Plant IDs, Hyacinths, Bison Roast, and Beer.

Tonight I helped my friend Janelle identify the trees and shrubs in the yard of her new house. Ahem. In Latin: ROSACEAE, Spiraea trilobata, Threelobe Spirea; OLEACEAE, Fraxinus pennsylvanica, Green Ash; ROSACEAE, Malus adstringens, Rosybloom Crabapples; CORNACEAE, Cornus alba, Variegated Dogwood; and a CORNACEAE, Cornus sericea c. stolinifera, Red Osier Dogwood.

Thank you Calgary Zoo and a wee course called Woody Plant ID. In 6 weeks we've learned to ID 49 trees & shrubs. There are 2 weeks left and 12 more to learn. We're quized every week on everything we've learned cumulatively. They pick a random 10-12 trees/shrubs and we go on a walk and ID them by examining the branches, form, bark, buds, leaves, and location. It's crazy.

Next I'm on to the Master Gardener course. It starts immediately after this ID class wraps up, runing till March 13, 2010.

So we ID'd the trees and shrubs. Then we started to rip some out. Fun! Then we dug a moat along one edge and planted tulip, hyacinth, and crocus bulbs. The dirt was riddled with evil looking roots, we concluded they were from the Red Osiers which have taken over the yard in general. We tore them out as best we could and nested the bulbs in for the winter.

We also chatted while bagging leaves about composting, and contacting Clean Calgary about energy/water conservation. I'm excited for spring and the subsidized Earth Machine sale put on by the city.

Now, I'm making a bison pot roast and drinking a beer. The roast was from a bunch of meat Yuval bought from a friend who knows a guy who sells bison from his truck. He meets you at an undisclosed location on the side of the highway. We have a freezer full now and it was cheap.

This roast - I cut up and then put it in a roast pan with a can of crushed tomatoes, shallots, onion, olive oil, garlic, brown sugar, vinegar, and pepper. It's cooking at 350 now, I browned it first in a pan on the stovetop. We'll see.

Also, I never forget how much I love beer.