Trapp Garden Crop Circles

by Hal the Gardener

Giant Sun Flower Spiral

The Rye Connection

Cabbage and Kale Circle

If interested in the crop circle phenomenon, see: http://www.temporarytemples.co.uk/

Cheers,
Hal the Gardener

Mid-summer in the Trapp Family Gardens

by Hal the Gardener

The very wet and cool spring has given way to the mid-summer heat and plentiful sun. Annuals and perennials are now in bloom and the vegetables are beginning to ripen. Mid-summer is the best time for observing and enjoying the many flowers in bloom. The plentiful moisture and summer sun this year is resulting in an outstanding display of blossoms throughout the Trapp property.

Vegetables are beginning to produce fruit. Peas, garlic, summer squash, cucumber, tomatoes and potatoes to name a few. The vegetables will be harvested and used in the Trapp Dining Room and Deli. Raspberries have been plentiful and our bakery has been using them to make tasty treats.

My biggest challenge this year has been staying ahead of the weeds and potato beetles.

Please stop by the gardens during your summer visit to the Trapp Family Lodge!

Adding compost to leaks yields a larger white bulb at harvest

Row by row,
Hal the Gardener

An Emo Deer

by MomJovi

As I’ve told you, we have a mini-Maria on our hands around here. E. is completely obsessed with The Sound of Music. The day I got her the DVD may have been the happiest day of her life so far.

Ever since we got it, she’s been singing the songs over and over. She watches all of the scenes with the von Trapp children closely to try and learn all the moves. Since the movie is 3 hours long, she only gets to watch it on weekends (usually over several viewings). Luckily for me, a certain captain is easy on the eyes...

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The Bright Side of Rainy Days

by Jan D. Axtell, Staff Naturalist

To say that we have endured a wet spring here in the Green Mountains would be a gross understatement. The fact of the matter is, everything feels a little damp around here and I can’t remember a day when I haven’t wanted to change my socks after guiding a tour. Spring weather, in our mountains, can be a bit fickle at times. Most Vermonters I know share an innate tolerance and good natured humor for, shall we say, our peculiar weather. Those that can’t laugh at mountain weather and roll with the punches often suffer needlessly and, are often viewed as a bit soft - adding insult to their perceived injury.

Fear not the rainy day! Every storm cloud has a silver lining. My silver lining has come in the form of mud puddles. The soft rain saturated soils have been a boom for tracking our resident wildlife. Their prints tell stories of the comings, goings, and nightly ramblings of those creatures that call our northern forests home.

Each day on the birding and forest ecology walks I take note of each mud puddle we pass. Sometimes it is a single track you find. Other times an entire path winding through the forest is laid out in plain sight. You can tell a lot about an animal by the marks they leave on the forest floor and vegetation. Their size and stride tell us how big an individual might be. The number of tracks often give insight as to whether animals are either moving in groups or as a solitary individual. The condition of the track can often tell how long ago the animal moved through, and whether they were running or walking. Often times the tracks and path as a whole tell where an animal is headed, and if you pay close enough attention, what that animal might be eating along the way. These stories are played out on a grand scale across the landscape. The amount of information in the prints and paths collectively are a graphic illustration of the circle life as it plays out in our forest.

Over the last few weeks we have seen a great number of these events play out in the mud puddles. This year’s white-tailed deer fawns are now moving about very confidently with their mothers. Look closely and you will find their dainty prints purposefully following their mother’s. When our fawn’s confidence gives way to hunger or fear you can discern where they stood together. The tracks often tell how the little one either took shelter and nourishment under the doe’s belly or bolted for the safety of the thick forest cover.

In addition, there are numerous places where the small song birds are coming down to bath in the puddles. The numerous prints combine to create a pattern that looks like the crackled glaze on an old ceramic vase.

But the crème de la crème has been those tracks left behind by a black bear passing through Maria’s Plaza headed down through the Sugar House woods. It’s steady un-interrupted gate and deep prints are straight as an arrow. The tracks are so clear, un-hurried, and self-assured that one is left with the impression that the bear had a purpose in mind as it walked through the tall sugar maples. I have a long history with black bears. They are magnificent animals. Any sign of their presence is - in my mind - good luck, and just as much proof of a benevolent God as any religious relic or doctrine. So, you can imagine my excitement.

Every storm cloud has a silver lining and every rainy day has a bright side to it. Animal tracks show up in the soft mud a lot better than they do on hard, dusty ground. The tales told by the prints in the rain saturated earth are of endless fascination to me. They document the: who, what, where, when, why and how of the animal community as they move about the landscape; while we aren’t looking. So a little rain is nothing to mope around about.