Music and art at GBBG

I won tickets to attend the Green Bay Botanical Garden's 25th anniversary birthday bash in late September.  During a walk around the gardens, we got to see the hosted traveling exhibit Washed Ashore, which included several large sculptures all entirely made out of marine debris.  Neat and also disturbing to see SO much plastic!  We had the chance to enjoy a concert by Ants Marching, the Definitive Dave Matthews Tribute Band (they were excellent!) at the outdoor amphitheater just following a beautiful sunset. Awesome night!

*On the land of the Menominee and Ho-Chunk peoples: https://native-land.ca/

Garden timelapse 2017

We had a good garden season this year and the wetter weather (at times it was too wet!) meant that we didn't have to water too often over at the community garden.  We did have heavy insect pressure on some of the plants and lost two acorn squash plants early.  We also learned a little bit from last year and installed a landscaping fabric on half of the garden (around tomatoes, peppers, and squash) and a row of wood chips to help keep the weeds down, and it did cut down on weeding time significantly.  See vegetable list and a time lapse of the garden progress below.  A fun second season in the garden!

Garden menu (in rough order of production):

Tomatoes

Kale

Assorted lettuce

Purple cabbage

Hot peppers

Onions

Spaghetti squash

Red-skinned potatoes

Peas

Bell peppers

Most of the planting and seeding completed on May 28-29 (Memorial Day weekend)

 June 20

 July 2

July 22

August 4

August 27 

September 6

September 23

October 6

October 11

October 29- hard freeze overnight ends the gardening season (late this year!)

Goodnight, garden!

Lots of delicious veggies this year!

Onward Phoenix!

I have neglected the blog again.  It's been a very busy spring this year, including some travel (2x) back to the east coast for the first time since the holidays for a family visit at the Jersey shore and a trip to Maryland for Scott's friend's wedding. And probably the biggest piece of news is that I have a new job!  I started in mid-June as a research specialist at University of Wisconsin-Green Bay (Go Phoenix!).  I am coordinating several fish and wildlife habitat restoration projects in the Bay of Green Bay, which I will share more about when I have more details and cool photos.  These projects will get me back out into "the field" (i.e., what we conservation people call outside) more often, but it will be more like knee (or waist) deep in the bay and also driving a boat.  Awesome!  I also get to work with many of the same people from my previous jobs and I had a short stint at the university about a year ago as an instructor, so at least everything isn't completely new.  Very excited to have work in my area of expertise and to be back in the university setting, but needless to say it has been an adjustment back into the full time work force and trying to keep up with summer activities, classes at the gym, gardening, and keeping Teddy busy!

In May, I had the change to welcome my first visitor to WI besides my parents!  My college friend Rosie flew out to visit for Memorial Day weekend.  We had a great time touring Lambeau Field, visiting one of the largest dairy farms in WI (thanks to Rosie's dairy connections!), and auto touring/lighthouse touring/wine tasting the Lake Michigan shoreline.  We even stopped at a winery we had not been to yet called Cold Country Vines & Wines in Kewaunee- it was great and we will definitely be back!  It was wonderful to catch up with Rosie, and to "share" Wisconsin with her.  We pretty much covered it: dairy farming, cheese and wine tasting, microbreweries, lakeshore, lighthouses, and even lunch at Culver's (can't miss that!).  Whew!  Now that we have been here for just shy of 3 years, we know enough to be half decent tour guides.  Book your trip today, great rates (i.e., free) and we have lots of openings in the schedule (....as in no bookings until Mom and Dad come back out in late summer).  Thanks for visiting, Rosie!

 Nice off-season afternoon at Lambeau

Nittany Lions experience the Lambeau Leap!

Point Beach was early season chilly, but beautiful! 

Wine tasting at von Stiehl Winery in Algoma

This spring has been very rainy and, early on, it was pretty cool. We planted the garden during the last few days of May once the frost danger ended, and have only had to water a couple of times since due to all the storms and rain over the last month.  Nearly all of the plants seem to be doing great, and we really have a handle this year on the weed management and garden plot set up (thanks to my UW-Extension gardening courses!).  This year we have: onions, lettuce, kale, redskin potatoes, bell peppers, hot peppers, winter and summer squash, tomatoes, and peas.  So far, so good!  It should be about another month before we have veggies.  So hard to be patient!

