Like a Bug on a Windshield

It's that time of year again. Dewberry season. The wood is filled with big white blossoms that will become juicy berries in only a few weeks. In the years when we have rain over the two weeks before the buds open, we get extra large flowers, followed by extra large berries. Dewberries grow as runners along the ground. They have both male and female plants and grow as biennials, putting forth new growth from the roots one year, and producing berries on the previous year's growth. Blackberries produce more berries in less space, but they can get out of hand. In Oregon, most blackberries are treated as noxious weeds. They produce impenetrable hedges of thorny brambles and grow rapidly in moist areas. Like blackberries, dewberries are considered a nuisance in many areas, where they are invasive and difficult to control. However, dewberries tend to grow on single canes along the ground at a height of no more than eighteen inches. Dewberries were once heavily cultivated

It's finally spring out here in the woods. After a long stretch of below average temperatures, way below average rainfall and mostly above average winds, I am finally able to transplant some of the many, many seedlings that have been suffering in the greenhouse. The sunshine is nice, but I have to be aware of heat and UV exposure. It's easy to overdo when there are so many chores to get done, especially since I tend to push myself to get just a few more plants into the ground, do a little more watering and prep just one more bed. I'm not the only creature out getting started on what is now a shortened growing season. Birds are singing their mating songs and building nests. A pair of roadrunners has been staying close to a large cedar tree where they've built a nest. Whitetail deer are moving in larger groups, but soon the does will go off on their own to prepare for birthing their fawns. The frogs and toads have been singing most nights, trying to attract mate

Things have been tough lately, what with having to prioritize. There are things that I would like to do, things I seriously want to do, things that have to get done soon in order to meet a goal, and things I need to do to meet obligations. I would really like to get out and hunt for mushrooms, so I don't miss morel season again this year and I would like to build a small hugelkultur bed, just to try it out. Then there are all those leaves and pine needles that I haven't gotten raked up yet. I have plenty in the shady corner of my garden, as well as between rows, but I will want more as things get big enough for mulching. Oh, and I want to prepare some beds out front for more pepper plants and a few other things I've got to get tomatoes and peppers transplanted into the garden or I will have to repot them. Soon. But the weather forecast seems to always have just one more freeze before it's safe to set out tender plants. That novel that was due on the 25th wa