Fox Haven Journal

Beau August 16th, 2008

While wandering the property this week I found a fungus bonanza in an area where the grass has not been cut under the trees for many weeks.   There were probably five or six varieties in a small area.  The fungus is fascinating to look at, but I have to wonder if they are also a sign of a greater problem with the landscape and trees?  

Oak tree decline is a problem in Missouri and other states, and it may affect us locally as well. Over the past few years we’ve lost 3-4 large oak trees, most likely stressed due to drought conditions during the same timeframe.  Once stressed, the trees are more susceptible to insect and fungus damage.    It’s hard to see a 70 or 100 year old tree die.  But I’ve planted other native trees in the landscape as well, and with a little luck they’ll achieve a similar stature one day.

Some of the tree decay and loss occurs naturally of course, but hopefully it won’t happen on a large scale over a short timeframe.   I see a few other trees that we may lose in the next year as well.  Although we’ve got a lot of trees on our small acreage, if we lost 3-4 each year, it wouldn’t be too long before our landscape changed dramatically. 

 I’m not sure what type of fungi this is, but there were a half-dozen scattered around looking like brown turtles!

Among the different types of plain looking fungi in the area, this red topped mushroom stood out.

For now I’ll need to cut down several of the large trees that have died.  Sometimes  it’s good to leave a dead tree or two as a snag host for woodpeckers, insects and other wildlife.  But a few of the trees are in areas where people walk and play, and can be quite hazardous when the large branches let go.  And if I cut the dead tree down within the year, we’ll have a good supply of firewood to help keep energy costs down.   Every little bit helps. 

Editors note:  I wrote this a few days ago, to post in absentia while we are canoeing down some lovely stretch of Missouri river this week.  See you in a couple days!

• Rural Living , Landscapes , Trees
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Beau August 14th, 2008

It was finally time for the job I’ve been avoiding all summer.  Damn.  Or dam I should say.  The pond’s dam. Well  the particular form of the word depends on what I’m doing at the time!   Although the pond is only about one and half acres, it’s built on a long, sloping hollow and is fairly deep.  Which means the dam is fairly large and steep for a pond this size.  And with a small pond or lake it’s important to keep the dam relatively clear of brush and trees if possible, to help maintain its integrity over time.   The last couple of years I cut it twice during the year, but I think one time is fine this year (’cause I don’t want to do it again!).  August is a good time since it’s usually a little drier, and after clearing the taller weeds and brush the grass will have time to grow back during fall.

So out came the brush cutting machine and a few muscles I forgot I had.  I was surprised there were a half-dozen small oak and black cherry trees starting to grow just from this year alone.  I’ve learned the hard way to let the machine do the work, going side-to-side only near the top and then mostly up and down at angles. If it wasn’t so steep I would use the tractor, but I can’t think of a better way to do it.

It takes a few hours and a few bottles of water, but looks so much better when finished.  I’ll go back to that center area with a weed cutter. The ground was a little softer and I didn’t want to tear up the surface soil.   But this should keep the dam in good shape for another year.  Who’s that standing at the top?  Come winter he’ll be sledding down in the snow.

Feels good to be finished with it for another year, and now we’re heading out this weekend to go on a short canoeing trip.  An end-of-summer hurrah! before school starts next week.  Hard to believe it’s already time for the kids to go back.  Pretty soon we’ll be busy into the fall and so much more, but right now there’s a trout looking for a pan somewhere and I’m going to do my best to find him!

• Rural Living , Landscapes
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Beau August 12th, 2008

There are few things like coming home.  The familiar, the comfortable, all the sights and sounds and… the work to do!    We’ve been blessed with cool weather this summer, and for being almost mid-August it’s amazing to see the grass and landscape so green.   In years past the grass would be brown and not require cutting by now.   But it’s beautiful in the early morning, especially with the air so cool and refreshing.