Early stages of the garden- mid-June

Also looking forward to getting to some Bullfrogs baseball games soon- we haven't made it out yet, but hopefully schedules will settle in here and the excessive rain will stop...and we can get in some nice evenings at the ballpark.

Happy New Year 2017

As it usually does, the holiday season got away from me.  We spent a total of 3 weeks in Pennsylvania and New Jersey for Thanksgiving and Christmas visiting family and celebrating the holidays, which is always nice but it takes a lot out of us.  January is here and we are home for the foreseeable future, so we are working on good ideas for winter activities.  Ice fishing, German food, and some new breweries are on the list, along with some other indoor activities that we miss during the "outside season".

November was very mild here.  We completed our last bike ride of the season on our favorite trail at Point Beach State Forest in mid-November.  December, on the other hand, brought winter in full force. So far, we have had several cold snaps with multiple days of daytime temperatures in the single digits (F) or not even above zero.  The coldest wind chill so far has been about -25 degrees (school is not cancelled for cold unless the wind chill is under -30 degrees for one hour or more...brutal).  In the event you have not experienced such cold or need to re-live it, this is an abbreviated description of what happens:  You layer up as much as humanly possible, covering all exposed skin (including hands and face).  You open the door and step out.  The cold hits you as if you literally slapped in the face.  Sometimes you need an extra second or two to catch your breath (insert muttered swear word).  Then almost immediately, your nose hairs freeze.  An odd feeling.  If you didn't take the time to put gloves on or wrap a scarf over your face, seconds later you will regret that as hands begin to ache as they start to freeze.  On these particularly brutal days, Teddy has about 30 seconds to do his business before he literally cannot take anymore.  Turns out he is lightning fast when he has to be (does not apply to rain).  I now see why people have those indoor potty mats with the fire hydrant that I deemed unnecessary.  Touche.

 Point Beach State Forest and Lake Michigan, November 2016

 Front porch decked out in fall color- grew those pumpkins and gourds ourselves!

We shoveled snow quite a few times so far this year, and even had to solicit some groundskeeping help while we were away for Christmas (Thanks, Steve!). I can't move today because shoveled by myself yesterday...twice.  The driveway is fairly long and continuous with our neighbors, so that really limits where you can pile snow.  In a couple of places, I was lifting or tossing up to neck height (ok, maybe waist height). We still do not have a snowblower...we'll see how much longer that lasts.  Now it is becoming a matter of principle to try and beat the system- take your bets now, can we do Wisconsin Winter #3 without one?



We did find time to revisit the Green Bay Botanical Garden for the Garden of Lights display and lucked out with a quieter (and snowier) experience thanks to the snow storm that came through earlier that day and cold temperatures that chased everyone away.  Later I read in their newsletter that they had 53,000 guests for the season- well worth it!

Top 2016 adventures were swimming with manatees, biking and hiking in Pure Michigan, and kayaking the Apostle Island sea caves of Lake Superior.  Stand by for more adventures in 2017!   

Green Bay Botanical Garden's Garden of Lights Display

The last of the garden

Fall has arrived with shorter days and cooler nights.  We probably have a couple more weeks before the first hard frost, but the garden is starting to slow down now. We have not had to water the plants at all in September due to all the rainy weather this month. Squash, tomatoes, peppers, sugar snap peas, and some sweet potatoes are still on the way. Scott even made a friend at one of the neighboring garden plots who has been sharing hot peppers with us.  This is particularly exciting because we can make homemade guacamole (gracias, Lupita, for teaching me!) using all community garden ingredients, except for the avocado!

We harvested 2 medium-sized pumpkins during the last week of September, and actually discovered that we also have two different types of gourds! They must have been mixed in the seed pack with the pumpkins and didn't produce until later so we didn't realize they were there. Not the biggest or the most perfect pumpkins I have ever seen, but we grew them ourselves!

Pumpkin in progress....to fall decor!

Our eggplant did not do very well overall, but it did produce a single eggplant which made for a delicious eggplant parmesan dinner!

