To the woods...

Last Sunday, I took a couple of hours and walked up to the woods with one of the pups. The following pictures were taken on my way to the woods.

My home is surrounded by old vineyard, and right now it's covered with blooming Rosa multiflora. (I know it's pretty now, but you don't want it. Trust me.)




Here's a Populus tremuloides (Quaking Aspen) that I planted in my "reforestation area."


An Acer platanoides (Norway Maple); one of the banes of my existence.


There is a small area of our farm that has apparently never been plowed. It is less than an acre in size, and has been spared because of its rockiness and situation between two streambeds. Incredibly, this small area is one of the most biologically diverse places on our family's land. It has a number of plants that we've seen nowhere else.

There is a very small Hamamelis virginiana (Witch Hazel) growing there. We were thrilled when we found it a couple of years ago.

The leaves from below:


Here's a fern that's growing in that same area. It's the only place on our farm that ferns can be found.


Another exciting find was this Ribes cynosbati (Prickly Gooseberry). If you click on the picture, you can see the spines on the fruit.


The last picture from that area of the farm: looking up from the creek bed.


The rest of the way to the woods is through fields. This cornfield is at the eastern edge of the woods. Quite the view, huh? You're actually looking across Seneca Lake. The ridge in the distance divides it from Cayuga Lake to the east.






In a little while I'll post the rest of the pictures from my walk.