I thought I’d share some pictures I took of some life that is still in the garden.
Drying walnuts
This wasn’t in the garden, and I guess it isn’t actually shots of life. But I need to follow up on yesterday’s post about the nuts. I put them in that bucket and filled it with water. Then beat them up with a chunk of PVC. I drained the water several times, then laid them out to dry. Right now the walnuts are on that grate in the car port. Once they are dry, I’ll see about cracking them.
Bumblebee on the basil
I was happy to see that I still have pollinators in the garden. This bumblebee was making his rounds on the basil flowers. Notice that there isn’t much left of the flower itself, but he went to them all. He also wasn’t very happy with me disturbing him with the camera. He took off and buzzed me.
Unknown caterpillar
I found a couple of these caterpillars in the garden. This one is on an okra leaf. I found 2 others on the basil plants. I’m not sure of the type of caterpillar, but it kind of looks like a garden tiger moth caterpillar, but I’m not sure they are in my area. Most of what the information I find on them talks about them being in the UK.
Asparagus
Here’s a shot of one of the asparagus plants. I planted a bunch of crowns this Spring. This is the biggest one. Where I planted is kind of difficult to get weeded, so you’ll notice it is very overgrown. I’ll make sure I get those weeds all pulled up and will keep up on the weeding next year, at least I hope I do.
Mile-a-minute weed
I also found this plant growing on the fence around the garden. After a little research, I’m almost positive that this is Persicaria perfoliata or mile-a-minute weed. This is an invasive species from Asia. It seems innocent enough, but by the end of Summer, it can grow 6″ a day. It can grow up a tree and cover it so much that the tree will die from lack of sunlight.
Flame weeder
I’m going to work to get rid of this plant. Tomorrow I’ll work at gathering up the berries. That will help. I’ll also pull some of the weeds. But next year, I’m going to pick up a flame weeder. What man would pass up the opportunity to weed with FIRE? This is the perfect excuse to get one of these. But on the practical side, these things are supposed to work really well. You don’t burn it to a crisp, you just slightly char the plant and it dies.
