#013 Planting too soon!

This year, we made our first large garden.  Two areas;  One about 60 feet by 30 feet.  The other about 20 feet by 20 feet.

We started by planting seeds inside the house in every pot that we could buy or create.  Pots filled each window space in the house.

We had an abundance of seedlings.  Soon they needed to be separated.  I decided to put them in the ground as soon as the seed packet instructions said that they could go in.

Technically, we met the requirements for before or after frost based on documentation.  However, we had a late frost and a lot of heavy rain - too much for the small seedlings.  We lost almost all of the work that was put into the seedlings that went in the ground too soon.

I learned later, that it would have been better to let them grow to a robust size.   Perhaps with a much stronger root system before planting.  Also, adhering to the conventional regional wisdom of planting after Memorial Day for the lower New England area, due to the reduced frost risk.

Next year will be different.  More patience!  Increased production!

#001 If You Love This Planet by Helen Caldicott

If You Love This Planet is a great book for understanding challenges to the environment.  The challenges that Helen Caldicott discusses are Ozone Depletion, Global Warming, the Politics, Trees, Pollution, Population, Greed, Debt, The Media and ways for supporting efforts to improve the earth through loving the planet.

From https://www.helencaldicott.com/books/if-you-love-this-planet/

"If You Love This Planet describes in easy-to-understand language the scientific and medical consequences of the greenhouse effect, ozone depletion, deforestation, species extinction, toxic chemical pollution, nuclear waste, food contamination, and the ever-present threat of nuclear war.

Caldicott, a physician by training, also gives us a prescription for cure – and a cause for hope. We must learn energy efficiency, we must organize politically (voting, she suggests, should be compulsory), and we must hold corporations and governments accountable for their actions. Above all, she says, our fight for the planet will draw its greatest strength from a love for the Earth itself."

#002 Harvest for Hope by Jane Goodall

Harvest for Hope, A Guide to Mindful Eating is a great book for learning about the world's systems for food production and how an individual can make choices to influence those systems.

I have now read or listened to a couple of Jane Goodall's books, including Hope for Animals and Their World and Harvest for Hope.

The links are the following:
https://shop.janegoodall.org/product/Harvest-For-Hope/JGI104
https://shop.janegoodall.org/product/Hope-for-Animals-and-Their-World/JGI102

Hope for Animals and Their World discusses many efforts towards saving animals heading for extinction.

Harvest for Hope is about the impact of food production on the planet.   The subjects include animal,  agriculture, how food production has changed over time, industrial control of food production, antibiotics, pesticides, genetically modified foods, pollution from production,  means of harvesting fish, and organic verse non organic.  The goal is for all of us to live more sustainably.

I learned a lot from this book.  It was the final piece leading to becoming mostly a whole food plant based eater. 

Jane Goodall provides solutions to eating better with a reduced impact on the planet.

#003 Eagle River Nature Center, Chugach State Park, Alaska

Eagle River Nature Center is located in Eagle River, Alaska with Chugach State Park.  It is one of the four largest state parks in the United States.  The park is less than an hour drive from Anchorage and is a good place to start exploring Alaska straight off of a plane.  The center is part of Chugach State Park.  This link will provide more information.
http://dnr.alaska.gov/parks/aspunits/chugach/chugachindex.htm

We arrived at the park entrance before it opened, since our plane landed in Anchorage at 2:00 am.  We did some grocery shopping at a 24-hour super market.  To keep our groceries cold we bought some frozen vegetables to use as ice packs and a cooler bag.

Eagle River Nature Center has easy walking trails near the entrance with scenic mountain vistas. Board walks are along the river, including the Beaver Viewing Deck.

Much longer trails include Crow Pass.  This hike will lead to Crow Pass in Girdwood, Alaska.

The website is https://www.ernc.org/.

#004 Owls Head, White Mountains, New Hampshire

Owl’s Head – My Final Peak of the (48) 4000 footers of New Hampshire

Owl’s Head has been a challenge to think about for a while.  At the long distance, I asked myself the best way to do the hike.  Should I do it as one long day, hike in and camp then summit, or summit then camp?  Do we need a long weekend?

We changed our plans from hiking and camping on Saturday September 28, 2019, since it was going to rain.  I thought finishing the forty-eight may have to wait until next year, knowing that the distance would be too long to cover in winter conditions.  We decided to go ahead and hike Owls Head in one day on Sunday, September 29, 2019.

The morning was cool so we added on some extra layers onto of our summer hiking attire.  The day was supposed remain overcast and not get very warm.  

