Author Archives: John S. Quarterman

Praying Mantis 2026-07-10

Large as the span of a hand, an insect-eating insect.

They’ll also eat anything else they can catch with their stereo vision, including frogs, lizards, and small birds.

Hand-span Mantis

Gretchen likes mantises.

Blondie is paying no attention. Continue reading →

Dry cypress swamp 2026-07-09

Looking up in the middle of the cypress swamp, you might think there was no damage from Hurricane Helene.

But there was.

Also, the drought continues to make this cypress swamp crunchy dry all the way across. Continue reading →

Pipe cutting wheel 2026-07-06

I never heard of this device until a couple weeks ago.

Then I ordered one to cut the PVC pipe I broke under the edge of a house foundation, where the usual hand-squeeze knife-cutter can’t reach.

PVC Pipe Cutter Drill Tool

Worked pretty well.

Took me two tries to get deep enough to be beyond where the pipe had split.

-jsq

Halberdleaf Rosemallow 2026-06-22

Summer is here.

Halberdleaf Rosemallow, Hibiscus laevis

NC State Extension: Hibiscus laeveis: Common Name(s): Halberdleaf Hibiscus Halberdleaf Rosemallow Halberd-leaved Hibiscus Halberd-leaved Rose-mallow Scarlet Rose-mallow Smooth Rose-mallow

Halberd-leaved rose mallow is a rapidly growing perennial in the Malvaceae (mallow) family and is native to southeastern Canada and central and eastern United States. The genus name Hibiscus means mallow in Latin and Greek, and the species name laevis means smooth referring to the leaves which are hairless.

It grows to Continue reading →

Dogs diggins 2026-06-22

Three out of four dogs were convinced there were moles there.

Sky, with Honeybun, River, and Blondie digging

-jsq

Okra, tomatoes, squash, cucumber 2026-06-10

I’m afraid the few ripe tomatoes and the okra ready to eat never made it to the house. Something ate them; I can’t say what, although it was on two legs.

We’re eating yellow squash daily.

Should get cucumbers big enough to pick now that they’ve been thoroughly watered.

And the okra is starting to come in. Continue reading →

River emerging from the grapes 2026-06-11

Like Venus emerging from sea foam….

River emerging from the grapes

River Dog emerging from the grapes.

These native muscadine vines, Vitis rotundifolia, are growing on what we call wood henge, which is wires along wood posts.

-jsq

Oak deadfall on water line 2026-06-11

Me and a certain relative spent some time chainsawing a clear path here a few months ago.

Blondie and the water line deadfall

Then this big oak, weakened by Hurricane Helene and drought, fell right across the buried water line we were reopening.

Blondie Dog for scale.

-jsq

Digging potatoes 2026-06-03

Sky was very helpful guarding the potatoes.

Sky helping dig taters

We do have some for sale, at $1 per pound.

See Gretchen’s facebook post:

https://www.facebook.com/gretchen.quarterman/posts/pfbid0YxRFfETPp3QPbAmgX2zsVA9HR8iwXo9Ec33R1ZoPjHELAQgWrKE95A24JJzfSs2Zl Continue reading →

Maypops and blackberries 2026-06-02

You can see tiny green fruits already forming on these Passiflora incarnata.

Purple, green, red, and black

And a few black Rubus argutus along with the red ones.

-jsq