Author: Diana Blakney

Posted on

Dogwood in bloom

We hoofed it up the hill near the pond entrance to find the dogwoods and the Pacific yew trees Mike the woodcutter reported seeing. Saw this beauty on our way up the hill.
At the top of the hill, we saw evidence of Mike’s hard work. The spider-looking tree is one of the many Pacific yew trees there. Who knew we had so many? It is a fairly rare tree … poisonous to nibble on any part of it, but the source of a cancer fighting drug: Taxol.
A number of beautiful Pacific dogwood trees were up on the hill as well. Truly stunning!
Western dogwood (aka red osier dogwood) is a shrub, not a tree. It is the other native dogwood in our area. This beauty is along Rock Creek, headed toward the Rock Creek trail into the woods.
Common Camas abounds in the field across the creek.
Sid, hard at work.
From Sid:
I had a friend giving up his blueberry farm , so I took three plants. It took me a good 8 hours, to dig 3 of them out drive them to the farm and replant them. About killed me, no joke.
As a reward for his hard work, sister Diana bought Sid a Mason bee house.
Sid found this good-looker in the mulch.
We THINK it is an Agrocybe praecox mushroom.

Loading

Posted on

Blackberry duty and a nice compost pile

On our way to cutting back blackberries from some of the riparian plantings, we found a large wood placement that had caught a lot of debris over the winter. Good job!
Riparian plantings along Rock Creek that are always in danger of blackberries overtaking them. Of course the nettles and poison oak are coming up as well, so long pants are a must.
Bald eagle!
Believe it or not, the young tree with the yellow blossoms is a Big Leaf Maple. It is along Rock Creek, just after you cross the bridge.
A nice pile (7 yards) of chocolate fir mulch.

Loading

Posted on

Forest bathing and firewood

Oregon fawn lily (erythronium oregonum) found alongside the Rock Creek trail
The woodpeckers have been having fun with this tree!
Upstream from a seldom-visited large wood placement on Rock Creek.
Downstream from the same large wood placement. It is located down a steep hill from the Rock Creek trail. We were there because Mike cut up some fallen logs nearby.
Perfect resting spot.
Bill, sitting near (or on?) a woodpile Mike cut.
I hung my game camera down here while Sid and Bill loaded the Ranger with cut wood.
Wood to the porch.
New strawberry patch.

Loading

Posted on

Spring flowers

You can’t see them, but there is a honeybee nest at or near the base of the oak tree in the forefront.
Sid has been planting lots of strawberries of many types.
The tall flowers growing on the island in the pond near the Griffith Creek culvert are western or alpine coltfoot (petasites frigidus).
Pacific bleeding heart (dicentra formosa).
Bigfoot!
I think the flowers on the left may be coast toothwort aka milkmaids. The flowers on the right may be common chickweed.
Redwood sorrel.

Loading

Posted on

Dead trees = food for woodpeckers

Two dead trees. Notice the cluster of cones at the top of the one to the left. Dying trees sometimes make a last ditch effort to reproduce by making lots of cones at end of life.
This dead tree has lots of conks on its bark. Internet: Fungal conks are the fruiting bodies of mycelium. Mycelium is the vegetative system of the fungi that is typically growing underground or under the bark of your tree. If you have ever dug through thick mulch that has is white strands holding pieces together, then you have seen mycelium. When found in soil or mulch, this is most likely a good thing, as it’s simply decomposing the mulch. However, if you find a visible fruiting body, or fungal conk, growing on the trunk of your tree, then your tree is infected by fungus, and not the good kind.
The other dead tree has lots of moss.
On the back of the mossy dead tree is evidence that one or more woodpeckers have been eating whatever bug/beetle is present. Habitat !!!!

