Trumpet vine from July 30th. A perfect blue sky day.
Our feature photo this season is of the trumpet vine, blooming at its peak at the end of July. This tough old vine has weathered the summer well and is still producing enough blooms to attract hummingbirds and bees. It has been entertaining to observe them all summer, along with other residents passing through, including the visiting black-tailed buck below, who discovered the bird feeder was easy feed. He seems to have moved on. The photo was taken through the window, and is not very clear, but shows him caught in the act of eating fallen seed.
Black-tailed deer buck from July 29th, helping himself to seed at the bird feeder.
Summer moved along far more quickly than I have ever known it to do in my life. In early June, Rick drove me to the ER for what I thought might be severe flu or possibly covid, and found out to my surprise I was having a heart attack, an STEMI, sometimes called a “widowmaker”. I remember watching Rick’s face as we were given the news in the ER, his eyes widening like the Sifaka in a video I once saw where a Sifaka youngster, in an effort to free himself, bites the tail of the adult, who has inadvertently pinned the youngster down. The adult did not move at first, but the eyes got very, very wide. Unfortunately, I cannot find the footage, and don’t remember which nature program aired the original segment. I was quickly whisked away by ambulance to a bigger hospital with a catheter lab. The catheter lab team did their job well, saved my life and implanted a stent in my right coronary artery. I spent a few days in the hospital, and came home to recover and get back on my feet. Having survived cancer 12 years ago, I remember thinking that was a life changing experience. I would say that for me, this recent event has exceeded that experience. We all come stamped with an expiration date, not readable by the normal person. Fortunately, mine has not come up, yet, and I continue to wake up on the correct side of the ground. A good friend back east set up a GoFundMe page to help defray medical bills not covered by commercial insurance.
A shy daisy in May.
Many things got away from me this season, though I will attempt to present the highlights as they have flown by, mainly in pictures. I have not felt very motivated to write, though I have made daily observations for myself. I feel a need to rest and readjust, much like a field left fallow in an off year between crops. The productivity will be better later on.
May is the most colorful month here, and this year was no exception. A long, cool and wet winter and prolonged cool and wet spring that continued into early June contributed to a slightly late but profuse showing of blooms, and rainbows. Most of my photos for this post were taken in May.
May 19th rainbow coming down into the hills to the southeast.
Willow mallow in back lot
Thyme sported many blooms.
Snowball bush in May.
Irises in May.
German bearded iris
Reblooming iris
Dutch iris
Yellow flag iris
Reblooming iris
Hawthorn blooms in late May.
June passed by in a blur for reasons stated earlier. I was pleased to find a pair of leopard slugs (Limax maximus) rendezvousing on the door jamb of the garage. Although they are not native, they are predatory slugs, and can move considerably faster than the other non native slugs that patrol the farm looking for tasty produce to eat. Being from New England where we only had “little grey” slugs, I still find all these giant Pacific Northwest slugs fascinating.
A pair of leopard slugs back in June.
August 28th: Another slug I think is one of the European ones. Last seen crawling along the outer well house wall.
Same slug making his way into the morning sunlight. They will all take shelter soon as the day progresses.
July was another month that passed quickly. I went back to playing music out, sufficiently satisfied with my progress.
Ima Blueberry, at the Albany Farmers Market on Saturday, July 9th
Queen Anne’s Lace provided beautiful umbrels to enjoy, and are still blooming.
Queen Anne’s Lace – a tough survivor, weedy and incredibly beautiful.
One of the few rose blooms this year.
August, the hot and very dry month, was not quite as hot as expected, although we have had a number of days in the 90s. There were enough clouds to make some interesting sunrises and sunsets, though nothing quite like spring and fall skies.
A river of clouds stretching from east at the point of sunrise, all the way over to the western horizon.
We have mainly been spot watering, the good old bucket brigade, using a sprinkler only as needed to keep the gardens and plantings alive and not use too much water, which is becoming a scarcer resource out here in the PNW. I noted the other day that one of the crabapples sported a new cluster of blooms alongside fruit. I also found the same on one of the large apple tree this morning. Both trees bloomed normally in the spring – this was a very limited second blooming – and I am not sure why this has occurred. Click on any photo in this post to enlarge.
Almost fully formed apple and new bloom on August 28th.
Crabapples fully formed on right, new blooms on left. Click to enlarge.
One for the lichen lovers. Lichens growing on the apple tree with the August blooms.
Thank you for reading down this far! My music schedule is filling up again, and I am booked into 2023. If you happen to be in the neighborhood of where I am playing, please do drop in and say hello.
I leave readers with an old Irish blessing. Until we meet again.
The usual autumn leaf colors here tend towards a dull yellow which quickly fades to crinkled brown and quietly slips away with the daylight hours. Blueberry and snowball bush add a darker, almost maroon color to autumn’s palette, though in a good year, the grapes can dress the vineyard in vibrant gold. A sizeable vineyard can be rather striking in autumn. An early light frost and a long drought this year have diminished the chances of that happening here.
The vineyard colors in autumn 2021 may look more like this one from our pinot noir vineyard.
One of several snowball bushes adding a maroon shade to autumn’s palette.
I did find some unusually festive color while wandering about the back lot on October 1st. Our feature photo is of a colorful sprig of what looks to be hawthorn berries, also known as haws, a more unusual orange-gold color than most of what we see for hawthorn fruit around the old farm. Members of the genus Crataegus , hawthorn leaf shape varies, and as well as fruit color can vary from yellow through red to blue-black depending on the species, estimated to be roughly 200 in number. There are a few small bushes of this yellow haw kind growing along the north border.
Hawthorn with orange-yellow fruit. We spotted a few of these this autumn.
A red berried hawthorn, the most common type we see here.
Lichens are beginning to recover from the heat and drought, including my favorite patch of Cladonia I have been watching. The old defunct hazelnut grove is a particularly good place to observe lichens and mosses which grow copiously along the branches, forming multi-species communities up the trunks and along the branches.
A lichen and moss community along a hazelnut branch. There are at least three types of lichen here.
Cladonia growing on old black locust stump.
Delicate Cladonia cups in a miniature garden on same stump as above.
News from the farm
Summer in our region has been one of extreme heat and drought this year, requiring hours of spot watering and rotating which plantings got water so as to conserve well water, and well pump of unknown age. We will have been here 18 years come December. Most plants that tolerated the heat came through the season, though fruit set was often limited, and quite small in the case of our blueberries. Trees with relatively shallow root systems were particularly hard hit, and we may yet lose some of our older fruit trees. Unlike birds and animals that can migrate and search for water, trees and fellow plants are rooted in place and must make do with what they have. Mycorrhizal networks can assist in water and nutrient transport, and general soil health is of particular importance.
Grapes throw roots that can reach 5 to 6 feet down. Our pinot noir did well in spite of the heat, and ripened early. The harvest came in at 22 brix, and two separate fermentations of rosé wine using Premier Blanc yeast finished up on September 25th and 27th. I leave them to settle out on the lees under refrigeration until December, when they will be bottled. Hand crushed, strained, inoculated and fermented in stainless steel stock pots by me, it is enough to keep Rick in lunch wine for a good part of the year. I have reused some old photos of the process here.
An old photo from the 2017 harvest. This is still my own time honored way of making small batches of wine.
Rick working Quality Control in 2017.
Most readers are aware of the fires out here in the West, along with the resulting smoke and poor air quality, even in areas the fires did not reach. We have been lucky here, and are now entering the rainy season. Each year is a bit different, though the overall trend is becoming hotter, and drier. We note what does well, and what does not, and will adapt what we attempt to grow to conditions as they change.
The constants in life I hold dear are the rising and setting of the sun, the cycles of the moon, familiar constellations in the night sky. Night’s dark veil rising in the east after sundown and rolling away to the west come morning, the color changes at the bookends of the day. I wake up during the night, and watch out the window. I see and hear a lot on moonlit nights. Tree frogs chorusing in late winter and spring, raccoon tries to get through bird netting to eat our grapes in fall. I listen to the coyotes sing up in the hills, the piercing cry of the hawk, the pleasant peeting of the chickadee. I know when the neighbor’s chicken has laid an egg. We all have our time and place. Time is a precious thing, as is a sense of place. There is less road ahead than there is behind me, and choices have more meaning.
News from the Cats of Salmon Brook Farms
It has been a hard year for the crew with the loss of three of the old guard. The remaining five have been adjusting, and establishing new routines, and alliances. They will return to news gathering and writing their observations come December.
Marcus, Wynken, Blynken and Nod enjoying a sunny day. Looks a bit crowded up there in the window.
Nano enjoying a peaceful snooze on a soft blanket. He is now the oldest.
Music news (schedule posted on the Performance Schedule page)
I have been able to play music out on a limited basis this year. If you are in the area and wish to stop by and see me, do check out the Performance Schedule page.
For those readers who missed previous posts or are new to this blog, I will be posting on mostly seasonal basis now. Hopefully someday, I may be able to actually catch up on the many projects, including updating the pages associated with this blog, as well as stay in touch with all of you. I will keep the performance schedule updated regularly. New videos will follow as soon as I can get to it. For those readers who are new or catching up, do visit the Salmon Brook Farms YouTubechannel. Our first Tiny Farm Concerts one song music video was posted at the end of March, 2017.
Those who know me well also know I am a big fan of the late Kate Wolf, recorded a few of her songs on my last CD, and I will be recording some more of her music in the future as well. The Minstrel is one of her songs I learned last year. Here it is adapted and arranged for the 12 string guitar tuned to Open G.
Full Circle, one of my own songs, was written in the aftermath of 9/11/2001 and is a song about love and enjoying life while one can. I’ve played it out all the intervening years, and recorded here recently with the lights down, much like a typical evening here I’d be practicing. It is a bit dark, but I make no apologies. There are no flashy graphics, just one woman, one voice, and a guitar. The guitar featured here is my old Ventura 12 string. I bought this old friend at a kiosk in a mall for $100 back in 1977. For those interested in lutherie, this guitar is a bit different in that it has a zero fret up by the nut. To my knowledge, this brand of guitars, which were made in Japan, are not made anymore, and I have only come across one other, not nearly constructed as well. I keep the Ventura tuned to DGDGBD or DGDGA#D. Flat the 3rd and you get G minor. Alternate tunings are easier for small hands and present a bigger box of acoustical paint from which to draw upon. I use Martin Acoustic SP extra light phosphor bronze strings on the Ventura, Martin Acoustic SP light gauge phosphor bronze strings on the Martin guitar, And D’Addario light gauge coated phosphor bronze on the Guild.
I am 18 years older and a good bit more grey since my first and only CD was released back in 2003, but still in the saddle. It has been an interesting ride, with more to come! The Orchard, our distributor, has placed some of our music from the Keepsake CD on Spotify and YouTube. Anyone wishing to see the entire track listing and stories behind the songs should visit my personal page under MUSIC in the menu at the top of this post. Depending on what country you live in, the music placed on YouTube by The Orchard may be blocked due to digital rights content. Readers can also access some songs from the CD via the old IUMA archive site.
Rick retired from playing music some years ago, but he still practices, and plays a few tunes at some of my shows. Here is is at St. Innocent Winery back in August.
Our feature photo this spring is of a lively cluster of crabapple blossoms from April 25th.
One of my favorite trees. This one was grown from a 1 foot high start obtained from the National Arbor Day Foundation in 2004.
It is said that change is the one constant in life. My responsibilities and activities have been rapidly increasing over the last year, bringing more change to my own. I will be posting the Salmon Brook Farms blog less often now, so I may be able to actually catch up on farm, music and winemaking projects, including updating the pages associated with this blog, work on the book that my dear friend, blogger and author Cynthia Reyes has been gently nudging me to write, as well as stay in touch with our readers and their own endeavors. The format will remain the same, but will now have a more seasonal focus. The feline correspondents may actually find time to compile their journal notes into real essays, at least that is what I have asked them to do. We thank all our readers who have stayed with us as the blog site enters its sixth year, and our lives evolve. Life’s adventure here in Oregon continues.
News from the farm
After a relatively mild December and January, we experienced an unusual amount of snow for our area in late winter. The brown, dried skeletons of lemon balm stalks and seed heads caught the fine snow in small tufts, icy inflorescences that did not last the day of our first snowfall.
Dried stalks of lemon balm, February 2019.
Lured by increasing daylight and January’s relative warmth, irises and other early risers from the sleeping earth found themselves shivering in a frozen world. Green shoots, swelling buds and birdsong told of the coming spring, not far off, in spite of the cold and snow.
Green swords of iris making an entrance in February, only to find snow.
And of course, snow iris!
We found ourselves wielding snow shovels when the biggest storm hit, bringing back distant memories of life in another time back in New England. Snow has a way of softening sight and sound, lulling one into a sense of peace and tranquility. Dark forms of conifers, frosted white, loomed tall amid the mists and falling snow, giving the appearance of a scene one might typically find on a Christmas card. Little to no traffic except for snow plows passed by on the main road that day; I could hear birds singing somewhere off to the south. Shrubs and blueberry bushes were heavily bent earthward under the weight while daffodils by the old garage stood tall and perky up against the building where snow did not accumulate. There is something peaceful about watching snow fall, if one does not have to travel anywhere. Distances shrink, boundaries are softened, sounds and colors muted in a womb-like enclosure of white, a death waiting for rebirth in a state of colorless tranquility.
The farm in snow. We don’t usually see this much, if any.
Many days the surrounding hills and southwest pass were completely hidden behind the soft veil of light silver-grey, tendrils of fog curling and writhing before me, examining my presence. I could feel the water droplets that comprised it settling on my face, each drop an individual entity. Many small streams from melting snow and rain flowed toward the low areas, rippling and sparkling in the late winter sunlight.
Early March brought many cold mornings in the low 20s. Looking up into the starry blackness one such morning at 5:20 AM, I could almost feel the heat escaping from everything, including myself, radiating out into space. On mornings like this I have a much greater appreciation of our position, third planet from the sun, orbiting in a habitable zone, and just how much the sun’s warmth makes our present life here possible.
Spring arrived, as always, amid a riot of rainbows, catkins, blooms and new life in all forms. I found several osoberry bushes in the back lot, one of the first bloomers.
An intense rainbow in the east. A sign of peace.
Osoberry, also known as Indian plum.
Osoberry and lichen.
The annual symphony of chorus frogs performed magnificently in the many late winter and vernal pools on this farm we call home. Tree swallows have also returned, gracefully swooping about the farm and perching on the wires. Out in the back lot, blue camas are flowering. Cold hardy dandelions have been showing their faces about the farm for some time, and forming seed heads.
What I believe is a camas in bloom in the back lot.
A Dandelion in Winter.
Forming seeds.
Broccoli, sheltered under mini-greenhouses in the garden all winter, have been providing nutritious greens and stalks. They have started flowering, along with last year’s kale.
Overwintered broccoli. Quite tasty!
Old Man Winter and his companion Jack Frost have been slow to leave, and still send us an occasional night below freezing, even though the daytime temperature may rise into the 60s and 70s. They are headed north, climbing higher into the mountains as the sun rises further north along the eastern horizon. The air still feels crisp and cold here under the warm, golden light, their cold breath lingering in the foothills and shaded areas of the farm as April comes to a close.
News from the Cats of Salmon Brook Farms
Mr. Nano, ever watchful.
The Feline Correspondents Desk is back at work after a brief hiatus. Mr. Nano, head of the Resident Feline Correspondent’s Desk, has asked correspondent Miss Abby to file an essay about her observations from late winter through early spring, and about life in general as seen from the perspective of advanced years. Correspondent Abby has consulted her notes and has agreed to share the wisdom of her 17 years with readers. Without further ado, correspondent Miss Abby will present her essay.
Correspondent Abby, celebrating her 17th birthday this April.
I have reached a venerable age, having traveled around the sun and observed the changing of the seasons 17 times, although I still promptly greet all guests, and make them feel welcome in my home. I spend more time looking within, and dreaming, not only of what was, but where I am going in the years that are left to me.
Correspondent Abby, enjoying her shelf in the bookcase some years back.
With age comes that quiet realization one cannot jump as high, or as accurately as one did in their youth, and that to remain engaged in life, one must find other avenues of self-expression, while attempting to keep a positive demeanor as long as possible. The day will come, as it comes for all of us, when it is time to relinquish our past, with all the associated memories and emotions, and look forward into that bright abyss from which there is no return, following those before us. That is the nature of life and its cycles, as it plays out on this Earth, in this universe. There is no sadness, no regrets, only what is. Those to whom we mattered will remember, their memories of us evoked by some random sight, sound or scent, traveling on starlight, or distantly seen the moon’s soft, ghostly glow. We all walk among ghosts, including our own.
A sunset scene here from 2018.