I walked down to the pond and enjoyed watching the wisps of fog move gently across the warmer water.   What is it about mornings that I love so much?  The quiet awakening of the day?  The promise of things to come?  I really don’t know, but its always been my favorite time of day.

Our little apple orchard seems to be doing well, meaning that the trees have received enough water and the deer haven’t chewed them to pieces this summer.  That may change quickly in the fall, but for now I’m spraying deer repellant around the leaves and base of the trees to discourage the deer from browsing.  The next plan is to wrap the trunks and install some fencing to protect the little trees.   We even have a few apples developing still, the first for a small apple tree planted two years ago.  I’m not sure who will get to eat this apple first, us or the deer… but it looks pretty good!

For now it’s time to catch up on chores (and writing and reading too).  It was interesting to be without internet access for much of our trip the past two weeks.  Sure I missed the convenience and instant information available, yet it brought back awareness of simpler times and was kind of nice to just “be” if that makes any sense.  More to ponder, but while I do the garden is still producing a bunch of tomatoes and cucumbers, and even a few beans.  It’s about time to put up some pickles again too!

• Landscapes , Gardening
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Beau August 6th, 2008

We’re still on the road and seeing the marvels of this great nation first hand.  I don’t have time to write much, but will leave you with this picture of the yellow lab and a curious friend one evening.   See you soon!

• Passing Thoughts , Labrador Retriever
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Beau August 1st, 2008

It’s time for the August 1st, 2008 edition of the Festival of the Trees!  This week I find myself off traipsing (is that really a word?) across the north-central U.S. straggling from park to campground while seeking wifi connections.  We’ve ventured through oak-hickory forests, flooded farmland and endless cornfields.  No matter how often I’ve traveled this or another country, I’m amazed at the changing nature of the land (and especially the plant life) around us.   But here from the road is the Festival of the Trees.

As we enter the warmest days of summer, we are thankful for the shade of trees. The mornings have been cool, and the evenings bring a welcome respite from the heat of the day.  But could we ever imagine what our world might look like without the magic of trees?   It might look like those endless cornfields, or the pasture beyond the trees with a nice grassy meadow that is cut for hay every year.  But quite empty!

Of course deserts and oceans have their magic, yet I find that trees bring a unique contrast and perspective to life and somehow provide an extension of our vision and imagination.  This picture for example, taken by a 7-year old, sought the blue sky through the canopy of White Oak leaves and reaches through treetops for something more.

We so often lose our childlike wonder as we grow older, but seeing nature through the eyes of children allows us to remember it.  Seabrooke shares such wonder from children of the past and the heritage of The Royal Oak posted at The Marvelous in Nature.

Silvia, aka Salix Tree of Windywillow, shares a beautiful stand of Beech Woods.  Few trees strike such a magical chord within… I could get lost for hours among such gnarled branches!

And Wendy at Naturally Connected finds A Tree with a Special Message Inside, wondering if anyone else has seen something similar?

If you’ve ever been among the Giant Sequoias you almost feel messages of a different kind, and are humbled by the thousands of years they have stood tall among the moments of time on earth.  How does one grasp any sense of perspective while laying among the feet of these sentinels and looking up for hundreds of feet?

Rebecca from Pocahontas County Fare shares a more reflective view of Coleridge and how our imagination is often different from reality with This Basswood Bower My Prison (and those Rain Lizards are pretty neat too). 

Sometimes the same trees bring understanding and joy in new ways.  Shai Gluskin from EveryDayandEveryNight.com reflects on the personal history of a neighborhood tree with Linden Light and Shadow.

Yet so often our imagination reigns supreme. Jean at Tasting Rhubarb shares some shadowy Tree Creatures from the past.  They remind me of autumn, not so far off now, and becoming dizzy with flickering light and shadow while driving down a tree lined drive. 

Jane at Wrenaissance Reflections wonders Is There an Xfile for Trees?  I’ve seen many a storm damaged tree, but is there an explanation for this one?