We arrived at the Lincoln Woods trail head 6:45 am and arrived at the bridge over the East Branch of the Pemigewasset River at 7 am.  We walked the long flat of the Lincoln Woods Trail the turned left onto the Black Pond Trail.  The trail was a little muddy but not bad. Black Pond was very pretty and we took some photos along the way.  The autumn colors were well on their way with a lot of yellow, especially on the hills.

We found the Black Pond Bushwack which was our plan for avoiding dangerous water crossings that I had read about over the years.  The older I get, the less I like rock hopping over rivers.  The Black Pond Bushwack was difficult to follow in some locations but we were able to correct where had gone wrong after a little investigation.

We joined the Lincoln Brook Trail at Lincoln Brook and continued to Owls Head Path.  This was moderate and scenic hiking along the brook and had a couple of crossings that were not very deep or dangerous.

With the sun up hours later and generating heat from moving, we eventually warmed to shed the extra layers.  We cycled through warm and cold and put gloves on and took them off, hands in and out of pockets, light jackets on then off again, depending on if we were generating heat or not.

Owls Head Path was exactly as described.  It started in the woods and quickly became a slide of loose rock.  We had many thoughts of not wanting to head down the slide for fear of injury.  Some friendly hikers told us about the Brutus Bushwack to use on the way down.  Once past the slide, the hike was a typical moderately steep climb until reaching the ridge line where it was a steady meander to the summit. 

After having a half-hour lunch, we headed down.  We kept our eyes out for the Brutus Bushwack.  We were told that the Brutus Bushwack was worth looking for to avoid the danger of the slide. Unaware of the exact location, we passed the bushwack and asked for a couple of guys heading up the mountain to check their AllTrails App.  The app and they guys confirmed that we had passed it.  We decided that we would rather go up for few minutes to find the bushwack than to head down the loose rock of the slide.

The Brutus Bushwack was great compared to the slide.  It was a moderate decline down the hill through thick forest.  Two couples with children were headed down slightly ahead of us as well as another two couples.  They clearly preferred the bushwack option as well.

Overall it was great experience with decent weather, and great company. We ended the very long day sore and tired but uninjured.

A great finish to the long journey of hiking the 48 4000 footers.  

#005 Meal Plans

I have become predominantly an advocate for Whole Food Plant Based eating and have recently received a certificate in plant based nutrition from Cornell University.

Often I am asked; "What do you eat?"  The list is long and I enjoy the choices that I make.

Below is a list of meal plans available on the internet that may be useful.

From Whole Foods:
https://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/healthy-eating/meal-plans/plantastic-plant-based

From Cornell:
https://nutritionstudies.org/whole-food-plant-based-diet-guide/

From nutritionfacts.org
https://nutritionfacts.org/healthkit/

#006 Bigalow Hollow State Park, Connecticut - Ridge Trail

Bigalow Hollow State Park, in Connecticut, part of Nipmuck State Forest, is a great place for easy to moderate hiking.

Many short loops can be walked.  For a more moderate and long hike, you could choose the Ridge Trail.  From this trail, you can make a 6 mile or more loop back to the parking areas.

Ridge Trail offers easy walking and then moderately steep inclines and descents along approximately 3 miles of ridge.

The Ridge Trail had some challenge to it with quad activating hill climbs.  The scenery was diverse with rocky ridges, hard packed trails, shirt muddy stream crossing, dead wood marshes, long grassy hilltops and clear ponds.

We spotted a Blue Heron or two taking off from the marsh. The birds were active and we saw many toads on the trail.  Some locations along Breakneck Pond gave picturesque views of much of the length of the pond.

The park is located in Union, Connecticut in northeast corner near the Massachusetts boarder.  

The horse flies and mosquitos were ever present.  They found us and seemed to stay for the entire 6 miles.  You may want to bring whatever preventative measures work for you.  My chosen method was to use the end of pine branch for waving, swatting and disrupting the flies and mosquitos.  I managed to walk the entire route with less than half dozen bites, although the harassment by them was nearly constant.

Bigalow Hollow State Park is over 9,000 acres and offers 3 large bodies of water -  Bigelow Pond, Mashapaug Pond and Breakneck Pond.   Swimming and boating are allowed at Bigelow Pond and Mashapuag Pond.   You can get away from the crowds by hiking and walking around Breakneck Pond. 

We found a party atmosphere at the picnic and swimming area at Mashapaug Pond a short walk north of the boat launch.  This was a very hot July day.

A beautiful day trip can be made by driving the backroads by farms and wooded areas coming from the east.

The website for the Bigelow Hollow State Park is below.

https://www.ct.gov/deep/cwp/view.asp?a=2716&q=325174&deepNav_GID=1650

The map for the Bigelow Hollow State Park is in the link below.

https://www.ct.gov/deep/lib/deep/stateparks/maps/big_nipm.pdf