening. We'll see.

lisa said...

I wish I had your kind of winter, sometimes!

threecollie said...

Surprising to see that even sunny Florida is waiting for the seasons to swing into spring...We are getting socked with a big storm today.

h said...

Has El Nino caused many diamond-backs to visit PFHQ?

amarkonmywall said...

For such a lackluster color, it's a very interesting place! Yes, -it's drab around here, too, with lots of dried up stuff in need of pruning since the hard freeze. Little glimmers of new shoots everywhere if one looks very closely. The post below reminded me of two funny clips (at least I thought they were funny) that I will post later today. It also reminded me that after the 2nd warm Spring rain in Michigan, the pond behind my cottage, Wit's End, would fill with thousands of spotted salamanders and peepers. It was wonderful. But Sophie wants me to mention to Bear that salamanders taste blech!

R.Powers said...

Dave,
You should build your house in a warmer place.

Sayre,
The wind is up and the temp down!

Lisa,
You do. It's called summer up there.
LOL!

ThreeCollie,
It has been a wintry winter here for a change. Stay warm!

Troll,
I have not seen a diamondback since ... October?

Vicki,
I see buds and shoots here and there too. Every day I run my baby peppers and tomatoes out to get sun and then run them in at night when the temps drop so low. I'll pass along the blechh notice!

jean said...

We are in the middle of another snow storm here in NJ. It looks so pretty out there but I'm not going out till tomorrow!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the view of a very nice homestead. If only Bear could talk?

See Ya

Miz S said...

Even up here in Maryland we are so close to spring I can almost taste it. The bird noise in the morning tells me this cold weather can't last too much longer.

The palm glade is beautiful. I would like to sit there for about 4 hours and just breathe.

Rurality said...

Those gopher thingies look dangerous. Do you have fire ants there too?

SophieMae said...

I know you like winter more than I, but have you had enough now? I saw snow this year. I'm good for the next decade or three.

Thunder said...

Hey, I meant to tell you that your list of blogs isn't updating when a new post is posted! JS'n!

Pablo said...

I'm glad to see your pond is refilling. Long way to go, I guess.

R.Powers said...

Jean,
Saw the news! Wow!

My Way,
If he could, I would listen.

Miz S,
You may breathe in my palm glade anytime. I would choose any season other than summer tho, the mosquitoes are busy down there in the summer.


Rurality,
Dangerous? Maybe if you are a tuber. Yes we have plenty of those evil fire ants. Arrrrggghhh.


Sophie,
I think I am, but as soon as the first steamy day hits, I'll be wishing for this weather.


Dave,
Weird. It just seems to be you.

Pablo,
Loooooong way.