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Sandhill Crane Spring 2026 Migration North - April 2026

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I took this photo below back on March 21st, the first day of Spring 2026 and it shows a flock of Sandhill Cranes flying over Downers Grove, Illinois (60515) in DuPage County.  We are fortunate that twice-a-year in both Spring and Fall, we can hear that familiar croak of these big birds flying in clusters overhead. Over the years, I've posted photos and videos documenting their migration pattern over Downers Grove, Illinois. Here is a video from late November 2025 showing them flying south .   Here is a video from March 2025 showing them flying back north for the warm weather .  Here is a video from March 2024 with these large birds over Downers Grove, Illinois in Spring .  And a photo from March 2020 showing them flying in a v-shape over Downers Grove, Illinois (60515).

The Band - YouTube Music Badge - April 2026

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Top point-zero-two-percent of listeners for The Band?  I'll take it.  This is one of the badges that YouTube Music gave me at the wrap of last year.  Either there aren't too many people listening to The Band or I'm over-indexing on their music.  I'm good with both options.

Compost Kitchen Scraps In Winter Snow - March 2026

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Don't tell the Parrillos that you shouldn't compost citrus peels.  Our kitchen compost stands out against the remaining winter snow of the season.  With all the deciduous leaves in the storage bin, the weekly dose of coffee grounds are a welcome balancer that increase the greens (nitrogen) and hopefully get the mix a little bit closer to where it needs to be.   The vibrant colors from the top of the bins always contrast with the drab surroundings before Spring arrives in the far back of our garden.

Burning Leaf Litter In-Place - March 2026

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Part of my DIY Spring clean-up is doing some small, controlled burns in place with the left-behind leaf litter in the beds.  I rake up some small piles that have defined edges (so the burn can't run everywhere) and use my little weed-burning torch to set the piles on fire.  They burn up the leaves, leave behind some ash and eventually exhaust themselves when they run out of material.   Here's one of the small piles I am burning under the Hornbeam trees in back:

Summer Beauty Allium Tips Emerge in Spring - Backyard - March 2026

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 More Spring is emerging in the backyard, in particular the Kitchen Curved bed.  The colony (or drift) of Summer Beauty Alliums that have been planted in our garden since the very first year are emerging from the leaf litter and showing green tips in their usual clusters.  Below are a few photos showing these early-season foliage stars in between the Thujas and a little cluster of boxwoods in the Kitchen Curved bed.  These are planted a bit further back from the Amsonia that is mid-bed.   The leaf litter is going to be cleaned-up in the next few weeks - between a combination of efforts (I hope):  some by me, some by professionals.  

Expanding Cut Flower Beds - Lazy Method - Sideyard Garden - March 2026

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One of my 2026 to-do items is to 'expand the beds in Fall'.  I say 'Fall' because of how I utilize what I call the "lazy method" of smothering out the turf with cardboard.  That means that in addition to materials like cardboard and municipal biosolids, I need time.  Time for the grass to die.  Time for the cardboard to breakdown.  And time for the biosolids to MELLOW OUT.   Last year, I missed the Fall window to do some bed extensions, so I started to do them this Spring.  The first one was a few weeks ago with the Island Bed taking on new edges .  I used cardboard, municipal biosolids and composted manure to create a blend that I'll plant up (and mulch) later this Spring.  In the sideyard, I want to do the same thing:  expand the beds along the foundation to be more proud of the house.  Last year, I planted out the Dahlias in late May/early June.  I like to have about six weeks of time between laying down these bed exten...

Purple Tips Allium Bulb Foliage Emerges Through Leaf Litter - Late Winter - March 2026

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The signs of Spring are everywhere right now.  Including the green and purple-tipped foliage of Allium bulbs that have broken through the leaf litter layer that is currently *still* covering our garden beds. Below is a look that these crown-like tips bursting proud of their mulch layer.     Leave the leaves, indeed.  Probably too many this year.  But, the time to clean-up is fast arriving and these leaves will be a distant memory soon.  Hopefully...they'll stick around, but as tiny fragments of organic material.  Not these giant leaf-shaped forms of Oak leaves.