A couple of French botanists came by to catalog our yellow jessamine. They want some for medicinal purposes. Up in North Carolina they heard it grew hereabouts and drove down. Contacting the Chamber, they were told Gretchen had some. She was in Valdosta and sent them out. I gave them a tour, including use of digging implements.
Pictures by John S. Quarterman for Okra Paradise Farms, Lowndes County, Georgia, 22 August 2012.
-jsq
How to find a lost phone in several miles of rough mowing?
After successfully examining the intelligence of a Colinus virginianus, Tractor Naturalist looked for more by mowing between the longleaf rows. The videoing phone liked those middles so much it stayed there. Or somewhere in several miles of mowing. How to find it?
Walking and looking amused the dogs, but didn’t find much. Walking and calling it at night in hopes it would light up didn’t find it, perhaps because we weren’t willing to stomp through the mowed rough in the dark.
So to google! Maybe there’s a way to make the phone tell you where it is? With most phones, you need to install an app before you lose it. But for Android phones, there’s Plan B, which you can install on your phone after you lose it.
So I did, and it started sending me email, saying it had located itself within 2415 meters, 
then within 96 meters, then 16 meters, then 6 meters (less than 20 feet). Each time it sent a map, the most recent of which is on the right here. That may look obscure to you, but to those of us who planted and weeded those rows, that green arrow is obviously six rows in and to me who just mowed, it’s right where I stopped mowing because I couldn’t see where I was going. Not bad, Plan B!
So we went with Gretchen’s phone to call mine. It rang! We tried again. She said,
It’s under my foot!
She reached down and held it up: phone found. Just like she finds rattlesnakes (but that’s another story).
I wasn’t thinking quickly enough to borrow her camera to catch her in the phone-finding act, but she took this picture of me and the dogs with the just-found phone:
Continue reading
This tree was
struck by lightning almost two years ago and then pine beetles got into it. It’s been dead for more than a year, and it was leaning towards the house, so we had to take it down.
Distant
John S. Quarterman, Gretchen Quarterman, Brown Dog, Yellow Dog,
Picture by Gretchen Quarterman for Okra Paradise Farms, Lowndes County, Georgia, 18 June 2012.
Zoom:
These are the same longleaf planted in 2008, blogged 10 October 2010, burned a second time 
16 December 2011, and greening and candling again February 2012.
Pictures of Gretchen Quarterman with the planted longleaf (Pinus palustris)
by John S. Quarterman for Okra Paradise Farms, Lowndes County, Georgia, 17 April 2012.
Almost all of them survived the prescribed burn, and many of them are quite tall. The planted little bluestem and big bluestem are also thriving, along with native verbena, and some less savory invasive exotics, including trash along the road. Plus Gretchen’s favorite: dog fennel! And along the fence row cedars, pecans, plums, grapes, wild cherry, and a gopher tortoise. Here’s a flickr slideshow:
We didn’t know there were any longleaf at the bottom of the pond, but the white candles are unmistakable:
Pictures of Longleaf pine (Pinus Palustris) by Gretchen Quarterman
for Okra Paradise Farms, Lowndes County, Georgia, 22 April 2012.
The needles are also longer than on the nearby slash pines:
Continue readingYellow Dog and Brown Dog pointing:
Can you see it there, between the wiregrass and the oak log?
Back in December
we burned some planted longleaf.
Six weeks later, they’re greening up and candling.
I couldn’t find a single longleaf that didn’t survive.
Even ones that a few weeks ago you would have thought
were burnt sticks now have green leaves or white candles
or both.
Here’s a slideshow.
Pictures by John S. Quarterman 29 February 2012.
-jsq
Picture of Gretchen Quarterman holding longleaf sprouts at Okra Paradise Farms
by John S. Quarterman, 19 December 2011.
I found them in the gutter while cleaning oak leaves out of it. Longleaf seeds had sprouted in that wet place. Gretchen stuck them in some dirt in these seedling containers. In a week or so we’ll need to transplant them into something bigger. Their taproots are already almost as deep as these boxes.
We’re also finding quite a few fresh longleaf sprouts in the ground, so apparently we got a pretty good seedfall this year.
-jsq
Burning planted longleaf, Okra Paradise Farms, Lowndes County, Georgia.
Pictures by Gretchen Quarterman, 16 December 2011.
The longleaf themselves are the most fire-resistant of trees.
Almost all of these longleaf will survive the fire and thrive.
The volunteer loblolly and slash, not so much, and any oaks or other trees even less,
so fire favors the longleaf.
We had perfect burning conditions: 5-8 MPH wind from the northwest, blowing towards
the road.
Some of the subdivision neighbors who are not familiar with prescribed burns
called the county fire department.
They came out, took one look at the firebreak, and filed a report saying all was OK.
Here’s how the fire got started. Some pyromaniac dribbling fire….
Here’s a slideshow and a playlist of some videos. Continue reading
They’re almost big enough.
Or maybe a pair of Southern Pileated Woodpeckers (Dryocopus pileatus) on a longleaf pine (Pinus Palustris).
I got pretty close; they just laughed. Eventually I walked away to do something else, and they flew into another tree directly over my head, where you see them in this video:
Pileated Woodpeckers, Dryocopus pileatus, Lowndes County, Georgia.
Pictures by John S. Quarterman, 7 November 2011.
-jsq