Category Archives: Okra Paradise Farms

Half way between Atlanta and Orlando and all the way to paradise!

Longleaf candling after burn 2023-03-06

Two months after a January burn, these 21 acres of planted longleaf pine in the Conservation Reserve Program look like most of them are dead.

[Longleaf candling]
Longleaf candling

But look closely: almost all of them are candling. New growth rising up in inch-thick white candles. Continue reading →

Seven-acre burn 2022-12-30

Another successful prescribed burn at the end of 2022.

This was actually the burn of the area in which the Treat’s Rain Lilies have since come up, six weeks later.

[Fire and ash 2022-12-30]
Fire and ash 2022-12-30

There’s more to do if we ever get good conditions again, as in dry for enough days after a rain.

For those who are not familiar with prescribed burns, they are necessary to the health of pine forests. Pine trees, especially longleaf pine trees, are more resistant to fire than other trees. So burns favor pines, and without burning, oaks, sweetgums, etc. take over. And burning temporarily cuts back the gallberry, blackberry, and Smilax vine thickets that get too thick for wildlife. Quail and other birds have already moved into areas of previous burns.

Here’s a video playlist:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLk2OxkA4UvyyTZYEfjLstI_3DK0QDieb

Continue reading →

Treat’s Rain Lilies 2023-02-18

These lilies sprung up just in time for the weekend cold snap.

[One and two Treat's Rain Lilies @ OPF 2023-02-18]
One and two Treat’s Rain Lilies @ OPF 2023-02-18

Treat’s rain lily, Zephyranthes atamasca var. treateiae, is a special variety that mostly grows in counties on either side of the GA-FL line. I hear there are also some in Louisiana and Alabama. Continue reading →

Wild Azalea and Wood Storks 2023-01-31

An early spring sight, and something more unusual.

[Wood Storks and Wild Azalea, OPF 2023-01-31]
Wood Storks and Wild Azalea, OPF 2023-01-31

We’re used to wild azaleas, Rhododendron canescens, blooming around now. Plenty of buds promise more flowers after this first one.

But the other sight was more unusual. Continue reading →

Vines 2023-01-16

Maybe I should have trimmed some more vines before backing in there.

[Vines and privet]
Vines and privet

I had sawed off that privet. It was supposed to push to the side when I backed the tractor with mower in.

Instead, the grapevines and Smilax decided that invasive exotic Chinese privet would go up on top of the tractor canopy.

Probably I would have noticed earlier, but I was concentrating on not backing into a tree and not getting caught around the throat by catbriars. You know those Smilax with the stout sharp thorns and thick stems: Smilax bona-nox.

Note to self: next time take a machete. Cutting each vine with clippers took a while.

-jsq