Category Archives: Nature

Don’t Forget the Twilight Hike

Posted on September 20, 2013 by AnnieRie

Sunday the 22nd. At the Howard County Conservancy.

It is the fall equinox this weekend. And, a harvest moon to boot.

There will be two hikes down to the campfires, taking advantage of the light of the moon. Cross your fingers that the weather cooperates.

From 5-7 pm, there is a family hike. Stories and songs, roasting marshmallows for s’mores over the fire, and hiking back in time to watch the sunset at 7:05pm.

For the adults, from 7:30-9:30pm, there will be a hike down to the campfire where volunteers will lead songs, tell some stories about the autumnal equinox, and you can also indulge in marshmallows and s’mores. Bring an acoustic instrument if you have one. Impromptu music making.

The cost of this event is $5/person or $10/family. The registration online closes 24 hours before the event.

Last year’s first twilight hike was a huge success, so preregister to guarantee a spot. Check the web site Sunday for an update if the weather doesn’t cooperate.

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Posted in Community, Howard County, Nature, Weather and tagged community, hoco loco, howard county conservancy, nature, weather. Bookmark the permalink.

Football Weather

Posted on September 15, 2013 by AnnieRie

Clear, sunny, perfect day for the Ravens to open in Baltimore. Good to see that they won.

We did lots of things outdoors today before and after the game. Some wire maintenance for my husband.

Me, checking out the lone squash in the garden, and bringing in almost all the remaining tomatoes. This year, they seem to be slowing down a bit early.

I only have about eight green tomatoes left on the vine.

The freezer is almost full. Today, between games, I cut up the habaneros and the jalapenos for the jelly. Found all the material to do the canning. Tomorrow will be canning day. I have to decide how hot I want this jelly to be. I got about 10 habaneros from the CSA. The recipe calls for 6-15 depending on what level of heat you want.

I also roasted the remaining paste tomatoes and put them away in the freezer. Took all the pesto out of the ice cube trays and divided the cubes up into small containers to keep.

Roasted three more heads of garlic, resulting in a full jar of soft tasty garlic to use in recipes.

Tomorrow there may be showers. That will be good as we are crossing our fingers that there will be no restrictions for the Equinox Twilight Hikes at the Conservancy, next Sunday night, the 22nd.

They should be fun, if the weather stays this lovely. Family hiking ending at the campfire for stories and s’mores. Followed at twilight by the adult hike.

It’s a “bring your own” hike. Musical instruments to play. A few snacks to supplement the s’mores for the adult crowd.

Check out the details on the Conservancy web page. If you want to enjoy the changing of the seasons.

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Posted in Food, Gardening, Howard County, Nature, Volunteering, Weather, West HoCo and tagged community, Food, foodie, gardening, heirloom tomatoes, Howard County, howard county conservancy, nature, tomatoes, weather. Bookmark the permalink.

A Picture Perfect Fall Day

Posted on September 14, 2013 by AnnieRie

That’s what about 70-80 people decided who came out to the Conservancy to join our family hikes.

We had four hike leaders and each one of us had 15-35 people. The largest group was with our preschool leader. She had at least 35 people on the short tour around the farmhouse and down to the play areas.

I took about 15-20 people on a couple of loops to show them all the cool things we teach the children on the field trips. Almost 90 minutes out there.

Then, we found dozens of families down in the nature center checking out Maize, our corn snake, or reading books, or looking at all the exhibits. Into the midst of the chaos, a family showed up to tour the facilities for a possible wedding in 2014. I got to take them for a tour and show them the grounds, as Alison was out and about with all the visitors and handling the snake. We didn’t think the mother of the bride was into snakes.

I finally left there at 1:00. Too late to hit Breezy Willow or Larriland so I ran over to Harris Teeter to get pectin, pineapple juice, sugar and a few boxes of cereal for my better half. I missed my chance to pick up my favorite yogurt at Breezy Willow so it will have to wait until next week.

Turf Valley is coming along quickly. The outdoor seating at Facci is there. Looks like they are very close to opening, and you could smell wood smoke (maybe the pizza ovens?) and someone in a chef’s cap was out in back, taking a break, talking on his phone. They look to be the first to open.

Petite Cellars and Grille 620 are hiring, if anyone is looking for a job.

Mimi’s was being worked too. The cleaners have opened.

We may finally have another fully occupied shopping center in northwest HocCo, with new restaurants. Woo Hoo!