Winter’s dark season has passed once again, barn lights on the distant hills glowing through the mists and snowfall like stars in hues of orange high pressure sodium and blue-green mercury vapor. Lichens, swollen with winter rain, helped catch and retain the fine coating of snow; trees, especially apple and plum, stood frosted with an icing of the first snowfall of the season. Mornings often came in silver-grey, soft and quiet. Green grass in the wetter areas poked up through the covering, a juxtaposition of spring green and winter white. After sunrise, milky white mists would coalesce and rise, floating up the hills and skyward with the sun.
Winter view of the hills to the south of the farm.
Spring came slowly, stealthily to the farm, changing the face of sunrise and sunset. The white mists of dawn ran like a river of spilled milk along the base of the hills to the south; dark forms of trees rose up from the vapors, waiting for sunrise to give them color and substance. The time between first light and the first rays of emerging sun is a magical time, quickly changing its character and mood on the threshold of a new day. Crepuscular wildlife can be seen going about their business on the farm. In evening, the final rays of sun as it disappears below the horizon mark day’s end, and the transition into night.
Day’s end as last colors are caught by clouds to the east.
The sun has made good progress northward towards its position at solstice along the eastern horizon. High ice clouds and contrails catch the longer wavelengths of pink and rose; each partly cloudy morning makes a different yet equally spectacular entrance in form and hue. Once the transitional colors have passed, the blue dome above is marbled with stark white, that in itself a miracle of Nature. Down below, filtered sun streams across spring’s emerald green growth; heavily dewed grass scintillates from a myriad tiny prisms. The mornings are lighter now as old Sol moves northward along the eastern horizon. Come solstice, he will be rising behind the trees on a neighboring property and more difficult to spot peering just over the horizon.
One evening I watched as thickening contrails and filamentous cirrus clouds had not yet occluded an almost full moon in the eastern sky, a ghostly white orb marbled with grey, like quartz tumbled by the sea. A chorus of frogs was singing in the vernal pools as the sun dipped below the horizon, and night approached. Somewhere up there above the chorus of late winter frogs and cloud cover that night, the moon was sailing in the blackness of space, staring back at her companion, this marbled bright blue gem called Earth.
As always, we wish our readers a pleasant evening ahead, and safe travels to wherever their destination in life may lead them.
– Resident Feline Correspondent Abby, reporting for Salmon Brook Farms
Miss Hope and Mr. Nano, enjoying quality time.
Sisters Blynken and Wynken enjoying quality time.
Sisters Blynken and Nod enjoying quality time.
Music news (schedule posted on the Performance Schedule page)
February, March were a relatively quiet month musically, with construction projects (some more difficult and time consuming than initially thought) and family matters taking precedence. I will be blog posting less often now, so I may be able to actually catch up on many projects, including updating the pages associated with this blog, as well as stay in touch with all of you. I will keep the performance schedule updated regularly.
If you are in the area and wish to see me play live, please visit the Performance Schedule page in the ring menu at the top of this post.
Live with the Martin, Guild and Ventura.
For those readers who are new or catching up, do visit the Salmon Brook Farms YouTube channel. Our first Tiny Farm Concerts one song music video was posted at the end of March, 2017. I am 16 years older and a good bit more grey since my first and only CD was released back in 2003, but still in the saddle. It has been an interesting ride, with more to come!
For those who have missed previous posts and wish to view the channel content, here are links to the previous two videos. There will be more videos when I can get back to this project.
The Orchard, our distributor, has placed some of our music from the Keepsake CD on YouTube. Anyone wishing to see the entire track listing and stories behind the songs should visit my personal page under MUSIC in the menu at the top of this post. Depending on what country you live in, the music placed on YouTube by The Orchard may be blocked. Readers can also access some songs from the CD via the old IUMA archive site
In the meantime, in your area, wherever you may be, please do all you can to help keep your own local music alive. Go out and see someone you don’t know, host a house concert, download songs or buy CDs. Or even just stop for a minute to hear someone at a Farmers’ Market. Live, local musicians provide a wealth of talent most people will never hear about in this age of iPods, Internet and TV.
Our feature photo this month is of a particularly interesting sunset cloudscape from November 27th. I was captivated by the sense of depth, texture and mood presented on this particular evening.
Sunset clouds on November 27th.
Each day is unique, quietly revealing ephemeral treasures to those who take the time to look for them.
Heart of blue amid stormy skies.
Sunset in pink.
The transition into night is a time for reflection as the day comes to an end; the purple veil in the east rises earlier and earlier as the season progresses. Our November moon is waning, just past last quarter, rising later each evening. She is a beacon for all who wander about in the darkness, observing the heavens. We will not see her tonight due to heavy cloud cover and rain.
Night draws closer as the sun drops further below the horizon.
Early morning is a beautiful, contemplative time of day; silver-grey mists form and rise, taking the sunrise colors of pink and gold, and finally stark white when the sun has climbed well above the horizon. They will quickly drift away as cloud.
Early morning mists.
Morning contrails.
News from the farm
It is the time of year when the farm may stand enshrouded in heavy fog all day, with no sign, no hint of the blue river above the soft, quiet coverlet of mist and low cloud. Occasional pockets of cold air moving at ground level brush against my face and arms as they wander across the farm, like the touch of passing ghosts, sentient and otherworldly.
A doe and her offspring grazing along the row of table grapes back in October. Click on any photo in this post to enlarge.
The months of October and November marched on through the farm in the yearly parade of seasonal produce, changing colors, turbulent skies, windstorms, falling leaves and deer in search of greenery. Jack Frost, herald of Old Man Winter, has come by on clear nights with his silver brush, leaving a trail of both scintillating sunlit morning beauty and destruction in his wake. The persimmon tree, and some types of apples, welcome his return with sweeter fruit after a good frosting.
Lovage growing in a half barrel sports a light covering of frost. The lovage clump did not appreciate Jack Frost’s visit.
Our beautiful old persimmon tree, festooned with fruit and colorful leaves.
Apples on a frosty morning.
Most leaves except for the marcescent have fallen, and have been raked up and placed in garden beds to help build the soil. The last roses of the season have bloomed; I lost a dear relative to extreme old age; the eldest of our cats now lives on borrowed time, the endless cycle of life of which all of us are a part. We all have our time. It has been a bitter-sweet season, and when darkness falls, I find myself thinking of a Maori evening prayer I learned from a friend in New Zealand. Safe and warm inside, the Christmas cactus enters its bloom cycle again. Outside, a lone red rosebud which never opened remains tightly folded against the cold.
Ross were still vibrant and blooming in late October.
Rosé wine from our own pinot noir is still cold stabilizing on the lees; samples were taken for evaluation today. I processed and fermented two batches of our best pinot noir grapes, selected and harvested by Rick, within a week of each other. Epernay 2 yeast (Red Star Cotes des Blanc) was used for its characteristics, as was done the previous year. Rick found both samples acceptable, they will be bottled soon.
Rick, hard at work evaluating the new rosé wine with food.
News from the Cats of Salmon Brook Farms
Mr. Nano, ever watchful.
Mr. Nano contacted the Sicilian Feline Correspondents Desk for this month’s report, as old Willowis seriously under the weather and receiving much attention. Her kidneys are failing, and she is currently on subcutaneous fluids. For readers familiar with the BBC/ PBS series Poldark, Mr Nano is of the opinion Willow would have made a most fitting old Aunt Agatha Poldark, as played by Caroline Blakiston. One a geriatric feline, the other a fictional human, both are beloved to those who understand and appreciate their unique spirits.
Willow in earlier times, reading a card from her friends Doug (human), Dougy (cat) and Andy(cat). Willow is not well these days.
Without further ado, Sicilian feline correspondent Lucky and his fellow correspondents from the olive farm present their findings on life in the Sicilian countryside. Readers may note from previous posts that Lucky is blind, and although his acute hearing, exceptional navigational abilities and sense of olfaction are invaluable to his reports, his fellow correspondents have provided all the visual descriptions. Olive farmers and photographers M. and J. have kindly provided the photos of their farm in Sicily used in Lucky’s report.
Autumn on the Olive Farm in the Sicilian Countryside
Autumn arrived, bringing more rain than is seen in a normal year for our region. Between August and October, almost a year’s worth of rain fell, making tilling the ground and harvesting olives extremely difficult. Fortunately, we did not have to harvest olives this year. The previous year, a bountiful harvest gave us enough oil to last two years, allowing one time enjoy reading and strolling through garden and olive grove.
Although Lucky is now blind, he understands the value of reading. Photo credit M.G.
While making my daily rounds, I happened upon a visitor lurking in the lavender, an Acherontia atropos, more commonly known as a subspecies of the Death’s head hawkmoth. As an adult it is commonly identified by the vaguely skull-shaped pattern adorning the thorax.
A hawk moth caterpillar. Photo credit M.G.
Due to unusual weather, a prickly pear plant with a flower, opuntus fica-indica, was found near others bearing their fall fruit.
Prickly pear cactus in flower. Photo credit M.G.
Prickly pear with fruit. Photo credit M.G.
The array of autumn colors was stunning. Fiery pyracantha presented its bright orange berries while the Lantana burst with red flowers.
Pyracantha. Photo credit M.G.
Lantana. Photo credit M.G.
Fall irises and golden oxalis were nestled in along the path while wild mushrooms were discovered scattered throughout the field, much to my delight.
Iris. Photo credit M.G.
Oxalis. Photo credit M.G.
As always, we wish our readers a pleasant evening ahead, and safe travels to wherever their destination in life may lead them.
– Lucky, Sicilan Feline Correspondent, reporting for the House of Many Paws
Correspondent Lucky, at home in Sicily.
Music news (schedule posted on the Performance Schedule page)
I was privileged to be accepted into the Spokane Fall Folk Festival again this year. Once again, we saddled up a trusty vehicle and made the trip up over the Cascades, through eastern Oregon and on to Spokane in eastern Washington. We stopped to eat at the Black Bear Diner, our favorite breakfast place.
The Black Bear Diner in Madras, Oregon. The bear is still driving the truck.
I was pleased to have a good set, superb sound engineers and an appreciative audience. It was all I could have asked for at the festival.
A blurry photo as the flash was unfortunately off, and the hand of the photographer unsteady as my own. Photos of all the performers can be found on the festival’s site.
If you are in the area and wish to see me play live, please visit the Performance Schedulepage in the ring menu at the top of this post.
For those readers who are new or catching up, do visit the Salmon Brook Farms YouTube channel. Our first Tiny Farm Concerts one song music video was posted at the end of March, 2017. I am 15 years older and a good bit more grey since my first and only CD was released back in 2003, but still in the saddle. It has been an interesting ride, with more to come!
For those who have missed previous posts and wish to view the channel content, here are links to the previous two videos. There will be more videos when I can get back to this project.
The Orchard, our distributor, has placed some of our music from the Keepsake CD on YouTube. Anyone wishing to see the entire track listing and stories behind the songs should visit my personal page under MUSICin the menu at the top of this post. Depending on what country you live in, the music placed on YouTube by The Orchard may be blocked. Readers can also access some songs from the CD via the old IUMA archive site.
In the meantime, in your area, wherever you may be, please do all you can to help keep your own local music alive. Go out and see someone you don’t know, host a house concert, download songs or buy CDs. Or even just stop for a minute to hear someone at a Farmers’ Market. Live, local musicians provide a wealth of talent most people will never hear about in this age of iPods, Internet and TV.
Ourfeature photo this month is of an orb weaver spider found inhabiting the northwest border of the farm. Although not as large or colorful as the resident orb weaver from 2017, I was quite taken with the intricate design on this one.
Our 2018 resident orb weaver, sporting some striking markings.
Rather camera shy, she fled into the arbor vitae and this photo was the best one I was able to take of her. A very brief rain and wind squall took down her web. We hope she was safely ensconced in the arbor vitae until she can rebuild.
On the other hand, our 2017 orb weaver in the garden was quite willing to be photographed from many angles, and was featured in our August 2017 post, where she is presenting her best pose.
Our orb weaver from 2017, a bit larger and more colorful.
News from the farm
The month of September has passed, along with summer’s intensive heat. Even on an aberrant late September day in the low 90s, the sun coming in at a much lower angle is much more pleasant in mid afternoon. Although still fairly dry, rain has come in small amounts in the form of misting rain or brief squalls. Not enough precipitation has fallen to soak the hard, sun-baked clay soil, only just enough to wet flower, leaf and stem, with promises of more to come.
After a brief storm, roses were beaded and heavy with raindrops.
The leaves seem more intensively colorful this year, showing a bit more orange and gold among the usual paler yellows and crumpled browns. Perhaps it is all my perception, wishing this year’s work on all fronts to be completed as soon as possible, so I may rest, dormant until spring might awaken me in all its floral abundance and sense of wonder at the annual renewal of life. Dormancy is never an option here, though; life only slows down, temporarily. Yet I would hold onto this transitional time of year, savor all its sights, scents and sounds. The unique sense of clarity in autumn’s low angled light, the touch of warm sunshine and cooler air on the skin, the colorful cloudscapes at the bookends of the day are all unique to the transitional seasons here, although autumn wields a special magic all her own in this season of falling leaves and bounty from garden, orchard and vineyard.
Developing apple in progress!
Cascade table grapes behind bird netting. They are providing good eating!
Suffolk Red table grapes behind bird netting. Ready to harvest any time now.
A good supply of plums have been dried and stashed away for the winter months. There are days when I feel much in common with some of the little fellows in the order Rodentia during the late summer and autumn months of food preservation and storage. In the old doublewide “farmhouse” that stood on the same site as our present home, wild mice bunking in for the winter would bring in hazelnuts and store them in my boots, which were kept in the back extension. For good reasons, we nicknamed that house “The Mouse Hotel”. At night, stray hazelnuts energetically rolled down the inner walls, sounding much like bowling balls fired down an alley, the final crash at the bottom reminiscent of a multiple pin strike. I sometimes wondered if the mice up in the ceiling were gleefully squeaking, “Strike!” Perhaps the old house should have been named “Murine Lanes”. Fortunately there are no signs of mice in the new home, now 6 years old, and the youngest cats, now 5 years old, are content to be the lead investigators regarding any anomalous noises.
The Boys of Salmon Brook Farms, Mr. Lucio (left), Mr. Nano (center) and Mr. Marcus (right), keeping vigil in the old house. That house did have bigger windows, which they enjoyed very much. The only cat from that time period to ever catch a house mouse was Abby, who has been blind in one eye since before we acquired her. Nothing escaped her one good eye. She will be 17 years old next spring.
Our pinot noir grapes are almost ready to press for wine now, and other tasks will wait while grapes are harvested, crushed and the grape must (juice) inoculated with Epernay II yeast. Our goal is to make a rosé wine as good or better than our 2017 vintage.
A small number of pinot noir grapes from our 2017 harvest, enough to squeeze juice to fill a 16 qt sock pot for inoculation.
2017 harvest and crush – all done by hand for small test batches.
Rick, our Quality Control person, personally testing two different batches at lunch last year.
News from the Cats of Salmon Brook Farms
Resident feline correspondent and head of the local correspondents desk Mr. Nano has agreed to let correspondent Miss Nod present September’s report. She has been gathering news from the various window stations, and keeping a journal, from which she would like to share a few selected entries, which she feels would give readers the sense of wonder she experiences here. The farm photographer agreed to assist her. Without further ado, Miss Nod will present her report.
Feline correspondent Miss Nod, conducting an eye to eye interview.
Wednesday, September 5, 2018
It was a beautiful late summer evening, passing all too quickly, as they all do. It was a bit warmer today, which enlivened the stridulators’ evening symphony. A light veil of thin clouds gathered in the west, catching the last glimmer of deepening rose on their undersides, was noted past sundown. The last bit of light disappeared from view around 8:30 PM, the sun headed ever westward. Somewhere in the world, dawn is always breaking.
Sunrise on the farm, September 17, 2018.
Friday, September 7, 2018
In the predawn hours, I noted the constellation Orion near the horizon in east. Towards sunrise, the silhouette of the waning crescent moon hung low in the eastern sky, as the first rays from below the horizon lit up the underside of morning clouds, a beautiful scene to hold in mind’s eye.
A variety of cloud forms noted today, from long, sweeping cirrus mares’ tails to cirrocumulus and altocumulus along with a lower trail of smoky, dusty pall that crept in on September 6th.
A beautiful sundown tonight. One must be quick with the camera at the bookends of the day, when lighting changes rapidly. Nature waits for no one.
Saturday, September 8, 2018
56 degrees and mostly overcast at daybreak, with a narrow blue rift in the bank of clouds to the south. I watched the doe and fawn for a while this morning, grazing out at the edge of the hazelnut grove. The fawn was running high speed circles and figure 8s for the sheer joy of it, the strong legs and spirited heart of youth at work on a cool morning. The doe would join her offspring now and then, but only racing a few strides before returning to foraging. Mother had her own priorities.
