Canada Geese & Goslings at Togus Pond

 There was a lot of activity at Togus Pond this morning! We pulled over for a snapping turtle, intending to move her across the road, but then realized she was already in the process of laying her eggs in the sand & gravel at the side to the road, so Doug watched over her until she finished, and had buried the nest, and then he helped her back to the water. 
I heard loons & saw red-winged blackbirds, saw ducks & frogs & finches - but the best was this family of Canada geese. 

First Crocuses, 2019

Spring is late this year! I'm a little surprised, because we didn't have an especially hard winter, although notably absent were the random warm days in January or late February. It was consistently winter-cold, nothing approximating a brief thaw.

Maybe that's why my crocuses are slow out of the gate! The popped their little green heads up about 3 weeks ago, but have made little progress since.

Come on, guys! We're all rootin for ya.

Unexpected Visitor

Saw this little cutie in Augusta today, on the bank of the Kennebec. To be on the safe side we called the Maine Warden Service, but they said it's not unusual to for seals to swim as far up as Augusta.

Blooming Brave

Man this has been a long damn winter. My bright, brave blossoms promise it won't last forever.

Sleighing It in Downtown Augusta

Thanks to the good folks at Cushnoc Brewing for the photo, taken - I think? -  from their doorway.

Born on the Kennebec

Exciting happenings in downtown Augusta: this week saw the opening of our first brew pub, Cushnoc Brewing. 

I'd love to tell you that we checked it out, and the beers on offer were amazing, as was the wood-fired pizza; and maybe they are! But I wouldn't know because though we tried to check it out - the beer anyway - last night, we were unable to find a seat. Or rather, we were unable to find an appropriate seat: if you were there for beer, you could sit here but not there, or you could stand, unless of course you were also getting pizza, in which case you could sit there or there. It seemed complicated.  I was hoping for more of a Three Dollar Dewey's experience: sit where you want, order what you want, food or drink. Cushnoc shares with Dewey's the long communal tables that patrons share with strangers as well as their party so I imagined a similar casualness.

No matter! I was glad to see they got a rousing turnout for their fist Saturday night. The pizza smelled amazing, and though I don't often have money to go out to eat, I can sometimes scratch up enough for a couple of beers. Looking forward to visiting on a less crowded evening. Here are some photos I grabbed from their Facebook page:

BTW, we ended up at the Black & Tan instead last night, a smaller pub with an Irish bent. As they do most weekends, they had live music last night. The bartender was wearing a kilt! Possibly for some seasonal reason - it was the Halloween pub crawl last night - but since I cherish in my heart a hope that kilts will one day again come into fashion for men, I chose to believe otherwise. The B &T is another relatively new addition to the previously-almost-non-existent Augusta nightlife, which now includes not just the aforementioned eateries (drinkeries? Is that a word?) but also Circa 1885, a wine bar (most unfashionably, I hate wine, but still), and Otto's on the River, a high end restaurant. The Riverfront Barbeque and Grill is still on Water Street, as well.

I'm excited to see all these new establishments downtown. I feel like downtown Augusta is on the cusp of becoming what I always thought it could: it has the architecture, it has the river, it has a potential client with decent jobs nearby. It just needed a critical mass of happenings to draw people in.

Anyway! Welcome to Augusta, Cushnoc Brewing! Now we need some good shopping. Like, City Drawers? Or something akin to the old Kennebec River Artisans? Maybe Kennebec Chocolates could be persuaded to move a half mile for better walk in traffic.

While I am waiting for all that to happen, I am delighted to have more places to drink good beer. 

What's New Downtown?

This morning I had occasion to walk downtown. One of my favorite things about my city is that I can and do walk to just about everything I need to do here: to the post office, the library, the bank (not to mention the pub.)
Today I was going to ship a package & buy stamps. On the way back, I walked beside the river, in hopes of seeing a sturgeon jump. I did see a few, but nothing like yesterday, when they were popping up like fireworks on Independence Day.) My route took me beside this concrete retaining wall below downtown, and lo! A mural!
That wasn't there the last time I walked by here!

Less noticeable but also fun downtown are edible plantings! I see the city has placed tomato plants among the celosia.

Augusta gets better every day!

Free Table Score!

Hey there, World's Cheapest Human here (btw, that puts me in the running for the galactic title. JUST SAYIN) You know what the World's Cheapest Human really loves? Free stuff!

This free thing was sitting on a concrete block next to the giant recycling bin where the City of Augusta asks us to drop our plastic and paper trash. Clearly someone was downsizing but didn't want to actually discard a perfectly good item. Thanks, someone!

We feed the birds. Mostly sunflowers - tons of birds love sunflower seed - but also thistle (finches!) and suet (woodpeckers.) I've had a hummingbird feeder before but no hummingbird has ever touched it with a ten foot pole, or a pole of any length. or touched it at all. We maxed out on hummingbirds with two, this one time, but we usually do get one, and she prefers monarda and trumpet flowers. (And also scarlet runner beans, but we don't have any of those this year.) Before this things bloom. Nada. No hummingbirds.