And what would the roads of life be like without trees and forests?  I love a road that disappears among the trees for it conceals, for a moment perhaps, what new wonders lie beyond to surprise our fancy and stir the heart.

Sometimes we know little about the journey in the same way that we know little about a tree.  Yet it’s the journey that often reveals so much.  Pam Johnson Brickell  falls in love with a Loblolly Bay in the Low Country Wild, and has the chigger bites to prove it!   The pictures reveal her beautiful artwork and notes.

Mary Farmer shares her love for the science of trees with Deciduous Trees in the Tropics posted at A Neotropical Savanna.   Her site is an amazing labor of love, and an educational bonanza for those who want to learn more about plants and trees.  Count me in… or maybe I should just take a trip to Panama!?

Maneesh from Bangalore, India doesn’t share much about the trees, but he does share some amazing pictures about his beautiful country and the Singara Tea Garden.  

Jade Blackwater presents a New Book Release by Dr. Nalini Nadkarni, Between Earth and Sky: Our Intimate Connections to Trees posted at Arboreality - Tree Blogging.  Dr. Nadkarni’s book explores the countless ways that humans relate to trees in every aspect of our lives. Arboreality has so much about trees it’s amazing, and she shares the posts of several other bloggers below.  Thanks Jade!

In Stream of Thought at Anita’s Owl Creek Bridge we see a shadowy picture of a tree along a stream with equally shadowy thoughts.  I love the picture, and most of the poem….  Very creative and, ah, somewhat disturbing! 

Yet where some see shadow, others see light.  I am always amazed too by the size and shape of leaves.  Here we see Mulberry leaves glowing in the afternoon sun.

Kate shares the connections she finds with Trees posted at Seeing is a Verb, and reaches even deeper to explore Trees, Roots and Suffering.

And Ash shares some interesting facts about Rock Whitebeams in Holyrood Park posted at Treeblog.  I didn’t even know there was such a tree!

The wonder of sharing our photography is that so few words are really necessary.  Something I forget at times, but Lene of Counting Petals reminds us quite simply that sometimes all we know of trees is what is left behind.  Almost like driftwood?  That might be a neat idea for a future edition of the Festival of the Trees, with pictures and stories of driftwood.

Yet today there is nothing left behind, and I thank all of the contributors for sharing your thoughts and creativity. I look forward to seeing you again… down that tree-lined road of our imagination.  Best wishes!

• Reflections , Landscapes , Trees
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Beau July 27th, 2008

We’re on the way to mid-summer and after all the rain it’s so nice and green!  And hot! And humid!  Ah, but with all the growing things we have lots of butterflies around.  Sometimes I don’t see them and wonder where they are, and then I’ll start noticing them everywhere.   That intentional thought thing perhaps. 

Have you ever been interested in a particular kind of car, and then for the next 3-4 days you see them everywhere?! 

And I saw a fox yesterday for the first time this year.  They’re always around, but we don’t see them often.  I didn’t have the camera, but the fox was running along the dam toward the woods.  I thought, “What’s Kuma doing down at the dam?  Wait… that’s not Kuma, that’s a fox!”  It quickly disappeared into the woods.   If you like dogs, you can read about our indefatigable Kuma here.  He really does look like a fox!

Speaking of foxes, our cat Princess has always been wary, but even more so it seems since Sparky left us last month.   We’re not sure, but he may have encountered a fox or coyote one night.  He still made it home amazingly enough, but something bit into his hind quarters.  He spent almost a week with a veterinarian, but in the end he couldn’t be helped.   There are lots of predators about, which indicates a healthy biodiversity in the area.  But sometimes it’s a little too close to home.  And yes, we let cats run around outside most of the time.  It’s a rural lifestyle, and the cats love to be outside. They also help keep mice and moles away. 

