A new snowfall record for Caribou, Maine

Caribou, Maine celebrated the first day of spring by setting a new snowfall record overnight during a strong winter snowstorm. The National Weather Service reported the snowfall total at 183 inches as of last night with more snow and a blizzard warning today. For the divisionally challenged, 183 inches is 15+ feet of snow. The previous record of of 181.2 inches of snow was set in 1955.

As if this wasn't enough, yesterday Caribou set a record for the amount of snow received in one day, 10.6 inches. This breaks the previous record of 9.5 inches set in 1971.

I used a photo from the live webcam at the Crown of Maine website. Click for updated photos of downtown Caribou. More webcam images of the Aroostook area are available through the weather site Wunderground.

While I enjoyed the few years I lived in Aroostook County, I don't miss those winters at all --I'm happy with my zone 5 climate, thank-you. On the map, you'll see Caribou in very far northern Maine. I used to live in Presque Isle, just a few miles south of Caribou. I now live about a 4 1/2 hour drive south of there, not too far from Brunswick.

Hooray! Spring is here....

I know it is very wintry outside today in Maine (snow sleet & freezing rain, anyone?) but the astronomical facts are clear: It is the first day of Spring! Congratulations all 'round for surviving another winter.

The bare muddy spots of yard, the muddy driveway edges, the muddy dog, the muddy chickens, all point to one thing -- Spring. I've even felt my unusually dormant gardening urge stirring to life of late -- soon, I'll have my vegetable planting list complete, and then the garden plan, and by next weekend, the seed starting cart will be set up in the laundry room (I hope.)

Enjoy the longer days, lengthening know until June, when the cycle reverses itself. I know I'll be spending as much time outside as I am able too.

More signs of spring

There are ever-increasing patches of bare ground in the backyard, mostly near the sugar maple and flowering crab trees, and along the path to Henbogle coop. The snow is still thigh deep in other areas, alas.


The garden shed, surrounded by thigh-deep snow. Note the white garden gate to the left.


Dog hair from Fisher, stuffed into the gate to be available to birds for nest-building. We cleaned out the nest boxes on Sunday, and were scolded by a cheeky tufted titmouse, probably one of the 2 broods last year to be hatched in that nest box. We decided to make good by bringing out some Fisher fur saved from his last lion-look grooming.


Pippi, looking suspiciously at the camera. Is that a treat? Home sick from work with Dan's bug today, I looked out the window this morning to see Pippi out of the hen-pen, perched on the snow. On went my new boots, and I was off to catch a chicken. Fortunately, Pippi recognized the bowl in my hand as a treat container, and hop-flapped her way over to me. Back into the pen she went to share the leftover pasta with the other chooks.

Signs of spring

Although it was a dreary gray day today, I saw sure signs of spring.

A pileated woodpecker busily working on the dead tree next door. (click photo to enlarge)















Tulips peeking up in the foundation bed behind the house.














Muddy boots in the muddy chicken yard.
















My birthday present in action. This will be the ONLY vacuum cleaner I will ever request as a gift. It sucks up the leaves, and chops them up, ready to compost. This will be perfect in the perennial gardens, where the leaves get caught in the shrubs.

Spring is on the way....

Wintry mix

The remnants of Wednesday's storm. I heard this morning that more is on the way for Friday night and Saturday.

Yet more wintry mix

Another school cancellation for Dan today, the result of an overnight snow/sleet/rain/freezing rain storm that left a thick layer of ice everywhere, and had people scrambling to get roofs shoveled and or inspected. At least 2 schools in Maine have canceled classes due to concerns about roof snow loads. (Don't get me started on the topic of flat-roofed buildings in snow country.)

Will this winter ever end? I'm finding it really hard to get motivated to get garden planning, even though I should be planting peppers and onions right now.

Sunday Snow Report

We never did get a snowfall total for the March 1 storm. By the time the snow slowed down, it was 40°F and the snow had significantly compacted into a sodden, heavy mass. It snowed all day, though, slowing considerably late in the day, but flakes were still drifting down when our friends Bill and Michelle headed home post-pizza a little after 9 pm.

We shoveled in the afternoon Saturday, enough to get by, and today in the sunshine, batted clean-up. There was a chilly breeze, but the March sun really warmed things up. Spring is clearly on the way, snowstorms be damned.