Monday, September 10, 2018
Clouds crept in overnight, allowing a warmer morning today at 55 degrees. A light misting rain fell at daybreak. Not enough to soak the ground, just enough to caress the earth and tired vegetation with promises of more to come later. The ceiling soon fractured into heavy cumulus clouds. The cumulus grew fat and woolly during the day, feeding on the aerial river of moisture coming up the Willamette Valley. Stark white to pendulous and grey, these wanderers headed north, sometimes straying over the Cascade foothills to the east.
Thursday, September 13, 2018
A cool, relatively cloudless evening in progress, with a growing, thin crescent moon above, a clear silhouette of the dark side present forming the illusion of an eye trained out into the greater Universe. The temperature is already in the low 50s and dropping. It will be cold in the morning unless a new blanket of clouds buffers the fields and garden from the night’s chill.
Saturday, September 15, 2018
41 degrees before sunrise under mostly clear skies, which are now filling in quickly. The rapidly changing cloud forms are fascinating to watch, especially at the bookends of the day when light levels change rapidly. A few cirrus here and there become long rows of cirrocumulus, looking like corduroy patterns in the sky.
Sundown on the 17th of September. The photographer missed the sunrise clouds on September 15th.
Wednesday, September 19, 2018
Down in the low 40s this morning at sunrise under mostly clear skies. The season of thick morning mists that stratify, curl and wind among the hills is here. Eventually they rise along with the climbing sun, and drift away over the mountains.
The mists of dawn on September 17th. Soon they will rise and drift away as cloud.
A mostly clear evening in progress, with a waxing gibbous moon overhead shining down upon the nightly stridulators still singing out the end of summer.
Thursday, September 20, 2018
I watched a most beautiful end of day present itself, complete with the rising purple veil of night in the east, a golden gibbous moon overhead, and the fading glow of the sun to the west, which had just gone below the horizon. The summer stridulators are still performing nightly in this fine transitional weather.
Saturday, September 22, 2018
It is 58 degrees at 9:19 PM under a fractured night sky, and a gibbous golden moon peering out from behind the galleons sailing by.
Shadows and light from earlier in the day on September 22nd.
Tuesday, September 25, 2018
Young ladybugs were found in the greenhouse, under a strawberry leaf, sitting among the remnants of the egg cases. The nymphs had metamorphosed into tiny adults. They had been feeding off of aphids, some still visible on the underside of the leaf along the mid rib.
Click on photo to enlarge. The photographer returned the ladybugs to the greenhouse after documentation.
Sunday, September 23, 2018 – Autumnal Equinox
45 degrees and mostly cloudy at daybreak, the official first day of the fall season. A daily pattern can be seen now of mists that stratify and rise with the sun, coalescing into ragged clouds that wander away to the north or east over the Cascades. We soon had an autumnal blue sky with patches of cloud, and light breezes stirring about the farm.
Tuesday, September 25, 2018
A chilly 37 degrees under clear skies before sunrise. The purple veil of night rolled away to the west, accompanied by the bright, full moon majestically set upon it. Mists stratify and wind around the hills, thick in the low areas, but soon rising and drifting away. I particularly enjoy these times when night is caught running westward while the brightening new day draws near the eastern horizon. One leaving, one arriving, different colors and moods.
A closer view of sundown on September 17th.
A warmer, summer-like day, rising into the low 80, with a few scant cirrus clouds. The sun is still quite warm, although not so intense. I have been watching its progress south along the eastern ridge at sunrise, and south along the far hills at sunset. A mostly clear night in progress. A deer took off down the driveway after dark.
Thursday, September 27, 2018
It was not quite 44 degrees under clear skies just before sunrise. A waning gibbous moon hangs higher and higher in the western sky each morning, an apparent retrograde movement of the orbiting body to the observer. Mostly clear skies and as warm as a summer day at 87 today, although the sun was not as intense, being at a lower angle at this time of year. The air has a slight nip to it by sundown, even after a warm day. A time to observe pink contrails forming in the western sky, and the rapidly changing colors of any clouds present as the sun continues to sink below the horizon. They eventually fade to lavender, then grey, as night overtakes them.
Saturday, September 29, 2018
A brief thunderstorm dropped 5 minutes of rain, cooling things off and making creating one of the most beautiful and colorful cloudscapes towards sundown.
We wish our readers a pleasant evening ahead, and safe travels to all wherever their destination in life may lead them.
-Resident Feline Correspondent Nod, reporting for Salmon Brook Farms
Wishing our readers safe travels to wherever their destination in life may lead them.
Music news (schedule posted on the Performance Schedule page)
A couple of musicians I know from the Corvallis Folklore Society, Kurt Smith and Dick Thies, performing at the Corvallis Wednesday Market on September 26th.
Kurt Smith and Dick Thies at the Corvallis Wednesday Farmers Market on September 26, 2018. A thoroughly enjoyable show, and great sign on Kurt’s wagon.
September was a relatively quiet one musically, as most of my time was involved in projects here and working extra time. I am looking forward to October!
If you are in the area and wish to see me play live, please visit the Performance Schedule page in the ring menu at the top of this post.
For those readers who are new or catching up, do visit the Salmon Brook Farms YouTube channel. Our first Tiny Farm Concerts one song music video was posted at the end of March, 2017. I am 15 years older and a good bit more grey since my first and only CD was released back in 2003, but still in the saddle. It has been an interesting ride, with more to come!
For those who have missed previous posts and wish to view the channel content, here are links to the previous two videos. There will be more videos when I can get back to this project.
The Orchard, our distributor, has placed some of our music from the Keepsake CD on YouTube. Anyone wishing to see the entire track listing and stories behind the songs should visit my personal page under MUSIC in the menu at the top of this post. Depending on what country you live in, the music placed on YouTube by The Orchard may be blocked. Readers can also access some songs from the CD via the old IUMA archivesite.
In the meantime, in your area, wherever you may be, please do all you can to help keep your own local music alive. Go out and see someone you don’t know, host a house concert, download songs or buy CDs. Or even just stop for a minute to hear someone at a Farmers’ Market. Live, local musicians provide a wealth of talent most people will never hear about in this age of iPods, Internet and TV.
Our feature photo this month is of a bumblebee parked in a hollyhock bloom after sundown. Like truckers on the interstate, over the years I have seen bumblebees pulled over and settled in for the night in blossoms, on grape leaves, or other plants.
Let sleeping bees lie. This little bumblebee tucked into a hollyhock bloom for the night.
News from the farm
June’s fractured skies, cold mornings, lush green and colorful flowers have given way to hot, bone dry conditions in July, and an early fire season. The frogs have long since ceased their songs of vernal pool days and are quiet, occasionally found hiding in a flower pot, or in the greenhouse; only the sound of a distant peacock rocks the night from somewhere over across the fields on another farm.
Early June’s rain-drenched roses.
And a daylily bloom, beaded with raindrops.
Spring was long and cool, although drier than normal for our area, her mood pensive and unresolved. She chased Jack Frost about with cloudy nights, driving him away while fruit trees blossomed and set. We will have pears again this year.
The multilevel skies of early June.
A wild rabbit inhabits the north border once again, and has become somewhat used to my presence. At times, rabbit is bolder, wandering about the rose bed on the other side of the house.
Our north border resident, just below center. Click on any photo to enlarge.
Grass, now mostly golden brown to whitish-tan and punctuated by heat tolerant coast dandelions, hypochaeris radicata , crinkles and crushes underfoot. I feel the changing of the seasons more acutely with every passing year. A lifetime of noting the temperature, the skies, vegetation and wildlife, knowing what to expect and roughly when, yet each year is unique in its presentation, sometimes oscillating wildly about the normal of my experience. Each passing year is more precious, not only for its annual abundance, but for its bright parade of memories, and for our own growth as individuals living upon this Earth. All things are connected to all things.
Early June – old heirloom roses on the north border, with myrtle growing below, wild and carefree.
Early June – the first peony to bloom.
Watering becomes more critical to heat stressed plants that do not have deep root systems like mature grape vines, resulting in much spot watering, bucket brigades and soaker hose sessions.
A view up the row of table grapes from this afternoon.
And up a couple of rows in the pinot noir vineyard. Rick has been hard at work trimming and tying up canes. We had good fruit set this year.
In the cool of the evening, hummingbirds dart about the hollyhocks in the main garden, occasionally coming close in to observe us. The resident doe sometimes comes out to feed up near the house. Sundown does not often disappoint, coloring whorls and flows of cirrus clouds in flaming orange-rose set against a fading light blue sky.
Dust devils, those carefree vortices spawned by heat and dry soil conditions, have been sighted already since wheat and grass seed appear to have been harvested early by several weeks. They will soon turn summer’s brilliant blue skies to tan and grey, especially when soot and smoke from forest fires around the state add to the mixture of airborne particulate matter.
One evening, I found an old tattered honeybee of the field class, crawling along the ground. Young bees have a fuzzy thorax, the older ones go bald on the thorax, giving away their age. The typical life span of the field worker in season is only 6 weeks. She was found crawling at a good pace along the ground; a yellow jacket was hovering around, perhaps having caught her scent. I scooped up the old bee on a dandelion leaf, and put her in a shallow container with a few drops of water and some honey on a toothpick to help revive her. She was gone an hour later, after darkness had fallen. Most likely she crawled away, or was eaten by something.
I sit in my office, well fed and safe. Everywhere out there in nature, small dramas continually unfold. Someone is eaten, someone survives another day, someone dies or is born. The moon rises as it has for millions of years, watching the history of Man unfold, and endless cycles of life on this planet.
Sunset on July 24th, clouds over the hill to the south.
News from the Cats of Salmon Brook Farms
Resident feline correspondent and head of the local correspondents desk Mr. Nano is on vacation this month, sleeping off the summer heat. He has assigned correspondent Miss Wynken of the Three Sisters to file a report in his absence. After much thought, she has chosen a few excerpts from her daily logs for July, 2018. Without further ado, Miss Wynken will present her report.
Correspondent Miss Wynken gathering news from one of her many window stations.
Correspondent Miss Wynken contemplating her report. “What do I tell our readers?”
Wednesday, July 4th: I enjoyed the post sundown sky, mostly lavender-grey and cream colored splotchy cumulus type clouds, splattered across the dome above like paint thrown at a canvas. Summer is moving along at a fast clip; I note the daily changes in the land and in myself.
Thursday, July 5th: The moon is approaching last last quarter, or waning half-moon, and rises late. She is a good companion, shining in the east window, golden and bright in the wee hours of the morning, still bright enough to illuminate the farm and its nighttime residents lurking about.
Tuesday, July 10th: A cool and breezy 49 degrees morning here under clear skies. Cheery, fair weather cumulus soon made an appearance, dotting the azure blue above with stark white cotton ball forms. From the window, I watched blueberry picking in progress in late morning, a moving meditation for the human among the curious and playful breezes, insects and birds, at times feeling the cool shadow of a passing cloud overhead.
The hummingbirds have been quite active, probing the sweet pea blooms along the north border. Occasionally one hovers in front of a window, where I am stationed. Curiosity satisfied, they return to their duties among the flowers.
Wednesday, July 11th: The land has cooled down at this time; tendrils of night air bring in the scents of grasses, various forbs and dry earth. Another day comes to a close. Darkness does not descend upon us, rather it rises in the deepening band of purple-blue on the eastern horizon as the sun continues its westward run below the horizon, and the last glow fades. Stars make themselves known, the brighter ones a few at a time until blackness overtakes the dome, and vastness of space with its stellar community is revealed again.
Wednesday, July 18th: Sundown on July 18th was memorable, not so much in terms of color but in clarity of light. A clear night in progress here; the occasional breeze off the cooling land plays amid the chimes on the porch. Summer stridulators have replaced the chorus frogs of spring, changing the mood and tempo of the Nature’s nightly performance.
Friday, July 20th: I awoke to a cool and clear 43 degrees at 6:30 this morning. A small band of clouds appeared around the south to southwest horizon not long afterward, which have now almost overtaken us. Morning light dims, but somehow still maintains the sharp, crystalline look of daybreak. A light breeze has sprung up, gently rocking the vegetation at close to ground level. Another day begins.
We wish our readers a pleasant evening ahead, and safe travels to all wherever their destination in life may lead them.
-Resident Feline Correspondent Wynken, reporting for Salmon Brook Farms
Crossing contrails that have spread, and captured the last colors of the day in pink. Another day ends.
Music news (schedule posted on the Performance Schedule page)
I continue to enjoy playing out again, especially as a terminal musician. Juggling music, family, farm, and outside work, which pays the bills which enables us to play music and keep the farm (and cats) going, has kept me more than occupied. June and July have not been any more conducive to finishing music projects at home than May, but I did make time to attend John Doan’s 11th annual harp guitar retreat, a much needed refreshing and energizing four days at the end of June. Rick took excellent care of the cats while I was away, and he says they were very good boys and girls, mostly. It sounds like the nine of them kept him quite busy, with little time for anything else.
The harp guitar is a both a beautiful and amazing sounding instrument; I encourage readers to learn more about it, and the musicians that perform this kind of music. Readers can visit John Doan’s official website here and see videos of his concerts, presentations, and interviews. He is a master of the 20 string harp guitar, Emmy-nominated performer, composer, public speaker, historian, instrument collector and university professor.
In July we were visited by our traveling musician friends Laurie Jennings and Dana Keller. It is always a pleasure to hear them perform when they pass through our area. Please check their tour schedule. You may be able to catch them in California or Texas before they return to Florida at the end of October. They are considering a tour of the United Kingdom. Please don’t hesitate to contact them if you would like to see them in your area! You can catch their videos here.
If you are in the area and wish to see me play live, please visit the Performance Schedule page in the ring menu at the top of this post.
For those readers who are new or catching up, do visit the Salmon Brook Farms YouTube channel. Our first Tiny Farm Concerts one song music video was posted at the end of March, 2017. I am 15 years older and a good bit more grey since my first and only CD was released back in 2003, but still in the saddle. It has been an interesting ride, with more to come!
For those who have missed previous posts and wish to view the channel content, here are links to the previous two videos. There will be more videos when I can get back to this project.
The Orchard, our distributor, has placed some of our music from the Keepsake CD on YouTube. Anyone wishing to see the entire track listing and stories behind the songs should visit my personal page under MUSIC in the menu at the top of this post. Depending on what country you live in, the music placed on YouTube by The Orchard may be blocked. Readers can also access some songs from the CD via the old IUMA archive site. See https://archive.org/details/iuma-lavinia_ross
In the meantime, in your area, wherever you may be, please do all you can to help keep your own local music alive. Go out and see someone you don’t know, host a house concert, download songs or buy CDs. Or even just stop for a minute to hear someone at a Farmers’ Market. Live, local musicians provide a wealth of talent most people will never hear about in this age of iPods, Internet and TV.
For Nia, my Turkish friend and fellow cat lover. These flowers are part of a living memorial for her cat Surya who passed away earlier.
We received news of a small, curly-haired black dog named Mowglee, a dear companion to a friend (she does spell his name this way, not like R.K.’s Jungle Book character Mowgli), has passed away unexpectedly. He was 14, and suffered a seizure or stroke. Somewhere in the greater Universe, he is running, pain-free and unencumbered by the infirmities of advanced age. He will be missed by all who loved him.
Our feature photo this month is one of our more tenacious, scrappy and colorful residents, a shrub I believe is a most likely a flowering quince. Planted by the previous owner right next to the well house, Lucille soon outgrew her allotted space. I moved her some years ago, to a location where she could grow unfettered by human gardening sensibilities. She proved difficult to extract from the hard clay soil, having firmly entrenched herself by sending many roots far underneath the cement floor of the well house. Like the original Disney movie The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, starring Mickey Mouse, the numerous rootlets cut and left behind soon regrew into many, sending up stout shoots between cracks in the floor, and all around the building. It is now a continual struggle to keep her myriad offspring at bay.
Lucille, flowering quince
News from the farm
It has been a long, slow transition from the cold, damp reign of Old Man Winter. He has lurked about longer than usual this year, taking his time moving on down the road. The exuberant growth of spring cannot be contained for long, however, each species in turn rushing to complete its flowering cycle before the next phase. Daffodils have peaked and are now waning with the moon; bud break has occurred in the vineyard; the first iris has opened by the old garage.
First iris of the spring season!
Our only surviving tulips outside any planters, planted in gravel by the garage. Too much work for gophers and voles?
