June 07, 2021

Springfield, Missouri Farmers Market

June 07, 2021/ Gwen Morrison

My daughter took me to the Springfield, Missouri farmers market two times. I was overwhelmed with the place (and the household moving activities we were embroiled in) during the first visit…didn’t buy anything! The market is held under a covered pavilion with food trucks and a few vendors extending beyond the covered area. And it has more vendors than just farmers! The second visit was easier for me because we were done with the hardest parts of the moving and the market was more familiar.

I bought a large bulb of fennel with feathery top and a large mug for next winter’s hot tea. When we returned to the new house, my son-in-law promptly put the bulb in water to keep it fresh longer but we both started eating fennel with almost every meal (except breakfast).

I noticed some murals on the buildings around the pavilion and took some pictures with my phone. There are probably more…I’ll look around more next time I visit later this summer.

The experience prompted me to realize that I should frequent the farmers market back home in Maryland…as a substitute for my not participating in the CSA this season (too much anticipated time away from Maryland to handle a weekly share).

November 01, 2020

Zooming – October 2020

November 01, 2020/ Gwen Morrison

Another month…a selection of zoomed pictures. The only picture of the group taken a little further afield than we’ve been since the beginning of the pandemic is the rather stern looking Great Blue Heron which was from our field trip to Conowingo Dam. There will be a few more such field trips in November as we build up our confidence to make the treks safely. Enjoy the show!

October 22, 2020

CSA Bounty – October 2020

October 22, 2020/ Gwen Morrison

There were three CSA shares this month…all full of fall veggies: winter squash, cabbage, leafy greens (lettuce, spinach, arugula, bok choy), peppers and special items like ears of popcorn and fennel. The last one was this week. I took some pictures of the bins as I walked around – appreciating the beauty of fresh food. I had a choice of turnips or radishes….got the turnips but appreciated the color of the radishes in the bin.

And then it was on to piles of broccoli, garlic, sweet potatoes, a choice of lettuce or arugula (I got arugula), carrots with their leafy tops, spinach, bok choy, a small pumpkin, cabbage, spaghetti squash, cauliflower and stevia from the cutting garden. I got fennel with a huge feathery top as a choice item too. The bags were almost as heavy as when melons are distributed during the summer.

While I was out in the cutting garden getting some cut flowers and the stevia, I noticed at least 4 black swallowtail caterpillars on the fennel; I wonder if they will make to it to a stage that will allow them to survive the winter.

The picture below is the last share on our counter after I got home - quite a pile which is now filling the refrigerator!

I’ll eat as much as I can of this last share over the next week then freeze the rest….even though I might have to do some creative processing and rearranging to fit it in. I still have zucchini for the early summer in there. I’m going to pay attention to how long it is before I draw down enough on the veggies in the freezer from this summer to require purchases from the produce section of my grocery store. My estimate is that it will be well into December or maybe January!

Unique Activities for Yesterday:

A few minutes at our bird feeder. I found a short segment (about 1.5 minutes) on our bird feeder camera when 4 birds visited the feeder and appeared satisfied. I didn’t see the sequence when it happened because the Downy Woodpecker is not noisy when he comes to the feeder like the red-bellied woodpeckers are. A Carolina Chickadee shows up and the two birds position themselves on opposite sides of the feeder.

The chickadee leaves, the downy woodpecker finally gets enough seed…and leaves.

Then an American Goldfinch arrives…followed very quickly by a White-breasted Nuthatch. The nuthatch strikes a classic nuthatch pose.

The two birds move to opposite sides of the feeder, the nuthatch quickly finds the seed it wants, and leaves.

And the goldfinch continues calmly nibbling on seeds with the feeder all to himself.

September 11, 2020

Fall in the Cutting Garden

September 11, 2020/ Gwen Morrison

Flowers are not the only thing I get from the cutting garden at my CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). I like getting extra basil and stevia as well. A few leaves of stevia in pots of tea give it just enough sweetness…and basil provides another flavor in my smoothies and stir fries. Both plants are about ready to go to seed. There are only a few stevia plants, but it seems I’m the only one going back to that part of the garden.

Next to the stevia were some big feathery plants that I glanced at just as I was cutting the stevia. There were two caterpillars!!!! I knew the type they were from several years ago when I had some black swallowtail caterpillars on a parsley plant in a pot on my deck.

20200909_143611(0).jpg — As I walked to the end of the row where the sign that identified the plantings was located, I saw another caterpillar.

It turned out the plant was fennel! When I got home I did some research (I am old enough to remember having to go the library for references we now have with a simple search on our home computers!) and it is listed as a food plant for black swallowtail caterpillars! I also learned that the fennel seeds are edible and will harvest some of the seed heads on the plant next week. The leaves are being eating by caterpillars but otherwise the plants look ignored by other CSA folks.

The compost pile to the side of the cutting garden was very colorful. I guess some of the tomatoes and squashes had animal bites or got overripe before they could be picked/distributed.

Of course, I got the usual fresh flowers. They are bracketing the red maple seedling this morning. I still have 2 kombucha bottles with flowers from the previous week as well.

