Thursday, May 28, 2009
Another wet morning here on the mountain with up to 4" of rain predicted by tomorrow about the same time. We need rain but this is a little too much too fast and I expect the runoff will cause the river to rise quickly--something that gives me a big headache. We pump water from the Winooski River and the pump is located 25 feet above the riverbed but the river is narrow there. We went through a similar situation last year and I had to pull the pump to avoid it being washed down the river. Not difficult to do but a bear to carry a pump hitched to a pressure tank up a steep clay bank. Gail will be watching the situation and will call if things begin to look challenging.
I cannot remember a spring when the apple trees, both native and domestic, have been so well covered with flowers. Although they have begun to fall due to yesterday's rain, they have been beautiful every place I have traveled. 
The part that bothered me again this year was the profound absence of bees. One morning I went out and looked at this sargentii crab and around and around it I walked looking and listening for bees. I finally spotted a lone bumble bee and then two hours later returned to find a large number hard at work along with some smaller bees I am not familiar with. Nowhere was a honeybee to be found so something obviously happened to the neighbor's hives down the road. Wild honey bees have been absent for years so even the sight of a domestic bee is heartwarming to someone who understands the need for pollinators.
Rowan Jacobsen's book, Fruitless Fall, is a book I continue to promote because very much like my favorite Silent Spring it mentions chemicals and what we are doing that cannot easily be returned to normal. As you think about buying some lawn food or bug killers, give the issue of pollution and the demise of beneficial insect and animal populations a second thought. Just the thought of white nose syndrome in bats and the loss of hundreds of thousands of these beneficial mammals should makes us wonder how we have upset certain balances. ???Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where I'd still like to find the nesting site of the pair of mature osprey who forget to say thank you on a daily basis as they eat trout from the pond.
George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Gardens
Vermont Flower Farm Our great site which contains pictures of hostas that look better today than the real plants that have been nailed two Mondays in a row by heavy frosts. Stop by and make your own judgment