The skies of spring are highly changeable, drawn from the rivers of moisture flowing over the Pacific Northwest and painted with an artist’s eye from a palette of blues, greys, golds and white. Coming down off the foothills into the valley floor below, the sky often opens a bit for the observer. From here, one can see the armada of wind driven clouds sailing up the valley, heading north, some lodging like river foam along the banks of mountains, the Coastal and Cascade ranges. Each cloud floats at a level according to its buoyant density. Dark grey flat bottoms mark the lowest level of the heavily laden cumulonimbus, carrying the lavender grey and stark white mushroom towers and canyons above like floats in a parade. The still angled sun casts its gaze upon these travelers, highlighting their forms in shadow and light, much to the delight of the viewer at the bottom of the aerial river.
Crab apple tree in full bloom. The sky is typical of this time of year.
Our first thunderstorm of the season blew through on Saturday. Some partial clearing occurred that morning, soon followed by a flotilla of heavily laden cumulonimbus clouds sailing up from the southwest, creating an ever changing scene of intense sky blue, dark charcoal to white cloud over spring green and bright gold amid the passing storms. I feel the same sense of wonder at such things as I did as a small child, when such phenomena were fresh and new. Sight evokes a sense of touch at times. One can feel the movement of clouds overhead in the shadows racing across the land, of being in warm sun one minute, then in the cold shadow speeding by the next. Eventually, all became heavy and ominous as the aerial wanderers coalesced into something bigger and more powerful than themselves. The grey ceiling became ragged. Lightning flashed, thunder pealed and rain fell as pent up energy from the day was released.
Redbud tree reaches skyward on April 28th.
Rainbows in both the east and west are many, a promise of peace to come after a long winter and dark skies. The sweet musky fragrance of fruit tree blooms fills the air, most notable towards early evening. A growing symphony of chorus frogs ushers in the night.
An eastern rainbow created by setting sun and rain still falling as the bank of clouds moved on over the Cascades.
News from the Cats of Salmon Brook Farms
Correspondent Mr. Nano, ever watchful
Resident Feline Correspondent Mr. Nano has called upon Correspondents Miss Hope and Mr. Marcus to file their report for April. Sister and brother, they will be 11 years old this August. They have diligently been observing the farm from the window. Without further ado, Miss Hope and Mr. Marcus will present their findings.
Miss Hope (Left) and brother Mr. Marcus (right)
April came into being a wild, unruly month, not quite fitting of spring, yet no longer winter. On April 7th, the wind was quite energetic by sunrise, ripping the cloud cover apart; the sun spilled through a break in the east, lighting the undersides of a growing mass of clouds to the west in soft shades of light peach and lavender; the waning moon in its last quarter hung pale gold in a morning blue sky. It was not long before we spotted an intense rainbow to the southwest, a sign of an approaching rainstorm coming up through the pass.
A morning rainbow in the west. Weather was moving in quickly up through the southwest pass.
The weather front moving in quickly obliterated sunrise.
Common Dandelions, Taraxacum officinale, punctuate the green fields with their bright yellow faces, adding cheer as daffodils will not last long now with the increase in temperature. Rain-swollen lichens cling to most every branch, festooning the trees in a vibrant light green-grey. The remaining daffodils have bloomed as April bids adieu, and we greet the coming month of May.
The last of the daffodils. To the left are developing German bearded iris buds.
On many mornings, the coverlet of damp grey slowly rends under the rising sun into a patchwork of friendly cumulus, and sails away over the Cascades. Sometimes afternoon arrives before the sun makes an appearance.
A textured afternoon sky to the south.
The sun made more frequent appearances amid dark skies and rain squalls, making promises of warmer days to come. The contrast of bright golden light against heavy blue-grey nimbus on a freshly washed, emerald green landscape is a delight to behold at this transitional time of year. On some evenings, the sky presents itself as a masterpiece in brushstrokes of light golden cream to many shades of grey cloud on a fading light blue canvas. The days grow longer; the last light faded at about 8:50 PM on April 18th as a bright silhouette of the dark side of the moon appeared with the growing crescent moon, hanging in the sky like a large eye trained out into the greater Universe. A star to the left stared back at the moon, set against the deeper Maxfield Parrish colors of last light.
Petals from plum and cherry trees are beginning their annual descent from the trees, single spent blossoms falling here and there as the apple trees begin their blooming cycle. Soon their numbers will increase until the wandering breezes are filled with them, drifting like snow and settling on the green grass below. The air is filled with their sweet, musky scent; it is a pleasant view of the orchard.
Ox-eye daisy and fallen cherry tree petals. Ox-eye daisy will bloom short and close to the ground if mowed.
The blending of pink and white in the opening buds of apple trees is a visual delight.
The pear tree. Most years it flowers too early, a hard frost or two occurs, and we get few to no pears. This year may be different.
We wish our readers a pleasant evening ahead, and safe travels to wherever their destination in life may lead them.
Heading towards LAX in January. View from the window.
– Resident Feline Correspondent Miss Nod, reporting for Salmon Brook Farms
Music news (schedule posted on the Performance Schedule page)
I continue to enjoy playing out again. April has not been any more conducive to finishing projects than March, and I will make no further excuses. Things will be done when they will be done.
For those readers who are new or catching up, do visit the Salmon Brook Farms YouTube channel. Our first Tiny Farm Concerts one song music video was posted at the end of March, 2017. I am 15 years older and a good bit more grey since my first and only CD was released back in 2003, but still in the saddle. It has been an interesting ride, with more to come! Do keep an eye on more content appearing from time to time.
For those who have missed previous posts and wish to view the channel content, here are links to the previous two videos.
The Orchard, our distributor, has placed some of our music from the Keepsake CD on YouTube. Anyone wishing to see the entire track listing and stories behind the songs should visit my personal page under MUSIC in the menu at the top of this post. Depending on what country you live in, the music placed on YouTube by The Orchard may be blocked. Readers can also access some songs from the CD via the old IUMA archive site. See https://archive.org/details/iuma-lavinia_ross
In the meantime, in your area, wherever you may be, please do all you can to help keep your own local music alive. Go out and see someone you don’t know, host a house concert, download songs or buy CDs. Or even just stop for a minute to hear someone at a Farmers’ Market. Live, local musicians provide a wealth of talent most people will never hear about in this age of iPods, Internet and TV.
Our feature photo for this month is of a colony of what I believe is Usnea longissima, or Methuselah’s Beard Lichen, growing on an apple tree along with some Parmelia sulcata, or Hammered Shield Lichen. They are quite common here, and can be seen hanging about on many trees around the farm. When these lichens are swollen with rain in winter, distant heavily festooned deciduous trees appear to be clothed in light grey-green leaves, riding out winter alongside their dark green coniferous cousins.
Feature photo for December 2017, Methuselah’s Beard Lichen, growing on an apple tree along with some Parmelia sulcata, or Hammered Shield Lichen. Click on any photo in this post to enlarge.
News from the farm
The month of December passed quickly on our little farm in the Cascade foothills. The days have been a highly variable mix of cloud, rain and sun, warm to numbingly cold days and many nights below freezing.
Land of the Long Grey Cloud, a southern view from the farm on Christmas day. Many winter mornings begin this way.
Or begin this way, dawn’s colors reflected on the underside of morning clouds.
Or perhaps in misty pastel colors.
Or rose-colored contrails.
Old Man Winter established himself here early on, but seems to be currently occupied with the eastern regions of the country as they experience extremely cold and harsh conditions. By contrast, our weather here today in western Oregon was in the mid 50s, sunny and pleasant. We will enjoy his forgetfulness, while we can.
Christmas morning.
Fresh late-season apples were still clinging to trees in the early part of December, including a neighboring tree that has grown branches over the fenceline and over the roof of our shed.
The last hold outs, for birds only now. They were quite tasty and crisp earlier in the month.
The larger, hungry birds have since worked their way down the tree, drilling holes and slashing fruit with their beaks. They are welcome gleaners. Everyone must eat.
Daffodils in warmer areas with good southern exposure have already shaken off their slumber and begun the journey back up to the world of light. Many sport buds, which will remain tightly closed until mid to late January.
Daffodils coming up by the old garage amid purple columbine seedlings on Christmas day.
Wild garlic chives stand tall above winter’s green but slower growing grass. Pocket gophers tunnel everywhere, mounds piled up and plugged above the entrances. Life stirs below as well as above. I note where the tunnels are, and will collect their leavings for the gardens and barrel planters.
Gopher mounds amid the wild garlic chives.
As the afternoon comes to a close, a gibbous moon hangs in the eastern sky, white and marbled, like quartz tumbled by the sea. My mother called such treasures cast up by the waves moonstones, and I think of her when I see the moon, looming large over the horizon, ghostly pale against a fading blue sky. Another year has passed; I am another year older, acutely aware of my own time and its passage here. Mercury vapor and high pressure sodium barn and utility pole lights will soon glow like blue-green and orange stars on the surrounding hills as the sun dips below the horizon, and last light fades. The sky is mostly clear tonight, and will be down in the 20s by morning. A visit from Jack Frost and his silver brush is expected to close out the year.
We are thankful for all that we have, and enjoy life’s simple pleasures at this time of year.
An important and timely message for the world from the producers of these cheery and colorful crocus bulbs.
News from the Cats of Salmon Brook Farms
Correspondent Nano, ever watchful.
Resident Feline Correspondent Mr. Nano has observed much from his window this month, and has once again sent the photographer out to investigate. Without further ado, Mr. Nano will present his findings.
The winter solstice has passed, and slowly, imperceptibly, the days are lengthening. The foxes have continued to be sighted near the border of the hazelnut grove; their nightly vocalizations are muted by windows closed against the cold. Out in the grove itself, life stirs. A plump squirrel has taken up residence in the old ash tree, nest visible up high. He will need to exercise caution when foraging below; many would find him a good source of much needed calories at this time of year. In protected areas, the Lilliputian forests of ferns, mosses and lichens abound.
Ferns growing at the base of the old feral apple tree, one of the guardians of the tunnel to the back lot.
Mosses and lichens on a hazelnut tree.
Possible signs of nutria have been sighted in the form of small tunnels coming out of the underbrush leading to areas where the grass has been clipped short. We have noted that the last set of nutria that lived here liked to “farm” an area, keeping a patch of grass clipped short to provide tender growth for their dining pleasure. Fresh scat has not been found, however, or an actual nutria sighted this season. The presence of foxes about may have left them more wary.
A young blacktail doe, probably one of this year’s fawns, wandered through the orchard, casually nibbling grass. We found it surprising that they appear to urinate by squatting like a cat. The photographer was too slow at getting the camera to catch this in progress.
Pruning of the vineyards has commenced, as it does each December, beginning in the table grapes, and ending in the pinot noir vineyard behind the deer fencing.
Unpruned vine in the foreground. Vines pruned back to two canes in the row behind.
A venerable old table grape vine pruned back to two canes.
Cuttings have been made of the Glenora Black Seedless table grapes, and started in pots filled with gopher mound dirt. The pots will remain in the drainage area for now to keep them wet until bud break.
Glenora Black Seedless cuttings potted up for the winter.
December has been sunnier and drier than the previous year, leaving many days to observe clouds forming in the blue rivers of moisture above.
A view from the back lot looking west.
Multilevel cloud formations, all floating at their point of buoyant density.
Friends of the farm have sent us identification and propagation challenges. Anyone having experience propagating wild Columbia Lily from seed is encouraged to contact me. Columbia Lily is a native lily with a tall stalk, orange tiger lily like flowers, and seed pods similar to Columbine.
This photo was sent by a friend in Cornelius who lives in a house previously owned by an avid gardener, who may be deceased at this time and unavailable for questions. We believe this plant is in the mallow family. A positive ID is requested. Readers may click on the photo to enlarge.
A kind of mallow, perhaps?
Father Time continues his slow, steady tread into the coming year, taking us with him. We see the changes in the land, and feel the changes in ourselves. Everything is temporary, including ourselves. Choose wisely, plant happiness wherever possible. We wish all our readers a peaceful and bountiful year ahead.
Resident Feline Correspondent Nano, reporting for Salmon Brook Farms
Correspondent Nod, decided to have an eye to eye conversation with Rick regarding the vineyard.
Correspondent Blynken (left) and retired Correspondent Willow (right), warming themselves in the winter sun.
Music news (schedule posted on the Performance Schedule page)
I am enjoying the winter hours of slower days, long cool nights, and more time to spend on music. I completely burned out in 2015 during the last year Rick’s mother was alive and with us, trying to work part-time, play music and provide round the clock care, resulting in my taking 2016 off entirely to recover my health. This has been a year of slowly regaining my sea legs as a performer.
For those readers who are new or catching up, the Salmon Brook Farms YouTube channel now has content, and our first Tiny Farm Concerts one song music video was posted at the end of March. I am 14 years older and a good bit more grey since my first and only CD was released back in 2003, but still in the saddle. It has been an interesting ride, with more to come! Do keep an eye on more content appearing from time to time, now that the harvest season, and holiday season, has passed.
For those who have missed previous posts and wish to view the channel content, here are links to the previous two videos.
The Orchard, our distributor, has placed some of our music from the Keepsake CD on YouTube. Anyone wishing to see the entire track listing and stories behind the songs should visit my personal page under MUSIC in the menu at the top of this post. Depending on what country you live in, the music placed on YouTube by The Orchard may be blocked. Readers can also access some songs from the CD via the old IUMA archive site. See https://archive.org/details/iuma-lavinia_ross
In the meantime, in your area, wherever you may be, please do all you can to help keep your own local music alive. Go out and see someone you don’t know, host a house concert, download songs or buy CDs. Or even just stop for a minute to hear someone at a Farmers’ Market. Live, local musicians provide a wealth of talent most people will never hear about in this age of iPods, Internet and TV.
Bookings and home-grown produce:
Lavinia and Rick Ross Salmon Brook Records / Salmon Brook Farms
A primrose in winter, photo taken 12/30/2017. This plant was being thrown away, and found sitting out by a dumpster, sad and dehydrated. It was rescued and planted out front here at the farm. It has rewarded us with blooms for years, even in winter.
Our feature photo for September, 2017 is of a gladiola that came up in the cherry tree garden planted for our Belgian friend Herman to remember his mother, brother, sister and cats Glippe and Mrs. Jones. The old cherry tree, a black tartarian, produced buckets of delicious soft, dark fruit in early summer. This garden was full of cheery daffodils this spring, and irises and daylilies later on before the real heat was upon us. I particularly loved this late season swath of color against the grey, lenticeled bark of the tree. The green swords provided visual relief to the dormant grasses beyond, burned and dried under summer’s relentless sun to a tan-white, crunching underfoot.
Herman’s cherry tree garden. Herman and my favorite British Shorthair cat, Mr. Bowie, can be found at https://hopedog.wordpress.com/
With many days in the 90s and 100s and little to no rain, this summer has been a particularly brutal one for keeping plantings alive while conserving water, and our well pump, as much as possible. Rooted in place, trees and garden residents wait patiently during the dry season for the return of rain in autumn.
News from the farm
Early September found us still engulfed in heat and drought amid the dragon’s breath of heavy smoke from forest fires around the region, with no rain in sight. Late summer is a difficult seasonal period to work through; air quality tends to be poor; eyes itch and burn and the lungs feel congested. Endless spot-watering and resuscitation of plantings wear one down as much as the heat and smoke.
The evening of September 3, 2017, southeastern view. We heard much of our smoke this year was from the Sisters, Brookings and Cascade Locks fires, which sent considerable smoke down the valley.
The morning of September 4, 2017, eastern view.
As the nights grow longer, Autumn finally arrives, cloaked in morning mists which form, settle in, then rise with the sun, eventually becoming part of the wandering herds of clouds passing through during the day. Dawn’s quickly changing colors and veiled scenes are among Nature’s finest displays of her art. In the geologic bowl where this farm resides, silver-grey mists condense and stratify as the light grows, showing only the jagged peaks of conifers on the surrounding hills. The first rays of sunlight are an alchemist’s dream, turning silver into gold; I quietly observe the transformation in awe. As the sun continues to climb, colors fade; the now bright white veil thins and rises, revealing the land below. Another day begins.
This particular scene is from November 2013, but shows a lovely golden mist in progress.
The season continues to unfold. Heavier, brooding clouds are seen more frequently; the first rain brings the welcome odor of petrichor. It is only enough precipitation to settle the dust and clear residual smoke, but not enough to quench the thirst of the land for water. Clouds, each floating at their point of buoyant density, give a textural feeling of depth to the wild sky, revealing dark caverns, canyons and sinkholes.
The eastern sky on September18th.
Sunrises show promise of saturated dawn colors and colorful cloud formations as equinox approaches. A few fractures in the cloud cover after sundown glow like rose-colored embers of the dying day.
Sunset, eastern view, on September 17th. The last long rays of sun reflected off of clouds to the east. I don’t take many sundown photos from a western view until winter, when the sun sets far enough south that I can avoid power lines and utility poles in the photos.
