Belgian Endives are relatives of dandelions, so I figured there is a good chance for success here…
One of the winter gardening projects that we are trying is Belgian Endive, also called witloof. The little football shaped heads, or chicons, are the end product of an extended growing process. The witloof seed are planted in spring and grow all summer, producing long carrot-like roots. The roots are harvested in the fall and put into cold storage. In the winter, the roots are potted in light soil or medium and put in a warm and dark location. This forces the roots to sprout, resulting in the nice tight chicon. Hopefully.
Witloof is a fairly close relative of the dandelion, so it was a bit weird pampering the “weeds” in one area and waging war on similar plants everywhere else. In November I dug the roots up. It was recommended to leave the roots in the field for several days to wither the foliage. It turns out that deer consider the roots to be quite a treat- they gnawed the ends off of all the roots. Where I had started with 10-12″ long slender roots, I ended up with 5″ or so nubbins.
The guide that I have said that 7″ roots are optimal, extra can be trimmed off. My four footed assistants were a bit overzealous, but I figured to work with the remains anyway. I also ended up trimming the tops a little tight, so the roots were damaged at both ends. Ahh well… this is an experiment, so the roots went into a plastic bag in the bottom of the ‘fridge, and we will see how they are in late December or early January.
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Belgian Endives
Belgian Endives are relatives of dandelions, so I figured there is a good chance for success here…
One of the winter gardening projects that we are trying is Belgian Endive, also called witloof. The little football shaped heads, or chicons, are the end product of an extended growing process. The witloof seed are planted in spring and grow all summer, producing long carrot-like roots. The roots are harvested in the fall and put into cold storage. In the winter, the roots are potted in light soil or medium and put in a warm and dark location. This forces the roots to sprout, resulting in the nice tight chicon. Hopefully.
Witloof is a fairly close relative of the dandelion, so it was a bit weird pampering the “weeds” in one area and waging war on similar plants everywhere else. In November I dug the roots up. It was recommended to leave the roots in the field for several days to wither the foliage. It turns out that deer consider the roots to be quite a treat- they gnawed the ends off of all the roots. Where I had started with 10-12″ long slender roots, I ended up with 5″ or so nubbins.
The guide that I have said that 7″ roots are optimal, extra can be trimmed off. My four footed assistants were a bit overzealous, but I figured to work with the remains anyway. I also ended up trimming the tops a little tight, so the roots were damaged at both ends. Ahh well… this is an experiment, so the roots went into a plastic bag in the bottom of the ‘fridge, and we will see how they are in late December or early January.
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Seneca Lake Morning
Finally, a clear morning after a couple of days of drizzle. A layer of fog from Seneca Lake creeps over the farms in the valley below.
As the sun warms the damp grass on the hillside, a thin mist drifts upward. The valley fog is not deep- the silos and rooftops poke through to clear air. The warming sun will make the layer puff up, becoming thicker but more diffuse, until the fog dissipates entirely. (This wide-view pano is made from 12 separate photos.)
Start of the Rut
Our little balsam fir was no match for a hormone-imbalanced buck set to mark his territory.
We knew the first year would be the hardest for the little balsam fir that we set out to mark a corner of our property. It survived being planted when the ground was still frozen. It made it through a very dry spring, then a soggy early summer, and then another dry cycle. The surrounding hay grew taller than the tree, yet Terry, our neighbor, managed to not hit the fir each time he mowed. Things looked good until a buck decided to use it for his rub.
Bucks use trees to rub the dry velvet off their antlers, and at the same time strengthen their neck muscles for the sparring matches to come. We have had rubs on trees in our woods- they usually look like a truck has backed into the tree, with the bark blasted off a one to two foot section of tree trunk. I’m not sure how much stronger this buck is for rubbing on a limber 5-foot fir trunk- maybe that is step one of his resistance training.
The bark is polished off of the trunk all the way around, so the upper part is lost. We will see if there is a new leader that starts up, and a new trunk develops. If so, we will have to help it out with a fence to keep some of the hazards at bay.