Some images from the prior week

In a perfect world I would have between 30 and 50 fruit rootstock to graft every spring. I decided to grow some seedlings for that purpose. This tub was filled with Kerr fruit and sawdust. I decided to stratify the seeds in-fruit

Unfortunately for me, the rat-bastard red squirrels like apples seeds for a snack.

90% of the large trees in this image are dead ash trees. I have Cherrybark Oak seedlings in the black bucket

This is what "muck" looks like. It is even blacker in real life than it appears on the screen.

The site is wet. That is why I want to try Water Oak, Water Tupelo and Bald Cypress.

This is what the addition to the orchard looks like so far

Crocus self-seeding on a hillside

A couple of banana boxes seeded to two types of birch, Betula nigra and Betula lenta

A fresh woodchuck hole. This will provide the dogs with endless entertainment this summer

Bloodroot Sanguinaria canadensis

Mrs ERJ is fond of moss. She finds it delicate and refined. The image does not capture how the shades of green change as your head moves and the light's incident angle changes. This tiny glade almost has the feel of a chapel.

A slightly different angle

The ramps Allium tricoccum are up.

And self-seeding like crazy. The tiny white speckles are urea. I don't mind giving preferred, wild species a leg up.

A small bumblebee working over a catkin in the windy, 49 degree weather. She does not seem to mind that this is not a native species. It is a cultivar sometimes called Mt Aso. This is not the most vigorous willow. I need to cut the sumac before it is completely shaded out.

Frequent reader Milton F asked what happened when I forgot to take the cages off when the trees got large. They usually open up if you only fasten the cut ends in three places, high, middle and low. I now cut the wires differently and will demonstrate in a later post.

Violets. This is a particularly thick patch of them.