It rained 0.31” in Norman in the night on 01/18. The night before I moved a bunch of seedlings of Viola bicolor, the wild annual field violets that volunteer in the yard. I want more of them as ground cover for early spring so I am moving many from existing locations in and near the raised beds. They seem to be doing well! When I’ve transplanted larger plants once they bloom, they don’t do nearly as well. Paula prepared tepary beans for refrying. The pair of tiny ones at the bottom are wild type teparies. Paula made a quesadilla with a layer of the refried tepary beans. Her diagnosis was that they worked fine and had a good taste, but that she should have added more lard and onions to make them less dry.
We thought it was supposed to rain today, so yesterday we picked up all the tomato cages and put all the vegetable debris in the city compost pile. (I don’t know that ours gets hot enough to kill any diseases.). We piled the dead marigolds on the bed where we’ll put peppers next year. We put some sugar pea seeds there to see if the debris will shelter them. We took the plastic off the greens so they could get rain. We put cilantro seeds everywhere and carrot seeds among the greens. For Thanksgiving, Paula started our Corrientes cowpeas soaking. The Turkey is from Paula’s aunt and uncle in Texas where they raise some. All the veggies in the beans are from the farm share except garden poblanos. Wes used some store apples and store ham as flavors. But otherwise the veggies are all our garden or the farm share!
We were worried the front yard earwigs would eat them all up, but the various greens we transplanted from backyard pots survived the night and seem happy with an inch of rain overnight into this morning! the metal raised bed is surrounded by scattered leaves and individual plant species and varieties are marked by small white metal signs. There’s some bluish bok choy in the front, a more yellow green lettuce in the middle, and frilly scotch blue curled kale in the back next to a tall Fordham giant Swiss chard. Smaller plants are scattered nearby but I’ve forgottten which ones.
The two leaf senna had at least two seed pods! The second plant doesn’t have any buds but is growing new leaves.This sprouted after another surprise rain this morning and I don’t know what it is. Cowpen daisies I bought are sprouting!The scurf pea (Psoralea/Pediomelium latestipulata) from Mom has its first adult leaf!Little seedlings sprouting. Could be what I planted (Scarlet globemallow), could be volunteers.More cowpen daisies in a pot where I put them and some Rosa sp from Mom from Fannin Co TX.Tiny seedlings in the soil from Jeanne that contains the annual Sedum nutallii!Little seedlings sprouting. Again, could be what I planted, could be volunteers. This hope is Verbena halei.
As the sign says, it’s our one rain lily! I planted it this spring from the NPSOT plant sale. Norman got 1.4″ rain yesterday.The rain lily was beautiful, and now home for a spider building its web from the lily flower to the ground.
New book in the mail! The Social Wasps of North America by Chris Alice Kratzer. It looks very useful.Awards for bravery all around tonight. Shacks walked right past Briar and she stayed put.Purple coneflower finally opening up!Ironweed is budding, seems early??This is one of two dill seedlings in the herb bed.Pretty sure now that this is the Mexican sage from Judy.Whoa, standing cypress about to bloom!The just-planted two leaf senna doing okay.The older two leaf senna seems to have gotten nibbled. I’ll have to consider if I should put some Vaseline around it against earwigs or a wire cage over it maybe for rabbits.A non native moss rose (Portulaca). Dog behind.