8/13/09 CAMP COOKIN'

Thursday, 7:00 AM. 67 degrees, wind SSW, calm. The channel is calm, the sky hazy with a few high white clouds, and the barometer predicts partly cloudy weather.
We camp-cooked at the Larsen’s last evening…grilled chicken, roast corn on the cob, Andy’s multi-grain Dutch oven bread and other fixins, and to top it off, Judy’s wild blueberry pie, the berries picked with great effort in the big swamp on Madeline Island and transported on the ferry, and undoubtedly the best pie berries (and resultant pie) in creation. Today will be devoted to planting the Johnson’s field stone wall.

8/12/09 NICE BUT OVER-USED

Wednesday, 8:00 AM. 65 degrees, wind W, calm. The channel is dimpled, the sky is blue and hazy, and the barometer predicts partly cloudy skies.
The hedge maple, Acer campestre, in the maple family, is a large shrub to small tree of Asian origin, much used as a background plant and occasionally as a small street tree. Its main attraction is the red-purple winged seeds (samaras) which are quite decorative. It also has good fall leaf color. The hedge maple has its virtues but is probably over-used.

8/11/09 A GOOD TRIP

Tuesday, 8:30 AM. 64 degrees, wind NW, light. The channel is calm, the sky blue but hazy. The barometer predicts sunshine.
The trip to Northland Nursery in Rhinelander was an all day affair, everything going well and plants arriving in good shape. We had some clouds and a few showers, which made driving and transporting the plants much easier. It was not all fun and games, however, as loading and unloading was heavy work. I had the camera along but got otherwise involved and took no photos. I spotted a spruce grouse on the side of the road on Hwy 51 south of Hurley, but by the time I slowed down it was long gone. Northwoods is a good sized, very well run wholesale nursery, one of the very few within a days drive from Bayfield. They propagate all their own pants and are located in Zone 3, so everything should be super hardy. The trees and shrubs are all in place at the wall job site and we will plant and finish up on Thursday. No time for anything else just now.

8/10/09 A TRIP TO RHINELANDER

Monday, 6:45 AM. 65 degrees, wind WNW, light to moderate. The channel is slightly wrinkled, the sky is partly clod and the barometer predicts more of the same. It is a delightful day for our trip to Rhinelander and the Northland Nursery to pick up plants to finish the wall job for the Johnsons.
We are now seeing lots of young hummingbirds, they love the hollyhocks.

8/09/09 FRUITION

Sunday, 8:15 AM. 63 degrees, wind W, light. The channel is dimpled, the sky overcast, and the barometer predicts more rain. There is a half an inch of rain in the gauge from last night’s thunderstorms, and the gardens, which were wilting yesterday, are standing tall again.
The season of fruits and seeds is upon us, many of the trees and shrubs coming to fruition. The berries of the pagoda dogwoods are disappearing as quickly as they turn blue-ripe; the mountain ash berries are now bright orange, as are the high bush cranberries. The hawthorn berries are yellow-green and will soon turn red. The berry farms are doing a land-office business.

8/08/09 POTATO, TOMATO, CLEMATIS

Saturday, 8:30 AM. 64 degrees, wind SSW, calm. The channel is calm, the sky overcast. .2” of rain fell last night, and the barometer predicts more. It is a very quiet morning.
Virgin’s bower, Clematis virginiana, in the buttercup family, is not all that common here in the wild. It is a very attractive vine, clambering on shrubs and trees. In the Midwest it is usuallypronounced with the emphasis on the second syllable, in the East, on the first. In NY my pronunciation of it gave away my geographical origins, akin to that of potato and tomato. As the song says, "let's call the whole thing off."

8/07/09 WALLS

Friday, 8:00 AM. 59 degrees, wind SSW, calm. The channel is glassy, the sky partly cloudy and the barometer predicts rain.
Robert Frost wrote, “Something there is that does not like a wall…’ but I am quite fond of them. We just completed this one for the Johnson’s up on Catholic Hill in Bayfield. I enjoy building fieldstone and flagstone walls. No mortar, lines or levels, just an eye for materials and the lay of the land. The first rule to is to pick the right stones, second, dig a proper base and compact it (the wall should look anchored, not like it is floating) third, pick the best possible face of each stone, fourth, turn the stones so they lock together, fifth, look for variations in size, color and texture as you lay the stones. This turned out quite nicely, and will be planted with native trees and shrubs.