Unique Activities for Yesterday:

Frog in the street. I start out for my grocery shopping before 6:30 AM and these days it is still dark at that time. This week it was wet which might have also made it seem darker. After I passed the recycle truck heading further into the neighborhood, I saw a frog (in silhouette) hoping across the street toward the neighborhood pond! I stopped…to give it time to get across.

November 28, 2019

Ten Little Celebrations – November 2019

November 28, 2019/ Gwen Morrison

Today is **Thanksgiving** here in the U.S….so I’ll start out my list of celebrations for this month with that holiday. It’s a day to reflect on what we appreciate in our life. There is so much to be thankful for. I even remembered to put the Indian corn on our front door the day after Halloween so I could enjoy it all month.

Robinson Nature Center - I am celebrating the new volunteer opportunities…more indoors that my other gigs. This winter won’t be a lull in volunteer activities!

Fennel – I celebrated that there was organic fennel in my grocery’s produce section!

HoLLIE lecture – An interesting lecture….and a reminder to celebrate the richness of learning opportunities close to where I live.

A sunny fall day – The month had some cold temperatures. I realized that seeing the sun on those cold days (even if through a window) is a little celebration.

Zentangle Christmas ornaments – I managed to start early making designs on both sides of paper coasters with a red Ultra-fine Sharpie. They are a celebration to make…to display…to give away.

Witch hazel blooming – Something blooming in November…with streamers…just when the trees are losing their leaves. Worth noticing and a celebration.

Mowing leaves – It works! The yard looks good and my back doesn’t hurt. A strategy to celebrate.

Howard Country Conservancy preK – 3rd grade field trips – October was the peak of the field trip season but the ones in November had their own challenges – some cold, some wet…some windy. Overall – they were a good time in the outdoors for all – celebrating fall.

Road trip to Springfield MO– Road trips on my own are always a good time to think and enjoy the open road…celebrating with family when I get there.

November 03, 2019

Favorite Foods – October 2019

November 03, 2019/ Gwen Morrison

My favorite foods were all about using the fall CSA bounty.

I made chicken salad with fennel (the feathery part and the stalk), raw sweet potato, spring onion, and bell pepper chopped up in the Ninja food processor with a little mayo…French fried onions on top. Tasty and nutritious. A meal in a bowl.

Popcorn is a favorite of mine but this October I worked for it a bit more. I got 4 ears of popcorn from the CSA and learned to rub the kernels off the cobs into a big bowl (so I didn’t have too many escapees). The popcorn had a few silks with it but by the time the corn was popped I didn’t notice them. I use a popcorn bowl (from Amazon) in the microwave then add garlic salt and butter just before I eat it!

I also made butternut squash custard (using the same recipe as for pumpkin custard) since I had 3 large butternut squash from the CSA. I still have cooked squash in my freezer to use for another custard or two.

October 30, 2019

Ten Little Celebrations – October 2019

October 30, 2019/ Gwen Morrison

October is a transition month – warm to cool (sometimes cold at night), leaves turning colors and falling. There is a lot to celebrate. Below are my top ten little celebrations in October:

*The river at Middle Patuxent Environmental Area* - It is a little hike through the woods to get to the Middle Patuxent River and then a scramble over rocks to set up our field tables and gear on gravel bars near the water. It’s a serene place before the students arrive…and then full of activity. Every field trip is a celebration of the natural world and the sparks of awareness/realization that happens for most of the *students.*

Arby’s chicken salad – I always celebrate when my husband’s choice of fast food place has their signature chicken salad…wish they had it all the time.

Heron standing on a turtle – Seeing something unexpected often sparks a little celebration that I was in the right place at the right time. A heron stepping on a turtle (and then being surprised when it moved) was one of those times.

Conowingo cormorants – We go to Conowingo Dam to see Bald Eagles, but sometimes other birds are more active. On an October morning it was the cormorants….successfully fishing. Often the fish looked too big for them to eat!

CSA popcorn – This was the first year that we got ears of popcorn from the CSA….the last two weeks of the season. The kernels came off the cob with relative ease and I popped them in my usual microwave popcorn bowl (not all at once…a little popcorn goes a long way). The pop…the curling up with a good book while eating popcorn…a celebration on a rainy fall day.

CSA fennel – The CSA is my source for fennel…I like the bulb and the feathery top. It’s a different flavor from other veggies and one I celebrate as a rare veggie since I know it never looks as fresh in my grocery store and I haven’t found it in the organic section at all.

Mowing the whole yard – Usually my husband handles the mowing, but this fall I’ve done more since I decided to mulch leaves in place rather than rake. I started out doing half the yard…but I celebrated a day when I did the whole thing and the yard looked great….until the next round of leaf drop. There will still be at least one more mowing since there are still leaves on our maple.

Pelicans in the Chesapeake Bay – I celebrated to see so many pelicans in the Chesapeake Bay when we went to Smith Island. The birds nest and raise young in the area! Based on the number of juveniles we saw – 2019 was a good year for pelicans.

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts – What a great place in Richmond. I celebrated that we chose to make the stop in Richmond for a couple of hours….and was pleasantly surprised that my husband enjoyed it too.