Edible Adventures

Last night was the annual Seed and Plant Swap held at the local village library.

The ever patient librarian, Peggy, had invited me to this special event last week.    That kind woman is always trying to socialize me.

I unpacked all my 40 packages of various seeds from 3 years of "over ordering" and swapping with other obsessed gardeners, plus I bought some flats of tomatoes, yellow peppers and brussell sprouts at the local grain dealer to round out my possibilities for a good swap.

I was the first to arrive and laid out my goods on the big library table.
Each person who came had a box or two of carefully packaged flowers, shrub branches and envelopes of seeds to swap.

One smart man brought nothing except homemade brownies, a huge bowl of cut up watermelon and orange juice for us all to indulge in while we explained our numerous seeds and plants.   He went home rewarded with heritage seeds and blue poppies.

As the hour of swapping grew near, there were 8 of us.

But...there was also a woman in a different room, using the computers who, unbeknown to us was listening attentively to our conversations about plants and seeds and soon bounced over to our group, grabbed envelopes to put seeds in and later went home with much seed and a big smile.

While waiting for a few others to show up I took some photos of this
happy, diverse group.

As the swap began each person explained what they brought, what that particular plant or seed needed (sun,shade, acid or clay soil, etc)

I brought 2 pods of Dr Rowe's rare heritage shell beans to share with everyone. Each person took a few bean seeds and promised to save some seeds from their harvest.       You can not buy these seeds anywhere on the face of the earth.  They are the last of a 97 year old country doctors family collection of seeds that spans 3 centuries.

By the end of the night, 70% of my seeds had new homes and I had a nice box full of various plants, including a rare Moonbeam flower (only flowers at night) and some delicata squash seeds.

As if that wasn't enough excitement, one of the women offered to take some of us out in the woods the next day to look for "ramps" and find other spring time edible plants.      
I wasn't going to miss out on an opportunity to play in the woods and see new sights so I said I'd go.

The next morning after I checked on the herd, I got picked up by my wonderful librarian and we were off on a woodsland aventure!

First stop was a swampy area where we found marsh marigolds, which are also

known as cowslips.      Edible!

And bears, coming out of hybernation, look for these first in the spring as they are full of nutrients!

Trout Lilly

Stink'n Benjamin

I forget what this is........ a spring beauty ?      (It's a red trillium)

Dutchmans Underware..or somethink like that.......

Finding wild ginger was really interesting.

Peggy and our tour guide, Linda, point to it.

Wild Ginger has a very ugly little red flower at the bottom of it.

Very edible.

Finally we found what we had been searching for:  RAMPS

A delicacy.  And only available for a short time until the trees leaf out.

Ramps are also called wild leeks and taste like an onion.

They carpet the floor of the woods on most steep slopes.

We picked a few small bags of the leaves as we walked along the woods scanning the area for these tasty treats.  We only picked 2 or 3 leaves per bunch so as not to denude them.

I can't wait to make a whole wheat and Miracle Whip sandwich with these nice flat yummy leaves. ( I did and it was DELICIOUS!  I also put some leaves on my grass fed beef and emu burgers! FABULOUS! )

This is actually squirrel corn.  It only looks like the Dutchmans breeches, but it is different.

When you pull up its roots it has these nutty corn looking things on it.

Edible.

I don't remember what this one is......

Its edible.

We climbed the steep hills where there was a nice sugar bush (where maple syrup sugar sap comes from. Its like being amongst the Royals..)

So many different trees, so many different colors and ohhhh so many different smells!

The smell of the spring earth is one of my favorite aromas.

As the morning wore on, we found a nice carpet of fiddleheads near a clean running mountain stream.   The sound of this water rushing by, while the birds in the woods were chirping, was just wonderful.

There were still some immature ferns that had fiddleheads asking to be picked.

Plenty still left for lunch!

We learned about the different kind of stems and what to look for.

I am going to go look for some Euell Gibbons books.

 He is the author of Stalking the Wild Asparagus.

He was a woodsland "gatherer" and the first person to really live it and write about it.

On our way back home we passed some very scenic hillside farms with trees in bloom.

Consider having a seed and plant swap in your own library or at your house.

Invite some friends.

You just never know what it will lead you to or what great information you will garner.

Enjoy.

Searching For Wanda

There is nothing worse than a lost cow.     Or a worried farmer.

My absolute soul mate cow was among the missing yesterday.

As I walked down the hill to the herds newest grazing area it was evident that there was something amiss. The mighty "white one" was not front and center.

I called and called for Wanda.       She always answers. 

The fields were silent.

It was hot and the flies were out, making our lives a bit miserable.

I shook my box of graham crackers and called louder.

No answer.

My stomach felt instantly sick.

My mind became busy with horrible thoughts.

Coyotes have been a problem in the past, but I have never seen an adult coyote even attempt to attack a full grown cow. But there are also many other hazards up here in the mountains.

I walked into the steep woods and started counting heads.

I did fear the worse.

The herd was down in a valley near a stream, the calves were spread out with their moms amongst the trees and bushes..

Gwen and her calf, GrandSlam Kate, were in the pines and wanting a few crackers.

The other calves decided to follow me as I stumbled down the hill looking at every cow and checking behind every tree and in every little bramble patch.