But that's all changing now. My old feeder was pink (and so ugly it hurt to look at it, I'd take a photo but it might be considered vandalizing the internet.) I'm told they really only like a red feeder. But no red dye in the food, please, it isn't good for them, I'm told.

I'm waiting for my sugar syrup to cool right now. Here's the mix:

4 parts water
1 part sugar

They like cane sugar better than beet sugar - if your bag of sugar doesn't specify, it's probably beet. I just used what I had in the house, if this doesn't bring 'em I'll try cane sugar next.

Dear Holland Bulb Company

Twelve years ago, I received a gift certificate for your catalog as a housewarming/engagement gift. I used that gift certificate to purchase 50 daffodil bulbs.
These bulbs, when they arrived turned out to be the rarely seen foliage daffodil! For 12 springs I watched for the round-tipped, verdant blades to peek above the soil, developing the slightest blush of maroon at their edges; simple, understated, and lovely. They would spring up , cover the slope with their grey-green abundance...and then die back. It was a ritual. Anyone can appreciate a bloom. It takes a real connoisseur to appreciate a foliage daffodil.


Daffodils are long-lived plants, and they naturalize and spread. I expected to enjoy my foliage daffodils for many years to come! But I notice this year something has happened; they seem to have been infected with a fungus of some kind! It's bright yellow, and ruffly...do you think it's related to those growths you see on trees? You know, Chicken of the Woods?

I will say this: though perhaps a bit gaudy compared with the sleek, sophisticated bare foliage we've enjoyed for the last dozen years, these fungal eruptions - if that's what they are - are not without appeal. I was wondering: if these pose no threat to the health of the plant, is there is some way I might encourage more of them? Not to devalue our foliage daffodil experience, but I find the bright cheery splash of color quite charming!
Any idea what it might be?

Very truly yours,

Lori Keenan Watts

Maine Beer News

I was delighted but unsurprised this morning to read that Portland recently ranked the #1 city in the WORLD for craft beer. YOU GO, Portland! I love Portland, and I love a well-made beer, favoring IPAs & lagers - less interested in pumpkin-spice and blueberry varieties, but hey, whatever floats your teeth.
Portland is an up-and-coming tech hub, and those lads & lasses have expensive tastes and the money to satisfy them. Craft beer tastes, and craft beer budgets = 😋😜!!

I was surprised, and even more delighted, to read that Augusta is getting a craft brewery of our very own. Cushnoc Brewing is set to open a location on Water St. this fall. I've been waiting & waiting for the booming economic health in Southern Maine - and especially Portland - to reach Augusta, in the same way that the economic health of Boston crept north to Portland in search of more affordable living options. I may have a long wait yet, but at least soon I can enjoy a craft beer half a mile from my house to pass the time!

Not to mention a wood-fired pizza.

March 26 in Central Maine

Photo by Monica Castellanos

Last year at this time I was biking the rail trail. 😑

First Crocuses, 2017

For 11 years now I have been marking the end of winter - the emotional if not the literal end - by watching for the day my crocuses poke their tender heads above ground. Ladies & gentlemen, that day was yesterday! In an amazing coincidence, yesterday was also the coldest day of the winter so far. at around 5°F. This wouldn't have been my choice, if I were them, but I trust that they know what they are doing.

I made sure to replace the blanket of dead leaves I pushed aside to get a peek.

The earliest I've seen crocuses come up in those 11 years was 2012, on February 29th. The latest was March 23. This year is a little on the early side, probably because we got a deep blanket of snow before the real cold came, and because last week was unusually warm.

Spring is coming now! There's no stopping this train.

Maine Musicians: Sonny Probe

This is maybe my favorite Sonny Probe song of all time: 

Colliding Galaxies 

And that's saying something. I'm so fond of Sonny Probe I married him.

They Always Come When it Snows

Cardinals and mourning doves. They come for the sunflower seeds; then I have finches on the thistle feeder, but they are more timid, so I couldn't even get this good a shot.

I have a suet feeder as well, but the squirrels - clever little bastards that they are - figured out how to open it, so that never lasts long.

Success Story - American Bald Eagles in Maine

I grew up in Maine. My family are an outdoorsy bunch - camping, fishing, hiking, boating - so I spent a lot of time enjoying the natural beauty of Maine. One thing that I never did see, growing up? A bald eagle, in the wild.

That's because, when I was growing up, bald eagles were nearly extinct. The pesticide DDT interfered with the success of the eggs. Their habitats were infringed and badly degraded. Their food sources were poisoned by pollution. Though the Bald Eagle Protection Act of 1940 prohibited shooting them, there was still some illegal hunting, as eagles - pushed out of their preferred food sources - would sometimes take chickens or lambs.

In 1967, eagles south of the 40th parallel were protected, and in 1972, DDT was banned. Eagle populations did not begin to recover until after they received the full protection of the Endangered Species Act in 1978. It was listed as endangered in 42 states and  threatened in six others.

