July 25 Tot Hill Trailhead gets Spruced Up

Tot Hill Trailhead was looking run down. The fencing had almost all fallen down. Cars regularly back into it in the tight parking area. Last Friday, the USFS put in new fencing. It looks great.

The kiosk was looking worn and was sporting some graffiti. What better way to get rid of the graffiti, than paint it Forest service Brown. Now when someone tags it, we just have to paint over it. 

The old sign got a coat of paint too. It looks new now. It's great to see the improvement here.

And the trail sign got a coat of linseed oil.

July 24 The One and Only

Lilium Michauxii or as we say "Carolina lily" is one of the area's botanic gems. It is the state wildflower of North Carolina. We treasure it for its beauty and deer eat it for its tastiness. 

In the Spring I scoured the property for any of the unusual plant structures. You may notice the whorled leaves above. That makes it easy to spot about 4 months before it blooms. I had located 2 communities on my property, about 1/2 mile apart. Together they total 17 plants. I surrounded each plant with a circle of quartz rocks so they'd be easy to spot and keep track of. Pretty early on, deer browsed 9 of them, an entire community. the other community, being close to the house survived. Last week I was faithfully watching 6 budding plants. Today, I have one bloom. Deer got 4 and knocked over one, which may still bloom. The one and only survivor is a beauty.

There is an interesting side note here. The wildflower is named for the great French Botanist André Michaux. Michaux played a role in a bizarre American history footnote. He was French but spent much of his adult life collecting botanical specimens in the US for himself and European collectors. His base was Charleston SC, where he maintained gardens and spent winters. 1792 found Michaux in Canada exploring to and above the treeline near Hudson Bay. When he returned, a stop in Philadelphia was in order. Michaux had concocted a plan to travel west beyond the mountains we now know as the Rocky Mtns. He presented at the Philadelphia Philosophical Society, such a proposal, seeking funding. Vice President of the society and also US secretary of state Thomas Jefferson loved the plan. Remember, Philly is the US capital in 1792. He and Michaux mapped out a route and objectives. The Mississippi Valley and Louisiana were claimed and controlled by Spain at this time. Jefferson did not want to anger the Spanish by sending a US government supported expedition into their territory, so it would be funded by the a private entity, the society, and its stated purpose would be scientific. Members of the society pledged funds. They wrote their names on a document with the amounts pledged and signed it. This document has survived and is the only document which has the signatures of the first 4 presidents of the US. Plans proceeded into 1793, then something derailed them. The French Ambassador, Genet enlisted fellow Frenchman Michaux to undertake a secret mission on behalf of France. Michaux did not wish to take on this role but he was indebted to his country and did not refuse. Genet wanted Michaux to travel to Kentucky and secretly set up plans to fund a military invasion of the Mississippi Valley and Louisiana. An American Revolutionary General wanted to lead a group of Kentuckians against the Spanish. It was none other than George Rogers Clark. Michaux proceeded to cross Pennsylvania, float down the Ohio to Louisville where he schemed with Clark. We don't know what took place because upon his return to Philadelphia, Genet had been sacked and his replacement knew nothing of the scheme. On top of that, plans for the western excursion were in disarray. Michaux headed to Charleston. France ended up acquiring the Mississippi and Louisiana and then sold it to the US. Jefferson then proceeded with sending Lewis and Clark westward. It could have been Michaux.

July 21 Trail Cam Photos for 1st Half 2020

Bobcat with a dead raccoon

Coon and the moon

Coyote

Graceful jump

Turkey Vulture

Who ever heard of catching an insect on a trail cam?

Another insect

Fox

Dirt bath for a turkey

This bird spotted something

This bird spotted the same thing

June 30 Robust Chanterelle Fruiting

Before the big Chanterelle fruiting, I found this Chicken of the Woods along my driveway. It was quite fresh and tender. I prefer "Chicken" to compliment other food, so a quick glance through the refrigerator shelves was made. How would leftover french fries and "Chicken" be? It was a very tasty breakfast. 

On to the main course. In mid May we had a heavy rain. Our total was 5.5" and some areas got 8". This is just what chanterelles like, a lot of rain to get them started. There was another 2" rain about a week later. Again, just what chanterelle like. In another week, they were peeking through the leaf litter, seemingly, everywhere. For 13 of the next 14 days, I foraged in the Birkhead Wilderness and here at home. I was averaging about 2 pounds a day most of the time. I did hit 7 pounds on the most prolific forage. With a grand total in the 30 pound range, we were eating mushrooms everyday and cooking and freezing every day. I gave away 6 pounds to our friends - The Pandivas. Yes the wives organized a group and called themselves the the pandivas, short for Pandemic Divas. 

Cleaning lasts for a while when you forage this many. I try to clean the mushrooms as much as possible when I pick them. A little dirt will get on many in the basket. Also, don't wash with water. They soak up water like a sponge. I prefer then as dry as possible but obviously you have to pick them full of moisture sometimes. I've read the water content can vary from 60-90%.

A fruiting season this robust does not happen often. I have only experienced this once before. Summer 4 years ago was the rainiest ever. 

With this many, I tried a new recipe for chanterelle paté. It turned out quite rich, since paté is a lot of butter. However, it worked real well with pasta.