Tag: food

Posted on

06/15/2022 to bee or not to bee, plus “freeloader flies”

Before I left for work, I saw two bumblebees on the culinary sage flowers. Local bee expert José Montalva helped confirm the identification as Bombus bimaculatus (two spotted bumblebee) and sent me a very helpful article on the status of this and other bumblebee species in Oklahoma. It’s more of an eastern species so it is very cool to have them here on the edge of their range. This is also the third bumblebee species for our yard.
This was the best picture though not the best identification angle. Big pollen bags on her legs!
A little wasp on the purple coneflower.
On campus, I saw several Fiery Skippers on lantana.
Here’s another Fiery Skipper on campus lantana.
Back at home, the blue flax is thinking about blooming!
The Chef made egg drop soup with garden walking onions as a garnish.
Car ride!!
Saw a friend. Wow!
Little lumpy beetles are on a lot of flowers right now. They’re cute.
In the evening I saw one or two more two-spotted bumblebees, this time over on the perennial coreopsis.
I didn’t manage to get a good picture of the spots in the evening.
But I got some decent side views.
Lightning bug!
A paper wasp.
An immature assassin bug eating some sort of probable pentatomid bug.  Zoom in though and you’ll see several kinds of flies!!  I’m not sure, but I think they might be some kind of kleptoparasitic fly that steals nibbles from bigger predators.
Posted on

06/11/2022

The Chef made no bake lemon curd/ cheesecake layered parfaits with homemade whipped cream, farm share blueberries, and homemade granola for a garden tour.
Prepared the night before in the fridge.
Perfect for the tropically humid day.
A wasp carrying a caterpillar
Spittlebug
Hello Tuqu
This young man.
Two Texas dandelions from home! White specks are elderberry petals.
Bee fly
Possibly a baby Grindelia leaf??
A second Coryphantha sulcata seedling came up!!!!!
Lace bug (Tineidae) on giant ragweed leaf.
Nobody home…
…except for this crab spider!
My keeled treehoppers have a big family!!
Soooo manyyyyyy
Shackleton and Briar disagree about social distancing.
A nice jumping spider.
It’s on a houseplant that is outside for the summer.
Posted on

06/09/2022 last (almost) of season

Strawberries! Just a few left. They peaked back a while ago.
Lemon balm is blooming.
This salad contains garden radishes and garden lettuce.
Butterfly milkweed in backyard.
Verbena halei is leaning under the ironweed.
The yellow in the rainbow garden has stopped blooming but the rock garden primroses are blooming!
Standing cypress is looking magnificent after several days of tons of rain.
Posted on

05/31/2022

Butterfly milkweed has finally opened!
Stubby okra seedling
Having walking onions as a garnish is an easy way to get a meal bloggable.
All dished up.
Glass gem popcorn seems very happy!
Posted on

05/16/2022 south of the river

An update from the Texas home garden this past week!

Pink brandywine tomato flowering in Mom and Dad’s container planter garden last week.
White currant tomato flower buds.
The red rubin basil has appreciated an increased watering regime.
First marigold bloom! The ones up here in Norman in my garden are just getting their first and second sets of true leaves.
Last Wednesday, note the size of mustard greens.
They sure grew over just a few days!
In fact, they grew enough that Mom harvested some.
Mom sauteed them in butter, oil, and white vinegar with salt, pepper, and a lemon juice top off at the end. Sources say it was good.
Posted on

05/12/2022 all the not dramatic regular stuff

Walking onions from garden, assorted farm share veggies, with glass noodles and chicken.
Pulled a lot more Maximilian sunflower this evening. I put it in a tub with some potting soil to keep until they can go to new homes.
I found a baby spittlebug on one sunflower stem! I took it over to the sunflowers we’re keeping so it can keep eating.
In the front yard, a few winecup seedlings are coming up in the ground cover orchard area.
More baby winecup!
I pulled up two more native black walnut seedlings and potted them.
Hopefully this one can make it with only half its remaining food. Anyways, this makes a total of four. I have found good homes for most or all of them now. Our lot is too small for another big tree.
Posted on

05/06/2022 emergency strawberry eating party

Fruit processing is a social endeavor among vaccinated friends.
The Chef’s magic strawberry sauce recipe… Strawberries and powdered sugar!
The angel food cake meringue.
Angel food cake must be cooled upside down for fluffiness.
Since they’re tiny angel food cakes I call them cherub cakes.
The Chef made everything look pretty.
Dog awaits her guests. She likes guests.
Paula had the excellent idea to use our garden cart stools as more seating. Farm to table eating!