Tomorrow is pineapple habanero jelly making day. Stand by for the report on how well it goes. If I don’t seriously hurt myself handling the habaneros I will have 6 jars of jelly to use for appetizers, glazing, and I think, to make some killer chicken wings.

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Posted in Community, Food, Howard County, Local Businesses, Nature, Volunteering, Weather, West HoCo and tagged community, Food, hoco loco, Howard County, howard county conservancy, local businesses, Locavore, nature, volunteering, weather, West HoCo. Bookmark the permalink.

Take A Hike

Posted on September 11, 2013 by AnnieRie

Not just any hike. A hike that has one of the volunteer naturalists at the Howard County Conservancy leading it. A family hike.

Or maybe, a hike with friends. Or your little ones, like the grandchildren.

This Saturday at 10 am, we are putting on one of our semi annual family hikes. It is leader’s choice. We take age appropriate groups out on the various trails.

If you have little ones, the hike leader for that age group, a retired preschool teacher, enthralls them with stories, games, visits to the chickens and goats, on a hike that won’t tire out short legs.

Other hike leaders may wander off down to the streams, and look for wildflowers, birds, black walnuts, maybe take you to see our chestnut trees. Maybe identify trees or flowers, who knows.

Black Walnuts

This is one of our popular free second Saturday programs at the conservancy grounds, a farm just up the road from the Snowball Stand (a great place to recover from all this walking).

You don’t need to preregister for the free events on the web page, if you don’t want to, but it does let us know roughly how many volunteers we need.

This farm is my favorite place to volunteer. It gives me so much pleasure to hike the trails, look for birds and other little critters. Feed the goats. Visit the barred owl.

There are over four miles of trails on the property. They are open from dawn to dusk every day. These guided hikes give you insight into what is hidden in the fields, or the woods. Or the theme gardens.

The weather forecast is looking wonderful. A high of 70 degrees. Clear, sunny. The introduction to those lovely fall days.

Come join us.

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Posted in Birds, Howard County, Nature, Volunteering, West HoCo and tagged birds, community, hoco loco, Howard County, howard county conservancy, nature, volunteering, West HoCo. Bookmark the permalink.

Back to School …

Posted on September 4, 2013 by AnnieRie

… for volunteer training.

Next Tuesday is the beginning of the naturalist training, for those of us interested in leading field trip hikes at the Howard County Conservancy.

I call it back to school, as I learn something new every time I attend the training sessions.

Fall programs for elementary and middle school children, as well as the opportunity to volunteer to chaperon service learning for middle and high school students, will be on our plate for the dozens of volunteers who attend part of or all the training sessions.

On Tuesdays, the middle school programs are discussed. The 10th, the topic will be Erosion in the STEM cycle. On the 17th, they are going to be offering more information about current and “pilot” programs for the middle schools.

On Thursdays, starting the 12th, we will be covering elementary school programs. 1st and 2nd grade on the 10th. third grade on the 17th, and 4th grade on the 26th. The 26th concludes with our traditional pot luck luncheon attended by almost all of the volunteers. Even those who don’t make it to the refresher training will come to visit and get ready for the October kick off of field trips and hikes.

I volunteer for at least five or six hikes. The requested commitment is for three hikes. You can even shadow the experienced volunteers before trying to lead a small group of students yourself.

The really fun part of this volunteer effort is the freedom we have to present material in a way that is comfortable for us. The goal is primarily to get the children engaged in the outdoors, using the earth science curriculum as the base,but allowing us to showcase nature. I tend to add a little math to the mix, to get the students more comfortable with measurements, or amounts, maybe some area or volume examples.

For example, how big is an acre? We tell the students about the size of the property but concepts new to the youngest students are best described using examples they can relate to. Like how many football fields they would have to mow to take care of 240 acres, the size of the farm.

Or how hard it was to build the barn, with no power tools. How big are those beams? How heavy do they think they are?

The first graders learn about rocks. Why are rocks good for a foundation? How hard is it to build a wall of rocks? How bad are rocks in your field? What kind of rocks are around here?

In the fall, we use the grasslands. In the spring, the woodlands. I like being in the grasslands, watching the leaves change. Looking for walnuts, beechnuts, acorns. Explaining how the animals prepare for winter. Opening milkweed cones to show them the seeds. Talking about the butterflies. So much to see and do and the children really get into it.

