The Great Sunflower Project

My friend Emily got me some Lemon Queen Sunflower seeds so that we can participate in The Great Sunflower Project.  www.greatsunflower.org  We know the value that domesticated bees provide as pollinators. But the value of  wild bees is often overlooked, and not just in rural areas. People from all over the country plant Lemon Queen Sunflower seeds and then count the bees that are attracted to their backyards, gardens, or patios. They send the numbers and descriptions into The Great Sunflower Project.

Last year was the first year that I had planted sunflowers that did well. I planted them right in the middle of the garden, and they liked it.  The bees did too. I would go out in the mornings and there would be all kinds of bees that had spent the night on the big sunflowers. 

I think this would be a great project for kids, daycare centers, after school sites, etc.

From the Great Sun Flower Project web site.....
To maintain biodiversity and to meet the increasing demands for ecosystem services, we must move conservation science into cities (Rosenzweig 2003). Cities are important for conservation for two reasons. First, 80% of the United States population already lives in urban areas (United States Census Bureau 2003). Second, cities encompass about 3% of land (59.6 million acres) in the United States and 230,000 additional acres become urban each year. Because of their large human populations, cities are the places where many ecosystem services, such as environmental quality of life, are delivered (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005). Given the growth of the urban population, it is clear that we need to develop the knowledge necessary for maintaining natural habitats in the urban setting and find a way to give urban dwellers access to nature. 

We know that pollinators are declining in certain wild and many agricultural landscapes. However, little is known about urban pollinators. Our recent data on bumble bees in an urban setting suggests that urban bees may also be declining (McFrederick & LeBuhn 2006, Fenter and LeBuhn submitted). While the loss of these pollinators is important, it is more important to understand what effect these losses have had on pollinator services"

Last year the sunflowers were a haven for all kinds of wild bees, so it will be fun to document it this year.

Crash!

Two days ago I was in the middle of creating a most beautiful blog entry.  Complete with spring pictures of Old Moore's Valley.  I was posting some pictures of  wood ducks and ring neck ducks that had stopped by when blam, kpowie, frizzle, poof, I had a virus attack.  Immediately shut down, lost beautiful blog entry, and ran the computer into McMinnville. Everything is fine now.

Impossible to recreate the previous entry, but here are some of those spring pictures.

Pussy Willows

Lenten Roses

Miniature Daffodils

The rhubarb that Dad gave me many years ago.

King Alfred Daffodils Getting Ready to Bloom

 

Garlic, standing like little soldiers in a row.

And the epitome of springtime symbols, a partially mown lawn.   Both lawn mowers need help!

Happy Spring!

Sorry, for not posting.

I see it's been a week since I last posted.  It has been a hard week.  The earthquake and tsunami in Japan are  unsettling, to say the least.  It is so hard to know how to send monetary aid to Japan.  We finally settled on an outfit called Peace Winds-Japan. Felt like the closer we could get our donation to Japan, the better.

The wars in Libya and in the mid-east and Africa make me crazy. And then there are the ongoing issues over the budgets at the national and state levels. Heaven forbid that we should support National Public Radio,  healthy nutrition for Women, Infant and Children -WIC, but we have enough money to fight multiple wars.  Crazy making, I tell you.

All these things zap my energy, so I haven't posted.  And in all honesty, not a lot to post.  No mega-fauna prancing by the house.  Big Bird was not sighted in the little oak tree or drinking out of the ponds.  I haven't created an awe-inspiring dress out of beer bottle tops, corks and baling twine.

I will work hard to have a more promising, exciting, fulfilling life in the next few days.  I promise!

Rummage Sale Finds

Yes, I found mundane items like staples, staplers, fabric, sewing notions, clipboards, etc.  However,  these old wooden hangers from small Pacific Northwest towns are my best find.  Lakeview.  The Dalles. Toledo. LaGrande. Lewiston. Phone numbers are three digits.  Phone 104.  Much more fun than plastic hangers.

Big Visitors

These are major big guys that ambled past our windows yesterday.  Seven big bull elk came towards the house from the grove of walnut trees. They circled around through the lower field and came out on the other side of us.  From here they headed up towards Muffin Mountain.

They know that we watch them, but for the most part just ignore us. The flash of the camera set them off.

In another month or 6 weeks they will lose their antlers. A few months after that we will begin to see the cows with their calves.  What a treat!

Presbyterian Rummage Sale

Okay, here is where I admit to total disfunction, or a life truly lacking in substance.  Have your pick.
But tomorrow is one of my favorite days of the year.   

Tomorrow is the Presbyterian Church of McMinnville's Annual Rummage Sale.  It is so much fun, and so sweet.  The ladies of the church make pies and the men of the church serve coffee.  It is obvious that they all look forward to their rummage sale as much as I do.

Last year's bounty included an old, in perfect condition 1950's Kitchen Aid mixer and bowl for Megan's kitchen.  Some beautiful and never-been-used cloth napkins and table cloths from Paris.  Canning jars with new lids and rings.  Some wine racks that look like they were made out of kids building blocks.  Luscious Pendleton wool fabric. A sweet old wooden card table. 

Even Mr. Shoulder-to-the-Grindstone has me keep an eye out for farm stuff.  "We could use some staplers/staples  for putting the tree protectors together, and we still need some half-inch fencing for the blueberry corral." 

As for me, I am open to whatever serendipitous stuff should come my way.  I have no idea what prizes await this year, but I will be there early tomorrow morning to find out.

Bread!

 

Just like the Little Red Hen, I really like to make bread.  In the summer it's easy because I put it on the old red truck to rise.  A little more difficult in the winter time.  I don't have some yummy warm place to put it for rising.  However, yesterday's bread turned out beautifully.  It made me laugh because it kept growing and growing.  Ended up being about 15-16 inches in diameter.  This recipe uses semolina flour.  Semolina makes a pretty yellow bread.  The flour has to set in liquid for 10-15 minutes to soften it up.

Toasted for breakfast.  Yummy. 

A Family of Otter

From Public Domain Clip Art

We have spent the morning watching a family of river otter frisk around in the small pond. We have never seen them before on the farm.


Would have loved to get some pictures, but too far away.  They were eating something from the pond....crawdads?  small trout?   

Watching the four of them for an extended length of time has been a real treat.