 From garden to table (eggplant parmesan)

Working on the garden made for a worthwhile summer project- there were nights when we didn't feel like going over to water and weed, but it has been nice to have garden time outside and fresh produce that we grew ourselves.  We often joke that this eggplant (or insert vegetable here) REALLY cost about $300 with the time investment on top of the start up cost of the garden.  But, all jokes aside, we have enjoyed (and are still enjoying) the fruits (or vegetables) of our labor.

Garden State does Badger State

Mom and Dad came out for a visit for the last week of August.  I had a great time doing touristy things with them- ate Friday night Fish Fry at Leatherhead Brewing Company, toured the Packers Hall of Fame, and even a frigid dip in Lake Michigan at Neshotah Beach!  We had really nice weather for most of the visit; a stop at the Packers Hall of Fame and dinner at Titletown Brewing Company served as a great rainy day activity on the one day that was not as nice.  Unfortunately Scott was in Nebraska for a work trip for part of the time, but he was able to join us for some fun in Door County.

We both took the day off from work and spent Mom's birthday up in Door County, the thumb of Wisconsin, beginning with Al Johnson's Swedish Restaurant for brunch, followed by an auto tour of Peninsula State Park, including a stop at Eagle Bluff Lighthouse, and finished the day with a sunset boat cruise/tour of Green Bay with Fish Creek Scenic Boat Tours. The tour was fantastic with the guide playing live music on his guitar, an easy breeze, beer in hand, and a beautiful sunset.

Mom and Dad did some sightseeing up in Door County while Scott and I headed back to work for a couple of days.  They were busy with wine tasting, farm stand shopping, and taking the car ferry out to Washington Island to check out the famous Schoolhouse Beach.  Then, they stopped back in Green Bay for one more night so we could enjoy dinner and a walk at the Green Bay Botanical Garden.  It was a very full trip, but everyone had a good time!  Thanks to Mom and Dad for making the trip.

Neshotah Beach, Two Rivers- voted the best beach in Wisconsin.  Dad and I got in- the water was about 68 degrees! 

 Packers Hall of Fame was just recently renovated- looks great!

Cave Point County Park

 Eagle Bluff Lighthouse in Peninsula State Park, from the sunset cruise

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Beautiful sunsets on Green Bay

                    

Thanks to Mom for sharing many of the photos, and Scott for his usual photographic contributions.

Summer games and gardens

The last few weeks have been pretty busy with evening activities.  We went to several Green Bay Bullfrogs collegiate league baseball games, and even got to play a game on the field (the hole-in-one challenge!) during an inning change.  Scott actually got one of his shots in so we didn't look too bad! The games often have good food and drink specials, so its always nice to enjoy a beer at the ballpark.  Unfortunately the players are back to school so the season is over until next year.

Let's go Frogs!

We also were able to score some tickets to a pre-season Packers game against the Oakland Raiders (thanks, Steve!).  Tickets for regular games are pretty hard to come by, so we jump at the chance to go for a warmer (and cheaper) pre-season game.  The third string of both teams played all night, but it was still a fun game and a nice night at the stadium.  Plus, the Packers won 20-12!  We also got to see Matt McGloin (a former PSU quarterback) in as quarterback for the Raiders, which was pretty cool.

Go Pack GO!

We also stopped in to the Green Bay Botanical Garden for free community night on Wednesdays. The season for many blooms is coming to a close, but the garden does not disappoint and offers great photo opportunities in the evening!

Speaking of gardens, our garden is doing pretty well.  We harvested the potatoes and onions, so watering takes a little less time.  We have been eating lots of tomatoes and squash, and a few peppers and cucumbers.  Scott also pickled some cucumbers including a few of our own (we had to supplement the stock at the store). Some of the plants didn't do as well as we had hoped (see first eggplant below), but we have ideas for next time!  And I have two of my own pumpkins coming for fall!

 Eggplant, with some tomatoes

 Pumpkin will be ready soon!

Fall planting of sugar snap peas is coming along

Another lesson learned:  Do not plant yellow squash and cucumbers next to each other.  They hybridize with each other (but still taste pretty good)!

Cucumber on the bottom, squcumber on top