Honestly. Can you think of a better place to spend a crisp fall morning?

Can’t wait for our morning sessions and our refresher hikes to begin.

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Posted in Farms, Howard County, Nature, Volunteering, Weather and tagged farms, Howard County, howard county conservancy, nature, volunteering, weather. Bookmark the permalink.

Fall Sneaking Up on Us

Posted on September 3, 2013 by AnnieRie

Signs that we are heading towards that change of season.

My first Thelma Sanders squash, hidden under the leaves in a corner of the garden.

Berries on the crab apples. A bumper crop of berries. Here’s hoping we get the cedar waxwings who love to feast on the berries.

Rhododendron buds are really plentiful this year as well. Last year there was lots of growth but not that many blooms. This year, all the rain was good to them and they put out huge amounts of buds, which means lots of flowers next May.

Morning glories completely out of control. I didn’t prune them back this year. A friend who grows grapes told us in rainy seasons to let the flowers and weeds get close to your garden. In the case of a very wet summer, their competition for the moisture will be beneficial to keeping your veggies and fruit from diseases caused by too much water.

A basil plant that decided to rise from the ruins of the bunny devastation of last spring. I have no idea how it came back from its puny little nub left after the rabbits got to it.

Newly mowed meadow. Ready to be baled. Driving my sinuses nuts, but it really looks forlorn, where once there was all this tall lovely grass.

Lots of green tomatoes still out there, hiding and in plain sight. I figure we have about four or five more weeks before the weather changes for good, and I have to bring them in if they don’t ripen. Right now I am still getting lots of slicing tomatoes, but all the paste tomatoes are about finished for the year.

Weather is lovely, isn’t it? Temps in the low eighties and high seventies. Cool nights.

The blue basil is going to seed. Time to do the last big harvest and make another boatload of pesto.

Enjoy this weather while we can!

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Posted in Food, Gardening, Hobbies, Howard County, Nature, Weather, West HoCo and tagged Food, gardening, heirloom tomatoes, hobbies, Howard County, tomatoes, weather, West HoCo. Bookmark the permalink.

Mezze

Posted on August 24, 2013 by AnnieRie

Inspiration.

If there was ever a moment that defined how my cooking changed, and how our view of dining also changed, it was a trip to Greece and the Islands in 2004. Third time lucky, I would say. We planned this trip three times. First, 9/11 canceled my 50th birthday present cruise scheduled for late fall 2002. The cruise lines pulled their ships from the Med. Our next attempt, on Windstar, was canceled due to the fact the ship caught on fire and sunk six months before our scheduled cruise.

Finally in 2004, we made it there. Right after the Olympics. There, in the islands, we learned to enjoy small plates of fresh food, simply prepared and eaten at leisure, with wine, a view and good friends.

Doesn’t this view beat that of a parking lot, or a storm water management pond?

This trip, and our trip to Provence, greatly influenced how I cook, and how we dine. We love putting together a mezze assortment. Mezze being the Greek equivalent of tapas.

And, we love dining out back watching the birds, squirrels, bunnies and butterflies.

Tonight I grilled some old pizza dough I found in the freezer. It looked ugly but tasted great. Put out an assortment of tomatoes, olives, mushrooms, and a jar of my ajvar. Nothing really fancy, just “flatbread” to dip and pile. Mix and match.

With a side arugula salad with balsamic.

No pictures of dinner tonight. Sometimes those messy plates of leftover goodies paired with bread or naan, are all we need to remember trips from the past. And, how good the fresh seafood, veggies and fruit tasted. Bought and enjoyed in exotic settings.

I don’t have to go to Greece to eat well. I can’t come up with a view that compares, but love my ajvar spread on charred warm pizza dough. Watching the crape myrtle in the sunlight. Not bad.

With a glass of old red wine. Loving the Saturday night. What’s your inspiration?

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Posted in Food, Nature, Real Food, Remember When, Travel and tagged cooking, Food, foodie, grilling, nature, real food, travel, weather. Bookmark the permalink.

Trippin’ Again

Posted on August 20, 2013 by AnnieRie

Day Tripping, that is.

Including some updated pictures from Turf Valley. We had a lazy day, that started with a trip to the landfill because the recycling truck came three hours earlier than usual. Which meant we missed it.

Before hitting the landfill, I went into Towne Square with the good camera and shot more pictures. And we picked up tuna subs from Subway before hitting the road to Thurmont by way of Frederick. More on that later.

