July 2, 2025
'Tis a busy time up here on the hill. The garden is starting to really take off with the heat and humidity of late. Every day, the garden walk-about shows more growth than the previous one. Some broccoli heads have been harvested and processed, with more to come. A second planting of beans has gone in, as well as more rutabaga, and we'll soon be harvesting peas. We've also been working on getting last winter's tree harvest split and piled in the woodshed to cure.
Hubby built an hardware cloth covered protection box for the turtle nest, and nailed it down in place with long spikes.
It will be a slight obstruction in the driveway for a while, and in August we'll start checking it regularly for hatchlings.
The Barn Swallows completed their nest, were there last Friday evening, then never re-appeared. We've waited and watched, but there is no sign of them. I am very, very disappointed and can't help wondering what happened to them. It seems strange to abandon the nest after spending all the time and energy to build it.
How fast the little ones grow! (clicking on the pics make them bigger)
In the woods, Partridgeberry is blooming,
Another, almost in bloom woodland plant, is this Shinleaf, a variety of Pyrola.
It's little, waxy, bell-like blooms are also aromatic.
Both plant's leaves remain green under the snow throughout the winter.
Along the highway, I spotted orange....
Some things are harder to spot, like this American Toad, blending in so well with the leaf litter.
It makes my heart sing to see you building covers to protect the turtle’s eggs. A friend of ours had a rural property along a local river and for years he made similar covers for about half the nests and let nature take its course with the remainder. In my experience with Barn Swallows, if they abandon a completed nest, it means that one of the pair has met a bad end, and the other can’t manage a brood alone. If it happens earlier in the season a new partner is often found but the later it goes the less likely it is to happen. Always great to read of your adventures, Rosalea. Give my best to Mr. Toad!
ReplyDeleteIn the fall, on hikes, we've come upon hatchlings scrabbling up out of the ground, so hope to see these guys. So very disappointed about the Swallows, but we were over on the Madawaska River yesterday, and Barn Swallows were dipping and diving over it, and returning up under a bridge, where their nests probably are. The current was too fast under the bridge for me to have a good look.
DeleteA turtle box: how neat! Our orange daylilies are out in back. The cultivars out front will also soon bloom.
ReplyDeleteAll lilies are beautiful, but coming upon a wild, colourful surprise is thrilling!
DeleteWe saw lots of wood lilies on Gunns Road. They are so pretty, They come into bloom same time as my orange Asiatic Lilies.
ReplyDeleteThank you Karen. I hope to go check them out.
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