Ramping Up the Pandemic Pantry

One thing we could do well, and safely, while isolating was get out in nature 

and forage our little hearts out.

In this case some generous young foragers shared their bounty of ramps aka wild leeks.

Pretty, aren't they?

We made a pesto-like concoction.

Spread it on flatbread from the freezer. Added a bit of cheese. 

And voila. Perfectly pizza from the wilds of Wisconsin and our well-stocked store of staples.

Think Spring 2020

Think Spring Garden Seminar 2020 

Y'all come. 

The VHC

Out of this jumble of plants in the wagon nursery....

...this little monarch larva found the butterfly weed and started to munch.

It is probable that a monarch butterfly found the plant and laid her egg on it.

That would explain better how a very tiny caterpillar could get to the exact plant it needed to eat. Butterfly weed is part of the milkweed (asclepsis) family. It's the one with the orange flowers.

Although the idea of her daringly scaling the sides of the Radio Flyer to survive is the stuff of super hero stories. 

Caterpillar Girl and Wing Woman - the Origin Story. Look for it on Netflix soon.

Hunt and Gather

Awhile back we heard author Sam Thayer  speak on foraging. Up until then we had no idea that many, maybe even most, of the plants, nuts, and berries that we see every time we go out in our Northern woods and waters are edible. We bought one of Sam's books and have checked out his website, Forager's Harvest. Now we are starting to see nature as one big pantry. 

Look at these:

They are American Hazelnuts. 

After realizing that the odd shaped clusters hanging on the ubiquitous, previously not even noticed shrubs are not mutant plant deformations one can recognize them as food. This is the kind of opportunity that hunter gathers like NDL delight in.

  

The nuts require husking, which can be a rather pleasant, even addicting activity that draws others in. It is a perfect pastime for chatting on a sunny screen porch or at the kitchen table.

  

Once husked the nuts are cracked and the nutmeats extracted. Taking a hammer to a handful of nuts is a surprisingly satisfying part of the process. 

Toasting brings out the flavor. 

Pretty, eh?

And now we can make our own Nutella, top a dish of ice cream, roll a cheese ball in them, use them in baked goods, or pop a fistful into our mouths as a snack if we are willing to give up an hour's work for one delicious moment.

From our first batch we made these previously featured Hazelnut Krinkle cookies.

Never did we think we would be making them some day with our very own harvest of hazelnuts.

So gratifying! So good!

Chlorociboria aeruginascens

Chlorociboria aeruginascens (say that five times fast) AKA Green Elf Cups.

Spotted by a keen-eyed nature lover while on a blackberry picking foray.

The rainy summer has brought out some amazing fungi, but this one is particularly charming. 

 9 out of 10 elves agree.

Titan Sphinx

Whose heinie is sticking out of the nasturtium?

Why, it's the Titan Sphinx moth of course. 

Aelepos titan is far from home. The most southern edge of his or her range is Uruguay. Wisconsin is about as far north as titan sightings are reported and their brooding area is the Florida Keys. Seems like someone heeded hurricane evacuation orders and hightailed it to safe space. Good call!

I guess if your favorite tropical hibiscus lunch has been blown out to sea, a northern nasturtium will do. Any port in a storm, eh?

Space Invaders

We are so sorry to have to break this to you all, but there is a new creepy, crawly, wriggling, thrashing invasive species that you should know about.

It is an unpleasant message to share, but we just don't want anyone freaking out if they happen to encounter these crazy worms in the garden unexpectedly. Be careful so you don't inadvertently introduce jumping worms to your garden from purchased or shared plants and be especially watchful for hidden hitchhikers if you are tempted to take plants up north to the cabin.

Yuck!

For more info go to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources website .

St. Croix Crossing

Last summer the garden club went on an aquatic adventure. A three hour tour, if you will. And we even got lunch! No coconut was on the menu. 

We boarded a paddleboat on the St. Croix River for an educational cruise around and under the construction of the to-be-completed in 2017 St. Croix Crossing that will replace the Stillwater Lift Bridge.

Speakers from the DOT and DNR were on board to narrate what we were seeing. 

For starters we learned that the bridge is an extradosed design which is a hybrid design of a box girder and a stay cable bridge (just as we suspected, but it was good to have that confirmed).

This is not usually the kind of thing NDL gets excited about, but this is a truly amazing project with some very impressive stats and a cool end product. And it was a good excuse to be on a boat on the river on a beautiful day.