Today I live a quarter mile from the Kennebec River, and I see bald eagles almost every day. They glide over the river. They hassle osprey to drop fish

Photo by Greg Stephens

they've caught. They land on the sand bars and pick at their prize. I see them at Hatch Hill - the town dump - where they prey on the seagulls attracted by the trash.
Eagles are back. But they never would have come back if not for the ESA. This is the story for many species, and many more - Kennebec Salmon, for example - are still struggling.

Now Republican lawmakers want to roll back the Endangered Species Act. This came as something of a shock to me, because I don't know anyone who is not in favor of the act, which has been such an obvious success. In 1973 it passed almost unanimously.

But it's not 1973 anymore, and it seems like the Republican agenda has just become to roll back anything that liberals like. That's Republicans in Congress; as I said, every Republican I know personally favors the act. Anyone who hunts or fishes usually does.

If you think this is a horrifying idea, now would be an excellent time to call your Senators and Representatives and tell them so.

Last of the Tomatoes

Last summer I tended 26 tomato plants, of several varieties. They yielded enough for us to enjoy the fresh fruit every day in August and September, and also to freeze many bags of salsa and puree.

All good things must come to an end (luckily this is also true of bad things!) and today I opened my last bag of frozen tomatoes. They are processed with onion, garlic, basil, and oregano, and I will cook the batch down with some grated carrot to make pasta sauce. It's simmering now; smells marvelous.
I took the opening of the last bag as a cue to dig out the Fedco catalog that arrived in December. I kinda wish it would arrive in January instead; in December I am too busy, and not yet weary enough of winter, to appreciate its arrival. Nevertheless, I am glad it is here now, helping me dream of long summer days.

I'll be ordering Sungolds cherry tomatoes, for sure. They are always the first and last to produce; I was still picking Sungolds when the frost came. I imagine I will have a few volunteers as well, since they are so prolific I always miss a few. And, importantly, they are my mother's favorite! Since I refuse to grow squash for her (takes up a ton of garden space and also ewwww) I owe her these at least.

Garden peaches are another favorite. A small, yellow tomato, they have a relatively short growing season - 71 days - and very sweet fruit.

I'll also be reprising the Jubilees we got last year. They were a surprise, which Fedco substituted for the Cosmonaut Volkovs I had ordered. Their season is a bit on the long side for Maine - 80 days - so it's a risk. If we get cool June, or a rainy summer, they may not produce. But they were so beautiful, and so tasty, that I'm willing to take the chance.

I didn't love the Oregon Spring variety we got last year. The flavor was a little underwhelming.  It is a full size tomato with a very short growing season - 58 days - that will thrive even in cool summers. I was tempted to get it as a hedge against a bad season, but the flavor, while good, suffers in comparison to the other varieties...and flavor is, after all, the whole point.

So, what to get in its place? I could return to the Cosmonaut Volkovs that have performed well in the past, but I do like to try new things, so I am leaning toward the Berkeley Tie Dye, a full size short season tomato said to have an almost spicy flavor. Based on my quick Google image search it appears to be a very handsome fruit as well - maybe that shouldn't matter but I am an artist, after all.

Like many Mainers, I don't mind winter, but I spend much of it dreaming of spring.

Hunker Down - Nor'easter Coming!

If you look really close, you can see me there in Augusta, in the 10-16" section, starting late Thursday night. This is said to be a true Nor'easter, bringing moisture from the ocean to inland Maine and dumping it in a huge white heap.

Snow storms are almost always over predicted so I am expecting the lower end of that range, but still: ten inches is a lot of snow. Not a life-threatening amount - we aren't going to suffocate in our homes, snow covering the windows - but it's sure going to shut Friday down.

But hey! It can be fun having an enforced day off (if you don't lose power. That sucks.) Get a good book (and some batteries or oil for your lanterns, just in case) and settle in.

Check out my Pinterest Board: My Town, Augusta, Maine

I collect images from in and around Augusta, so others can see it as I do. Check them out here.

Jubilee

I'm a tomato gardener.Not in a truck-garden, farmer's-market kind of way, but we plant four raised beds, and the largest - 10" x 6" - is full of tomatoes. I usually get short season varieties: Sun Golds, Oregon Springs, Consmonaut Volkovs. But I get my seeds from Fedco, and I always check the box that says if you re out of the variety I ordered, send me something else.

This year they sent me Jubilees. Wow, what a beautiful tomato! Large, smooth, yellow-orange fruit, a little seeter than a regular tomato...and still producing. It's late October, and I just plucked this beauty. My freezer is full of bruschetta, salsa, and tomato sauce by now, so all Ocotber fruit are sliced and eaten. On BLTs, in omelets, in salads, or just by themselves.

My Sun Golds are still fruiting, also. This was one fantastic year for tomatoes.

Salmon Release, Bond Brooks, Augusta

Messalonskee students release Atlantic salmon into Bond Brook in Augusta

Conservation groups worked with the students to help them understand the salmon life cycle and the long odds of survival.

So cool.