LOL, It's Rics pictures. That is just the way Ric carried it into the house he was carrying the basket with his morning coffee and his tobacco. I just took the tobacco out and he popped the pic.
Vegetable 2013, Mid-At and Friends
"...sounds like something from Mary Poppins. LOL" Ric, it does, doesn't it though??? ^_^ honestly, I had never heard of it until I started looking up recipes of what to do with lots of parsley besides tabbouleh. It was actually pretty tasty w/beef, but can be enjoyed on potatoes, chicken or fish etc too
picked a few large, juicy 'Church' heirloom beefsteak tomatoes this morning. didn't take a photo of them yet though
I have fennel blooms! I picked up a tiny fennel plant at a local swap this spring and I'm so excited to see it doing well. Can't wait to harvest the seeds. :)
I have Bronze Fennel in the flower bed next to the Veggie Garden. I planted it because I think it's pretty, but I never harvest it. The caterpillars just love it, might contribute to the million butterflies that I have in the yard right now. I should start harvesting it.
I remember seeing Bronze Fennel at Green Springs (I think it was there) -- it was gorgeous. I had forgotten about it....
Not sure if I brought any to the spring swap. I have one in a pot in the driveway to give to a friend. Next spring I will try to remember if I have extra. Usually I do but quite often they get scooped up before the swap.
I can understand why they'd get scooped up, and well they should!
Diana, so funny you mentioned that Chimichurri Sauce, my friend on FB just mentioned she can't stop eating the 1 her husband makes
Picked a few more tomatoes today and a couple of gallons of green beans and about a peck/ gallon of Russet potatoes raised from old scraps. Tomorrow will be ham, new potatoes, and green beans with corn bread, butter and King syurp. I'll probably get 1-2 more picks from the beans. I only have a 10' double row of beans. The sweet potatoes are growing rampant with this nice rain, anyone know how to make sweet potato flour?LOL I'll have to look up the best storage methods.
I'm green with bean envy- mine crapped out .Bet your sweet potatos will be tremendous.
I have no clue how to make sweet potato flour but may look it up and try some this year. I'm liking a lot of the alternative flours. Garbanzo bean flour is quite tasty, and I use both almond and coconut flours a lot.
Bruces' makes a sweet potato waffle and pancake mix that is delicious. We really like the waffles, especially with butter pecan syrup. I have troble finding it up here though.
rather than make flour, you could I think work up a batter with cooked mashed sweet potatos. Let me know what day to be there...I'll have to set my alarm ya know
Searching for my spinach seed, going to get fall greens planted soon.
Look what I found yesterday hanging around my Tomato plant!
I bet it would like to take a "load off its back"....:o)
Should I let it be? Or should I smush it so all those Wasps do not grow?
Or--these wasps could be the "good guys" next year. Yes???
G'
LEAVE IT THERE!!!
THose are cocoons for the good wasps . Good news!
8 ^)
Thanks---poor worm.....
I knew all about this wasp laying eggs on these caterpillars so they can
feed on it and suck every drop of life out of its body.
What keeps this loaded caterpillar from just walking away?
I have to go look--it seemed to be "hanging" from the stem...
THEN what do they grow into next? A cocoon somewhere???
I will keep it there--promise! Take more pictures....
make it a photo-documentary..
G.
The caterpillar is done.
The cocooned wasps will use the caterpillar as nourishment. I had one last year on my tomato plants but I haven't seen one yet. I did squash one about a month ago that was devouring my "dragon lady" holly that I had potted. It was pretty sad.
The holly or the caterpillar?
...my holly. The new growth on the top of the plant is just sticks now.
Paul--
I have one Holly in my "haves". I believe it will be an "American Holly"
You want it?
That is the only one that has even grown around here--but it is
agas ago that it got cut down. So--I cannot be sure....
It was growing wedged between a board and the wall of my shed--
behind my Knock Out Rose.
Let me go take a picture of it. it is now about 8"-10" tall. Sturdy!
Dibs???? G.
Gita, the caterpillar looks sort of like sphinx moth. I usually don't squish them.
Gita, that is very generous of you but I am good with my dragon lady.
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/80035/#b
Ric--
I Googled Sphynx Moth and it looks nothing like it.