The biggest red crane you see here (which certainly has some kind of official name that we don't know) is one of only three this big in the U.S. and it is on loan (I suspect there is a little rental fee) for this project.

Each of these bridge sections that the crane is lifting in this photo weighs 180 tons and there are 988 of them. Total concrete in the bridge will be 563.8 million pounds.

For bit of perspective see the concrete mixer on the barge. The lineup of Porta-Johns up on the bridge deck was impressively large, but tiny compared to the bridge too.

The length of the visible stay cables totals 5.2 miles (about 400 miles of cable strand). 

Within the bridge is 1,969 miles of cable strands.

The length of the bridge is nearly one mile. The width about 100 feet.

Segments between piers is 600 feet. That is the length of two football fields.

Part of the St. Croix Crossing plan that was of interest to the garden club and other outdoor and nature enthusiasts is the planned 4.7 mile Loop Trail.

The trail will connect to existing trails in MN and WI and uses both the new St. Croix Crossing and the existing Stillwater Lift Bridge, which will be converted to a bicycle/pedestrian bridge in 2018-19.

The new bridge will have a designated bicycle/pedestrian lane.

Of particular interest to the Garden Club cruisers were the well thought out plans for sustainable plantings in the many, some very large, areas around the long lead up to the bridge on either side of the river. These spaces include paths, parking lots, roundabouts, restrooms, informational kiosks, and viewing areas. It seems the crossing will be both a bridge to a destination and a destination itself.

If you want to know more check out the MN DOT website for Loop Trail and Design and Construction details

Shotgun Wedding

We were at the John Michael Kohler Art Center and the event in their auditorium looked to be classy.

No air of hurriedly made arrangements.

Just a hint of true Wisconsin crept in with the golden shotgun shell boutonnieres.

But the exhibit of the season was Wisconsin through and through. 

"Seeing Wisconsin" had elements of the old curiosity cabinet.

And a long view of what the deer sees while the hunter is trying to see him.

But the famed art center attractions that people come from near and far to see. 

The ones that remain as the galleries undergo change of artist and theme several times a year are the washrooms. 

Artists, with support of Kohler and use of their foundry were invited to create the washrooms of their dreams.

This one near the main entrance is called simple "The Women's Room".

If you go to Sheboygan to go to the Art Center make sure you "gotta go" cause you are going to want to see them all.

And, this is one place where gender will not keep anyone out of the "ladies" or "gents" as a kindly docent would be happy to help you investigate any of the facilities as long as the "coast is clear" of anyone trying to actually do their business in any of them.

Go! Have a look in the loo. And then go some more.

The Nature of Gardening Throughout the Year

Improbably, NDL is responsible for production of the Garden Club Annual Directory. After the meat and potatoes content of the publication is updated it is time to add a bit of fluffy filler. One year it was garden tips, another quotes, and this year... notes on gardening with nature by NDL her ownself.

You may notice that by the end of the directory year NDL was getting a bit punchy with editing fatigue, but we hope you may find at least one small uncultured pearl of wisdom here:

September - Designate an area in your yard to let milkweed and other butterfly host and food plants grow. Mark it as a butterfly friendly area so the neighbors will know you are growing “weeds” with the intention of being environmentally friendly.

October - As you clean up the garden for winter, create, some natural bird feeding stations by leaving seed heads intact and encouraging small recesses for water to pool. Your fine-feathered friends will appreciate your thoughtfulness.

November - If you are interested in free plants don’t mulch too heavily under known reseeding perennials. Then, next spring look for volunteer seedlings to relocate or nurture in place.

December - While your memory is fresh make note of which of your plants need dividing for garden bed expansion, sharing with friends, or donating to a plant sale. If possible, before they disappear for the winter try to remember what color that iris, lily, or phlox was and write it down with a map to the plant’s location.

January - When the snow falls take a look at who is making tracks in your yard. Knowing which creatures are living in your garden and where they hide may help you to gently encourage their relocation, or continued presence in your garden habitat. 

Consider starting a nature/garden journal. Record your observations from year to year to keep track of when trees bud, birds leave and return, and when your first ripe, red tomato appears.

February - Armchair gardening has kept many a restless gardener going until she can get back in the dirt again. Get out those catalogs, books, and notes from last year’s garden efforts and start to dream and plan for this year’s garden campaign. Now is the time to review horticultural hits and misses and how to repeat or avoid them.