The days come and go along with the moon and the equinox. The pleasant staccato of rain on the metal roof signals a more significant storm in progress. Multiple passing storms drench the farm with life-giving moisture and warm sun, followed by rainbows. An EF0 tornado touched down early one morning in a town not far from here, severely damaging one dairy. Fortunately, none of the cows were harmed, not being in the barn at the time. The pleasant staccato took on the sound of machine gun fire as the winds and rain from this storm reached us. We suffered no damage here, but were reminded we are continually at the mercy of Nature. There will be good years, and bad.
The cycle continues. The moon returns, a beautiful half moon up there hanging pale gold above the trees on clearer nights. In the west, clouds form like curds out of the moisture laden air. Food from our own garden is on the table, and it is warm inside.
News from the Cats of Salmon Brook Farms
Correspondent Nano, ever watchful.
Correspondent Nano has observed much from his window this month, and has sent the photographer out to investigate. Without further ado, Mr. Nano will present his findings, including the state of the current vintage.
As the days grow shorter, the sounds, scents and scenes of late summer and early autumn catch my attention. The symphony of late season stridulators perform as the afternoon fades, the temperature drops and the night comes into its own. In the distance, the unusual growly barking of the grey foxes can be heard. The foxes, of which there were five at last count, have been observed eating grapes from the vineyard, and leaving scat filled with grape pips about the farm.
Non-netted table grapes showing fox, bird, wasp and bee damage. Stripped clean!
Resident grey fox, photo taken earlier this summer. They are now eating grapes along with wasps, bees and birds, although few larger birds have been seen this year except for quail.
A chorus of coyotes began to crescendo under the window in the early hours one morning. Eerie yet beautiful, these songs also strike fear into the heart of any sensible feline.
California quail with their musical liquid calls have returned to the farm, but curiously, we have seen very few larger birds such as jays, starlings, robins and flickers. These species usually begin the raids on the vineyard and orchard.
The changing weather affected two other species we have been watching. The paper wasps that built their nest in the blueberry bush lost their nest after a wind and rainstorm. Survivors have continued to remain at the old nest site, huddling and possibly feeding on shriveling blueberries. Readers may review their story on our previous posts for July and August.
The wasps as of this morning. There has been no nest for some weeks now,although they remain at the site.
The garden spider continued to remain in her hunting hideout amid the cornstalks for some time, taking shelter under corn leaves during storms. She was not found this morning.
Our resident Argiope aurantia, on September 18th. A tiny fly was caught in her web, left and above her leg.
The garden is still producing; some plants winding down, some in full swing.
Last of the summer beans. This variety of stringbean is called Black Creaseback. The mature beans inside the pods are black. The seeds were kindly sent to us by a friend back east. The plants are shutting down now, although there are still some flowers and some developing beans.
On September 23rd, the decision was made to start a 4 gallon test batch of wine, as the non-netted grapes were showing signs of predation. Four trays of the ripest pinot noir were selected and harvested, crushed by hand, and fermentation with Epernay II started in a 16 qt stainless steel stockpot, as was done the previous year. The brix level was roughly 18% as they were not fully ripe. The vintners hope for a light pinot rosé from this run, which was named “Wigadoon” for all the resident earwigs that were evicted before and during processing. Numerous ladybugs and stink bugs were also removed. These are normal residents found in grapes, and another reason why the vintner likes to hand process. Another test will take place in early October, when the grapes should be a bit riper, weather permitting.
Pinot noir, reading for crushing.
Four trays hand processes enough juice for about 4 gallons.
Resident Feline Correspondent Nano, reporting for Salmon Brook Farms
Thank you, Mr. Nano!
Music news (schedule posted on the Performance Schedule page)
I will be returning to the Spokane Fall Folk Festival this November after being away for a number of years due to elder care duties. See our post In Loving Memory, December 2015. I took 2016 off from performing to recover my health and recharge, and I am looking forward to seeing friends old and new.
For those readers who are new or catching up, the Salmon Brook Farms YouTube channel now has content, and our first Tiny Farm Concerts one song music video was posted at the end of March. I am 14 years older and a good bit more grey since my first and only CD was released back in 2003, but still in the saddle. It has been an interesting ride, with more to come! I have received a request for a video of “Believe in Tomorrow” from the Keepsake CD, so that task is still in my work queue, which gets longer and harder to keep up with in summer. I have no new videos this summer due to all the activity here, but do keep an eye on more content appearing from time to time, once the harvest season has passed.
For those who have missed previous posts and wish to view the channel content, here are links to the previous two videos.
The Orchard, our distributor, has placed some of our music from the Keepsake CD on YouTube. Anyone wishing to see the entire track listing and stories behind the songs should visit my personal page under MUSIC in the menu at the top of this post. Depending on what country you live in, the music placed on YouTube by The Orchard may be blocked. Readers can also access some songs from the CD via the old IUMA archive site. See https://archive.org/details/iuma-lavinia_ross
In the meantime, in your area, wherever you may be, please do all you can to help keep your own local music alive. Go out and see someone you don’t know, host a house concert, download songs or buy CDs. Or even just stop for a minute to hear someone at a Farmers’ Market. Live, local musicians provide a wealth of talent most people will never hear about in this age of iPods, Internet and TV.
Bookings and home-grown produce: Lavinia and Rick Ross Salmon Brook Records / Salmon Brook Farms
A cheerful sunflower growing in front of the well house, wishing readers a pleasant evening. Deer had initially bitten off the center bud. This flower grew from a side shoot which formed after the terminal bud was ingested. Perseverance in the face of roaming cervids is an admirable trait.
Our feature photo for May is of the line of apple trees near the house, earlier this month when they were all sporting a profusion of blooms. This particular day opened with an assortment of cumulus, cirrus and altocumulus clouds painted in textured strokes of white mixed with the pastel colors of dawn on a canvas of early morning blue. The scene continually shifted as the day progressed on into evening: thin, high cirrus clouds, towering cumulus, developing stratus and distant nascent nimbus. The scent of earth and new vegetation clung to moisture-laden air moisture as flashes of lightning appeared to the southeast of us over the Cascades, followed by the low roll of thunder. Although no storms passed directly overhead, the quiet stillness gave one the feeling that the evening was waiting for something.
Feature photo for May 2017. Click on any photo in this post to enlarge for detail.
News from the farm
The month of May arrived, cold and wet, at our little farm in the Cascade foothills. Pacific chorus frogs provided nightly music, the annual symphony to accompany life continuing in all it cycles. The days grew steadily longer, punctuated with sunshine and dry days, even as the temperature fluctuated. Seeds that had been started earlier in the season under plant lights and on heating mats in the old garage grew steadily, and most of them have now graduated to life in the greenhouse on the porch, hardening off before continuing the next phase of their life in the main garden. The apple trees were particularly showy, adorned with more pink and white blossoms that I can remember. I recall a poem by Robert Frost, “Good-bye and Keep Cold”. Perhaps the long, cold winter has been good for them, and we will be rewarded with a good harvest.
The brightly colored trumpets of daffodils slowly gave way to the deeper and quieter colors of irises. Roses and daylilies are now assuming their strategic position as color guards in the garden, standing tall above ox eye daisy, dandelion and buttercup growing wild in the yard. The roses still show signs of black spot fungus from the cool wet spring; later blooms will be more exuberant, ruffled skirts flaring wide like flamenco dancers.
These many irises of this type are all descendants of a few given to us by friends. Hardy souls with a light, sweet, musky scent, I manage to divide and move some around every year, expanding their territory.
The first daylilies of the season
Clear mornings bring a creamsicle colored eastern sky as well as the deep lavender and rose colors of receding darkness in the west. Mists begin to rise and coalesce, and either drift away up over the mountains, or very quickly spread like spilled milk into an overcast sky for most of the morning. Sun breaking through the cover stirs up a good breeze that sails us into the afternoon, and the daytime temperature may reach into the 80s on some days.
Blooming chives add color and seasoning to the kitchen garden outside the door.
Work in the garden can continue after dinner during these longer days. I feel the air temperature drop as the sun sinks further behind the hills to the west, which has now taken on the hues of early morning. I stop and observe the color change unfold above as the night progresses. The growing moon with its thin, bright crescent and illuminated silhouette, appears like a giant eye trained on the greater universe, set against the Maxfield Parrish colors of last light. All is as it should be at this time, a moment to record in mind’s eye, a memory to cherish.
Table grapes in progress.
Pinot noir in the test block on rope trellis.
Pinot noir in the main block on conventional wire trellis.
We have a short row of a mix of Early Muscat and Gewürztraminer. So far, all vines are doing well and progressing nicely.
News from the Cats of Salmon Brook Farms
Our resident feline correspondents are busy this month working diligently on their assignments, although in their case, it is often difficult to distinguish working from loafing. Correspondent Nanohas contacted the Sicilian feline correspondents regarding a story they have been working on this spring, the story of Lucky, and how he came to live at the olive farm there.
Correspondent Nano, always watchful.
Before turning this section of the newsletter over to Sicilian FelineCorrespondent Lucky, Mr. Nano would like to introduce readers to editor, author, teacher and musician Lorraine Anderson. Lorraine can be found at Earth & Eros,http://earth-and-eros.blogspot.com/ Lorraine updates Earth & Eros twice a year at the solstices, and can also be found at http://www.ecoeditoronline.com/
Without further ado, Mr. Nano presents Sicilian FelineCorrespondent Lucky, who has filed the report for May.
A view of the Sicilian countryside. Photo credit MG/JP.
There are times when sheer luck and circumstance save the less fortunate of us from an untimely demise. My own astute and compassionate human rescuer spied me stumbling about on the streets of our little town here in Sicily. My odd behavior having caught her attention, she observed me as I repeatedly fell off the sidewalk into the street, noting that I was hugging the curb as a reference point. This determined angel, whom I was unable to see or appreciate, swiftly came to me and lifted me up, saving me from certain death. I was so frightened, however, that I scratched and clawed her, trying to escape. Fortunately for me, she had an iron grip as well as compassionate heart. I found myself incarcerated, although I later learned that I had been rescued and instated on their farm as Lucky, Prince of la Casa delle 36 Zampe, as the House of 36 Paws is known in Italian. And Lucky me, I have not one, but two doting humans!
Lucky in younger days. Photo credit MG/JP.
After several trips to a medical facility and two surgeries to remove my eyes that had been damaged beyond repair, I am now free of chronic eye infections. The kind veterinarian, now known to me as my Auntie Rita, took very good care of me as I learned to adjust. It has been more than four years now, and I am quite acclimated to my indoor and outdoor surroundings; I have even climbed trees! Lulu, my house-mate and fellow correspondent, is the most attentive and playful of my fellow feline companions, and is an expert at the game of Cat Rolling, a game where Lulu rushes me and makes me roll over. I am aware there are at least four or five other feline correspondents living outside on this farm, and I have a hard time keeping them straight.
Little Lulu as a new refugee at the House of 36 Paws. Photo credit MG/JP.
My duties as the Prince of the House are many. My most important function is napping in one of my many favorite spots, followed by making demands of my humans as only a cat of my ranking can do. Keeping Bob, Hilda and Little Girl, the three big dogs, properly respectful of me requires more energy, resulting in additional napping. Little Girl and Hilda have learned to give me a wide berth; Bob, however, knows that he must greet me quickly then retreat before I give him the royal greeting, a stiff nose-biff. In my spare time, I oversee tending of the olive trees and the garden, investigating the many fascinating sounds and odors outside. The bees are having a go at the second batch of blooming lavender, among other things. The olive trees are loaded with blossoms this year and we hope nothing goes wrong before the fruit is set. A bad rainstorm would really impede the pollination.
Lucky investigating an olive tree! Photo credit MG/JP.
Although I am blind, my hearing is highly acute; the many sounds of the farm, including birds as they call and flit through the trees and lizards and small mammals as they rustle in the grass, paint a detailed acoustic image of my world.
Lucky, hard at work investigating the garden. Photo credit MG/JP.
My fellow correspondents take me on short excursions through the fence to land they tell me is owned by a neighboring human. My own people watch over me as best they can. I am, however, very good at hiding from them. Not a day goes by when I don’t hear their plaintive cries of “Lucky, Lucky where are you?” I have a very good life and I am indeed Lucky in both name and happy circumstance.
I would like to close my report by introducing readers to our friend and house musician Patrizia Capizzi. She is a dear friend, talented musician and animal lover. Readers can find her at https://www.youtube.com/user/MyBlueBossa
– Sicilian Feline Correspondent Lucky, reporting from the House of 36 Paws.
Music news (schedule posted on the Performance Schedule page)
Readers, please do take a moment to visit Patricia Capizzi’s site listed above.
For those readers who are new or catching up, the Salmon Brook Farms YouTube channel now has content, and our first Tiny Farm Concerts one song music video was posted at the end of March. I am 14 years older and a good bit more grey since my first and only CD was released back in 2003, but still in the saddle. It has been an interesting ride, with more to come! I have received a request for a video of “Believe in Tomorrow” from the “Keepsake”CD, so that task will be in my work queue. Having just come through Memorial Day weekend, I opted to post a video of “Remembered Goodbyes”, which is also on the original CD. The CD version of this instrumental also features Jim Lamontagne on fretless bass.
The Orchard, our distributor, has placed some of our music from the Keepsake CD on YouTube. Anyone wishing to see the entire track listing and stories behind the songs should visit my personal page under MUSIC in the menu at the top of this post. Depending on what country you live in, the music placed on YouTube by The Orchard may be blocked. Readers can also access some songs from the CD via the old IUMA archive site. See https://archive.org/details/iuma-lavinia_ross
In the meantime, in your area, wherever you may be, please do all you can to help keep your own local music alive. Go out and see someone you don’t know, host a house concert, download songs or buy CDs. Or even just stop for a minute to hear someone at a Farmers’ Market. Live, local musicians provide a wealth of talent most people will never hear about in this age of iPods, Internet and TV.
Bookings and home-grown produce: Lavinia and Rick Ross Salmon Brook Records / Salmon Brook Farms
Our feature photo for Aprilis of a honeybee coming in for a landing on an airstrip of crabapple blossoms.
Our feature photo for April 2017. Click on any photo in this post to enlarge for detail. The bee is just to the left and above center.
Her baskets will soon be loaded with delicious, nutritious pollen, like her sister shown in the photos below. The crabapple trees in the front gardens were alive with the sound of these industrious little sisters; the lighting and breezes were cooperative in capturing their beauty. Nothing says spring quite like bees happily sipping nectar and gathering pollen on a soft, blue sky day marbled with cirrus clouds. “Gather ye pollen while ye may” the sisters say, with acknowledgement to poet Robert Herrick, and to any other bees who may have expressed similar thoughts on such a fine day. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poems/detail/46546
The bee in the center has loaded pollen baskets.
Same bee, but I loved photographing her, as she was one of my more cooperative subjects. Here she is again in a side view.
News from the farm
The skies of April 7th were the theater for this year’s epic battle between Old Man Winterand Spring as Warrior Princess. We were awakened around 5:45 AM by strong winds ringing the alarm in the chimes, a call to stations; by 7:30 AM we had lost power and phone service. A double rainbow appearing in the west against a dark, heavy sky indicated more was coming our direction.
Double rainbow in the west as the storm approaches.
Many rounds of high winds and heavy rain were fired throughout the day, lifting the neighbor’s tarp-covered metal frame shed from two doors down and smashing it up against the fence next door. Their chicken coop, still under construction, took a direct hit; I watched as the tar paper on the roof was ripped off and blew away. Considerable damage from falling trees, loss of services and some loss of life occurred in this unusual storm for April in western Oregon. We were fortunate not to have sustained any damage here on the farm other than downed limbs; the greenhouses held to their anchors, although the contents were found dumped on the floor. By the end of the day, Spring emerged victorious, as she always does, leaving a Rainbow of Peace in the eastern sky.
A rainbow in the east at day’s end. A storm of this magnitude is unusual for April in Oregon.
She was quite shaken, though, by this unexpected intrusion into her time and place, and has shown restraint in unleashing all the green growing things in her care, unlike the previous April. Yet life is driven by the growing light levels as much as warmth, and will not be denied access to the world for long; leaf buds and blossoms have opened, leaving the farm soft, green and full of color.
Sun-dappled vinca blooming along the north border.
The cherry tree garden in bloom. This grand old Black Tartarian cherry tree produces a soft, dark and very sweet, flavorful cherry.
Ladybugs are out and about on the farm. This one has found a pleasant sunning spot on a lemon balm leaf.
Chive blossoms preparing to open.
News from the Cats of Salmon Brook Farms
Correspondent Nano volunteered to cover the April report, and has provided an interesting ghostly selfie of him watching over the farm. Not much escapes Correspondent Nano’s sharp eyes!
Correspondent Nano, hard at work keeping an eye and an ear tuned on the farm and all its residents.
