Tick, Tick, Tick

It's been the driest March on record. It has also been quite warm the last couple of weeks, and the ticks have noticed.

I first saw a one tick about a week ago, and on April fool's day I saw two more on me. (That's no April Fool's Joke either.)

Also, for the first time EVER, I've been able to get a respectable tan in March up here in the mountains. Hmmmm... Global Warming anybody?

Today, it's returned to a more seasonable weather, with just a touch of snow. We can certainly use the moisture!

The spring melt is here

This past winter has been unusual in that I've had more days then ever before where I could x-c ski in my own yard. But this all came to an end about a week ago. We've had a sold stretch of warm melting weather and much of the snow is now gone, and the ice columns stretching from the roof to the ground have come crashing down.

I've even discovered two missing newspapers at the bottom of the driveway. The first was from February 3. And then... as the snow receded even further, I found a paper from December 1. These papers are presumably from the days when the heavy snows that formed the base for my ski-able yard came from.

Moose on the loose.

There's been a moose in the neighborhood of Nederland in the last few weeks. I saw it crossing a meadow below Barker Resevour.

... and a neighbor took this picture earlier today.

Bungling Bear Burgler Returns

It looks like the bear come back.

I now have the door by the kitchen closed because of the damage he caused to the storm door last time. The replacement security door has not been installed yet.

This time the bear pushed in a window screen before realizing that the hole was to small and high for him to get into the kitchen that way.

He then pushed in a second screen. However this knocked over a box of mason jars and lids. The resulting racket scared the bear and woke me up.

A Bungling Bear Burgler pays a Visit

I woke up at two am to the sound of a rustling paper bag. I figured I had better see what the cat had gotten into.

I grabbed a flashlight and headed for the kitchen.

Something was not right...

As I looked around, I realized that the rustling sound was actually the sound of crunching aluminum. The screen "storm" door had the kick panel pushed in and a metal grill was lying on the floor. There were gashes in the window screen material.

I heard heavy footsteps recede across the deck and lawn.

I shirted around the trashed open storm door and onto the deck. A long trail of saliva started by the screen door and ran 12 feet to the steps at the edge of the deck.

Only a bear could have done that, but fortunately, he was more afraid of me then I was of him in my sleepy state.

It's a good thing I got there when I did because it would not have been pretty had the bear gotten inside and had a taste of food.

The next day, I asked about a bear proof storm door at Home Depot. I got some funny looks, and it seems they don't carry such a thing... Odd. But they do have some sturdy looking storm doors for about $100.

Mysterious Sounds in the Woods

Yesterday, while working in the garden, I heard what sounded like horse snorts coming from the nearby woods.

After this went on for about half an hour, I went to investigate.

What I saw surprised me.

There, in between the trees where two huge bull elk! There racks were quite impressive. I beat a hasty retreat, mostly because did not want to disturb these large but shy creatures.

Summer Solstice Snow

Here it is a day before the summer solstice. Last night it snowed on Thorodin. But at the slightly lower elevation here we only got about 2 inches of rain. I'm looking forward to the wild flower explosion in a few days.

In other news, there were two bear sightings on the north side of Winiger Ridge yesterday.

Summer Solstice Snow

Here it is a day before the summer solstice. Last night it snowed on Thorodin. But at the slightly lower elevation ehre we only got about 2 inches of rain.

In other news, there were two bear sightings on the north side of Winiger Ridge yesterday.

Yesterday, it Got so Cold the Hell Froze Over...

In fact it got down to -25 Fahrenheit. From what I understand this is not enough to kill the pine beetles that are destroying the forest.

In other news, my cat wanted to go for a walk today,despite the fresh snow. You can watch a video of Cloe the cat walking through the woods in the fresh snow below.



Also, a few days ago, I caught a heard of about 50 elk at the side of the road. If you listen carefully, you can even hear the males buggling.

What is a Dragon Fruit?

I'll admit, the above picture has NOTHING to do with what's happening around here, unlike most of my blog posts. However, I was adventure shopping at the Pacific Asian Market in Broomfield and I noticed they had FRESH dragon fruits. I had never seen this fruit fresh, only dried.

I HAD to try one and thanks to about.com, I learned how to get one ready to eat. The shell on the left has had the meat scooped out. The outer shell is not edible. The shell on the right has the diced meat in it. The black dots are seeds, like in kiwi. The meat is sort of watery, with the consistency of watermelon. It has a slightly sweet taste. It kind of felt like I was eating a "negative calorie" food, but after a few bites it grew on me and I had no trouble eating the all the contents of the fruit.

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FourMile Canyon Fire Update

News updates can be found at

http://news.lalate.com/2010/09/06/boulder-fourmile-canyon-fire-prompts-evacuations/

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/24898399/detail.html

Aerial and viewer slide shows at
http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=151618&catid=339


Below is a video taken from the old growth tree where I had a bird's eye view of the whole area. The 19 second video sweeps across the horizon and follows the smoke cloud.