Of course the only predators I see chasing butteflies is the yellow lab.  Sometimes he’ll see one on the ground, stalk it slowly and then lunge at it.  He doesn’t catch them, but has a goofy look on his face that seems to imply it’s just for fun. 

One of our more common butterflies is the Giant Swallowtail.  These guys are fast but don’t seem to mind letting you get a good look at them.  

Now I’m not trying to make this ”the insect blog” or anything, it’s just that there are so many around right now!  It’s not too difficult to get a picture of a butterfly on the ground, but to catch one in flight was another story. 

This guy was more like a “flutterby” as he danced around quickly in circles.  I probably took 30 pictures to get this one in focus.  I wonder if there are any aerodynamic lessons to learn from butterflies? 

I know that throughout the world butterfly “souvenirs” can be found in many cities.  Which is not necessarily a good thing, especially if some of the species are threatened due to habitat loss or overcollection.  But some of the collections for sale are amazing in the diversity of species and colors.  Collecting insects is generally a fine hobby and quite educational.  I remember taking an entomology class years ago and amassed quite the collection of creepy crawlies.  Not sure what happened to it, but that’s probably a good thing!

And if you’ve read this far, it’s well past time to say thank you for visiting.  I appreciate if you have time for a comment, but if you’re just passing by, that’s okay too.   Sometimes blogging can be discouraging when it seems like one is “writing into the wind” so to speak.  But as Ron has found, there are many wonderful “lurkers” out there… good people that stop by for reasons we may never know or understand.  I’m glad Ron’s back at it…   I don’t know how long I’ll continue to write or share pictures, but hopefully we’ll continue the journey for a good while.

We’re off on a traveling adventure this week and I may or may not get a chance to post.  There are so many other wonderful blogs out there and I’m really amazed and humbled with the stories and relationships that blogging fosters.   And yes!  Next week we’ll be posting the Festival of the Trees.  See you soon.

• Reflections , Wildlife, Insects and Pets , Science
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Beau July 25th, 2008

This year is so different from the last, especially in the amount of rainfall we’ve had.  Even with a cooler, wet spring we expected the summer to become very dry as in previous years.   And for a while it was, but now we’re actually going on for a third day of rain and cool temperatures in the last week of July. 

A Canna leaf is covered by drops of rain.

The cool is so refreshing and the ground is saturated once again in mid-summer.  And unlike years past, the pond is actually full!  In most years at this time the water is nearly five feet down.  I wonder if this will increase the populations of fish and other aquatic life?

In late afternoon the summer landscape is often painted in light and shadow.

 The plants and trees also benefit greatly from the moisture. We’ve probably lost 5-6 smaller oak trees in recent years from drought stress and insect damage.  Yet perhaps this year’s rainfall will help many of the rest.   And usually by this time of summer we don’t need to cut the grass nearly as much as it dries out and turns brown.  Now it’s still green and growing.  

With the moisture fostering grass and flower growth, I think the bees will find more pollen and nectar available throughout summer and early fall.   We haven’t seen such an abundance of wild blackberries before, due both to the bees as well as the rainfall this year.  They’re not very large as blackberries go, but “they make good eatin!”

• Landscapes , Seasons
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Beau July 23rd, 2008

In many places it’s a rite of passage for kids to go fishing in the summer.   With a nearby pond, fishing can be a simple pleasure on a summer evening.  It doesn’t have to be the normally complex undertaking with boats, tackle boxes and all kinds of other stuff.  Instead, we found a long cane pole, a hook, a bobber and dug up a few worms.   

The boy worked at putting the worm on the hook, but it was kind of small so I tried to help.  Of course I didn’t have my glasses with me so I wasn’t much help, and he did it on his own.  Then with wriggling worm he threw the line and bobber into the water, sitting on a stump to wait.   After a few minutes… “Bloop!” the bobber was pulled under…  “I got one!” he yells excitedly, as he pulls a big bluegill out of the water.  And then again a little later, “I got another one!” this time pulling a bass out of the water.

