Spring means Mack can be out in his run most days and he is a happier dog for it.
It means grubbing mugwort out of everything, everywhere. Stuff is a curse.
I get to lug all the geraniums I grew from seed last spring down from the empty bedroom to the east and out to the porch and yard. A tedious chore for sure, but I can't wait.
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| Spring means ducks in trees Cavity nesting Wood Ducks in search of a hollow tree |
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| Female Common Mergansers perusing the housing market too |
It means singing, long, loud, lovely songs from every corner of the farm and yard. All week we have had at least four Wood Thrushes fluting from the corners of the nearby fields and up on the hill as well. Until yesterday the hill roads were dry enough I could hike up there without gathering giant balls of clay on my boots until I walked like Frankenstein. That situation will probably be a while in returning after the weekend downpours.
Spring is the invasive weeds that I deliberately cultivate in the yard coming into stunning bloom for the early pollinators and hummingbirds....which are back in small numbers btw.
I love Deadnettle...so subtly elegant in shape and shading.
Speedwell, the daintiest of delicate, rich, pale blues.
A couple of sorts of forget-me-nots shining in the corners. Stuff like that. I let hem grow where I want them and chop them out where I don't. They are a whole lot easier to control than mugwort. Lord, how I hate that stuff.
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| A pretty Palm Warbler, just passing through |
A mild winter allowed the herbs to winter well and I am grateful. It was a wonderful thing to be preparing the meats and cabbage for golumpki casserole yesterday (I make up the basics and Becky constructs the final product...) and to be able to go outside and clip herbs for seasoning.
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| Traffic |
Even the giant hyssop came up from the roots and is already several inches tall and thriving. Normally it may reseed, but this makes for a much better start.
Anyhow, as I sit here in the living room waiting for it to be time for everyone to start their day, I hear a House Wren right outside the window, a Tufted Titmouse whoo-whooing from the dying ash in front of the house and see the robins shuttling worms to the nestlings on the porch.
I have blackfly bites all over my head from standing still in a little marsh listening to a Barred Owl's inquiries in the distance, but Spring makes it all worth it.
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| Song Sparrow |
Spring has sprung at your place!
ReplyDeleteI looked up mugwort on Wikipedia - it has a lot of medicinal and culinary uses. If you have poison ivy it might be good to have on hand:
Traditional and contemporary medicinal applications vary by culture but include:
Culinary: used for the specific purpose of aiding digestive, circulatory, and respiratory issues.[13]
Moxibustion: where the dried leaves are burned on pressure points of the body.
Salve: directly applied to the body to treat bruises, itching, sores, poison ivy, eczema, body odor.[14]
Tincture or Extract: taken orally to help fevers, stomach aches, liver complications, colds and coughs.[15][16]
Essential Oil: studies relate various compounds within Mugwort oil to effects on blood pressure, tumor growth, and menstrual cycle, as well as anti-fungal, anti-oxidant, and antimicrobial effects.[17]
Shirley, it is indeed Spring and I am grateful for it.
ReplyDeleteI have read of the medicinal uses for the awful stuff, but it is the most invasive plant I have ever had here. Reminds me of kudzu except that it smells foul and bitter. I spent a couple of hours yesterday grubbing it out of one of the flower beds and I am not done yet...although I wish I was. lol