The girls were very happy to have the snow removed from the yard around Henbogle coop, and even happier to see the big plate of leftover pasta, fried rice, and aging spinach we brought.

We have a LOT of snow. Temps today and yesterday were in the high 30°-40° F and the snow is melting quickly but it is still amazingly deep even in the yard. We've given up shoveling the deck off, we have no where to put the snow. We just keep a path to the door cleared.

In the photos on the left above and to the right, this is the path between the 2 new garden beds I planted last summer. Hard to imagine now, isn't it?

In the front yard, Dan is atop the snow filling the front yard feeder, which normally is level with his head. The snow he is standing on is another lovely perennial garden, buried under 3 feet of snow.

We noticed that the heavy snowbanks have snapped several of the lower branches off the spruce in the front yard (you can see a few of the branches framing Dan in the photo). That tree gives the front yard some privacy, and more importantly, shields the house from the glare of the streetlight. I hope that we don't lose too many more branches from this poor tree. I sure hope this is the last big snow of the season.

In like a lion

Here's hoping the old adage about March is true, in like a lion, out like a lamb, as here at Henbogle it is snowing hard at 8:50 am, and the NWS forecast is calling for 5-9 additional inches today atop the 3" or so that fell overnight. Sigh. I am so DONE with winter and snow, but apparently the message has yet to be received by the weather gods. The snowy winter is really feeding my unreasonable longing for a greenhouse.

The girls are out in the hendome. They weren't too happy about the snow on the ground, but the lure of treats was too strong to resist. The other day Dan came upon a bale of hay fallen from a truck, and stopped to bring it home for the girls. He threw the bale in the dome and they are in hen heaven. We'd intended to stop by the feed store and buy a bale Sunday, but mis-timed it and the store was closed, so the girls had to do without. Scratching through the bale and eating the seeds gives them something to do and keeps them happy. This morning I threw a couple of handfuls of scratch into the hay and they'll be occupied happily for some time.

On my way back to the house I refilled all the bird feeders. I'd say at this point we've gone through about 125 lbs of sunflower seed, and 15 lbs of thistle seed. It is money well spent, feeder bird watching is more entertaining than cable tv anyday. I find the upside down finch feeder especially amusing. Some of the finches, and even a few chickadees, figure it out right away, but there are always a few who never do get the idea.

Well, time to make some pizza dough, I think tonight will be an excellent night for a big pizza feed. As I nearly always manage to set the smoke detectors off when I make pizza, it's time to test out the new microhood and see how good a job of smoke removal it does. Once I get the dough made, it will be time to buckle down and make some decisions about what seeds I will be ordering. I've been a quivering blob of indecision, but it is more than time to get off the pot, as they say, or I'll be SOL when order fulfillment time comes around!

Wet and wintry Wednesday

Yet another snowstorm dumped 8 inches of snow here at Henbogle overnight before the freezing rain, then rain, then freezing rain, created a wet, slushy mess. Schools and businesses statewide were closed, and even my campus sent staff home early due to the slippery roads and threat of late day freezing.

I was able to work from home today, and while I was on a telephone meeting in the morning, Dan shoveled and used our new roof rake to clean snow off the roof in the ice dam zone. The poor feller was soaked through by the time he finished.

Once I was off the phone, Dan called in to a conference call about the statewide 7th and 8th grade computer program. (In Maine, every 7th & 8th grade student has a Mac iBook computer.) Love it or hate it (and I mostly love it) technology has radically changed the way we work. I for one LOVE being able to work from home on days like today.

This Afternoon Snow Likely Hi 27°F

Tonight Snow Likely Lo 16°F

Saturday Chance Snow Hi 34°F

Saturday Night Snow Lo 22°F

Sunday Snow Likely Hi 33°F

Sunday Night Slight Chc Snow Lo 12°F

Monday Mostly Sunny Hi 30°F

Monday Night Mostly Clear Lo 10°F

Tuesday Chance Snow Hi 27°F

What is wrong with this picture?

Spring is a mere 40 days away, that is what's wrong with this picture. Enough, already! The chickens are not happy with all this snow, and frankly, neither am I.