This April, he sent the resident photographer on assignment to investigate particular areas of interest and bring back photographic proof for his report.
Without further ado, we presentMr. Nano, Resident Feline Correspondent of Salmon Brook Farms.
The days have been steadily growing longer and brighter as the season progresses. Sunrise and sunsets have been been particularly colorful, although the photographer must be available and prepared to catch them in the rapidly changing light that occurs at the beginning and end of the day.
Sunrise on April 2, 2017
Pruning of the vineyards was completed in March, and bud break has finally occurred. These tender buds are now at the mercy of spring frosts, especially multiple spring frosts which can kill secondary bud development.
Bud break in the table grapes.
Although more typical of weather patterns over a decade ago, the unusually cool, wet spring has not only delayed the time of fruit tree blossoming in comparison with recent years, but also appears to have extended the bloom time of daffodils. The scent of so many different blossoms can be intoxicating on days when it is sufficiently warm enough to open the windows.
The ancient lilac on the northern border.
Daffodil “Thalia”, I think. There are also “Mt. Hood”daffodils planted in that space.
I have since forgotten which variety this one is, but it is a particularly long bloomer.
The fig tree, started several years ago from a cutting provided by our friend Lyn, has grown tall, and finally had to be planted outside. It appears to have survived the winter in its sunny, sheltered location, and has produced new growth.
The fig tree lives to see spring outdoors!
As April comes to a close, we wish our readers a pleasant month ahead, good food and the warmth of family and friends.
– Mr. Nano, Resident Feline Correspondent reporting from Salmon Brook Farms
Thank youMr. Nano!
Correspondent Nano, off-duty and relaxing as only a cat can.
Postcards and Letters
We received a beautiful postcard from our blogger friend Doug and his cats Andy and Dougy over “Weggieboy’s blog – surviving retirement with two cats”. Doug is an inspiration; I admire his fortitude and cheerful wit in the face of adversity. He has a disease called Wegener’s granulomatosis– now called GPA– that attacks the small and medium-sized blood vessels in the body, hence the “Weggieboy” part of the name of his blog. His Persian cat brothers Andy (named after the patron saint of Scotland, St. Andrew) and Dougy (named after Doug himself; Douglas is about as Scottish as you can get) provide plenty of material for a daily blog about life with his two feline companions, my two favorite Persian brothers. Readers can visit Doug and cats Andy and Dougy at https://phainopepla95.com
Willow enjoying the card from Doug!
“Turn it over and let me read it!” she says.
A wonderful postcard!
Music news (schedule posted on the Performance Schedule page)
For those readers who may have missed our post last month, The Salmon Brook Farms YouTube channelnow has content, and our first Tiny Farm Concerts one song music video was posted at the end of March. I am 14 years older and a good bit more grey since my first and only CD was released back in 2003, but still in the saddle. It has been an interesting ride, with more to come! I have received a request for a video of “Believe in Tomorrow” from the “Keepsake”CD, so that task will be in my work queue. April has been busy month on many fronts, and I expect to be catching up on this project in May.
The Orchard, our distributor, has placed some of our music from the Keepsake CD on YouTube. Anyone wishing to see the entire track listing and stories behind the songs should visit my personal page under MUSIC in the menu at the top of this post. Depending on what country you live in, the music placed on YouTube by The Orchard may be blocked. Readers can also access some songs from the CD via the old IUMA archive site. See https://archive.org/details/iuma-lavinia_ross
In the meantime, in your area, wherever you may be, please do all you can to help keep your own local music alive. Go out and see someone you don’t know, host a house concert, download songs or buy CDs. Or even just stop for a minute to hear someone at a Farmers’ Market. Live, local musicians provide a wealth of talent most people will never hear about in this age of iPods, Internet and TV.
Bookings and home-grown produce: Lavinia and Rick Ross Salmon Brook Records / Salmon Brook Farms
Our feature photo this month is a of a cluster of wild blackberries that bloomed late and were attempting to ripen in the latter part of November. Any cane fruit found at this time of year has little to no flavor, and little to no hope of fully ripening. They did provide a colorful centerpiece amid the ambient tans and browns of autumn in this photo.
The apple tunnel a week earlier in November.
The apple tunnel, that magical gateway to the wild area of the farm, still has some very tasty apples hanging from it, although a few less now since this photo was taken on November 22nd. Formed by an old feral apple tree that fell over but did not die, this old tree is one of my favorite denizens of the back lot.
News from the farm
Another day retreats into the shadows on our little farm in the Cascade foothills. The high pressure sodium and mercury vapor lights on the barns and utility poles of neighboring farms are already glowing softly in shades of orange and greenish-yellow, colored stars on the hillsides as the light fades, and the still air of early evening has taken on a pronounced chill. After days of rain, mists and damp, the sun’s warmth and soft, low-angled light prevailed today. Only a few cirrus clouds are present to witness daylight’s end. In the southwest sky, a single, bright star appears on the celestial canvas of Maxfield Parrish colors. I stand in awe of the Universe, and in unity with all its creations.
Sunrise on November 26th. Sunrise and sunset, the bookends of the day, are my favorite times.
A different sunset I was more successful capturing on camera. The sun appeared briefly though an opening in the clouds long enough to generate a rainbow in the east in the next photo. My favorite black locust tree, the same one seen on our “About ” page, adds a lacy dimension on the backdrop of multi-layered storm clouds.
The fleeting rainbow in the east at sunset.
For those readers interested in following up on our winemaking experiments from last month, I cautiously ventured into the refrigerator where the stock pot of nascent wine had been cold stabilizing and sedimenting. I ladled a sample into a glass, and was quite surprised to find that although light-bodied, as expected from late in the season Cascade table grapes, the wine actually had some character to it, a fruity nose reminiscent of golden apple and was perfectly healthy! Being a resourceful and thrifty soul without standard winemaking equipment, I ladled the remaining liquid into jars and returned them to the refrigerator to finish sedimenting. The brown goo left in the bottom of the stock pot consists of sedimented grape solids (grape lees) and sedimented dead yeast (yeast lees), which was promptly composted. Rick was served a glass after dinner tonight, for proper evaluation purposes. Our test wine, at roughly 10% alcohol fermented dry, was against all odds dubbed a successful “Cascade Kabinett”.
October’s Cascade table grapes were used for winemaking experiments. Quail, Inc and other avian as well as hymenopteran friends happily ate our pinot noir, which was not netted.
The clearest wine is in the half-gallon jars on the right. They will continue to sediment in the refrigerator until ready to rack off again. Jar #1 is headed for immediate consumption.
Grape and yeast sediment headed for the compost pile.
News from the Cats of Salmon Brook Farms
The Three Sisters filed a report last month, and left this month’s report to our other correspondents MissAbby (Eleanor of Aquitaine), Mr.Lucio, Mr.Marcus,MissHope, Mr.Nano and Willow, Calico Matriarch. Unfortunately, all our remaining correspondents listed above were found sleeping on the job, with nothing new to contribute this month.
Correspondent Abby, who prefers the title Eleanor of Aquitaine, catching a nap. She said it must be Mr. Lucio’s turn to file a report.
Correspondent Lucio, who says he thought Mr. Marcus was filing this month.
Correspondent Marcus, blissfully asleep. Now who would want to disturb him? We turned to Miss Hope.
Correspondent Hope looking warily at the camera. Surely I must be mistaken? Ask Mr. Nano. He may have seen something out the window worth reporting.
Correspondent Nano, looking groggily at the camera. Would prefer to go back to sleep. Ask Willow, Calico Matriarch. She’s always watching the neighbors.
Correspondent Willow, not even bothering to look at the camera. Call Otis!
Fortunately our Northeast Regional Correspondent had a report ready and waiting, so without further delay, we present Otis, Northeast Regional Feline Correspondent, and his report on late autumn in Connecticut.
The dreariness of November has settled upon us here in Connecticut. It is a transition month along with March where Mother Nature is caught between trying to decide if she should bestow upon us rain or snow, sun or clouds, warm temperatures or cold ones. It is a fickle month and one that I am not too fond of! December is closing in quickly and will hopefully be more consistent weather-wise, although last year it reached over 60 degrees on Christmas Day!
A November snow in Connecticut. Photo credit C. M.
I spend much of my time now settled happily in my basket by the woodstove or snuggled into the sheepskin throw on the window seat.
Mr. Otis, Northeast Regional Feline Correspondent. Photo credit C. M.
On days where the temperatures are mild I will leave my creature comforts and venture outside to the “man cave” to watch golf with my master or up to the barn to lurk between the hay bales for rodent activity, of which, sadly, there is little due to the “Reign of Izzy”.
Mr. Otis in his loft. Nothing escapes his attention! Photo credit C.M.
The ponies now look like woolly mammoths with their winter coats. They are arctic animals, so they love it when temperatures drop! They frolic and play, leaping in the air and rearing up, spinning and galloping through the pastures. They are bug-free and the heat of summer is long gone and so they are the happiest in these cooler months! I make sure to stay clear of their flying hooves, so I never enter their playground!
The vegetable garden has been put to bed with the picking of the last of the kale and the trimming back of the blackberry canes. The flower gardens are awaiting frozen ground before their perennials can be cut back and mulched. All the fragile houseplants have been brought inside to the sun room where they will spend the cold months basking in the weak winter sun. Speaking of sun, I am now looking forward to the Winter Solstice. It is my favorite winter event since I know the days will become longer and longer once we are past December 21st. Come February I will relocate my naps to the sun room couch and happily soak in the sun’s warmth there. I am definitely a solar kitty!!
My master has yet to put the snow blower on the tractor. I think he is afraid that if he does we will not have any snow this winter. I wish he would just put it on! No matter whether it snows or not, humans and animals all agree that the best place is by the woodstove. Sadie and Rosie always insist on front row seats
Sadie and Rosie enjoying some heat from the woodstove. Photo credit C.M.
and Izzy stretches herself out on her back to capture as much heat from the stove as possible.
The lovely Izzy! Photo credit C. M.
Even my master will stretch out in front of the stove with us making it quite a challenge for my mistress to get by without stepping on body parts!
Well, I hear my master making the fire now, so I think I will curl up in my fireside basket and warm my old bones. Stay warm all and may your winter months be peaceful and restful. All my best to each and every one of you.
Mr. Otis, wishing all readers a pleasant evening. Photo credit C. M.
– Otis, Northeast Regional Feline Correspondent.
Music news (schedule posted on the Performance Schedule page)
We have come through our surgery that was scheduled for this month, and I look forward to December to focus on moving forward with my projects. It has been a difficult year health-wise, but I can say things are looking up now.
Album cover photo credit Sharon Mayock.
Photo credit Mike and Liz Santone of Meadowlake Studios and McMinnville Community Media TV.
Photo credit Rick Ross.
In the meantime, in your area, wherever you may be, please do all you can to help keep your own local music alive. Go out and see someone you don’t know, host a house concert, download songs or buy CDs. Or even just stop for a minute to hear someone at a Farmers’ Market. Live, local musicians provide a wealth of talent most people will never hear about in this age of iPods, Internet and TV.
I believe these might be Turkey Tail mushrooms I found growing amid moss on a hazelnut limb. Beauty is everywhere, from the shaggy carpets of mosses and lichens to the vast blackness of the heavens above. It is there for those who seek it with an open heart and open mind.
Bookings and home-grown produce: Lavinia and Rick Ross Salmon Brook Records / Salmon Brook Farms
Our feature photo this month is of one of our red roses from the garden in front of the house. Sunlight coming in at low angle caught the backside of swirling red petals, detailing the ruffled skirt of this cheerful, flamboyant blossom. Depending on the weather, we may have blooms into late October or early November, a final farewell to this year’s growing season.
News from the farm
The Apple Tunnel, formed when a very old and very tall apple tree fell over long ago, but did not die. The tunnel entrance is facing west in this photo looking back toward vineyards and house. On this side of the tunnel is the wild area of the farm, including an acre of hazelnuts.
Autumn has settled in on our little farm in the Cascade foothills. Her arrival, unlike that of her maiden sister Spring, comes without the fanfare of golden trumpets and bright colors bursting forth from winter rain-damp soil and emerald green fields to meet her. No, Autumn is a slow, stealthy traveler, preferring to keep her own counsel as she stalks the farm. She is first seen out of the corner of one’s eye, cloaked in dessicated shades of yellow and brown, in the dry grass underfoot and stark white cirrus clouds overhead, foreshadowing much-needed rain. The land and all its rooted and mobile inhabitants begin a slow shift towards the inevitable as they become aware of her growing presence. Garden, orchard and vineyard race to ripen the fruits of their summer-long labor, and wildlife wait to feast on whatever they can before what all creatures know as the Hard Time sets in. Jack Frost will not be far behind now, his icy brush painting the way for Old Man Winter. It is the time of transition.
Strands of cirrus clouds marbled the sky today.
A sunset photo from last week. The depth and color of the clouds is beautiful to behold.
Plums have been dried and put away for the winter, and we are canning as many tomatoes as we have time for, since there are so many! The table grapes have done exceptionally well this year, and are providing us with copious fresh fruit. Since grapes can tolerate a light frost, we leave them on the vine until we are ready to pick.
Ripe Cascade table grapes, fortunately protected by netting.
Our pinot noir which was not bird-netted was completely stripped clean by quail. I had postponed harvesting the pinot since there was a lot of uneven ripening this year. This proved to be a mistake. The quail, not seen all summer long, launched a stealth attack on the vineyard, where there were many grapes hanging from the vines only a few days before. Caught red-footed among the vines, they ran quite a ways before they achieved lift-off. No wine this year, but I will make some vinegar from the Cascade table grapes of which there are plenty, and are covered with netting.
I see a lot of applesauce in our future.
News from the Cats of Salmon Brook Farms
Abby “Eleanor of Aquitaine”. Holding court in her personal bookcase.
Our feline correspondent this month is our own Miss Abby, who would prefer to be known as Eleanor of Aquitaine. Miss Abby would like readers to know she will be 15 years old next April, but has not let age slow her down! Well, not much anyway. She is sleeping in later these days, and enjoying that. As one of the dominant female cats of the household, she feels it is her duty to keep the younger cats in line, especially Mr. Lucio whom she feels is always out of line, even when he is doing nothing. They have established a truce during the nighttime hours so that all may sleep, mostly.
Lucio, Alpha male, 11 years old. Has learned, mostly, that Abby is one of the Alpha females and commands respect.
Music News (schedule posted on the Performance Schedule page)
The end of all the medical testing this year is in sight, and I made a good bit of progress. After what I hope will only be minor surgery later this fall, I should be back in the saddle. I have put the studio back together again, and barring any unforeseen problems, will have something going soon, including some videos. I am looking forward to the dark time of winter as a time of creativity.
In the meantime, in your area, wherever you may be, please do all you can to help keep your own local music alive. Go out and see someone you don’t know, host a house concert, download songs or buy CDs. Or even just stop for a minute to hear someone at a Farmers’ Market. Live, local musicians provide a wealth of talent most people will never hear about in this age of iPods, Internet and TV.
Bookings and home-grown produce: Lavinia and Rick Ross Salmon Brook Records / Salmon Brook Farms
The white rose of remembrance in our garden. Planted in memory of my own mother, and shown here for all who are remembering someone today. May you find peace.
Our feature photo this month is of a little Pacific Chorus Frog visitor we had at the end of May. The fellow had found a nice place to hide during the night behind the roll up windows on the porch greenhouse. One can see in the following photo he is bent on tucking himself back up into his hiding place again. At night, I have occasionally unrolled an unsuspecting frog.
Pacific Chorus Frogs, also known as Pacific Tree frogs, are common visitors to the farm, sometimes hiding out in watering cans, plant trays, or hanging baskets. I recently had one of these frogs land on my head when I was watering a hanging basket of petunias. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_tree_frog for more information.
A special word of thanks
Cynthia Reyes, author of A Good Home and An Honest House, recently interviewed us for a blog post on her site. Her questions were insightful, and I thoroughly enjoyed this interview. I encourage readers to visit her site, not only to learn more about the residents of Salmon Brook Farms in her post, but especially to learn more about Cynthia Reyes herself, her life and her work. I own and have read both of her books, and look forward to more from this fine author and very remarkable person.
I feel deeply privileged to be a part of this very diverse online community of bloggers and blog readers. Thank you all for your likes, comments, views and general support and kindness. You are all greatly appreciated.
White rose, variety John Paul. This is our only white rose, planted in memory of my own mother.
