Posted 11:33 AM by Tamarack

Posted 9:37 AM by Tamarack
We have had strange weather this summer. From late July until mid-August, it rained steadily. The temperature was quite low (20-25 during the day), and many pretty marginal spruce seedlings recovered beautifully. The grass is still green, fresh, and growing fast, and has overwhelmed a few pines, but on the whole the trees have done well. Some nasty worms have been chewing the growth off the larch trees; just when they had a break from the usual summer drought, something worse came along. I think I will have to cut down all the large trees in at least two acres of the back field. My favorite elm was hit pretty hard as well, but it seems to have fought back vigorously; it is still in leaf and quite green. The garden has come along unevenly. The corn shot up and is doing well, but of course the poor tomatoes are just little green golfballs. The peas are still blossoming! This could be a good season yet, but we will need some sun and a late frost. We took the inner boundary trail into the woodlot last night, raising several partridge along the way. They will, of course, be impossible to find between October and December. There are some signs of bears--a rotten log torn apart, a bit of scat--but they seem to be staying out of the way; we haven't caught a glimpse of one yet. Freya was in good spirits and kept up well during the walk, even nipping at Loki and breaking off on her own to chase down a scent. The week before last I went back to look at the dogwood, which has outgrown the pines lamentably. They do look peculiar--less branching than usual--but there are no other signs of the spray program having had any effect on them.