Vermont Report.

5-24-12 VERMONT: We arrived yesterday and found large rafts of floating algae on the pond. We have had this problem before, but not for years. Usually one bag of barley straw pellets controls it for the season. I skimmed off as much as I could reach with a swimming pool net and then, spread a bag of pelletized lime around the periphery. Today I got the rest of the floating stuff just before the lawn mowers arrived and left grass cuttings on the water. I can probably skim them off tomorrow.

Today I planted the tomato seedlings and the corn seeds. They are all from Johnny’s Seeds, the corn is Hybrid, Bicolor Super Sweet Xtra-Tender Brand 270A F1 [sh2]. The tomatoes are: Hybrids—Sun Gold, Red Grape, Big Beef, Defiant, and Heirloom Moskvich.

Birds are nesting in the barns, every time I walk into one or the other, birds fly out. A robin, perhaps the same one, is nesting again on the light outside the back door of the old mudroom. It is sheltered from rain and wind, but the bird flies away every time we go by.

All the pond creatures are accounted for, I saw three turtles sunning on the bank today.

The mild winter and early warmth are still having a influence on the garden. The apple trees always peak on Memorial Day, but this year they are already finished. The lilacs are also nearly finished.

New blooms [since early May]: lilac, azalea, viburnums, honeysuckle, burning bush, blueberry, apple [done], yellow lamium, columbine, geranium, alkanet, veronica, false solomons seal, spurge, tiarella, celandine, jack-in-the-pulpit, lily-of-the-valley, sweet woodruff, creeping phlox.