News from the farm
Summer, with all her bounty, has fully settled in on our little farm in the Cascade foothills. July proved to be pleasantly cool and mild for the most part. We have experienced days with unusually clear and crisp light, the kind that makes colors seem more intense, and the surroundings radiate a vibrancy not normally seen at this time of year. Rainfall in our area has ceased now, and the grass underfoot slowly browns and curls as it enters its summer dormancy. It is the time of Queen Anne’s Lace, with her myriad, snowy fractal-like umbrels dancing in the breezes that stir the farm as the land warms in the morning sun. Coast Dandelions (hypochaeris radicata) and Common Dandelions (taraxacum officinale) wave a colorful hello from the orchard, and mints of several varieties attract what honeybees are out and about this year. Wind is in one of her playful moods today, occasionally rustling the leaves in the apples trees and ringing the chimes on the porch to get my attention.
Queen Anne’s Lace in our front garden. Thrives at this time of year.
If you look carefully, you can see a couple of the visiting bees. They moved to the undersides of the flower spikes just before I took the photo. Click on any photo in this post to enlarge.
We are also coming into the time of Dust Devils, those carefree vortices that slowly spin their way across large tracts of farmland, sending the dust of Oregon’s fertile valley skyward until the crisp blue above takes on a tan hue. I close the windows of my car, and turn the ventilation selector to recirculate. After wheat and grass seed crops are harvested around the Willamette Valley, the soil will be tilled and then finally pulverized by impressively large machines that at a distance, are reminiscent of the giant Sandworms of Dune. Warm, sunny conditions spawn these children of the Wind, rotating columns of air and dust that go by various names in different countries. Thought to be the spirits of the deceased in many cultures around the world, Dust Devils visit the valley each year, reminding us of what was, and whispering to those who will listen what will be.
The original owners were quite thoughtful in planting a variety of bushes, trees and vines. As one type of fruit is winding down its production, one or more others are coming into ripeness. Cherries are followed by blueberries, followed by blackberries and raspberries, plums, apples, pears, grapes and finally, persimmons in late October, early November.
Developing purple plums will provide tasty fruit for us soon!
We are pleased that what we thought might be the beginnings of mummy berry in our blueberry patch has turned out not to be the case, and we collected a good 56 quarts of delicious fruit. This is far more than I thought we might get after the deer destroyed 10 bushes last fall during rutting season. Most have sent new shoots up from the roots, and if I can keep these protected, will produce fruit next year. Mother Nature has her own way of enforcing any pruning I cannot get to, so it would seem. Sometimes pruning is done by neighboring livestock. This young pear tree I planted 2 years ago was half-eaten by a horse leaning over the fence and pushing aside the 3 layers of hog fencing around tree. Needless to say, I moved the pear tree to a safer location.
Pear tree with serve pruning by equine arborist.
The warm, dry start followed by cool, wet weather conditions this spring and early summer were conducive to some anomalies showing up later. We noted what we think may be some crown gall in the main pinot noir vineyard, the first year we have seen any.
Main pinot noir vineyard
Rick also noted a strange phenomenon in the table grapes this year. He brought some partially grown table grape berries to me, with what at first look appeared to be some sort of insect damage or gall on the fruit. After cutting the berries in half, it was apparent that some of the seeds had pushed their way through the skin of the developing fruit, and were developing in a thin sack partially outside of the berry. We have never seen this phenomenon in the 12 going on 13 years we have been here on this farm. Photographs were sent to the Extension Service, and we are waiting for an explanation.
Our table grapes. This vine is the variety Cascade, deep purple when ripe, and is a seeded variety. Always well ahead of the pinot noir at bud break and veraison, the time of ripening.
News from The Cats of Salmon Brook Farms
Our feline correspondent this month is our own little Miss Hope, sister of Mr. Marcus and one of the Girls of Salmon Brook Farms. Miss Hope would like readers to know that she and her brother turn 9 years old this August. She says the weather has been quite pleasant, and she enjoys the breezes coming in the window.
Miss Hope, sister of Mr. Marcus
The twins – Miss Hope (left) and Mr. Marcus (right)
Feral kittens born under the old house, the two have had many adventures with the rest of the cat crew over the years. Miss Hope is also a good wrestler, and can pin down any of the boys in a match except Mr. Lucio. Most of the time she prefers a good snooze in the guest room, and has been keeping close company with Mr. Nano.
Mr. Lucio (left) and Mr. Marcus (right). Mr. Marcus wants to do everything his buddy is doing!
Mr. Nano. Has been spending more time with Miss. Hope these days.
Music News (schedule posted on the Performance Schedule page)
We enjoyed seeing our friends Laurie Jennings and Dana Keller up at the Silverton Library in July! They will be performing in Oregon again in August. Please visit their website at
I am making some progress, along with some setbacks, in terms of my own health. It has been a long, slow process of recovering from caregiving, and it will have to run its course.I am still on hiatus from performing, but continuing to play and enjoy down time with my guitars while I continue to recuperate. I learned how to make videos in late winter and do some rudimentary editing. Technology continues to make leaps and bounds, allowing the small-time geek, tinkerer, and putterer like myself another means of expressing and sharing creativity. Expect a surprise in months to come! I won’t promise when, though. I am savoring this time of few obligations to anyone except myself, the farm, and it inhabitants.
In the meantime, in your area, wherever you may be, please do all you can to help keep your own local music alive. Go out and see someone you don’t know, host a house concert, download songs or buy CDs. Or even just stop for a minute to hear someone at a Farmers’ Market. Live, local musicians provide a wealth of talent most people will never hear about in this age of iPods, Internet and TV.
Bookings and home-grown produce: Lavinia and Rick Ross Salmon Brook Records / Salmon Brook Farms
A cardinal flower in one of the front gardens, enjoying a bit of morning sun. Purchased from the local nursery, it brings back memories of the wild ones I would encounter in my youth.
Our feature photo this month is of one of the many daylilies blooming about this farm at this time of year. This delicate beauty with visiting ants was found growing amid a patch of spearmint by the corner of the old garage. We had two thunderstorms followed by pea-sized hail in the same day a few weeks back, which left strafed and tattered vegetation everywhere. We do get hail from time to time, but being hit twice in the same day by a heavy load of hail accompanied by high winds is unusual for our area. Leaves, flowers, fruits and buds suffered damage. Only a few plants suffered total annihilation, so we are fortunate. Plantings will recover, although they will be set back a bit this season.
Daylily peering out from behind a post.
News from the farm
A clear and cool beginning to this last day of June, the thin crescent moon floating in the Maxfield Parrish colors of twilight. Later came the warm, golden sun pleasantly beaming down from a light blue cloudless sky. Shafts of light filter down through the apple orchard, dappling the long grass and wildflowers below. Tree, shrub and flower sway to the song of the Wind, as she skips down the mountains to the hills and valley below. Her fleeting footsteps can been seen in the rippling grass at it shimmers in her path. An old friend once described Wind as an entity with various emotions they had come to know quite well over the years. Sometimes in a hurry, sometimes lingering, but always on the move, whispering her story to those who take the time to listen. Today our visitor is feeling playful, lingering about the gardens and gently plucking her harp out on the porch. Along with the music from the wind chimes, a curl of breeze finds its way through the window near where I am working, tugging at my elbow to come out and join the greater world outside.
Spring’s warm start has encouraged cherries and blueberries to ripen a little earlier than we normally would see. Cooler, wet weather in May and part of June slowed growth somewhat, and we possibly have some mummy berry occurring in the blueberries due to cooler conditions after rapid growth in earlier warm weather. We are sorting out hail damage on top of possible mummy berry, but still have an abundance of fruit. I will be busy picking blueberries over the next few weeks as cherries have already peaked here. Oregon State University has a very good article on mummy berry for interested readers. See “Mummy berry could spook your blueberries” at the link below.
Photo taken in our blueberry patch this week. The starting gun has been fired, and the race with birds and other wildlife begins.
Grapes, depending on the variety, are between flowering and the small berry stage. Our table grapes, many of them very old vines, are always ahead of the pinot noir.
From my test block of pinot noir. Note the marine-grade polypropylene trellis rope. I am happy enough with it, so far, I will continue to use it for trellising instead of wire.
From our main block of pinot noir.
Early Muscat. We have a short test row of mixed Gewürztraminer and Early Muscat.
The table grapes (Cascade pictured here) are always well ahead of the pinot.
Hazelnuts have well-defined nuts on them, still in the green stage. We have roughly an acre of derelict hazelnuts, which is mainly wildlife habitat now. We may collect these at some point.
Hazelnuts! Mice collect these in the field. In the old house we nicknamed “The Mouse Hotel”, they stored them in the mud room in boots, shoes, and drawers. Anywhere they could find a spot.
Gophers are busy tunneling and leaving mounds, as gophers will do. I collect the mounds for rooting grape vines and outdoor potting soil. They in turn will filch my potatoes, considering it an even trade for disturbing the protective cap on their tunnel system.
Classic gopher mound. Conveniently pulverized clay soil is collected for flower pots and rooting grape cuttings. They find my potato patch convenient shopping.
News from The Cats of Salmon Brook Farms
Our feline correspondents this month are our Three Sisters cats, Wynken, Blynken and Nod. The girls have been quite busy keeping track of the comings and goings outside the windows, and especially love the view from their crow’s nest. The girls would like to report that there appear to be more hummingbirds this year, but fewer honeybees have been spotted.
Lots of clover, very few bees this year.
The seasons pass by so quickly now, and the girls will be 3 years old in August. They have proven to be difficult photographic subjects for the local paparazzo since they matured out of kittenhood, preferring to take control of the camera themselves! The Flying Nod’s preferred tactics are landing on my shoulder from behind, and covering my eyes with her paws. Fortunately, she is the lightest of the three.
Nod, wondering what her sister Blynken is up to in the crow’s nest!
Blynken, keeping a sharp lookout from above.
Blynken, at another post, watching for hummingbirds.
The lovely Wynken in a quiet, reflective moment. All the Sisters rocky-grey stripes up top have been turning white over time. Wynken still has the most pronounced markings.
Our Northeast Regional Correspondent Otis and his companion the lovely Izzy will be returning later this summer to give readers an update on his area and the activities Mr. Shrew.
Otis, Northeast Regional Feline Correspondent will return later this summer! Photo credit C.M.
Stay tuned for the adventures of Izzy and Mr. Shrew! Photo credit C.M.
Music News (schedule posted on the Performance Schedule page)
I would like to start the news with what was a pleasant surprise for me. I walked into the kitchen where the radio was on a few weeks back, and came across an NPR segment about the disappearance of human toll booth collectors in Florida, but not at one particular one, Card Sound Bridge. At the end of the segment you will hear Laurie Jennings, a musician from Florida. She had written a song called Toll Booth Romance. This segment, recorded at a Florida PBS station, made it all the way to Oregon Public Broadcasting! Have a listen to the segment at the link below.
For those Johnny Cash fans and readers of Science News, the late Man in Black now has a tarantula named after him, Aphonopelma johnnycashi, the Johnny Cash tarantula. See Science New March 5, 2016for the full story!
Teaching my pet rooster Mr. Pluff to sing. He was a gentle soul and family member.
I am making some progress, along with some setbacks, in terms of my own health. It has been a long, slow process of recovering from caregiving, and it will have to run its course.
I loved my brother’s boy scout uniform and used to call myself a “Bird Scout”.
I am still on hiatus from performing, but continuing to play and enjoy down time with my guitars while I continue to recuperate. I learned how to make videos in late winter and do some rudimentary editing. Technology continues to make leaps and bounds, allowing the small-time geek, tinkerer, and putterer like myself another means of expressing and sharing creativity. Expect a surprise in months to come! I won’t promise when, though. I am savoring this time of few obligations to anyone except myself, the farm, and it inhabitants.
First and only CD. Another one will be coming! The black cat is our dear departed Mr. Beaucastel, named for Chateau Beaucastel. http://www.beaucastel.com
In the meantime, in your area, wherever you may be, please do all you can to help keep your own local music alive. Go out and see someone you don’t know, host a house concert, download songs or buy CDs. Or even just stop for a minute to hear someone at a Farmers’ Market. Live, local musicians provide a wealth of talent most people will never hear about in this age of iPods, Internet and TV.
Painting in the background was made by my late father-in-law.
Bookings and home-grown produce: Lavinia and Rick Ross Salmon Brook Records / Salmon Brook Farms
Our feature photo this month is of one of the old rambling roses that grow on the north border of the farm. This rose of unknown variety and its companion were planted long ago by those who have not graced this Earth in many a year. The old wooden posts have rotted and fallen over, their rusty wires engulfed and held high in places by tall trees. Vinca that were planted along this zone have grown into a thick mat through which a few stray daffodils struggle to emerge in late winter, and an ancient lilac bush peers in the dining room window. The blooms are small now, but still fragrant. Their time has come and gone already this year, and I wonder what it once looked like, this wild borderland. Haven to birds, insects and small mammals, it will remain as is until the day finally comes when another family decides to leave their mark upon this land, and the border will be tamed once again. I nod to our neighbor on the north side. We are content with what is.
Wild blackberry on the border provides nectar for bees and tasty fruits for us later in the season. Non-native blackberry is an invasive species we live with but keep contained. Blackberry provides a good portion of the main honey flow for beekeepers during the summer months in the Willamette Valley.
News from the farm
April’s warmer than normal weather was met with cooler, wetter weather in May. The vines seem to have recovered from the frost in late March, and we are looking forward to a good season. Tomatoes, eggplants, cucumbers and peppers, started in trays under lights in early March, are slowly making their way into the garden. I trust the weather a bit more these days, although Mother Nature can surprise one late in the season.
Rick working on one of his tomato beds. He is trying a new mulching fabric this year.
Opening up the slit in the mulching fabric.
The new greenhouse has been populated with grape starts, miscellaneous cuttings and potting bench. I look forward to having the front porch back, although it has steadfastly served as a plant nursery for the last 3 years. Rick and I wouldn’t mind eating out on the porch during this season of azure blue sky days and cool nights without being hemmed in by stacks of plant pots and garden tools.
Tubular metal frame greenhouse on the cement pad Lyn and I poured. Grape cuttings now have a permanent place to develop.
Plant starts in the small porch greenhouse, hardening off and waiting to go in the garden.
Unplanned blueberry cutting experiment. These are from broken branches made by rutting male deer last fall. They look promising!
The two “Autumn Bliss” everbearing raspberry plants that survived. Barrel life seems to agree with them, and they are much easier to maintain this way.
Half-barrels used for strawberries and now being switched over to raspberries. Strawberries will be moved to a new system. This year, the barrels will house tomatoes, peppers and eggplant while other beds are being worked on.
Pinot noir in our main vineyard block. Recovered from frost damage and doing well.
The pinot vines in my test block with rope trellis has recovered from earlier frost damage and are doing well.
Early Muscat. We are sure of this one as it produced fruit last year. The vine is in a short test row consisting of a mix of Gewürztraminer and Early Muscat.
For Tim and Laurie Price at “Off Center and Not Even” https://photoofthedayetc.wordpress.com/ Grafted rose rootstock that has taken off on its own. Rootstock variety Dr. Huey perhaps? The graft is the pinkish rose in the upper right.
News from the Cats of Salmon Brook Farms
The Cats of Salmon Brook Farms are enjoying the late spring weather, and are too busy lazying about on various cushioned window sills to post a report this month. Our Northeast Regional Feline Correspondent Otis, who hails from the distant eastern lands of Connecticut, has agreed to fill in for the crew this month, and update readers on weather and events in his area. Otis first made an appearance with his companion the lovely Izzy back in our February 2016 post.
“It seems that after a very brief, but cold spring, Connecticut has been plunged into summer! The temperatures by the end of May ranged from high 80’s to low 90’s! Everything is suddenly green, which is a welcome contrast to the stark winter scenery. Thankfully, we did not have a lot of snow this year, but what we did had just made me miserable.
The snow blower has been removed from the tractor and replaced with the belly mower, which makes me very happy since I live in fear of being sucked up by the blower and spit into a snow pile somewhere along the driveway. The pasture has already been cut for the first time this year and the humans just put the first cutting of hay into the barn tonight. Peas, lettuce, swiss chard, kale, tomatoes, parsley, eggplant, basil, and leeks have been planted in the vegetable garden and the strawberries and blueberries are already flowering. I must admit that I love basking in the sun on the stone wall while my humans busy themselves with farm work.
Otis surveying his farm property and enjoying a bit of New England sunshine. Photo credit C.M.
The trees have just started to bloom starting with the beautiful magnolia tree and followed by the dogwood. Iris flowers began opening this week soon to be replaced by the peonies come early June. Izzy likes sitting on the stone wall behind the peony greens in hopes of capturing Mr. Shrew.
The lovely Izzy watches for Mr. Shrew. Photo credit C.M.
She has been very amenable to holding peace talks with him, but refuses to make any promises.
Peace talks do not appear to have gone well… Photo credit C.M.
