Spring has Sprung

Spring time has come to Rockwell Avenue in full force. It actually came over a month ago, but it was not until the last week She really took hold here.

 The beds out front are all filling in from their Winter hibernation.   

 The Dutch iris that came with the house, which came with the previous owners purchase from the previous owners purchase are in full bloom. They smell like "purple" to Beth.

 The strawberries over wintered in the shed. 

The Mock Orange is in full glory. The scent from this bush comes into the house all day and night for about two weeks. I wish I could bottle it, but then I have 50 weeks to look forward to it's bloom again.

 The garlic we got from Baker's Acres of Chenango is absolutely bumping. This is the second year of this strain being planted here in Maryland. I selected the 10 largest heads for this crop. I will do the same for next years crop too. This garlic will be harvested on the Summer Solstice. 

 We have tomatoes in the ground now too. These are our cooking and canning tomatoes. We plan to put up a good deal of sauce this year.

 The chard is bumping too. A first picking is coming soon. Last time we planted chard it lasted a year and a half before we dug it up. 

 Here is the sandwich tomatoes. BTW, all our tomatoes are heirloom varieties. My favorite tomato, German Stripped is in the mix. We have a tomatillo too. The lettuce... if you want some, come by. We have too much and have had a salad every night for a few weeks now. We could use some help with eating it all.

 The chives. This clump refuses to die. I have tried very hard to kill it but it just flourishes. The flowers are an excellent addition to the salad. Very delicate flavor and nice visual contrast in the bowl.

 Beets, we got em too...

 The King of my garden. What can I say about my favorite grass.

Knowing Who Knows You.

BOY oh, Boy, someone in Mountain View California sure does love to read this blog. My number one visitor for sure. Thank you, I am honored by your curiosity!

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Please insert "AIRSTREAM SPIRIT" for "JOY"

YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE....

Father Daughter Time

I have been hoping for a hobby that I can share with my daughters. Prospecting has no appeal to my older, Ava, but Halle loves it. She has no problem getting wet or dirty as long as she can do it in a dress. It turns out Halle has a very good eye for the gold in the pan. I would love to say we went out and dug this pay dirt ourselves, but we bought it from a feller in Alaska. He told me he was going to throw in some gems and fossils to the "unsalted concentrates" to make it more interesting for the girls. Ava, wasn't even remotely interested in even thinking about trying a pan. Halle was more than glad to pan hers for her.

She went right for the sapphires in the pan. Not sure they are gem quality, but hey, it is always fun finding something shiny.

We worked the pay dirt down. I know this looks like a fast process on TV, but I am going to tell you, it takes a good amount of time to work it down.

And this is what we got out of one pound of dirt. Nice size flakes, but only about enough to cover 1/10th the outlay. The time spent together, well worth the cost.

Here are the gem stones and fossils also.

Now, if you want value, join the Gold Prospectors Association of America. When you join, they send you some pay dirt to pan. The grains are small, but oddly it would pay about the same amount as the membership cost you. Damn,I love a kick back!

I Got A Fever(big time)

Last year a new TV show appeared on Discovery Channel. About ten minutes into the very first episode, Beth turns to me, and says in a VERY serious voice, "DO NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!" She knew the wheels were spinning already, as to how I too, was going to run off to Alaska to mine gold.

I was instantly hooked on the show and wanted to go find it. Gold is where you find it they say. I have always been a little bit of a rock hound, relic seeker, prospector. In a very former life, I was a landscaper. Every single pottery shard I would find ended up in my pocket, saved as if it was a true treasure. Most of you reading have read about numerous trips to New Mexico to go dig turquoise with my very good friend, Tim O' Neil. The transition to gold is a very natural one.

In my last post, I talked about gold having been found in colonial times, locally to me. I have set out looking for it. This is not the first gold I have ever found. It is however the first gold I have ever panned for. Not too bad for a novice. I look forward to the leaves returning so passing cars do not notice me at work. I wouldn't want to start a gold rush.

A Walk in the Park

Between my generation and my daughters, a travesty has occurred. We played outside in the woods. We got dirty and wet and had great adventures. Most kids today never have this opportunity. The world has become so unsafe that now we shelter our kids and let them watch Discovery Channel specials of what the natural world is like. When I was a kid, my Mom pushed me out the door to go play. I was often told to go out and play, and did just that until it got dark. My friends and I would disappear into the woods to build forts, fish, gig frogs, build fires, and share that one beer one of us managed to swipe from our Dad. To this day I relish going out to play in the woods. The only thing I was told was "stay out of abandoned buildings".

Here are a few photos of my last walk in the Patapsaco State Park. The Patapsaco Valley had been very heavily industrialized during Colonial times. Economic trends and massive floods have removed just about all of it now. Signs of this industrialization can still be found if you know where to look. Near the end of this post, you will see the one factory that remained in operation until about ten years ago, when a third, mysterious fire burnt it up. Slowly it is being reclaimed by nature and salvagers. Hope you enjoy.

You will probably see more of these Walk in the Park type posts. I have read that 1839 gold was discovered and a mine established in what is now the park. The only person who ever got rich was the guy who supplied the mine the timbers. The gold rush of 1849 ended just about all the gold mines on the Eastern Seaboard. I am on a mission to find this mine. I suspect many many walks in the woods will be required.