A seed collecting expedition and a visit to an alpaca farm.
It almost feels like summer is here – blue skies, and green fields, but the air is still cool. It’s nice to be able to work outside and not get too hot.

On Wendesday I collected seeds along the river route – the early summer seeds are starting to be ready to harvest. I discovered an interesting new plant in a sandy area near the road. Venus Looking-glass, Triodanis perfoliata. It’s a tiny annual – 6 to 8 inches high with bright blue star shaped flowers. On the way down on Saturday, Mike and I stopped an collected some seeds to plant on the sandy slopes near the house – I think it should like growing there.

On the way home I stopped to visit some people who are raising alpacas. They’ve just started, and have 3 beautiful females, each one a different color – one is dark brown, one lighter brown and one white. Their fleece is incredibly soft, especially the darkest one because she hasn’t had any babies yet. As soon as they’re bred, their fleece gets a little coarser. They looked funny because they had just been sheared, so their bodies were small, but their heads were still big and fuzzy. They look like miniature camels with teddy bear heads.

At the farm we’ve been trying to control the Wild Parsnip – it’s just starting to bloom. We’re trying a combination of mowing, weed-wacking, and clipping. None of them are completely satisfactory, but I like the clipping best – quieter, less destructive, and I can hear the birds.