Too many tomatoes

Although we ate some fresh garden tomatoes, and canned 11+ quarts of tomato sauce, 2007 was not a great year for tomatoes in our garden. We had a cool wet spring, and a cool (delightful, really, in human comfort terms) summer, and our tomatoes didn't really take off until August, with production peaking in September, just in time for back to campus and the craziness that brings.

Of course, part of the reason for the low productivity is our decision to go away on vacation, and while gone, neglect our pruning and staking duties, which resulted in a giant green jungle. Hoping to increase our tomato yield through a little healthy competition, Dan and I have agreed to a tomato-growing contest this summer (his idea, I might add). While we still have to work out all the details, we've decided we'll grow the same varieties, starting the seeds together, etc., but once we determine a planting date, it is every woman for herself. I'm now immersed in perusing the 'net and my stash of gardening catalogs, trying to come up with the list of varieties we'll grow.

Potential varieties:
Sungold cherries (these babies are a definite)
Amish Paste*
Orange Banana*
Brandywine
Ruby Pearl
Green Zebra
Opalka+
Milano Paste+
Debarao+

The tomatoes marked with an asterisk* I grew last year, and in general was very happy with; but notice the plus mark+ beside Debarao and Milano? These are 2 new paste varieties I'm considering, because they are much earlier than the Amish Pastes or Orange Bananas. I saw the Milano Plum in the John Scheepers Kitchen Gardeners catalog, $2.95 for 50 seeds. Milanos are hybrid determinate types, ready in an astonishing 60-65 days.

The Debrarao were recommended by my friend Holly's go to organic gardening source, Dan Pratt of Astarte Farm in Hadley, MA and are ready in 72 days. Seeds are available from Johnny's $2.95 for 40 seeds.

Another gardening crony recommended Opalka (82 days) tomatoes from Pine Tree Garden Seeds, saying they beat the Amish Pastes by a country mile for taste, few seeds, and thin, tender skin. Of course, they are not early. And then there are Grandma Mary's Paste (68 days), but there is no mention of flavor in the notoriously wordy Fedco catalog, hmmm. As I said, I was happy with the Amish Paste (85 days) and the Orange Bananas (85 days), but now I'm dithering and these are only the paste varieties! What is a gardener to do? Suggestions are welcome.

A good day for soup

The skies were clear here at Henbogle today, setting us up nicely for a big plunge in temperature, when the forecast is for a low of 3ºF overnight. The high today was in the mid 20sºF, but with a perky little breeze --perfect soup weather.

I've got a strong tendency to stockpile items like food, building materials, fabric, garden tools. The other day, when making room in the freezer for our pork delivery, I realized that I need to actually use all the food I have so carefully laid away (so far we've only cracked open 2 jars of tomato sauce, and a 3-4 of grape juice). In six months, I hope to be picking more strawberries and harvesting lettuce from the garden. It was high time to use those freezer veggies, so I stirred together a big batch of minestrone soup.

I had made a big batch of stock from one of our delicious freezer chickens the other day, so I sauteed some onions, added some carrots, celery, garlic, then the stock, potatoes, cannelini beans, cabbage, and from our freezer, swiss chard, wax beans, green beans, corn and pesto. With some homemade garlic croutons and warm from the oven ginger bread for dessert, I can almost forget the plunging temperatures. For a little while.

Snowed In

Hyacinth, Poppy and Iris (who should know better!) spent the night snowed-in their snowdome last night. Apparently, they were too freaked out by the snow to make the scary trip (all 5 yards) to Henbogle Coop.

Dan reported when he went out to shovel and secure the coop for the night that 2 of the girls were standing in the snow halfway between the snow dome and the coop, clearly attempting to fire a neuron and recall the way to the coop through the darkness and snow. Fortunately, Dan came along just in time to shoo them into the coop, but the other three were not departing the security of the snow dome.

All were were fine this morning. When they heard me coming with treats they came out to greet me. Poppy and Iris had a few beakfuls of treat then made a beeline for the preferred nestbox. Iris got there first, so Poppy stood on the edge of the box crowding Iris until I picked Poppy up and placed her in the next box. 10 minutes later, I had 3 additional fresh eggs, nice and warm.

Silly chickens. They are cute, but clearly have some challenges in the brain department.

The wallop zone

Well, thus far we've received about 14" of snow. We are definitely in the wallop zone, as Dan so aptly described it. We're in the white band, just a bit NE of Portland.