First, Towne Square. There will be the following restaurants and food places.

Facci, which we mentioned before.

From views of the fenced in areas, it looks like there will be outdoor dining in front and on the side where the fireplace is located.

Mimi’s Kabob is on the far side of Harris Teeter. I didn’t get down there for pictures.

As for fast food, the Subway and YoLaVie, yogurt are on the left in the way in.

The woman in Subway who waited on my husband while I was wandering around taking pictures, said Red Parrot will be an Asian restaurant, but today no activity found there.

Not much going on at Xitomate and Grille 620 either. Only Facci and Petite Cellars had lots of trucks and equipment outside.

We left the landfill today to head off to find Big Cork Wines to take to a family reunion in two weeks. I wanted to take a local wine, and only two liquor stores stock Big Cork. Both of them just outside the Wegmans location north of Frederick.

I wanted some Traminette. A relative grape of Gewurztraminer. A good all purpose white that will please a crowd. We found ours at Riverside, just south of the Wegmans complex off Monocacy Boulevard.

We then headed out to Thurmont for a ride. Looking to take pictures. And finding one of the six remaining covered bridges in Maryland. Just north of Catoctin Mountain Orchards, at the intersection of Roddy and Roddy Creek Roads.

I was looking for honey bee pictures. Working on the theme for next year’s County Fair special category.

We were also looking for farm country pictures to use on my husband’s design for his amateur radio cards to exchange for confirming a contact with another country. He wants fields and farmland. I took a few north of Catoctin.

The benefits of retirement. Tuesdays free to wander all over the area.

I have to admit though, it will be nice to have a big choice of restaurants right up the road.

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Posted in Day Trips, Farms, Food, Hobbies, Local Businesses, Nature, Restaurants and tagged day trips, farms, Food, foodie, hobbies, local businesses, Locavore, nature, photography. Bookmark the permalink.

The Bug Man Cometh …

Posted on August 18, 2013 by AnnieRie

… and he brought his wife. And, they talked about butterflies, pollinators and so much more. At the Howard County Conservancy last Saturday, we were treated to a “twofer”. Dr. Mike Raupp, and his wife Dr. Paula Shrewsbury, spent a few hours talking to the crowd gathered around them in the picnic area.

Looking at bugs. Talking about bees. Going on a hike through the gardens, looking for pollinators, and identifying butterflies, moths, insects and bees.

Fun for all ages. Mike has this ability to connect with all ages, from the youngest enthusiasts, to the master gardeners, and master naturalists there to learn even more than they might have known about insects.

I always learn something new from his talks. And, from his wife’s, too. This time I learned about solitary bees. And, how to attract them to make a home in our yards and pollinate our vegetables and fruit. Like making bee hotels.

The last part of the program was a hike out into the meadows to see what they could find there, amongst the grasses and the milkweed.

Getting back into the swing of things, most of us volunteers are preparing to take the refresher training, for the fall field trips at the Conservancy. I see there will be new activities for the school children and we will be learning how to present them.

One of my favorite parts of my volunteer “job”. Learning new things, and then seeing them through the eyes of the children. The training schedule is here, for those who want to join our group of volunteer hike leaders. And then, just like me …

… you will then know the name of this plant, and the butterfly. Answer: Joe Pye Weed. Eastern Tiger Swallowtail.

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Posted in Gardening, Hobbies, Howard County, Nature, People, Volunteering and tagged gardening, hobbies, Howard County, howard county conservancy, nature, photography, retirement, volunteering. Bookmark the permalink.

Not Your Typical Wednesday

Posted on July 31, 2013 by AnnieRie

Well, it all started with tractor maintenance. Horsing around a 200 pound mower deck. At least that is what my husband did. I just got to “assist”, that is, sit on the tractor and raise and lower the deck.

He got to do all the greasing and cleaning.

I also got to chase butterflies. They are everywhere at the moment.

The highlight today though was the 5th anniversary party at Bistro Blanc.

Sixty five lucky guests got to share in a spectacular dinner with wines to celebrate the 5th anniversary of the restaurant. I think the scallop appetizer might have been my favorite course, or maybe that incredible pork tenderloin.

Tomorrow I have to figure out what I am entering in the fair, but tonight I am just basking in the good feelings of an amazing meal with old friends, new friends and people who love good food.

Cheers to Raj and Marc and the rest of the staff at Bistro Blanc.

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