There’s been a single hawfinch (kjernebiter) in the garden for several weeks but yesterday there were five….and it’s all about SIZE…that beak means other birds don’t threaten their position getting the best pickings! The first rays of the sun shone on the bird feeder yesterday!
All posts by Stephen Barstow
Eclipse dawn
As the moon re-emerged from the eclipse this morning in the west, this was the view in the opposite direction!
Perennial kale snow blanket
Just the tallest of the perennial kales are now visible above the snow! Hope this continues as there’s a much better chance of them overwintering when there’s a stable snow cover!
Yellowhammers
With deep even snow covering all the fields, grain eaters are hungry. I put out some grain and rolled oats today and it didn’t take long for 50 yellowhammers (gulspurv) to turn up for lunch! But, grain attracts also crows, just as hungry just now!
Full moon rise
A fantastic moon rise over Forbordsfjellet this evening…but it looks like it will cloud over before the eclipse in the morning!
Moon bow
…and now it’s clearing up, it’s getting colder and I can see a beautiful moonbow over the fjord from my desk!
Grain eaters
With 40-50cm of snow in the farm fields, grain-eating birds are desperate for food. Today, some 30 yellowhammers (gulspurv) and many hooded crows (kråke) and jackdaws (kaie) were at the bird feeder where I’d put out some grain this morning!
Perennial shoots in the snow
Plenty of greens as perennial vegetable shoots are now in season here!
Snow scenes
Several days with snow showers and we now have the deepest snow for this time of year since 1986!
Under the thick layer of snow the soil is unfrozen, a good winter for the plants! Difficult to believe I harvested some 15 plants from the garden earlier this week!
Gamle Norske Humle
Medlemmer av Norwegian Seed Savers (KVANN) får igjen mulighet gjennom Årboka som kommer i februar å bestille stiklinger av de gamle Norske humleplantene som er samlet i en klonsamling hos NIBIO Apelsvoll Forskningsstasjon som ligger på vestsiden av Mjøsa i Østre Toten kommune. Nedenfor finner dere tre artikler som forteller mer om samlingen og analysene som er gjort (noen sorter skal være gode sorter for ølbrygging).
KVANN etablere plantelaug for flere nytteplanter (deriblant kålvekster, frukt, hvitløk osv.). Det kan også være aktuelt å etablere en Humle-laug for å koordinere og kvalitetssikre vårt arbeid med humle, en fantastisk ølplante, urt og et av de beste vårgrønnsakene på høyde med asparges når det gjelder smak! Om du er interessert i å være laug leder, ta gjerne kontakt med oss!