Tales from Easement Acres
In what appears to be a mushroom theme as of late, here’s a newcomer I haven’t seen before. AI has made identification significantly easier now, taking some of the fun out of the search. Can’t stop what’s coming, I suppose.
Anyway:
They grow in nutrient-rich mediums, such as this layer of mulch.
They’re also apparently inedible. Oh well.
–Simon
Here’s a cool bug I haven’t seen before in the yard: an eight-spotted forester.
Apparently a native and unremarkable species, this moth lives at the edges of forests and open fields, with their caterpillars feeding on, among other things, virginia creeper. It was, in fact, spotted resting upon a dormant virginia creeper vine at the edge of my yard.
Noteworthy only because it was the first time I’ve seen one.
–Simon
A little late to the post, but we did get one more round of snow, presumably the last for the season.
–Simon
In the spirit of phenologic trend monitoring, here are the first crocus blooms of 2026, as of 2/25:
3 days earlier than last year, but that’s probably insignificant. I’m making the guess that this year’s weather patterns will be similar to last year’s.
Next up: starting tomato seedlings.
–Simon
Four years is hardly a sufficient data sample by which to predict trending weather, but I took my historical phenologic observations and graphed them nonetheless. It would turn out to reveal a short-term trend.
Dandelions are the outlier, and I didn’t start measuring all events on the same initial year, but there’s a noticeable dip – indicating a warm spell. That 2-year period returned to previous values last year.
I have yet to observe crocus flowers, but they are starting to bloom. And with all the recent snow, it would appear that we’re beginning to return to a cooler seasonal climate.
Interesting. I shall continue to monitor this. I may delay planting dates.
–Simon