Woodland wildflowers are coming into bloom, one of the best free flower shows around. During the last week or so the wild leeks turned many areas a lush green, the
trout lilies in many areas opened, Jack-in-the Pulpits, and
Trilliums sprang to life as did the
Mayapples. Leeks are tasty good food and grow in shaded moist areas. They have an onion-garlic taste and both the leaves and the underground bulb can be eaten. Soon hundreds of the trout lilies will bloom the shaded woodland areas in hues of gold and yellow. Mayapples and the Jack-in-the Pulpits create sort of per-historic atmosphere.
The
Marsh Marigold s, pictured, are also blooming in the marshes, swamps and creek banks. These are amazing plants which are very high in nectar and are a valuable source of food for the emerging bees.
All told, it's good time to get into the woods and enjoy the show on a warm spring afternoon. One can almost tell the calender month by watching what is going on despite the wicked weather. Luckily, we have been fortunate in northwestern Pennsylvania.
Some Questions and More Facts....
This is rather amazing. The April 19th 11:45 pm gas well blow out in Bradford County spewed dangerous fracking waste water across fields and eventually flowed into a creek, which is a tributary to Towanda Creek.
The small, un-named tributary was a mere 500 feet from the out of control well. Towanda Creek is a well known and
popular trout stream which meets the Susquehanna River 16 miles downstream. Just above the spill the creek is classified as a wild trout stream by the PA Fish and Boat Commission.
It took just over 13 hours for an
emergency response crew, called Boots and Coots, to arrive from Texas before the out of control well was brought under control.
While there were no reports of injuries seven families were evacuated. The well called the
Atgas 2H well is located in LeRoy Township. The well was being fractured at the time of the blow out.
In an ironic twist, Chesapeake gave the nearby town Galeton's Water Authority a check for $150,000 just hours before the well incident. The money was given to the water authority for repair work since it's intake system were clogged with sediment from Chesapeake's well development activities.
Since 2008, Chesapeake has been cited for 281 violations; thirty of those violations have happened this year alone. Fracking begins after a well has been drilled. It uses
millions of gallons of water and unknown chemicals under pressure to fracture the underground shale to get the gas to the surface. Even in
Texas , some are calling for changes.
The water, which flows out the well during the process, is called the flowback and is is laced with salts, mineral and radioactivity, along with the unknown chemicals. The waste water is considered
highly toxic .
Currently, no environmental damage to the creeks or private water wells has been discovered, although that could change with time. But the incident raises several questions. Why was the well allowed so close to a pristine watershed area? Why were PA Emergency crews not sent immediately to the blow-out?
More Off the Wall Politics
PA Gov. Corbett encouraged
state universities to drill for Marcellus Gas on their campuses to help solve financial problems caused by his slashing about half of their funding. Perhaps, the good gov. should drill under his personal residence instead of putting thousands of our best students at risk. Weird Politics. Now, want to check out what pols are getting big bucks from the drillers?
MarcellusMoney.Org
Civil War -
The Grand Army of the Republic, more commonly called the GAR, was a Civil War veterans organization which was organized shortly after the war.. Nearly every small town or village had a “Post”. One Post 240 was located in the small village of Wellsboro in Western Pennsylvania. From the handwritten minute book, recorded on Dec. 21, 1882:
“On motion the Post have an oyster supper on Jan. 4 on night of installation. Each commrade to pay for his own supper and ex soldiers and their families to be invited with the understanding they pay for their own supper. The following commrades appointed to make arrangements George C Mills, Sam J. Cole, JSSalsbury, Harrison Roy and Geo W. Baird
The committee procured the following terms
75 cents per couple. No charge for Barn room but charge for grain if fed. The Post will furnish one man to care for horses.”
I have often wondered about “oysters” and where in the dead of winter in northwestern Pennsylvania they would have been obtained. My thinking is that it was an oyster soup made from the
Salsify plant, an uncommon vegetable today. It is often, however, called the oyster plant because it does have a taste similar to oysters. It has the best flavor after id goes through several hard freezes and can still be found for sale on some farms in some of the smaller hamlets.
While searching Civil War- Salsify, I also came across fried Jerusalem artichokes but that will have to wait. Besides, I am wondering who took care of the horses in the “barn room” and missed the “oysters”!
Salsify, a root crop, is a good tasting and healthy vegetable when picked after a long winter. It has a long growing season but it can be planted as soon as the weather breaks. We had a neighbor who use to plant it and give us some every year.
Spring Planting
Still waiting for the weather to clear. There has been plenty of rain and the ground is too saturated to work. This is an important year to get a vegetable garden planted since food prices along with gas prices are rising. Besides homegrown food is certainly tastier and healthier besides being a lot less expensive. Once the weather clears there are
many crops which can be planted such as onions, potatoes, red beets, turnips, salsify (if you want a Civil War dish), lettuce and peas.
Check this out:
This is a good energy saving idea. Go Green with a gas powered bike. Simple to install from
Rain Cross Motorbikes. Michael is a good Facebook friend and a musician and a third year student in college having a great time studying economics. If you get in touch, let him know I say “Hey”. Thanks. Pictured above are Michael Perez and a business partner who founded the new company.
Good Blogs to Read
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