Four Mile Canyon Fire

The following pictures were taken from the top of an old growth tree on Winiger ridge.

The camera was pointing approximately north. Forsythe Rock is in the foreground, and Sugarloaf is on the left on the second picture.

The fire is reported to have started in the Emerson Gulch area of Four Mile Canyon.

A news helicopter reports that dozens of structures have been destroyed as of now. About 3000 acres have been burned. About 100 men are now battling the blaze, along with air support.

Click on the pictures to enlarge.

Stinging Nettle Soup

This stinging nettle soup seems to have that almost magical quality that it cures my hay fever (seasonal allergies) with just one "dose" every few months.

2 cups water
1 veggie bouillon
1 pat of butter
1/4 onion
colander full of stinging nettle tips.

Bring water to boil .
Add butter, bouillon, onion and stinging nettles to water in that order. Be careful not to get stung, although that may be therapeutic in its own right.

Remove from flame and pour into blender
Gradually bring blender up to speed and blend for 5 minutes.

Pour into cups or soup bowls and enjoy

My seasonal allergies come to a halt within minutes of eating the above and do not come back for weeks.

Danger: Hail, Frost and Pests.

Deon asks:

I'm not sure the entire group is interested in the topic, but I'd love to get advice and commiserate with other gardeners (or those of us that attempt it anyway) here along Magnolia. For example, take ground squirrels. Please! Someone take mine, at least. ;)

Or how do you get anything but green marbles from tomato plants.

Does anyone grow perennial lavender up here successfully? What variety? I'm really interested in getting it started on a south-facing soil slope with poor soil.

---

My Answer:

Hi Deon,

My big disappointment most years is when a passing hailstorm totally shreds my garden. It's a real heartbreak when my squash leaves get torn into little pieces by the hail stones and then quickly rot, killing my crop.

Getting shredded by hail is a problem for most broad leaf plants up here. This is why most plants up here have narrow leaves that can deflect hail stones.

Also, frost can come early, stunting growth.

And yes, there are lots of pest too that think that you put up the garden just for them.

So, those are the three big dangers I've experienced with gardens up here: hail, frost and pests.

On the flip side, there is a lot of sun. As a matter of fact, I've had seedlings get sun burned once I've put them outside after starting them inside.

This year, I'm experimenting with hanging the tomatoes upside down in planters. That way they are shielded from the hail a bit, I can hang them inside in case of frost, and it is difficult for pesty mammals to get to them.

Also, I have a Goji berry plant that is doing really well in a 5 gallon bucket. I started it indoors and it is currently loaded down with hundreds of berries.


About the chipmunks... I had one that caught it's head in the chicken wire around my flowers the other day. I ended up having to cut the wire loose around it's little head to set it free.

The little guy was just to cute to let him die of thirst.

- Mike

Bear Alert

A bear came by yesterday while I wasn't looking.

Then how do I know?

... because the bear likes to roll over boulders that are about a foot in diameter as he searches for edible insects.

... and yesterday I found a bunch of rolled over boulders.

Case closed.

In other news: it just sprinked a bit. This has pasted down the thick layers of Ponderosa pine pollen. That should close out the pine pollen season at this altitude. However, I can see that the wind is still kicking up the pine pollen on the north flanks of Thorodin.

Puff! Goes the Ponderosa Pine Pollen

Every altitude has it's Ponderosa Pine Pollen day.
It is usually a warm, windy day. Today is that day here on Lazy Z.

While this is usually as exciting as watching paint dry, it get's more interesting when a gust of wind come by. Then in moments, the air turns a yellowish orange, as the pine pollen lifts off the trees. Sometimes, you can even watch a yellow "shadow" of a tree fly away with the gust.

When I see this, I know it's time to run around and close all the doors and windows for a while , before a yellow layer of pine pollen settles all over everything.

Wildflower Season Has Started

There are now more then 3 different colors of wild flower blooming. It's only been 3 weeks since the last frost.

Wildflower season lasts until it gets to dry in August.

This Local Pine Beetle Plan Needs Our Support

It's ambitious, but the problem is huge

http://peaktopeakrotary.org/2010/04/community-group-to-tackle-pine-beetles/

Humming Bird Alert

George and Yvonne, neighbors, report:

The hummers are back!

Keep in mind that the bears are probably not far behind - and they love sugar water as much as the next life form.

Amazing Snow

The unusally deep snow pack in the yard is gradually receding.

At this point, I can run two inverse mazes through the 4 acres that is in the trees.

The first maze is to go from one snow to another drift by x-c ski without touching soil.

The second maze is to stay on soil without having to go through snow.

Currently, both mazes work with only a couple of "cheats."

But soon, the snow will be gone. The, I can finally get to the firewood I meant to pick up last fall before the snow came early.