Nelson County Rocks

 

  

I had to climb up on our roof the other day to clean out the gutters, and took these pictures from the rooftop.

In 2009 we moved down here just in time for the biggest Virginia snowstorm before Christmas since 1936, and today we experienced the biggest Virginia earthquake since 1897!  While rating a respectable 5.8 on the Richter scale, the experience at our home in Nelson County was memorable but modest.  We were standing on our back deck on a lovely summer day when the deck began to shake and a strange noise which Monika aptly describes as an off-balance washing machine emanated from the house.  We went inside and could feel the whole thing trembling, then went to the kennel building in the back, where the glasses vases on the counter were shaking sufficiently to clink musically against each other.  The chickens disappeared from sight—presumably to the security of the hen house.  It was all over within two minutes or so.  We were about 75 miles from the quake’s epicenter in Mineral, Virginia.  We went back to enjoying an absolutely beautiful day.

Garden views front and back on an otherwise lovely day

Early spring pictures from our five-acre piece of paradise

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Our chicken coop, that is (with help from Ruritan friend David Hight)

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Last night we had our first snow of the season as we sat cozily by our wood stove.  The wet three inches made for a lovely view in the morning, although most melted off by the end of the day.

Fall colors here may not be as spectacular as in New England, but they’re still lovely and pleasantly longer-lasting.  The pictures above represent our views to the southwest, west, and northwest, with the massive Priest Range and Three Ridges Mountain in the bottom two.  Below are a few thumbnails of a larger set of Fall pictures which can be accessed by clicking here.

For anyone contemplating a visit to this area, I’ve posted what will continue to be an evolving page about interesting and fun things to do in Nelson County and the surrounding area.  It can be accessed by clicking on “Local Picks” in the upper right hand corner of this blog, or more directly at: http://www.nelsoncountyrocks.com/local-picks/

Note: Continuing snowstorms and cold weather outside–which locals say they’ve never seen anything comparable in 20-40 years, depending on whom one talks to, provide ample time for projects like this!

When we moved to Virginia, I was under the impression that when it (infrequently) snowed here, the snow generally melted off within a day.  The two feet of snow we received in mid-December, which stayed on the ground for weeks, disabused me of that notion!  That lesson has been reinforced by three (!) additional snowstorms since then.  The latest one, described by the weather service as one of  “epic proportions” was actually less serious here than it was to the north in Washington DC and Maryland, but it still added a good foot of snow to what we already had.  As of the time of this post, over half a million households in Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania and New Jersey are without power, but our home happily is both lit and warm.  But since it’s only early February, who knows lays ahead?  Click here for more snowscape pictures from these past several weeks.

Family note: Tim has posted pictures from his and Megan’s Xmas visit at his Popcorn Farmer blog: http://www.popcornfarmer.com/2010/01/christmas-2009-part-1/.  And Monika has pictures from our visit to Dave and Sue and our latest grandchild, Paityn Marie at her Oma’s World blog at http://oma711.blogspot.com/2010/01/new-beginnings.html

We seem to have moved south to Virginia just in time for the biggest snowstorm since 1993 (and the biggest before Christmas since 1936).   With over two feet of snow, we’re effectively snowbound…and loving it.  Our freezer continues to yield garden produce from last summer (today for lunch: ginger zucchini soup and yellow squash pancakes) and the snow-covered vistas are beautiful.  We expect it to be a number of days before we get our car out.  The snow began early afternoon on Friday and continued through Saturday.  Today (Sunday) is a beautiful sunny day, but temperatures remain in the 30s, making it likely that the snow will be around for a while yet.  Click here for more pictures.

At my Rutgers retirement party last spring, my colleagues gave me a generous and thoughtful gift: a gift certificate for fruit trees from Vintage Virginia Apples, an orchard and tree nursery about twenty minutes away, which is trying to keep alive varieties of apples and other fruit no longer commercially available.  We had to wait until the trees were dormant, but on Tuesday we picked up five two-year old trees, and the past two days have been spent planting them and protecting them with deer netting.  (You may click on the picture of me planting the Grimes Golden for a larger view.)

We bought and planted five trees, as follows (descriptions are from VVA’s catalog):

VIRGINIA BEAUTY originated on the property of Zach Safewright in the Piper Gap area of Carroll County, Virginia.  In the 1850s, it was given the name Virginia Beauty.  Large in size and oblate to truncate in shape, the smooth and glossy, greenish-yellow skin is half to nearly totally covered a shaded brick-red with indistinct red stripes in the greener areas… The yellow flesh is fine-grained, tender, and a light sweetness in flavor… In the early part of the 20th century, the Virginia Beauty was popular for not only dessert, but also for processing, especially for apple preserves.  It stores very well and ripens the first weeks of October.

GRIMES GOLDEN was found by Thomas Grimes in Brooke County, West Virginia, 1804, near Wellsburg, West Virginia, where John Chapman, known as Johnny Appleseed, established a nursery with his brother.  One of the parents of Golden Delicious. Roundish or slightly oblong in form, small to medium in size, with a greenish-yellow skin, ripening to a clear yellow.. Yellowish flesh is crisp and tender, with a spicy, sweet flavor. A good all-purpose apple, it contains 18.81% sugar that ferments to a 9% alcohol, popular for making hard cider… Self-fertile and an excellent pollinator for other varieties… Ripens in late September and stores very well.

REINETTE SIMIRENKO may be the same as Wood’s Greening. There is some uncertainty whether it originated as claimed in the garden of P. F. Simirenko in the Ukraine, or in the United States, as Wood’s Greening. It was described in 1895, and was popularized by Soviet cosmonauts, who took the apple into space for dessert. Medium in size, the greenish-yellow skin has a brownish-orange flush, and is russeted in the cavity and dotted on the surface. The finish is waxy. The greenish-white flesh is tender and crisp with a subacid flavor. It bears early and heavily and will also hang long on the tree after ripening. The tree top develops into a wide pyramidal crown and the variety is very drought resistant. It stores well and ripens in October.  [Note: it appears that Wood’s Greening came first, and was developed by a family named Wood (no relation as far as I know, but who knows?)  in Burlington County, New Jersey in the early 19th century.]

We also planted two Black Heart Cherry trees, for which rather little information is available:  “BLACK HEART Cherries are a sweet dark fruit on a large tree. Fruit matures early and over a relatively long season.”  Our understanding is that they have been grafted from a tree on an old farm in this area.

It will take a little patience, but we’re excited about tasting and sharing these fruits in the future.  And heartfelt thanks to my (still-working stiff) colleagues back at Rutgers for this wonderful gift!

Pictures from the Vintage Virginia Apples Harvest Festival