Fairwell to a Woodland Spring.....

A brief post for a brief break from loading the moving truck.  I find myself severely antsy for some  Springtime woodland rambling.  I also find myself quite sad to miss out on the fully awake Springtime woodlands.  Luckily, I have Springtime sand-sage prairie to look forward to.  That and the promise of an ample amount of space to install new vegetable and native flora gardens.

Anyways.  You know how I know Spring is (mostly) here?  A brief jaunt into the sleepy-eyed woodland last Friday revealed that the wild leeks are defiantly breaking through the cold ground.  

Wild Leeks, Allium tricoccum, a tasty indicator of Spring

In a couple of weeks my favorite Springtime harbinger would be blanketing the hillside with pungent, excellent-when-dried leaves for the picking.  When I located this population of leeks a few springs ago I opted to collect leaves rather than bulbs; the leaves are equally as flavorful and potent as the bulbs.

This is officially more leeks than you can shake a stick at.

 Additionally, one can tell that Spring is springing by the tiny spots of red moving all about the mossy rocks and trees in the woodland.  Velvet mites are out and about in force!

Velvet Mites, Trombidium sp., were out patrolling the moss in abundance

They look so soft.  I could easily fall asleep on a bed of velvet mites......

Luckily, I am too exhausted from moving boxes for 3 days to fully accept the fact that I will be heading for Kansas right before Morel season hits.  This was gonna be my motherload year, afterall!

Stop reading this and go play in the woods!