New Hampshire Nature Notes
by Eric Orff

Toads trilling, peepers still peeping, marsh marigold in bloom and the Suncook River has completed its second avulsion. Oh yes, and my peas are in.

Thursday 05/08/2008

Time sure does rip along this time of year. There are several daily changes to keep tabs on and it seems like hourly changes as well.

I got my gardening started Monday afternoon with my mother at her place a bit over a mile down the road from me. The rototiller started at the first pull. It seems that even it was anxious to smell the sweet spring soil after this seemingly endless winter. Oh yes, there are still remnants of plowed piles of snow here in Epsom that I saw even this morning. But the fresh soil was so dark and warm with plenty of moisture to spur the seeds into sending out life from their hardened shells. I planted a whole row of peas, Always Lincoln that my mother dutifully buys each year. The tiller and I were quick to actually draw four furrows waiting a sprinkling of seeds. I also planted carrots, beets, spinach and a huge patch of radishes. I can already sense the crisp snap and tangy taste of a freshly picked radish. I'll be checking the garden regularly for that first hint of green from these seeds.

By mid week this week the toads are at full trill in places around town though I have not heard one yet from my deck.But the peepers fill the warm evening air with their chorus. There is so much to soak up this week. I and just the last three days the leaves have covered the branches of the American cherries that line the back of my yard. This is the time of year to watch the multitude of greens cover the surrounding hill sides. There is no better time to pay attention to the vistas than over the next week or two. Down over the banking from my back yard toward the river I transferred some marsh marigolds to a couple of spring seeps years ago. The butter colored blossoms are brilliant against the bright green foliage. My tulips are in bloom all around my yard with the daffodils still holding on to some bright yellow color despite having blossomed three weeks ago. Colors are at every turn of the head this time of year.

I did stop yesterday afternoon to check the Suncook River below Round Pond right near the Epsom Central School. Just as I expected the second avulsion of the Suncook River has now occurred. The river itself has drained pretty much back into its summer channel with the flow pretty close to average for this time of year. But here south of Round Pond a section of the Suncook Rivers was flowing out of the Pond and through the side of the old corn field. The majority of the flow is still in the existing secondary channel, but a good flow was coming out of the pond and I would say except for low summer flows it is here to stay. So we now have two flowing channels where just a few months ago there was still only one except for in flood conditions. How the river continues to change. I also noticed this week that the River has eroded a big section of the banking right below my house right where the river makes a 90 degree turn to the south. This section of river banking has been pretty stable in the 29 years I have lived here overlooking the river. Somehow the erosion and deposition of sand into the river down here from the avulsion above has greatly speeded up the banking erosion down here. The river is now devouring the river banking directly towards my house. I'm still way above and out of the way of the river's reach, but things are changing at an ever quickening pace it seems.