The end of April really came for us here in Maine and now that we’ve had some summer-like days, the homestead is filling out~
My hard work of blowing dandelion (l) seeds all over the driveway every time I took the dogs out is paying off. While I’m still trying to get things established in our gravely hell there aren’t many flowers so I’m thankful all these guys have shown up.
In the wild border around our homestead, several flowers have also popped up. Lil baby Azure Bluets (m) fill the path between my future cooking and medicine gardens but don’t last very long. I was also able to ID a Common Serviceberry tree (r) in the craggy soil in the backyard. I don’t remember seeing these last year so I don’t even know if it’s fruiting but either way, flowers!
Rain means mushrooms and slugs and jellies~
Among the brush of a huge pine tree we had cut down, these neon orange-colored Jelly Spot fungus (1,2) stuck out like a sore thumb. I love jellies, they’re so cool~ These turkey tail (3) from last year are still vibing on the stump out back. Not for much longer once the tractor is out of surgery. I haven’t been able to ID this cute slug/snail (4) boy but I’m sure I’ll find more as I start more projects outside. Lastly, my new favorite fungi Amber Jelly (5) has been littering the driveway for the past week. They’re so fun to touch and thankfully Potato finds them terribly uninteresting.
Winged friends have also been staying around the homestead once I satisfied their seed demands. While not formally ID-ed, these woodpeckers have been seen all over our gardens, making a meal out of both sueit and foraged bugs~ It’s still an ongoing battle between me and Potato in who gets to eat the bird seed and we can’t reach an agreement.
Either way, all these new neighbors have been lovely to see and I’m excited to make improvements around the gardens to attract even more nature friends~