Posted on October 29, 2022October 29, 202210-29-2022 fall things continue We got another package of bare roots from Prairie Moon. One rattlesnake master (since we have one already, maybe they will make seeds), one Camassia angusta- they only had one left), and several Ohio spiderworts. Up front, the pineapple sage is blooming. Two slightly different looking seedlings in the Penstemon cobea pot. I’ll keep an eye on them. Winter greens looking good. The purple Salvia greggii are really blooming right now. The showy milkweed seems to be shutting down for the fall with some yellow colors. I had to use one of the Chef’s big food grade buckets to hold all the fruit from the 17 lb watermelon from a few weeks ago when I cut it open today.
Posted on September 27, 2022September 27, 202209/27/2022 moon and stars salad again Briar examines the food table which is covered with a mesh cover with fancy lace edges. The outdoor plague safety dining experience! You will note it protects a new version of the watermelon and feta salad. The main innovation here is that I suggested we use the melon as the bowl. Paula assembled the salad as before. I believe Judy gave me the fancy salad tongs long ago. They worked well and looked lovely.
Posted on September 10, 2022September 10, 202209/06/2022 The rainbow garden in the morning. Only orange not blooming. Dinner with garden onions in the quiche and up in the corner, a watermelon salad. Here’s a close up of the watermelon salad. The feta cheese and balsamic vinegar really helps the bland watermelon. I really hope the next moon and stars actually gets riper. Tragedy strikes. The scurf-pea got chopped off at the stem. I assume it is too small yet to come back from that.
Posted on August 4, 2022August 4, 202208/04/2022 Fall obedient plant is thinking about blooming! I think over the winter I’ll move it to closer to the bird bath to get more water. One of the two leaf sennas has buds!! The fluttermill primrose in the rock garden just keeps blooming!! This “live forever” from Judy is budding. I thought this was a plant hopper. It’s insect poop. Technically this is called frass. 😏 This fuzzy plant came with some wild onions I got at Mom and Dad’s. I am hoping it might be snow on the prairie! Paula said the mysterious pumpkin was ready. While we were outside, we checked out the cushaw squash. Already longer than Paula’s arm to the elbow!! Shackleton was neutral about the pumpkin. Tuqu was interested in the pumpkin and smelled it carefully. Shackleton was repelled by the fragrant Madhu ras cantaloupe. Tuqu tried to touch it. Today’s two harvests plus the watermelon from the farm share.
Posted on August 3, 2022August 3, 202208/03/2022 unexpected The greeneyes is starting to bloom in the backyard prairie! This grew from seeds that I put out a year, maybe two years, ago. Hmm… What is this brown lumpy thing on the butterfly milkweed? An exciting, dare I say unexpected, find by Paula… The Unexpected Cycnia moth caterpillar! I spotted this second Unexpected Cycnia caterpillar on a different plant a few inches away. Apparently they only eat milkweeds, so we are very pleased to find one in the orange butterfly milkweed section of the rainbow garden. It’s also our 150th yard species on inaturalist! A dead cicada. No fun buzzes but Briar hoped. Watermelon in the farm share this week. Yum!!
Posted on July 31, 2022July 31, 202207/27/2022 other highlights The moon and stars watermelon are mostly stars this year so far. This watermelon has even fewer star speckles. A few baby okras are appearing!
Posted on July 16, 2022July 16, 202207/16/2022 Two moon and stars watermelon babies! We picked two ears of glass gem popcorn and it’s so beautiful in the sunlight!! First crop of purple hull pinkeye cowpeas.
Posted on June 28, 2022June 29, 202206/28/2022 The accidental shot of the week. I didn’t notice this bee kicking a wasp off its foot until I looked at the photo later! The bumblebee is feeding on Echinacea purpurea. Front of the bumblebee face is yellow. A zoomed in shot. The short overall hairs, all yellow on thorax and head, smoky dark wings, and minimal color on abdomen have led me to think it may be Bombus griseocollis, the brown-belted bumblebee. I have entered the sighting and photos on Bumble Bee Watch’s community science website where they can verify or correct this identification. This would be our fourth bumblebee species for the yard if I have identified it correctly. 🤞🤞 I found a second partridge pea plant blooming in the “prairie”! An all orangish solider beetle on a Rudbeckia flower. Shackleton the cat enjoyed hiding in brown crinkly paper. He has such big eyes! Paula is experimenting with kombucha fermentation thanks to a culture from Abby. This is the first sample and contains a garden strawberry for added flavor. It was good! Briar helps us observe bees out front. I’ll do a separate post with evening bees if any pics turned out. A baby moon and stars watermelon!! A baby praying mantis on the mint! Paula and I weeded the orange and red section of the rainbow garden. It has a lot of invasive grass in it.
Posted on November 4, 2021November 4, 2021Cubist ideal of melon That’s what some of my coworkers called this moon and stars watermelon. Dog for scale with the ideal melon and its very cute spotted friend. I think they didn’t have enough time to ripen before the vine died (not even frost, just sort of browned and died) as they weren’t as sweet as I was expecting or hoping. But definitely not awful. I will try growing again.
Posted on October 24, 2021October 24, 2021How to tell if watermelon is ripe Wait a really long time for the watermelon to grow bigger, then one day realize the vine is completely dead and then pick it. Oops.