Phenology 2022

As a famous whitetail deer once lamented: “Winter sure is long.”  And here in zone 6a, I would concur.  The last week of April through the last week of October are the only guaranteed growing times for anything not frost-resistant, and even that’s a gamble.  The remaining half of the year is reserved for watching it rain.  It certainly gives the mind some time to contemplate self-harm.

But then I discovered something: Phenology.

In an applied context to gardening, it correlates planting times to what local native plants are doing.  For example, when the crocus blooms, it’s time to plant radishes.

The benefit being, some vegetables can, in theory, be planted ahead of last frost, thereby extending the gardening season.  The practice is entirely anecdotal, as micro-climates are too variable to establish a regional constant.  The information available is therefore crowdsourced, making for nice little community of gardening nerds.

It also made for a fun experiment.  And with a basic internet search providing corollaries to what I planned to grow, I was able to create my own planting guide.  The dates themselves I left blank, as I would fill them in myself, noting whether the incidence was successful or not.  And so, after one year, I have my own vegetable garden planting time reference index, specific to my immediate geography:

Local Phenology 2022.xlsx

I intend to add more items, but for now the greatest revelation was that I could squeeze out a few more weeks’ growing time for peas and root vegetables.  And with the carrots maturing earlier as a result, I was able to plant a winter crop far enough in advance of the hard freeze to yield some impressive roots.

I pulled this out yesterday: 1/17!

So while Suicide Month will remain unchanged, I can at least take comfort in the knowledge that it’s the last month of the season that I can’t plant anything.

–Simon

Choke ‘Em!

Edit for context: I bought a new shotgun choke.

I have some blog drafts that I don’t feel like completing, at least not yet.  One’s regarding my political stance on gun control and the AR-15.  One chronicles my dishwasher problems.  And neither is terrible fun nor interesting.

So instead, I’ll post some pics of squirrel hunting, 2022!

The K-berg is looking a little old.
But he got his second!
One for me.
Two for me.
The traditional Joe pose.
And dinner!

This year, only the haunches were saved.  I could never get squirrel back meat to taste any good.  Also, pan frying is always a winner.

Success!  The vicious hunter we are then retired for an evening of drinking and pizza.

–Simon

Cottage Fish

It’s been a while since I visited the Wisconsin cottage, owing mainly to petty family on the in-laws side and arguments over continued ownership.  I don’t much care myself, but it’s important to Liz, and we were invited up by some of the more amicable ones.  And the kid likes swimming.

And I like fishing.

The biggest bluegill of the trip, and my first catch.
Yes, more bluegills.
And another.
Liz wanted a perch and I caught one. It then escaped the basket.
Liz caught a black crappie.
And her big bluegill.
I got one too!
Sunfish!  Pumpkinseed I believe.

And the kid got an ear infection.  It was a busy week.

–Simon