Dan did not have school today, but I elected to drive in to work as I stayed home on Friday during our freezing rain/sleet/rain/yuk storm. After a short day in the office, I hit the road for home at about 3 pm, and it was a white knuckle drive for at least half the drive, but conditions improved as I got closer to home (and don't they always!)

Dan was out cleaning up when I arrived home, he looked like a Yeti, but at least the worst of it is done. I left him to it and made a nice bubbling hot dinner. The snow was white and fluffy, and covered up all the sand and muck, so I'm trying to make the best of it. If I recall correctly, I read somewhere that as of our last storm, we had received 36 inches of snow. Add today's 14"+ and thus far this winter, we've received over 50 inches. To date. And did I mention February and March are our big snow months?

The damn ice...

has created an ice dam, which has created a damn leak.

We still have not repaired the dining room ceiling where the upstairs bathroom sink sprung a leak all those months ago.

There is not a roof rake to be found within 25 miles. So, we drip. Thus far the leaking is confined to the ceiling above the kitchen sink, and the window above the sink.

Maybe one of us will be able to find a roof rake Monday near our respective workplaces.

Yeah, right. Maybe we need to investigate deicing cables before next winter.

Compare and contrast

Then


Now

Today was cold, in the low teens with gusty winds. Tomorrow is supposed to be colder. I'm ready for spring, bring it on!

Another 8 inches...and where will we put it?

The snowbank at this point is nearly over my head.

Our Adirondack chairs are reminding me that it will be a long time before we are using them.

I can hardly believe that is garden in front of the grape vine arbor. This summer it looked like this.

The snow is pretty....
The garden shed.


The hen's snow dome is holding up, but looking a bit strained under all this snow. I hope it makes it through the winter!

Fresh snow for the new year

True to the forecast, the snow began here at 12:50 pm, and it has been snowing steadily ever since. Dan's guessing that as of 6:30, we had 3 inches of snow, with the flakes becoming heavier and falling more rapidly as the evening goes on.

The forecast has flopped and flipped more than a presidential candidate before the Iowa caucus, but right now the prediction is for up to 9 inches, about half of early predictions for 12-14 inches. Will there be school tomorrow? Only time will tell at this point.

Yesterday, we spent a very pleasant new year's eve with friends Bill and Karen. After shoveling out yesterday morning, we picked Bill and Karen up in the afternoon and drove to the local independent movie house to see the movie Juno.

We all enjoyed it, as did most of the other patrons, judging from the laughs during the movie and smiles after in the lobby. We then grabbed dinner at a locally owned Mexican restaurant, then went back to Bill's and Karen's for a few games of cards and some celebratory champagne. Karen whipped up a dessert treat, "David Eyre's Pancake," an eggy, puffy pancake reminiscent of a Dutch Baby, but sprinkled generously with lemon juice and powdered sugar.

Curious, today I did a quick search on it and found it had been originally published in the NY Times by Craig Claiborne in 1966, and again fairly recently featured in the food section. More can be found about the pancake and David Eyre here and more, including the recipe below, from Eyre himself, here.

The David Eyre Pancake

2 eggs
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg (the New York Times recorded the nutmeg measure as a "pinch")
4 tablespoons butter
2 to 3 tablespoons powdered sugar
Juice of half a lemon, or more to taste

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

In a mixing bowl, lightly beat eggs. Add flour, milk and nutmeg and lightly beat until blended but still slightly lumpy.

Melt butter in a 12-inch skillet** with a heatproof handle over medium-high heat. (An 11-by-7-inch Pyrex dish will work equally well, according to Eyre.) When butter is very hot but not brown, pour in batter. Bake until pancake is billowing on the edges and golden brown, about 15 minutes.

Working quickly, remove pan from oven, and using a fine-meshed sieve, sprinkle with sugar. Return to oven for 1 to 2 minutes more.

Sprinkle with lemon juice. Serves 2 to 4.

** Eyre said a cast iron skillet made the pancake too crisp.

In the article, Eyre mentions the pancake is delicious served with macademia nuts, pineapple and/or mango. I'll have to try that!

Decidedly delicious. Thanks, Karen, and best wishes to all for a happy and healthy new year!