Glimpses of Dogwood
Tag: spring
Most Definitely Spring!
Pear tree at sunrise
Pear blossoms
Crabapple blossoms
Blueberry bush blooming
‘Sarvis’ tree blooming (Serviceberry)
Welcome, Green!!
We are beginning to see a tinge of green in the trees here in the WV mountains!!
Signs of Spring Number Two
We are ignoring the snowfall today (unless it brings Hera’s long awaited lambs) and bringing you a much more pleasant sight.
Here is our granddaughter/great-niece visiting the barn on a warmer, sunnier and all around more spring-like day.
A Long Explore
A beautiful, very early Sunday morning… let’s join Raven on a long explore.
This little spring-fed brook is one of our favorite secret places.
It is particularly lovely in the early morning sunlight.
Our little, shallow spring-fed brook is lined with moss covered stones.
Ok, this is our real destination, we were really coming to check on the Ramp (Allium tricoccum Aiton) patch! Here in the West Virginia hills, spring is Ramp season. Since they are one of the first plants to emerge in the spring, they are traditionally eaten as the first greens of the season. It is believed that Native Americans taught settlers to eat this wild leek as a spring tonic. Ramps are high in vitamins C and A, helpful minerals and reduce cholestrol, so the folk medicine reputation is well deserved. They are very strong and spicy so they also do a good job of keeping the ‘Non-Ramp Eaters’ at a distance.
Even our distinguished United States Senator, the honorable Robert C. Byrd, sings the
praises of the Mighty Ramp
In West Virginia, the emergence of the Ramp, after our long winters, is certainly a cause for celebration. You can visit a Ramp Farm, and you can even buy Ramp Wine. We hold numerous Ramp Festivals and in every hill and holler you will find churches and volunteer fire departments holding Ramp Feeds. As a matter of fact, come join us at the Aurora Volunteer Fire Department’s Annual Ramp Dinner on Sunday, April 26th, and celebrate spring in the West Virginia mountains!
Edited to add:
Ramp dinner noon-4 p.m. April 26th at the Aurora Fire Dept. Includes ham, fried potatoes, (with or without ramps), soup beans, cooked ramps, raw ramps, ramp salad, corn muffins (with or without ramps, desserts and drinks. Cost $8 per person.
Ramp dinner noon-4 p.m. April 26th at the Aurora Fire Dept. Includes ham, fried potatoes, (with or without ramps), soup beans, cooked ramps, raw ramps, ramp salad, corn muffins (with or without ramps, desserts and drinks. Cost $8 per person.
Signs of Spring
We anxiously wait each year for this – coltsfoot blooming by the roadside. This is the first wildflower that appears in our neck of the woods. It is a very welcome sight at the end of what is almost always a long winter.
Another sure fire sign of spring is that our stylish barn footwear has gone from this
to this!
Nothing brightens the day quite like a pair of yellow ladybug boots!
Day of Adventure
With the sun shining brightly this morning, we brought the first six lambs outside to the ‘nursery’ area. They spent a lot time practicing their new fancy, prancing and hopping as Lucy, Curly’s little ewe, is demonstrating below.
Hazel’s twin ram lambs spent a lot of time by the fence watching the big, grown-up, maternity ward ewes on the other side of the fence.
Later, Neala’s twin ram lambs demonstrated the fine art of rest and relaxation.
New mama, Jill, kept close tabs on her big fella all day long.
After all the adventure and excitement, at the end of the day all any of the new little ones were concerned about was reuniting with their mama.
