Fred's photos from Wheaton Labs

Fred Tyler wrote:...
As a bonus here is a mystery: I had labeled these seeds as gumweed (Grindelia), but what has grown looks like something in the parsley family.  It's leaves are very pungent. I look forward to trying to ID it as it grows.

The mystery plant looks like Artemisia (wormwood) to me.

Inge, Artemisia is a plant i would have collected seeds from, so that is a possibility. I'll keep an eye on it. If i go hiking in the area i know it grows, i will bring back a leaf for smell and appearance comparison.

The first photo is of the skid log after Grey used the chainsaw to flatten the remains of the tabs. Not a completely flat plane, but that is the nature of roundwood woodworking, and we will try to compensate for it as we build.

Next Grey shaped the ends of the logs so they are no longer blunt. This will help the log slide over the ground instead of dig into it.

Stephen joined for the next step of drilling holes near the ends of the logs. Drilling such a big hole can move the log quite a bit and is definitely hard on the wrists. We will pass a chain through these holes to pull the structure, should we have to move it.

Last photo is a closer view of the hole.

I spent a little while collecting seeds today

First is sheep sorrel (Rumex acetosella) seed i collected on my plot for a friend. This sour plant is in the buckwheat family. If you zoom in on the seeds they look very similar to buckwheat seeds. This plant is a good indicator of where blueberries would grow well.

Second, i collected some black medick (Medicago lupulina) seeds from the abbey "pond". Many consider these to be a weed, but they are in fact a low growing nitrogen fixer. These can be grown at the same time and space as grain. They will stay low enough to not interfere with grain harvest and will fertilize the grain patch. The seeds are actually yellowish and these are the black pods of this legume, similar to pea pods.

Third, i collected golden clover (Trifolium aureum) seeds from the drainage on the other side of the abbey. These grow wild in the woods here, but at the abbey they grow in a concentrated patch on recently disturbed ground. Again these are puffy pods enclosing the seeds within.

After i collect these i have to leave the bowls outside for a while so the spiders and other bugs can crawl out.

Had an awesome day whitewater rafting on the Clark Fork River with Grey, his parents, and Hao! Thanks for the invite Grey! We saw several eagles and osprey and a few jumping fish. It was 101 F back at basecamp,  but nice and cool on the river. When we got too warm we jumped into the river to cool off. When it was time to get back in the raft we had to squirm and wiggle our way back aboard in a maneuver they called the "flop and giggle".

We took a quick break at a jumping cliff.  I got a couple of pictures of Grey jumping on his second jump. One just at the beginning  and one after he splashed in.

We stopped for lunch at a nice spot where Fish Creek enters the river and I snapped a pic there.

I still can't ID this flower - any ideas?

Daylilies!  I transplanted these from Minnesota to my plot.  It took a couple of years, but they are blooming now!

Fred, I submit my guess as Linnaea amabilis, aka Kolkwitzia amabilis, Beauty Bush.  

Thank you Greg, it very much looks like Beauty Bush to me as well.

Today i have three pics of a bee fly. It is probably in the genus Bombylius. There are at least 60 species in this genus in North America. I couldn't find out much that would lead to a more definite ID.

These bee flies can be seen hovering around flowers throughout much of the summer. They are particularly effective pollinators. They often lay their eggs in the burrows of beetles, wasps, or solitary bees. The egg hatches and the larva feed on the food stores and/or larva of the host. I haven't seen them near the leaf cutter bee houses we have, so they probably have a different host. In the first two photos you can see the prominent proboscis of this species.

Here is some western coneflower (Rudbeckia occidentalis) with a bumblebee on it.  I didn't get a clear enough photo that I can ID the bumblebee, but it could be Hunts, Central or Red-Belted bumblebee.  
The photo was taken during a hike at a nearby lake.

Next is a more detailed photo of the western coneflower.

In the last photo a honeybee forages on chicory, and she is loaded with pollen.

I got a game cam because i was curious who was visiting my plot when i wasn't there.

The first picture is a skunk. I am happy to see one on my plot because i never see them in person.

The second picture is a white-tail deer only it is missing it's tail. It looks like there's a scar. Maybe someone only got a mouthful of tail and the deer got away.

I included another deer. There were several deer coming to get water many different times of day.

A little update of the work on the skidable shed.

The first two photos are notches that Grey made in the skids for the sub-floor cross-bracing. He used a circular saw and chisels to make these pockets. We set the depth of cut on the saw to be the same as a 2x6 so the cross-brace will sit flush with the flat top of the skid.

The last photo is as Grey admires his work at the end of the day.  Here you can see how the braces fit in the skids. There will be two of these crosses to keep the skids from racking when the building is moved. They will also help add rigidity to the floor.