Loading

Posted on

Spring in the woods

Our new battery operated chain saw works great … but the small battery Sid already had to operate his other Milwaukee tools doesn’t allow for more than what you see here. We have ordered a more powerful battery as a result.
Sid and Bill, social distancing.
Fairy slipper (calypso bulbosa). We always called this lovely forest orchid “lady slipper.” As it turns out, however, lady slippers, while related, are not what we have in our woods.
Buttercups are still buttercups, luckily. There are different kinds, but they all carry the name buttercup so I stopped my identification investigation there.
Not good news. This is shiny-leaf geranium and it is a much disliked invasive. It is really hard to control. Pulling it up every time you see it is about the best you can do.
Do NOT eat or taste this guy! He/she is a rough skinned newt. A guy in a bar once ate one on a bet and dropped dead. The only predator it has is a certain garter snake.
This beautiful bloom on a creek side shrub shall remain unidentified for now. I just couldn’t figure it out. Plus, I was supposed to be pulling up scotch broom with Bill.
Western wood anemone (aka Lyall’s anemone or Anemone quinquefolia)
Snowberry. We have lots of it and it is an important browse plant for our animal friends.
Snowberry leaves up close.
Trillium.
Bill walking out of the woods, Sid in the far distance … weed whacking.

Loading

Posted on

First day of Spring 2020

Oh no! A big log fell across the forest trail that leads to the clear cut planting site.
Our new battery operated chain saw made quick work of it.
This beautiful trillium was growing in the smaller planting site. First one I’ve seen this year.
Our little Doug-fir seedlings are doing well.
This is the third Yew tree we have located on the farm.
The Griffith Creek culvert.
From Wikipedia: Petasites frigidus,  Arctic sweet coltsfoot[, is a species of flowering plant in the daisy family Asteraceae. It is native to Arctic to cool temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere in northern Europe, northern Asia and northern North America. It is a herbaceous perennial plant producing flowering stems in early spring, and large leaves through the summer. The upright flowering stems are 10–20 cm tall, and bear only 5-12 inflorescences, yellowish-white to pink in colour. The leaves are rounded, 15–20 cm broad, with a deeply cleft base and shallowly lobed margin, and rise directly from the underground rootstock. The underside of the leaves is covered with matted, woolly fuzz. It grows in moist shaded ground, preferring stream banks and seeping ground of cut-banks.
The leaf stalks and flower stems (with flowers) are edible and can be used as a vegetable dish. A salt-substitute can also be made by drying and then burning the leaves. This black, powdery substance will provide a salty taste. However, given the high likelihood of the presence of toxic unsaturated, diester pyrrolizidine alkaloids in this species, consumption should be very limited.
A large wood structure near the pond on Griffith Creek.
A friendly slug.
More downed logs bite the dust (or the moss and salal).
That darn scotch broom.
Sid is digging up a rock that interferes with mowing.
This tractor attachment was so heavy it took three of us to move it.
Long story. Despite our having spent some time removing mowing barriers, the minute Sid started mowing with the riding mower, hidden wire got tangled in the blades. The riding mower lift was stored in the garage, blocked by the tractor. Sid had to move to tractor to access the mower lift.
The mower is on the lift.
Safety first, little brother … put those gloves on.
Wire removed successfully!

Loading

Posted on

Apple trees sprayed and pruned

It may not look like it, but these trees were pruned by professionals. They have also been sprayed.
Kay and I walked to check on the 2018 clear cut plantings. They are doing well. Bianca ‘s inspection of said seedlings made her too warm, so she took a dip and a drink in the creek.

Loading

Posted on

New battery-operated chain saw makes short work of big log blocking the trail to riparian plantings.

Before the chain-saw gang began work.
Sadly, we got the saw blade pinched and thus the chain became disengaged and we had to finish the next day.
Riparian plantings are doing well.
The next day we couldn’t find the battery for the big saw, so we used the 10″ battery-operated chain saw to finish the job.
The pond.
The large wood placements are doing their job.
Log cutting is hard work!
Bianca loved the snow that fell a few days ago.

Loading