A WALK ON THE NORTH SIDE

Late Tuesday afternoon (April 26), I took Bess and Nellie for a walk around the north field. I wanted to see the vegetation, and besides, I get tired of hiking up Plank’s Pitch. Maybe the dogs do, too, because when I called, "Let's go this way,” they seemed only too glad to move into the field.

The picture above was taken from behind the apple trees, looking towards June's place. These trees are recovering from the scorching they received in the fire last summer. They are old trees and we don't pick the apples. Still, it means something that they are there in the lane. The deer and the dogs like the apples.

The tree in bloom is a large apple in the curve of the lane. These apples are beautiful in the fall but inaccessible -- at least for me. Bess and Nellie love to eat the apples off the ground and so do the deer. The other tree is a black hawthorn. We have lots of hawthorn trees. The birds love the berries. The jelly is sweet but not flavorful.

 This tree is a plum, and we have quite a number of them here. We're still experimenting to see what we can do with them. The fruit is good dried as long as you don't over dry.

Now this is a good-looking elderberry bush. Last year the berries on our bushes were small and dry. This year I'll try to make jelly even if the berries are sub-par because we're totally out.

Wildflowers among the rocks on the west edge of the field.

Bess on point in west field (behind house). She's above me here as I return to the house.

 Nellie, also in west field.

I think this tree is a service berry. I like service berry jelly. I tend to forget that the berries are ready in June and overlook the season. KW