March -  If you are planning a vegetable garden consider planting a row to share. Programs like Grow a Row for the Hungry encourage us with helpful tips to grow extra produce to share with area food pantries or communal dining sites. Even a free basket on your curb during garden bounty time can help families add to their good nutrition efforts. Or extend this idea to growing a  row of lovely flowers for floral designs to share with friends, family, nursing homes, your church, or to grace the serving table of one of the above mentioned communal dining sites such as Agnes’ Table or the reception area of the Open Door Clinic.  Spread health and happiness, and smiles!

April - Arbor Day is a good time to hug a tree, but don’t kill it with kindness. Mulch around a tree trunk should be more like a donut that leaves the base exposed than a mulch volcano.  2 to 4” of mulch depth is enough to suppress weeds and show you care, without smothering it with love.

May - To avoid frustration protect your plants from baby bunnies who are trying out all kinds of greenery to see what is tasty. You can use this advice from February to October as rabbits have a 28 day gestation period and can produce up to seven litters per year. They are really cute, and very hungry.

June - Use your camera to help you remember good ideas from gardens you visit. Capture that lovely combo in a container planting or a particularly striking perennial pairing. Don’t forget to snap shots of your own favorite garden stars for your records.

  

July - If inviting friends to tour your garden it is a kindness to them and yourself to leave a few weeds, some undone deadheading, or an unfurled garden hose lying out. A garden is a dynamic work in progress, not a completed masterpiece. Everyone enjoys seeing other gardeners’ spaces, and no one expects perfection.

August - Invasives are like wolves in sheep’s clothing. Most were transplanted because of their beauty in the garden and only later discovered to be a danger to our native habitat. Weeding out invasives from our gardens and project areas calls for a “tough love” approach.

Photos from a 2010 Garden Club field trip.

What We Foraged on our Summer Vacation

Every now and then when we are at the lake doing the thing we most love to do of a summer day, we do occasionally get up out of our deck chair. Usually it is just to refill a drink or make room for the next one, and then right back down we plunk into our spot. On one occasion however, we noticed, out of the corner of our eye, something brilliant orange in the woods just below our perch.

The warm, damp weather had made so many unusual fungi appear could these be chanterelle mushrooms? We knew they grow in Wisconsin.

We took some into the local museum naturalist who also thought they were chanterelle. But to be on the safe side she offered to send a photo to her Mushroom Guy.

He gave this reply: "Beauties! That's the "rainbow chanterelle," Cantharellus roseocanus. I can

even tell you where the visitor picked them, roughly, as they grow with

conifers only. Definitely safe and choice edible!" Bingo!

Well who can you believe if not the editor of Fungi Magazine? So we picked some more.

Fried them up in butter and ate them!

And did so four or five more times before the end of August. And no one asked to share them. We did offer. 

Not really surprising as some family members have been know to remove with surgical precision an errant mushroom on the pepperoni side of a pizza and treat it as if it were biohazard. 

So sad. 

More for us!

Electronical Living

Last time we got together with friends to sew we were so impressed with this ever-so-modern (in the 80s) ELECTRONIC sewing machine foot pedal. That is until it kept shorting out, the usually lovely air off the lake became blue due to the operator's frustration, and we decided that even a human powered treadle machine would be an improvement over the electronic performance of this piece of perhaps not-so-modern equipment.

Wikipedia has a lot to say about electronics (the science of how to control electric energy, energy in which the electrons have a fundamental role)  but the very best fact is this:

Rasberry crazy ants have been known to consume the insides of electrical wiring, and nest inside of electronics; they prefer DC to AC currents. This behavior is not well understood by scientists.

And some further googling about electronics led us to the very interesting Urban Dictionary answer to the question, "Is electronical a word?"

Well, yes, guess so, kinda. Definition #1 is - A drunken reference to electronic equipment.

So, after that second cosmo during sewing studio cocktail hour you might hear some bragging about the amazing electronical foot pedal. Even if it doesn't work so well. 

Go Get 'Em

Lots of happy fishermen this weekend.

Not so sure about the fish. The ones above look a bit 

feisty. "Go ahead, catch us if you can."

Fascinating fishing FAQs here.

Quick, There They Go

Mertensia virginica

Virginia Bluebells

Some years they come and go while we are gone. This year they obliged by showing up early to wish us bon voyage.

Love those ephemerals, but they are true to their name and don't hang around forever waiting for a person to show up and admire them.