Around the Garden
It's been very interesting here at Caer Myrddin. That's the name of our property. Steve dubbed it that when we first bought the land, but we never made a sign or anything. Now that we're branching out with livestock and veg, I figured it made sense to use the name. Anyway, nature has been providing a lot of new things out here so far this year.
Twice on the way home from work, Steve's encountered deer on Bondarenko Road. We've frequently seen deer at the end of Trawick, near the paved road, but never back here. So that's exciting.
Our quaking aspen is blooming for the first time. The flowers are green, so they don't look like much. But boy do the insects love them! The tree literally buzzes, because it is swarmed by yellow jackets, paper wasps, other small types of wasps, bumblebees, and honey bees! I'm particularly excited about the honey bees, because some kind of disease has decimated the wild population and I've not seen any for some time. I've tried to take photos of the bees, but the yellow jackets don't like me getting so close and dive bomb me.
Our pond has a healthy frog population. And my water lily is blooming like never before. I've had nearly a dozen blooms since late April. In previous years, I was luck to get six. Clearly, the pond is in good condition - even though it looks a wreck. It has algae. But maybe that's why it's doing so well. Who knows?
Last Sunday, I was coming home from grocery shopping and I saw a large brown bird fly across Bondarenko. It didn't move like a buzzard, and it was far too large to be a local hawk. It landed on a tree branch, so I pulled along side to get a good look at it. Lo and behold - it was an eagle! It was an immature bald eagle. They don't get their white heads until they're about seven years old. It was absoluately gorgeous. It watched me the entire time I was watching it. I'm hoping it hangs around, but it may have just been passing through. Of course, I'm not sure I'd want my wild bunnies to become lunch.
One of my bay trees has gone into profuse bloom. I've never seen so many flowers on a single tree like this. And this is just the top couple of feet. The whole tree is like this. All I can figure is the heat (it was 106 F yesterday with 5% humidity) is making the trees do weird things.
Here's our veggie patch. The tomatoes are close to four feet tall now and in full flower. The potatoes are starting to die back. They never flowered, but they have produced baby potatoes. I dug one up, boiled it, and gave it a taste. Initially, it tasted delicious! But then it left a metalic after taste that was difficult to get rid of. I don't know if that's because it wasn't mature, or if it's because I grew these potatoes from sprouted store potaotes - something recommended against. Come December, I'm going to plant a proper row of potatoes (December is the preferred Florida planting month) to see what I get. It's been fun seeing what happens with this batch.
This is the blossom from one of the onion plants. It's not quite open yet. It's been taking its sweet time. The bloom started nearly two weeks ago. The stalk is close to two feet tall. When the flower opens, it should look like a big fuzz ball.
This is the first, and right now only, tomato growing on the plants. If all the flowers manage to produce a fruit, we're going to be swimming in cherry tomatoes!
Three of the five corn stalks are starting to bloom!
The problem is, the corn is only about a foot tall! The area clearly doesn't get enough sun, so the stalks are very, very short. I honestly don't know if they'll be able to produce a fully-formed ear. Guess I'll find out. Meanwhile, I have three more plants I've started indoors. I'm going to grow them in bags near the other veggies in the median. It gets sun all day there. I also have pumpkins, cucumbers, and canteloupe started inside.
Finally, the most exciting news. Monarch butterflies are back! I have not seen a Monarch, which is hands down my favorite butterfly, since I was about 12 years old. I saw a couple of them on Trawick last week. This one swooped into the front garden yesterday. I was so excited, I ran out with the camera and took a slew of photos. Unfortunately, because I had to use extreme zoom, the photos did not come out as nicely as I hoped. I just hope this is a sign of more to come. I would love to see Monarchs all over the place again. They're simply beautiful.
Twice on the way home from work, Steve's encountered deer on Bondarenko Road. We've frequently seen deer at the end of Trawick, near the paved road, but never back here. So that's exciting.
Our quaking aspen is blooming for the first time. The flowers are green, so they don't look like much. But boy do the insects love them! The tree literally buzzes, because it is swarmed by yellow jackets, paper wasps, other small types of wasps, bumblebees, and honey bees! I'm particularly excited about the honey bees, because some kind of disease has decimated the wild population and I've not seen any for some time. I've tried to take photos of the bees, but the yellow jackets don't like me getting so close and dive bomb me.
Our pond has a healthy frog population. And my water lily is blooming like never before. I've had nearly a dozen blooms since late April. In previous years, I was luck to get six. Clearly, the pond is in good condition - even though it looks a wreck. It has algae. But maybe that's why it's doing so well. Who knows?
Last Sunday, I was coming home from grocery shopping and I saw a large brown bird fly across Bondarenko. It didn't move like a buzzard, and it was far too large to be a local hawk. It landed on a tree branch, so I pulled along side to get a good look at it. Lo and behold - it was an eagle! It was an immature bald eagle. They don't get their white heads until they're about seven years old. It was absoluately gorgeous. It watched me the entire time I was watching it. I'm hoping it hangs around, but it may have just been passing through. Of course, I'm not sure I'd want my wild bunnies to become lunch.
One of my bay trees has gone into profuse bloom. I've never seen so many flowers on a single tree like this. And this is just the top couple of feet. The whole tree is like this. All I can figure is the heat (it was 106 F yesterday with 5% humidity) is making the trees do weird things.
Here's our veggie patch. The tomatoes are close to four feet tall now and in full flower. The potatoes are starting to die back. They never flowered, but they have produced baby potatoes. I dug one up, boiled it, and gave it a taste. Initially, it tasted delicious! But then it left a metalic after taste that was difficult to get rid of. I don't know if that's because it wasn't mature, or if it's because I grew these potatoes from sprouted store potaotes - something recommended against. Come December, I'm going to plant a proper row of potatoes (December is the preferred Florida planting month) to see what I get. It's been fun seeing what happens with this batch.
This is the blossom from one of the onion plants. It's not quite open yet. It's been taking its sweet time. The bloom started nearly two weeks ago. The stalk is close to two feet tall. When the flower opens, it should look like a big fuzz ball.
This is the first, and right now only, tomato growing on the plants. If all the flowers manage to produce a fruit, we're going to be swimming in cherry tomatoes!
Three of the five corn stalks are starting to bloom!
The problem is, the corn is only about a foot tall! The area clearly doesn't get enough sun, so the stalks are very, very short. I honestly don't know if they'll be able to produce a fully-formed ear. Guess I'll find out. Meanwhile, I have three more plants I've started indoors. I'm going to grow them in bags near the other veggies in the median. It gets sun all day there. I also have pumpkins, cucumbers, and canteloupe started inside.
Finally, the most exciting news. Monarch butterflies are back! I have not seen a Monarch, which is hands down my favorite butterfly, since I was about 12 years old. I saw a couple of them on Trawick last week. This one swooped into the front garden yesterday. I was so excited, I ran out with the camera and took a slew of photos. Unfortunately, because I had to use extreme zoom, the photos did not come out as nicely as I hoped. I just hope this is a sign of more to come. I would love to see Monarchs all over the place again. They're simply beautiful.
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