Thankfully, my mistress finally put cushions back on the porch furniture so that I can spend some quality nap time on my favorite wicker couch!! From my couch I can enjoy a feline view of my kingdom…when I am not snoozing that is!
Otis enjoying a good nap. Photo credit C.M.
Cheers for now…on to summer!! – Otis, Northeast Regional Feline Correspondent“
Thank you, Otis, for a splendid report!
Music News (schedule posted on the Performance Schedule page)
I am making some progress with health issues, although it has been a long, slow process of recovering from caregiving.
I am still on hiatus from performing, but continuing to play and enjoy down time with my guitars while I continue to recuperate. I learned how to make videos in late winter and do some rudimentary editing. Technology continues to make leaps and bounds, allowing the small-time geek, tinkerer, and putterer like myself another means of expressing and sharing creativity. Expect a surprise in months to come! I won’t promise when, though. I am savoring this time of few obligations to anyone except myself, the farm, and it inhabitants.
In the meantime, in your area, wherever you may be, please do all you can to help keep your own local music alive. Go out and see someone you don’t know, host a house concert, download songs or buy CDs. Or even just stop for a minute to hear someone at a Farmers’ Market. Live, local musicians provide a wealth of talent most people will never hear about in this age of iPods, Internet and TV.
Bookings and home-grown produce: Lavinia and Rick Ross Salmon Brook Records / Salmon Brook Farms
Our feature photo this month is a view of one of our crab apple trees exhibiting a profusion of white blooms against a marbled spring sky. Planted as small rooted sticks obtained from the Arbor Day Foundationback in 2004, this tree and its companion have grown tall over the years. Different varieties with different growth habits, one is pink and one is white, and bloom at different times.
News from the Farm
We continue to see signs of the nutria youngsters (see our January 2016 post) out back, but not near the house now. They appear to have moved on as more spring forage has become available and the temperature has risen, but we continue to keep the shed barricaded just in case one of them misses the good old days of occupying the outbuilding. Although I do miss observing the little fellows and was thankful for that time, I am quite pleased to have the shed back again, and to not be continually stepping in nutria scat.
Nutria youngsters. Feature photo from our January 2016 post.
Various creatures have passed through this farm, or have stayed a while before moving on. Some, like gophers, never leave. There will always be gophers. Many a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow has been filched by gophers, happily counting the coins down in their burrows along with my potatoes.
Rainbow over the farm from earlier this year. Beautiful intense colors. I’ve never found a pot of gold, not once. I can hear the gophers laughing down in their burrows.
The days are steadily growing longer on our little farm in the Cascade foothills. Spring arrived a bit early this year, sending forth shoot and bloom during the time Old Man Winter was still lurking in the shadows with his companion Jack Frost. Old Jack waits for a clear night sky to paint the canvas of green landscape in silver. Ice crystals brushed across the land under the cover of darkness and low temperatures will deliquesce in the morning’s golden warmth. I stand in awe of the brief moment of jeweled fire ignited by the sun. Jack’s work is both beautiful and deadly. The destruction of tender new life makes itself quite apparent by noon. We will be set back somewhat, but barring another such visit, the plants will recover.
My test pinot vineyard. Most everything behind the deer fence was frost damaged to a degree, including all the pinot noir. For Annie at Animal Couriers – the marine-grade polypropylene rope in place of trellis wire. Test in progress!
Another view of the pinot vines and test trellis rope. Note leaf curl from frost.
Jack Frost nipped the potatoes as well.
The onions did not seem to mind!
The table grapes near the first line of orchard, outside the fence, had some protection from the trees and did not exhibit damage.
With the help of our friend Lyn, a total of 51 x 60 lbs bags of cement was mixed and poured by hand for the new greenhouse which will house grape cuttings and larger starts.
Cement work done and frame is up! Tied down to cinder blocks to keep the wind from taking it away for now.
Another view of the cement work and footings.
Temporary greenhouse on the porch for tomato and tender plant starts. I cover it with a second tarp at night for now.
Everywhere around the farm there are signs of spring. A natural tunnel formed by an apple tree, fallen over but still living, provides a path from one area of the farm to another. One of two old giant feral apples between the front and back lots. Click on any photo to enlarge.
Apple tunnel, looking east into the back lot.
Same apple tunnel looking west out towards the vineyard. Best blossoms were on this side.
Old apple trees leaning towards each other like old friends conversing over the fence. Planted by the original owner, long passed away now. What stories they could tell!
The other fallen apple giant. Still living and producing fruit, as well as shelter for birds and wildlife.
Redbud tree, another small tree purchased from the Arbor Day Foundation in 2004. It has grown tall!
These irises fill the air with sweet musky perfume. See our previous post for more on this garden, and others.
Dutch iris and purple columbines. The columbine seeds came in one year with a load of rabbit manure.
News from the Cats of Salmon Brook Farms
Our feline correspondent this month is little Miss Nod, also known as Sister Bertrille, or The Flying Nod, as she likes to take a flying leap and land on my shoulder, which she says is a much better vantage point for viewing. Needless to say, I wear heavy vest when she wants to go for a ride. Miss Nod is the smallest of our Three Sisters cats, and one of the Girls of Salmon Brook Farms.
Miss Nod, preparing her report.
Miss Nod, wondering if she can jump over the camera and land on my shoulder.
Her sisters Miss Wynken and Miss Blynken declined to be photographed this month, but indicated they will be taking turns sending in the feline news report later this year. Photos of the trio can be seen on the Cats of Salmon Brook Farm page, and throughout the archives starting with our February 2014 post, although Nod has requested an early family portrait including her mother Silvie and brother Tio Pepe for this post. I have also included a few others, with Miss Nod’s approval.
Last full family portrait in 2014 with Mrs. Silvie and all four of her children. There are several suspects in the neighborhood for Mr. Silvie… Mrs. Silvie and her kittens arrived on our farm in 2013. We suspect there is a hidden sign out there directing homeless felines, as well as nutria, to our doors.
Miss Blynken would like brother Mr. Tio Pepe to hold still for the photo.
Mrs. Silvie and her son Mr. Tio Pepe have gone to live with a friend.
The early days. These youngsters will be three years old in August.
Miss Nod would like our readers to know that Mr. Lucio was unsuccessful at booking a flight to Tahiti, and has come through his dentistry with flying colors, although he is now missing one premolar. Mr. Lucio declined to comment for this post, and grudgingly provided a couple of photos for today.
Mr. Lucio, still a bit sleepy this morning…
Mr. Lucio, starting his day with a good cleaning. He has some pretty furry feet, which he is displaying in this photo.
Music news (schedule posted on the Performance Schedule page)
I am still on hiatus from performing, but continuing to play and enjoy down time with my guitars while I continue to work through some health issues and rest up. I learned how to make videos in late winter and do some rudimentary editing. Technology continues to make leaps and bounds, allowing the small-time geek, tinkerer, and putterer like myself another means of expressing and sharing creativity. Expect a surprise in months to come! I won’t promise when, though. I am savoring this time of few obligations to anyone except myself, the farm, and it inhabitants.
In the meantime, in your area, wherever you may be, please do all you can to help keep your own local music alive. Go out and see someone you don’t know, host a house concert, download songs or buy CDs. Or even just stop for a minute to hear someone at a Farmers’ Market. Live, local musicians provide a wealth of talent most people will never hear about in this age of iPods, Internet and TV.
Bookings and home-grown produce: Lavinia and Rick Ross Salmon Brook Records / Salmon Brook Farms
Thank you to all who have stopped by this site, offered their “likes”, comments and words of encouragement. I will leave you with an old Irish blessing. I do not know the origin of these words, but they are beautiful.
May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.
Ourfeature photothis month is of recent nighttime visitor to the farm. On Sunday the 15th, I went out after dark to investigate the activities of a Black-tailed deer buck grazing on fallen fruit under an apple tree near the shed. The buck, who was probably the same one who demolished 10 blueberry bushes in the process of scraping his antlers on them a week earlier, trotted off as I neared the tree, but there came a pig-like grunting and snuffling from somewhere very close by. Startled and feeling like an encounter with whatever it was could have a bad ending, I looked around, but could see nothing, and the grunting creature sounded very displeased by my presence. A small greyish creature at ground level appeared out of nowhere, and charged at my leg. I quickly high-tailed it, and got the flashlight and camera, hoping to at least identify my would-be assailant. Although not the best photo, it was good enough to check the mug shot online and confirm my suspicions. Our visitor appears to be a nutria, a young one, from what I can tell. In the almost 12 years we have been here, we have only seen one other come through the farm, a large adult traveling through during daylight hours. Nutria are known to intimidate small dogs, and can pack quite a serious bite if cornered. These beaver-like rodents are not native to the United States, but have become naturalized in many areas, and can be very destructive. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife website has more information for those who are interested.
Water, water everywhere now, while the Pacific Northwest is getting pummeled with heavy rain and strong winds. Jaws and fellow gophers have curtailed activities, and perhaps moved to higher ground as their burrows flood and sometimes spout water like mini artesian wells. The weather can, and does, change frequently during the day, a kaleidoscope of cloud and sun, shadows and light. A fast running river of clouds passed overhead on Tuesday, a turbulent grey on grey I could see through the depths of to higher, brighter clouds and occasional blue. I watched the tall, massive ash trees in the wooded corner bend and sway in the wind, marveling at the strength and flexibility of these rooted giants, and the force of the wind moving them in wild dance. My thoughts drifted to J.R.R. Tolkien’sEnts, and I wondered if these thrashing venerable trees would somehow walk out of their section of woods. Higher elevations have already seen some snow, and the forecast is for temperatures in the 20s here by the end of next week. I will need to finish closing down the gardens for the season, and insulating exposed water lines.
Storm’s edge – an earlier set of storms blowing through the area.
A break in the storm towards sundown.
Night settles in. At roughly 800 feet, the farm lies in a bowl of sorts in the Cascade foothills. Cold air ponds in this depression, and thickening mists slowly obliterate the surrounding hills until all that is visible are the cold, dripping tendrils that writhe and curl under the lights. Somewhere up above the clouds the moon is growing again. It can be very difficult to observe the lunar cycles and night sky during the winter months here. Old Man Winteris on the way now, and all in his path will bend to his will.
News from the Cats of Salmon Brook Farms
Willow, the old Calico matriarch, came through her recent dentistry with flying colors, and wants readers to know she is still a force to be reckoned with in the house, and is back to keeping Rick’s mother company.
Willow – also a Force of Nature.
The crew does not have much to report this month, and has decided napping is a much better plan than battling gophers and nutria. Mr. Lucio is a master at looking like he is working hard at being comfortable.
Mr. Lucio, hard at work.
Music news (schedule posted on the Performance Schedule page)
We are taking a brief hiatus until next year, working on personal projects and elder care, which consumes much time and energy. Keep checking the schedule. We will surface again in 2016! Old Seabisquit the Subaru , my faithful gigging traveling companion, got a much needed oil change and air filter from me, and is patiently waiting for me to pop in a new gas filter, spark plugs and wires. Not to mention a good cleaning….
In your area, wherever you may be, please do all you can to help keep your own local music alive. Go out and see someone you don’t know, host a house concert, download songs or buy CDs. Or even just stop for a minute to hear someone at a Farmers’ Market. Live, local musicians provide a wealth of talent most people will never hear about in this age of iPods, Internet and TV.
The sun sets more to the southwest these days, and beamed a pleasant goodnight over the neighbor’s roof on that particular evening after a day of many passing storms.
Our feature photo this month is of our goat neighbors Trinity, little Wheezie, and Mango who have come to keep burro Speedo, and ponies Joe and Jackcompany. The two little sheep who also live there are a bit more camera shy, and are not pictured.
Little Wheezie. The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.
Little Wheezie got into trouble trying to nibble branches up on an apple tree on our neighbor’s side, getting stuck in a fork in the main trunk (see the tree in the far right of the photo). Sounds of emphatic bleating emerged from behind the shed on our side, and I saw the two bigger goats come running over to investigate. I joined the rescue team, hopping the fence and extricating Wheezie from the apple tree stockade that was holding her fast. Shaken but not injured, Wheezie recovered quickly and later posed for today’s feature along with the wee one’s guardians.
Close up of Trinity. She is quite the talker!
Speedo (left) and pony buddy Jack wanting in on the photo session.
Here’s Joe! He thought I might have an apple for him.
News from the farm
The long, dry and exceedingly hot summer is drawing to a close now as equinox approaches. The air has cleared of smoke from forest fires and most of the dust from larger farms tilling and pulverizing their soil post-harvest. We have had some much needed rain recently, but not enough to provide more than a top dressing of moisture on the parched earth. Drought-stressed leaves hang limply on tree, shrub and vine, slowly exchanging their summer dresses of dark green for more appropriate autumnal yellow and brown apparel. Those too, will be soon slipping away along with the daylight hours, and they will stand bare against the coming winter weather. The sound of rain on a metal roof is one of the most beautiful melodies I know, and I am looking forward to the return of the winter rainy season after the grape harvest is finished, and many quarts of applesauce and tomatoes have been canned.
Smoky sunrise on August 23rd. Forest fires and weather patterns created poor air quality throughout the valley.
Cascade table grapes netted with bird netting. Useless against bees.
Pinot noir grapes from my personal two rows of test grapes. I get to experiment with these two rows.
Pinot noir from the main vineyard, ready to harvest.
Apples festoon the trees like Christmas ornaments.
Honeybees and Yellow Jackets do as much damage as birds in the vineyard, and I would need to put up insect netting to keep them out. At this time of year, there is little else for them to feed on, and they are attracted to the sugary juice of ripe grapes as much as any other creature. They will do what they need to do to survive. I leave them alone, and try to harvest what I can. Tables grapes we eat as well as market, and pinot noir is only for ourselves at this point. We made vinegar last year in an experiment with fermenting our pinot on native yeast (see our November 2014 newsletter in the blog archives) . This year, if I can, I will attempt a batch of wine using Epernay IIcommercial yeast as well as another batch of vinegar on native yeast and acetobacter. Much of what I can get done on any front depends on juggling farm, personal life and elder care. We now have home Hospice help now for Rick’s mother, which will help.
Honeybee feeding on pinot noir cluster.
News from the Cats of Salmon Brook Farms
Our feline correspondent this month is Willow, close companion of Rick’s mother, eldest of the cats here on Salmon Brook Farms, and Chaircat of the Board of the Girls of Salmon Brook Farms. We think she is in the vicinity of 18 to 20 years old, but she’s not telling, preferring her age to be part of her mystique. We think her eyes give it away though. Willow would like to acquaint readers with her girls,Abby, Hope, Wynken, Blynkenand Nod. A formidable older Calico, Willow has soundly thrashed the Boys of Salmon Brook Farms, mainly Mr. Marcus and Mr. Lucio, when necessary. Mr. Nano, always a reasonable fellow, feels discretion is the better part of valor, and prefers to show respect to this grand old Calico matriarch.
Willow – Calico matriarch!
Willow, enjoying some time in front of the window.
Miss Hope, consenting to a photo shoot.
Miss Hope cat.
Miss Abby in her bookcase shelf hideaway.
Closeup of Abby cat.
Lovely long-haired Wynken.
Blynken (left) and Wynken (right), loafing in their baskets.
Blynken, the Quiet Intellectual.
Blynken (left) and Nod (right), loafing int heir baskets. Nod has taken over the basket from Wynken.
Nod, spokescat of the Three Sisters, showing off her Paul Newman blue eye.
Music news (schedule posted on the Performance Schedule page)
I like to help other performers, when I can, by introducing them to the readers of this newsletter. Kiamichi, Tribal member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, will share her gift by performing with authentic American Indian Flutes and telling stories of her culture. Her CDs will be available for $15. Seniors may purchase them for $10. There will be a raffle for one of Kiamichi’s CDs for $1.00 each ticket. Please attend if you are in the area.
“Native American wooden flutes, played for calmness, balance and comfort. Creator gives me the breath that I breathe into the flute. He creates the music that comes to our heart and ears.”
As for my own schedule, one more show managed to sneak in before I take some time off from actively performing until January or February of 2016. I will be at the Albany Farmers’ Market on Saturday morning, September 26th. Check the performance schedule page for details, and please visit http://locallygrown.org
In your area, wherever you may be, please do all you can to help keep your own local music alive. Go out and see someone you don’t know, host a house concert, download songs or buy CDs. Or even just stop for a minute to hear someone at a Farmers’ Market. Live, local musicians provide a wealth of talent most people will never hear about in this age of iPods, Internet and TV.
Bookings and home-grown produce: Lavinia and Rick Ross Salmon Brook Records / Salmon Brook Farms
A beautiful evening in late August after the smoke from fires had mostly cleared. A time to be thankful for good friends and neighbors, good food, and a good well. May each and every one of you out there have what you need. Help others in need. And whatever you do in life, do it with love.