Will send ot to the Bug ID forum...
Here is a cute You Tube on the Sphynx Moth caterpillar,,,amazing!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6U44kvgw9_c
And--here is a whole list of pictures of different Caterpillars.
Did not see my yellow one on here either...
http://www.jeffpippen.com/naturephotos/caterpillars.htm
your yellow one - try tussock moth
that's a hornworm
good photo G. I think it looks like a hornworm too... can even see the horn sticking out under the wasp larvae... eeewwwwwww maybe its color is getting yellowish because the life is getting sucked out of it from the larvae
mom is out weeding in our garden now. I came running in after my feet got a gazillion mosquito bites!! G. your canna is growing, slow but sure. No buds yet though. Basil is ready for harvesting. Lots of green tomatoes and peppers. Hummingbirds galore
OK! We have a bit of confusion going on here!
I KNOW the one with all the larva on it is a hornworm!
The one we are trying to ID is the yellow, hairy one.
You Guys are NOT paying attention!
No, sally, it does not look like a tussock moth. The hair/fuzz is there--
but mine is ALL yellow--no markings at all.
I did post it on Bugs and insects ID Forum. Waiting to her back...
Here it is again--so you don't have to go back searching for it.
It has a "horn"--bit it is on the tail.
oh ... sorry G. I must have missed your yellow caterpillar post
maybe it's yellow wooly bear Spilosoma virginica - Virginia tiger moth
sweet banana's from the swap
basil from seed
tomatoes are heirloom Jaune Flamme from the swap
inside our veggie garden are about 8 raised beds surrounded by a wooden fence with wire along the bottom to keep out bunnies. we just added a new layer of neutral hardwood mulch
wind--
The color is right--but the Spilosoma virginica does nor have the spikes
along the Mid-section or the tail.
This is getting pretty intriguing.....Can't wait to find out.
Greenthumb--WHERE are you?????
Gita
"The Doctor" (JOHN) ID'd my caterpillar.
http://bugguide.net/node/view/505/bgimage
He is the Guy from PA I am trying to get to come to the swap.
Holly said he lives just 1/2hr. away from them...
Would love to have him in our "Group".....Gita
ah yes. he got it... moth caterpillars can be quite interesting
***
I hope to get out in the garden to plant some greens before the day is out. rain on the way tonight and tomorrow in Jersey. My new fav. is kale, but I don't think we have kale seeds. not sure though. Convinced Harry to add raw kale to protein smoothies today- delicious! I wasn't sure if the kale would be stringy, but it wasn't. Blended up pretty good.
I got spinach, mustard, pac choi and radicchio planted today- seeds. Cukes are nearing their end but have been great.
My Cukes have done nothing!
I blame it on not enough sun--as I planted them mid-ways in my raised bed.
Kind of shaded in the afternoons....
I have harvested ONE real picking Cuke--and two that were little balls
the size of a Golf ball. NOT good at all...
G.
sorry to hear that- the rain would otherwise have helped you have good ones.
Radishes etc seed sprouted like crazy
Winter squash almost dead, did poorly. Cukes probably done for boo hoo. Just might get more summer squash- but DO have borers adults seen on the plants.
I need to do some picking: greenbeans, tomatoes, peppers, strawberries, and possibly a few carrots.
After we move the chickens, I'll have a nice pile of rotting straw and manure to move on to the garden to put it to bed, Hoorah!! That stuff should be hot enough to kill a few weed seeds and ready to till in by spring. When I replant the grass on their old site next spring it will probably look like Jack's magic beans. LOL
we're starting to get more tomatoes than we can eat!! and we have salsa left over from last year... any ideas besides pasta sauce?
Start picking faster and fry them green? or partially ripe?
Give them away at work...
That's all I got!
thanks, Sally! will have to do some fried green. Harry is going to try canning them (with no added liquid) for use in pasta sauce. We just have to pick up some citric acid since we don't want to add lemon juice or vinegar. I guess you can buy it near canning supply stuff? not sure. I can't remember getting it before... I got the brilliant idea and suggested ketchup, but he shrugged it off as being "too much work" lol. Maybe I'll try the ketchup next weekend if I can find the time.
He made another batch of pesto today ^_^