It is always a treat when butterfly scientist emeritus, Paul H., walks the fields with us. During our two hour stroll, he pointed out invasives as well as precious prairie grasses and flowers worth protecting. Here are a few:
Meadow checker mallowCow parsnip, a member of the carrot family. Can cause contact dermatitis. Many carrot relatives are seriously poisonous … like hemlock. Blue-eyed grass, a relative of IrisPaul among sedges and rushes, common in boggy areas like this one.MonkeyflowerA huge patch of wild onion (and ox eye daisy) in a patch of prairie that has high diversity – a rarity.White owl clover (the ones that look like Indian paintbrush and are yellow and green)Paul and Bill look over a field white with ox eye daisies.Mule ears YarrowThe bright green grass is the dreaded false brome that we MUST try to control and keep out of our prairie. It will take over otherwise.“With seedheads that can reach 4 to 5 feet in height, blue wild rye is one of the biggest native grasses in the Northwest. Its wide blue-green blades and thick fibrous root systems can put on a lot of biomass, yet, it usually does not form large single-species monocultures in nature. Rather it tends to pop up in small clumps in open meadows and forest edges among smaller statured species such as tufted hairgrass, California oatgrass, meadow barley, and yarrow. Blue wild rye does not form extensive rhizomes, but it can spread short distances with stolons and through re-seeding. Mostly it maintains a clumpy growth habit which provides valuable insect nesting and overwintering habitat for species such as lady beetles and ground surface nesting bumble bees. Additionally, the foliage is palatable to livestock and decent for grazing, and is a preferred food source for elk. We like blue wild rye for its value as an erosion control plant, and its ability to muscle into grasslands, ditches, and forest edges without taking over and crowding out other grasses and wildflowers. It’s also an ideal utilitarian plant for reforestration and agroforestry projects, providing useful shelter for seedling trees and tolerating partial shade as those young trees mature.” Oregon sunshineWhite and blue clusterliliesHeal-all
I have searched far and wide for art depicting our fragile and rare Peacock larkspur. I finally found a print of a painting by a local artist! Here it is, hung with great ceremony near the wood stove. Our farm art collection reflects the species that live on the farm, both plant and animal: Fender’s blue butterfly, Cutthroat trout, and now, Peacock larkspur.
The City put this pump in for the farm because the gravity system no longer provided the requisite water pressure. The pressure gauge under the grey-colored cylindrical thing is the house pressure gauge. The gauge in the upper right hand corner is the City pressure. When the pressure to the house is too low, the pump (the rectangular machine under the electric plug) kicks in. The red handles are for workers only. They turn off the water when work needs to be done. The interior light is on a timer.
The clearcut is covered in fern.On our tour of forest roads, looking for downed branches and trees, we found a nearly hidden cache of … Scotch broom!Narrowleaf wyethia (yellow flower) aka narrowleaf mule’s ears.Hard to see, but there are a ton of mule’s ears to the left of the tree.Foxglove (digitalis purpurea) is highly poisonous when ingested by humans or livestock.
Buckets of rock from the Bark Place.The rock filled a hole or two Bianca dug.This is the inside of the mower where two belts operate the mowing blades. One of the belts came off and Sid discovered it was almost completely torn in half. The other one was only slightly damaged. We picked a replacement up and Sid somehow figured how to wind it all back together.See that insect? We thought it might be the killer bee from Washington, but it wasn’t. In fact, it is not a bee at all. It is a robber or assassin fly (laphria vulfur). They lurk near bees nests and prey on the innocent little bees! Awful!We found a new place for the game camera. Pacific ninebark, a native shrub.Bianca went to a lot of trouble to roll in cow dung only to have her master give her a bath. Sad!
Griffith Creek crosses the Creek trail just ahead. To the right is a plastic container that holds the batteries that the fish researchers will use to count fish this Saturday. This survey is part of the ODFW Aquatic Inventories Project: Created in 1990, the Aquatic Inventories Project is a statewide freshwater and estuarine research program. The project assesses aquatic habitat, conducts fish presence/absence surveys, monitors fish populations, establishes salmonid watershed prioritization, monitors habitat restoration projects, and reconstructs historical salmonid life history.  The wires from the batteries lead onto a trail that ultimately reaches Rock Creek.Sid follows the wires. Bill and I follow.Bill makes it look easy, but this log was HARD to get over!Two parallel lines are formed by the electrical wires.I think the fish are stunned and counted. Hopefully they recover quickly. Otherwise it will be trout for lunch!Sid continues to mow.As does Bill.
Today is the butterfly count. Hope there are more than last year!
A couple of weekends before Memorial Day, volunteers clean up Pleasant Valley’s cemetery.Kay is the hardest worker.The most visible of Sid’s injury when he slipped on the front steps.Bianca approves of the gutter repairs.
Kay goes for a stroll on the Loop trail.Sid and Bill try to start the lawnmower.The game camera was aimed too high to get the legs of this lovely forest creature.Just to the right of the broadleaf tree, and just above the distant forested hill is a bald eagle Sid captured on film.Sid used the skinny dead tree he hauled out of the woods on the grape arbor. Looks good!Kay and Bill discovered two trees blocking forest roads yesterday. Sid and Bill took the chain saw to clear them out of the way. Diana was working on the garden around the farmhouse.Just the right size for firewood.
Groan! Sid spotted a ton more Scotch broom growing near the clear cut. Sigh!We checked the Doug-fir plantings before beginning the eradication work.While Bill and I were pulling up Scotch broom, Sid came to the nearby woods to find a long skinny pole for the grapes. He saw a dead tree, pushed it over, and loaded it on the Ranger.Get out of the way, Bianca!After Sid returned, we stopped by to pick up a few pieces of firewood.A curled up centipede in Sid’s hand.Sid mulched and fertilized the apple trees near the lower field. Not an easy job!Oregon Checkermallow.
