Did I mention we dug the potatoes?
There were more than this.
-jsq
River got a little too ornery the other night, so I put her in the pen. By the time I was back in the house, she was outside the house door.
I tried again, making sure the pen door was latched. She did it again.
We guessed she either climbed over the six-foot fence, or stuck her nose under and lifted up the pen.
So yesterday we tried in daylight with video.
We were all wrong.
Here’s the video:
https://youtu.be/VbZJksraIgA Continue reading
This scarecrow in the blueberries seems to be working. We’re actually getting some blueberries before the birds do.
Scarecrow and scaresnake in the blueberries
And here’s a better view of the scaresnake. It has since disappeared. Didn’t seem to blow off, since it would be nearby, and it isn’t. We guess a buzzard thought it would be a treat. Continue reading
It’s summer when we see this flower. Each bloom lasts one day.
But each halberd-leaved rose mallow plant has many blooms of Hibiscus laevis.
The plant likes wet soils, but this one is in the middle of upland piney woods.
-jsq
Always good to see the first flower of the bananas.
Gretchen and the first banana bloom of the year
Bananas are not trees, you know. They are very large bulbs.
Gretchen has several varieties of bananas.
-jsq
Update 2024-05-30: Blueberry Scacrecrow 2024-05-24.
Maybe the scarecrow will keep the critters off the okra and the yellow squash.
Also known as straightneck squash, the Abelmoschus esculentus is producing quite a bit.
The okra, Abelmoschus esculentus, hasn’t bloomed yet, but maybe it will soon.
Got a few more taters to dig, too, adding to the many we already dug.
-jsq
This turtle was in the middle of the road as I drove home. It was in Quarterman Road, near Redeye Creek, which runs to the Withlacoochee River.
Turtle in road and on the other side
So I carried it to the other side. It was about a foot long.
What kind of turtle is it?
My guess is river cooter, Pseudemys concinna.
Could be the subspecies Suwannee cooter, Pseudemys concinna suwanniensis. Or the subspecies Eastern river cooter, Pseudemys concinna concinna first described by my cousin John Eatton LeConte Jr. in 1830.
Or maybe a Florida cooter or some other species.
What do you think? Continue reading
Update 2024-05-30: Blueberry Scacrecrow 2024-05-24.
Maybe this will keep the birds from eating all the blueberries.
The dogs spotted this snakeskin along the driveway. Gretchen carried it to the blueberries.
-jsq
This Butterfly Milkweed is growing where pine beetles, hurricanes, and thunderstorms have left few trees standing.
Two clumps of butterfly milkweed
Asclepias tuberosa attracts butterflies with its color and its nectar. It is native to eastern and southwestern North America.
-jsq