The yellow lab was entranced by these flopping critters the boy pulled out,  We threw the fish back and the dog tried to jump in the water after them!    Now that would be a trick… retrieving fish.   I think somewhere in the history of the Labrador Retriever they used to be fishing dogs, swimming out to bring back fish that had fallen out of nets.   But on this night he was just a companion, watching the boy’s excitement and wonder at catching fish.

• Rural Living , Labrador Retriever
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Beau July 21st, 2008

It seems that if you plant sunflowers, there will be a few volunteers over the years.  This one is growing toward the front of the house, brought there by friendly birds after last year’s plants in the garden. 

It’s kind of neat that one of the ways seeds are propagated in nature is due to birds.  The birds eat the fruit and as the seeds pass through their digestive tract, they are deposited in many different places.  Which is kind of amazing really.   Except for cedar trees.  Eastern Red Cedar that is.  It’s a pretty, evergreen tree that produces very strong (and nice smelling) wood.  But they are ubiquitous!  Too big of a word to simply say we have too many around, and they get their start with the help of birds usually while perched along a fence. 

At least around here that’s why you see so many cedar trees along the fence lines.  Down the road a bit I saw someone who cleared out their fence line of all the brush and barb wire, removing all but some nicely spaced and trimmed cedars.  That looks very nice I will admit.  One day perhaps we’ll do the same.  For now the barb wire, old fence posts and tangly growth is just going to stay for a while.

Speaking of growing things, our tomatoes are finally turning red.  The little cherry tomatoes have been producing for a while, but the larger ones are now ripening.  We planted several different varieties as an informal experiment to see which ones do well here.  With the cooler, wet season early on, it seemed like they were going to stay green, but now they are coming on much better.   

If they produce much more we’re going to make sauce, stewed tomatoes, frozen tomatoes… whatever works. Met someone last week though who is growing 104 tomato plants… in their yard.  They are taking the ripe tomatoes to farmer’s markets in the back of a truck.  That must be a lot of picking!

• Rural Living , Gardening
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Beau July 18th, 2008

This must really be “bug week” because I find myself taking pictures of all sorts of insect critters.  Maybe they’re too easy and I’m not being creative enough. But the Japanese beetles are still filling up plastic bags and we’re trying to keep the pests out of the garden.  And the moles!  I haven’t found a good deterent for them, although the cat sometimes ends up with one.  

I actually watched some lettuce plants wobbling back and forth as a mole tunneled underneath the other day.  They love to eat worms and grubs, but maybe tender roots as well?  All I know is their tunnels leave the roots without soil and water, and the plant will die if you don’t reseat them in the soil.  Some wiser folks have said that castor bean oil is a good deterrent so we may try that.  The metal mole traps are simply too cumbersome and unreliable for me to work very well.

I haven’t seen any Monarch caterpillars on our milkweed plants, but maybe that’s because these Tussock Moth Caterpillars keep devouring the milkweed.  I saw one of the plants chewed to the ground and then found these guys working on the next one.  Looks like a hungry football team lined up at the buffet!

And the little guy below was too cute to pass up.  My unscientific name is “Brown Fuzzy Caterpillar.”  What it really is I have  no idea, but isn’t it funny how the “cute” ones seem acceptable, but the “ugly” ones we get rid of?  I’ve pulled some big green hornworms off the tomato plants and the yellow lab likes to play with them.  I think he actually eats them… uh, yuck?! (there’s a close up of the Tussock Moth Caterpillar from last year at that link too).

But this ”BFC” wasn’t eating leaves or doing anything it seemed.  Maybe he was looking for a place to make a chrysalis?

After today I’ve got to find some new material that doesn’t involve bugs.  Unless they’re really neat looking or something.  Or involve bees.  Or, well… let’s just see what happens. 

• Wildlife, Insects and Pets , Gardening
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