Spring greetings,
It has been a while since I last wrote. Thankfully it isn't because I have been lost in the woods. Thanks to those of you who wrote responses to that story in my last email.
Collecting season has officially started. I have collected Salix scouleriana (Scouler's willow) catkins the last two days. It will soon be time to go after other willow species and then the busy harvest season will soon be here again. Here it comes...
If you will be ordering this year it sure would be nice to get your order soon. It happened again last year that some folks asked for seeds too late to get them collected. It would have been so easy to collect them if I had known in time. If you will be wanting Amelanchier alnifolia (western serviceberry), here is another reason to place your order soon. I had one great spot where I could dependably get a good amount of that species. For some reason that site got pushed out this winter. It is gone. Alas. Thankfully last year the crop was bountiful and I have some extra seed left. But it will soon be gone. Earlier this week someone ordered 8 oz of it. Get your orders in folks, for whatever it is you will be wanting.
Enough said.
Story time is captioned photo albums of recent hikes in the rugged and beautiful Santa Rosa Wilderness in Riverside County California. On March 3rd, three of us did a dawn to dark hike carrying my dad's ashes up onto Martinez Mountain. It is a place he always wanted to go.https://photos.app.goo.gl/MHv3QiS6rmZAAZoz5 On March 30th, 12 of us started out of us started out and 9 of us did the entire pilgrimage, carrying my dad's ashes out to an amazing point at 6,000' elevation. It is a pile of massive boulders overlooking, the below sea level, family date farm far below. We walked nearly 20 miles over 13.5+ hours. Two ravens were waiting for us to arrive at the ashes spot. https://photos.app.goo.gl/eYge8hb7anwWLWng6 April 12th-14th, three of us finally found the elusive P-80 Shooting Star crash from 1948 that we have been searching for over a number of years. https://photos.app.goo.gl/GiXdKNcg3oZ3WkiJA There will be more photos added to this album soon so check back in a few days if you look at it and find it interesting. In the next JNS update I will send out an album of a hike from 3 weeks earlier looking for the same crash. That album isn't done yet but I need to send this off. It feels imperative to get this email sent off to hopefully learn from some of you soon how much Salix seed you will be wanting. My current list is attached. On my trips south to do the hikes I was able to gather more Juniperus californica (California juniper). I now have a good supply of that seed cleaned. I also got some new, to my list, desert wildflower species you will see in bold on the seed list. Call or write if you want to place an order or have a question.
Take care, Jon