Posted on October 16, 2021October 16, 2021Wet bumblebee and other things Last night, brought in dwarf tomatoes and purple and chocolate peppers since temps forecast (and did reach) into 40s. On Thursday night, before another night rain, Paula and I planted more wildflower seeds. Mom sent these Yellow Puff seeds. We scarified them by scraping their hard coats on the concrete patio. On Thursday morning, I saw this very dew-drenched bumblebee. I was hoping it might be a two spotted bumblebee but I think the yellow on its abdomen was just clumping together with the dew??
Posted on June 28, 2021June 28, 2021Quarter Gram = 1.76 kg I left this zucchini too long and it was 1.76 kg (about 3.9 pounds). Gram the cat weighs about 14 pounds last we weighed him. Paula’s moss rose has a lovely flower! Briar yawns. Photography of plants is borrrriiiiing. Several inches of rain is settling down dirt over geothermal pipes nicely. Once it’s not slippery mud, I’ll go spread it out more and continue leveling and shaping. You can see seedling ‘Will Rogers’ variety red zinnias on the right, and harder to see are ‘burning embers’ Linnaeus marigold seedlings near the peach tree, for quick orange. Briar looks over green and yellow bed. A triangle of Fordham giant chard with lacinato kale in the middle. The two scraggly plants are coreopsis recovering from being potted up for a month. Around it are dwarf marigold seedlings for more quick yellow. ‘Country gentleman’ sweet corn is flowering. Supervisor exhausted by his earlier brush with the monster zucchini. Book “Bean by Bean: a cookbook” by Crescent Dragonwagon. Lent by the Bean Queen herself, thanks Heather! Lots of interesting bean trivia. More focused on cooking than bean varieties (ie differences among Lima, green, cowpeas, lentils, etc, not varieties within those).
Posted on June 17, 2021June 17, 2021Settling the dirt Dripping a bit of water into the peach tree raised bed last night.
Posted on June 16, 2021June 16, 2021Progress on new beds Excess dirt from our new geothermal HVAC installation is becoming a series of raised beds. I am shaping them for 20-50 min each evening while trying not to overheat. In the previous photo you might have noticed the dwarf peach tree’s support stick. The tree was very unhappy in its temporary bucket so I prioritized its island and planted it this evening. A parent robin was stocking up on food in the freshly moved dirt. I know it was a parent because it kept adding food instead of eating it immediately.
Posted on June 5, 2021June 5, 2021Down to one apple I noticed a bump on one of the two remaining baby apples. The apple in question fell right off so I guess it was a goner anyways. A top view of the wee beastie after I coaxed it out with a piece of grass. I believe it’s a fly maggot but it seems too big from what I read of the common apple fly maggot (Rhagoletis sp). “Nooooo don’t turn me over” “Where’s my apple???” “Hmph.”. Back upright for a full length portrait with its prey.
Posted on May 30, 2021May 30, 2021Pics from earlier today Arkansas yucca seedling is surviving! Blooming (above) and done blooming (below) dwarf pomegranate. The pie/sour cherries before I got around to picking them. Sleepy supervisor.
Posted on May 30, 2021May 30, 2021Definitely sour cherries They are indeed sour, but pleasantly so. Not lemon level sour. I’ll put the rest on my oatmeal tomorrow instead of making a tiny pie. It’s easier. 😂
Posted on May 26, 2021May 26, 2021Sunshine!!! Okay I lied this picture is from when it was still cloudy. But the rest are sunny pictures. Anyways, the Hedeoma is getting larger. You can see sun and shadows! I’m capturing strawberry runners to get more plants for elsewhere in yard. A very small William’s pride apple!! Garlic about to bloom (front) and in bloom (back, blurry, purplish). Salvia greggii is doing beautifully!! A lone zucchini bush considers flowering. Last year we had one plant but in a shadier spot and the flowers never “took” and eventually all the leaves got a nasty gray mildew or fungus or something. Hopefully it likes the sun better.
Posted on May 24, 2021May 24, 2021Cherry ripening Very excited!! Stark Surecrop variety of pie cherry.
Posted on May 9, 2021May 9, 2021New flowers planted and blooming (botany club plant sale part of 2 of 2 included) White avens is a native shade plant with cute strawberry-like flowers. It just started blooming. These volunteered. The flowers tend to arch elegantly downwards. They have big showy leaves too. Which I didn’t photograph. 😂 I got a dwarf pomegranate at the botany club plant sale. I decided to put it near the tiny apricot tree. A very baby palm tree from Judy!