May 7, 2024 Pawpaws are fruiting at Saint Andrew’s Forest Farm

After going out on April 27 (a little over 2 weeks ago) and hand pollinating the pawpaws, we were delighted yesterday to see them beginning to grow the tiniest fruit. About 10 trees have fruit forming so far. These were the trees we found flowering and used Q-tips to pollinate. There are at least 100 pawpaw trees down there. We have plans to bring more sunlight into the pawpaw patch and move some of the pawpaws to spread them out. We are beyond excited for these fruits and can’t wait until fall to harvest them. We hope to grow our population of pawpaws and increase their productivity.

Young pawpaw fruit.

The blueberries continue to develop and we find more and more plants flowering and growing small green blueberries. We hope to taste a few before the animals get to them.

We expected to find many mushrooms at the farm since it’s been raining a lot this past week, but we only found these Gloeophyllum along the sunny southern border.

We found this colorful pair of six spotted tiger beetles down by the waterway at the south side. They feed on a wide variety of arthropods and over winter in larval burrows.

Cicindela sexguttata, a common North American beetle.

We continue to pull up and clear out invasive trees as we find them. So far, tree of Heaven, mimosa and paulownia are the invasive species and we find them mainly along the road. We also continue to take down black Cherry trees that are diseased and dying.

We’re taking back our southern border and clearing out overgrown brush. It is so satisfying to cut the tangled overgrown weeds back. We are thrilled with our old Husqvarna.

Brush we are cutting back along southern border.

Pollinating the pawpaws.

April 23, 2024 Pawpaws and blueberries flowering at St Andrew’s Forest Farm

Yesterday in the forest,we found pawpaws blooming and blueberries flowering and fruiting, and in the clearing we found our first cover crop of crimson clover flowering. Butterflies and other insects were enjoying the flowers.

We found about 20 pawpaw trees with flowers and plan to get back out there to pollinate them by hand within the next few days.

We saw hundreds of blueberry bushes flowering with some fruit beginning to form.

Mountain laurel budding up.

Crimson clover flowering. The butterflies were all over them.

South property line with mayapples in the wet weather gully.

We are constantly amazed by the abundance of food growing naturally in the forest. We look for ways to encourage and support the continued growth and development of a healthy and sustainable ecosystem.

April 12, 2024 Early Lowbush Blueberries

Yesterday we went over for a quick visit, and to our delight, we saw the blueberry bushes were flowering and getting berries.

Vaccinium pallidum, early lowbush blueberries found in a patch at the bottom of slope near the waterway.

We’d been watching them and noted a few weeks ago they were leafing out. We have observed hundreds of them all throughout the forest. We’ve read that they are more productive when they have plenty of sun.

These fruits are eaten by terrestrial turtles, black bears, coyotes, foxes, raccoons, deer and many bird species including wild turkeys, grouse, blue jays, robins, wood thrush and eastern bluebirds. These wild blueberries are smaller and sweeter and grow in acidic soils that are moist and well draining.

We continue to marvel at the abundance of food growing wild in the forest and feel lucky to be able to caretake this incredible environment.

We also noted the tulip poplars, dogwood and sugar hackberry trees are all beginning to leaf out. The transformation of the forest to green for summer has already started.

Sugar hackberry leafing out up top near the clearing. Late last summer, we saw leaf cutter bees all over this tree and oval holes appear on the leaves of this tree. We were excited to learn that these solitary bees harvest the leaf circles to line their nests. 🐝

April 10, 2024 Saint Andrew’s Forest Farm

We had a big day of mowing and cutting back several overgrown areas along the southern set back line. We used our new roads through the forest we’d cut a few weeks ago to drive the tractor over to the southern border. It was a success. Our old Husqvarna tractor is a workhorse.

Viola hirsutula, Southern wood violet found along the south wet weather gully.

Viburnum prunifolium, Blackhaw, found in the wet weather gully on the south side.

Genus Galium, bedstraws.

Terrapene carolina carolina, Eastern box turtle. South side near mayapple colony.

Carya ovata, shagbark hickory. South end of SAFF.

Our first red Russula of the year. We saw many of these last year. There are over 500 species. This was found on the north side of the clearing up top.

We found a few other plants and are looking into identifying them.

We were happy to cut down a few more black cherry trees which had black knot fungus and bag worms. We are slowly taking diseased trees from the farm and burning them.

It was dry out today with rain expected tomorrow and Friday. We hope after a rain with warmer weather into the 70s, the morels may finally pop up. We are on the lookout and can’t wait to get back out there.

Salvia lyrata, lyreleaf sage. Found along the road while mowing. There was a patch of it.

April 6,2024 Saturday Morning Farm Foray

Ferns and mayapples by the waterway.

We have a house guest later today but with the wet weather this week, we could not resist a quick run out to Buckingham for a foray. The cool moist April weather all week long seemed to offer another chance for morels.

As we neared the Farm a large male Bald Eagle suddenly commanded our attention by swooping down from a tree to seize a hapless rabbit in a stubbly corn field. He seemed to stare right at us as we drove by, in awe, waiting until we passed to begin his feast.

Once in the gate at the Farm we wasted no time getting to the forage. We walked Fern trail, past the row of blooming redbud trees, and then stayed to the south side of the Ridge, spying the Mayapples near the setback line. We looked closely, but no luck there.

We continued down the hill to the oaks and main waterway. We cross and explored the mayapple communities adjacent to the pawpaw grove. Many old and young oaks, poplar, beech, hickory, pawpaw, maple, as well as year-round vernal pools. But no morels yet. It is cold, mostly overcast and windy, the oak leaves are crunchy underfoot.