Found this calf under a fallen pine tree.

After that search came up empty for my beloved, vocal, white cow, I started to walk up the steep hills to all the other fields. Mavis was with me. My trusty cattle dog. Right by my side.

After just 30 minutes the heat, the flies and the uphill distance were wearing me down.

I noticed that Mavis wasn't by my side anymore and looked behind me and she was sitting in the field refusing to come any further up the last hill.

As I struggled up one more steep hill. I was rewarded at the top with this:

I sat down on the hill and took in this glorious glorious sight.  I was near collapse from the heat, the worrying stress and the forced hike over typical Vermont rough terrain.    
I exhaled.  And exhaled.  And exhaled.

These damn Simmentals. They must have their calves in a different field than the rest of the herd. Each one of them walks the fence line just before they calve, hoping to go over, under or thru it to get to a better place to calve.   If I had a dollar for each "calving escape" over the years, I could probably have dinner at a very fancy restaurant!

Obviously my dear Wanda figured out how to bypass the hot electric fence, something the others haven't been successful at this year.

From this distance I could see her calf was a hefty heifer. With double ring eyes.    Perfect.   Healthy.   Big.    I hoped she couldn't out run me.

As I sat and caught my breath and patted my smart, but reluctant cow dog I thought.....

Wanda wasn't due to calve for another 2 weeks.

She had no floppy vulva, nothing. No signs. No full moon. No rainstorm with the barometer dropping. She sure didn't even hint that she was close to calving.

Wanda is from the legendary Montbellard line.    
French Simmental.
Secretive.       Creative.      Spontaneous.    Determined.    That's my Wanda.

Cow dog Mavis must of known Wanda and calf were nearby when she refused to continue over the last hill.
Now I have to go all the way back to my truck to get ear tags and a weight tape.         Catching this calf in this heat was going to be a rodeo.

Now that Wanda's hiding place has been discovered, I wonder if she will move again before I get back with my gear.

I decided to sit and look at this beautiful pair for awhile.
Every so often I would call Wanda and she would look at me but not make a moo.      Animal Instinct tells new moms to remain quiet so they do not give away their birthing location to predators.   It could be fatal.

She done good.

This is one very fancy heifer.

I need some "W" names.

Give me some shout outs of some great unusual W names.

Wanda's other daughters were named Wilma, Winnie, Whisper & Widget.
If you have any other interesting name suggestions, list those as well.

Odds & Ends

It always amazes me how quickly the cows adapt to their living situation.

Darwin would be proud.

Rather than walk all the way across the barn yard to the water tub, Gracie has been drinking the fresh rain water collected in the remains of the hoop barn canvas roof.

Every morning there is a frost or some other condensation and it always goes into Gracie's private drinking font.

No crowds, no lines, no waiting.

Mavis, enjoys jumping up on the big rolls of hay and enjoying the sunshine while I do chores.

She also enjoys the back of the new farm truck as long as her elephant friend can come with her.

All the mothers and sons are enjoying the sunshine.

Guy and Gracie

Rally and Faith

60 degrees today and time to start digging up the garden.

Barns & Bulls

This barn is on a nice hill, but its land is down by the river.

I took this photo 4 day ago and today all that land is flooded. The road is blocked off and detours are everywhere in this valley.   I feel like I am on an island.

Very nice barn.

Here is another one with my preferred "drive up" so you can back the hay wagon inside to unload it incase of rain.

Here is Google and her July 2010 calf, Gizmo.

Gizmo was reserved by a women who has a small herd of Simmentals on the other side of the state and wants a good herd bull next year.  Our plan last November was for Gizmo to leave here in February, but with the barn fire, no tractor to move snow and then the barn collapse and 3 blizzards, it never happened.       This week we made plans to try to move him West before the rain and mud made it impossible for the trailer to get down the road.

Last Monday I set up the very burned portable fencing that was salvaged from the December barn fire.  All parts seemed to work just fine.

Then every day I enticed Gizmo to walk over to the corral by using his favorite snack.   For 4 days he was perfect.   Every day I would shake the cracker box and he would walk on over to be fed his treats.

Then yesterday the mud was so deep he would not come all the way over to the corral.
I had to up the ante and use some grain and get his mom involved.

In 15 minutes I corralled them both.

But his mom had other ideas and tried to jump the fencing, so I quickly let her out before someone got hurt.   She went over to her favored place and laid down to chew her cud and never returned to the pen.
That left Gizmo alone and lonely so then I had to lure the rest of the herd over to him to keep him content.

Gizmo is a Vermont bred, born, raised and grazed bull.

My first.

When the trailer arrived he jumped right on.  I guess that was the advantage to his 2 previous trailer rides to get here last September.

As the trailer left I thought, Go West young man and make us proud.

The herd chased the trailer as Gizmo mooed.

This morning his mother was not bagged up and was not missing him at all.
Not a peep out of her.
She must of weaned him last month.
Gizmo went to his new "job" with his paperwork, photos, parents registration info, a fresh box of Nabisco Graham Crackers and his Animal Welfare Approved certification.
I plan on visiting him and his new herd mates on my way to also visit Shelburne Farms this summer. Until then I hope he blends in with his herd and learns all the important things in a growing bulls life.