On the drive to SAFF and back, we note a marked difference in the relative development of “spring” in Augusta, Albemarle, Nelson and Buckingham counties. It seems notably cooler once we cross the James River. The trees in Buckingham have been slower to develop their leaves and buds. The spring vegetation at SAFF is not as far along, not as green or flowery yet. The trees know it’s too soon, they are holding back, just a bit longer. This will be something to remember for the future, an entry in our almanac.

Shiny golden mushrooms found along Ridge Trail. Nolanea, or pinkgills.

April 3, 2024, Rainy Day Morel Hunting

We thought today would be the day. The ground temperature was perfect ranging from 50 to 55 at various depths. We got a call from a friend who lives by a lake in Arrington Virginia—the next county over—and he’d found buckets of morels. It had been raining for days with a giant storm moving through. We went over to see if we could find any. The water was too high to cross at the bottom of the slope. We didn’t find morels but we had a great walk. The water was really moving through. We’d never seen it so wet. We will go out Friday morning to check again. These were our finds today.

Tricholomopsis rutilans, or common name Plums and Custard, or Red-haired Agaric. Found along south trail.

Pluteus cervinus, in clearing near loblolly pines.

Coprinellus found up top in the clearing in multiple places.

Polystichum acrostichoides, Christmas fern

Erynnis juvenalis

March 31, 2024 St Andrew’s Forest Farm on Easter Sunday

Class Agaricomycetes growing on black cherry.

The underside of theAgaricomycetes shows teeth instead of pores or gills.

Of course we went over to continue to search for morels. It was a beautiful day and the farm was burgeoning with spring. We saw multiple colonies with thousands of mayapples emerging. Only a couple of the largest ones have flattened which is a great indicator of timing for morels to begin coming up. We found these new colonies of mayapples emerging in the pawpaw grove where we also found Virginia bluebells popping up. We noticed that the blueberry bushes are starting to leaf out.

Virginia bluebells not yet flowering but almost.

One colony of mayapples which has plenty of sun so we hope to see some fruit. We hear the taste is similar to pineapple and starburst candy. Yum!

Leucobryum moss found at the bottom of the slope.

Eastern fence lizard found up top in the clearing.

Genus Houstonia, flowering bluets, a native wildflower found covering the farm especially in clearings.

We got plenty of rain yesterday and can’t wait to go back out to search for the elusive morels.

March 27, 2024 Springtime at SAFF

Yesterday was a rainy spring day with temperatures in the 50s at Saint Andrew’s Forest Farm. We went over to walk around the woods and look for early morels since the soil temperature has been in the 50s for a week. We saw vernal pools up top and at the bottom of the slope. The springs and waterfalls were all flowing. We found hygrocybes, commonly called waxycaps. They have bright red caps and yellow gills. We also found oyster mushrooms growing up top in the clearing on a stump.

Blackening wax cap or witches hat.

Oyster mushrooms

We also found several clusters of mayapples. We were delighted to see these as they are associated with morels as they grow together in the same wet, well draining soil.

Mayapples emerging along south slope.

The water levels were up with even more rain expected today. We can’t wait to get back out.

March 9, 2024 Wet weather and Morel hunting

Witches butter

We’ve been going over most days this week as the soil temperature has been above 50 degrees Fahrenheit which is when morels begin to pop up. We have not found them yet but are delighted to continue our search. We’ve been looking especially near tulip poplars, oaks and beech —and near the waterways.

Ink caps, usually one of the first mushrooms to appear in early spring.

Wet weather gully along the southern side of SAFF during a rainy day.

We’ve also been going over often to be sure our neighbor at our southern border isn’t hunting on our property. He built a stand and a bridge and also cut down 30-50 trees all on our side. He’s confused about the unambiguous property line that runs right along the electricity line. We are planning a fence and have sent him letters. We will engage with the sheriff’s office next. Yesterday, we found deer bones on that side and we mourned for these creatures and wish he would contain himself to his land at the least.

Water was collecting everywhere up top and along the slopes.

February 23, 2024 SAFF on a drizzly, cloudy winter day.

Bryoandersonia illecebra,

Millipede hiding out among the Stereum complicatum or common named crowded parchment.

Today we startled a rabbit as we walked through the woods in the misty rain. Somehow we caught him by surprise, crunching up the hillside behind the shed. He startled and panicked, ran 50 feet away, then stopped, stretched his legs and shook it off.

There were a few puddles of water collecting in depressions up top in the clearing.

I just heard on NPR that as of today, there’s no county in Virginia in a drought. This is as a result of the wet month we’ve had.

Auricularia auricula-judae (Bull.) Wettst. – Jelly Ear Fungus.

 Mainly seen in winter and spring. It grows on dead elder trees and on fallen branches, but occasionally you may also find it growing on other kinds of hardwood. Jelly Ear is sometimes used in cookery, where it provides an interesting texture but is nothing special in terms of flavour. Young fresh fruitbodies (above) are generally considered the best. We have not tried it although we hear it’s good in soups and adds nutrients.

We’re excited to report we’ve almost finished insulating the shed. We cut down a few more black knot infected black cherry trees and some other standing dead trees. We have so much work to do in the forest. The ground was wet and squishy in areas especially down at the bottom of the slope and around the waterway. We found a few more downy rattlesnake orchids. The leaves on the beech trees are showing buds. We went across to look at the waterfalls in the wet weather.

We pulled out vines, found mosses, worts and lichen in abundance. Even in the wintry weather, we found the jelly wood ear and crowded parchment fruiting bodies.