[greeneyes]

Pinging the list.

[left that other site]

Hi Everybody!

(((HUGS)))

Still waiting for those tomatoes, zukes, and cukes!

[Ellendra]

I'm still trying to get a better photo, but here's my flint corn harvest for the year:



The ears hanging to dry are the ones that are good enough for planting. The ones in the bags underneath are good for eating, but have traits I'm trying to cull out.

I'm hoping to have a better picture soon.

[Qiviut]

August has been a rough month. A dear aunt of mine had laparoscopic shoulder surgery Aug. 1 that should have been a nonevent, other than the weeks of PT she was going to need. She ended up in the hospital for 3 weeks after a trip to the ER Aug 9, diagnosed with pneumonia in one lung and worsening heart failure. Wednesday, her very weak, damaged heart gave out & she died suddenly from a fatal cardiac arrhythmia. She was a person of strong faith, as is the rest of the family, so that is what is comforting us now - we are going to miss her something terrible, but know that we will be reunited with her again. One thought that is on everyone in the family's mind - treasure the time with those you love and don't take it for granted - you can be here one second and gone the next (literally, this is what happened to my aunt).

Last night I got in the garden - first time in 2 weeks. My peppers finally started producing and I wanted some to turn red. It was quite a nice harvest & this weekend (with my new canning pot), I'll be processing Jalapeno Pepper Jelly & Hot Pepper Butter. I can't wait to see how it turns out!

Here's a picture of the peppers I harvested last night - another "still life" photo - love the colors. The peppers are jalapeno, hot banana peppers, Giant Marconi and Big Berthas.

[tob2]

Hurricane Hermine is over with here. I had stowed away stuff which could blow away and secured the gardening pots to the best of my ability. When I went outside this morning it was easy to see how the plants had been beaten down by the wind and rain. Straightened out what I could and in the process discovered that several large, ripening tomatoes have vanished! Looked around on the ground and in the vegetation to no avail. Three things could have happened: 1 - a human took them; 2 - an animal took them; or the wind blew them away. At any rate, it is a mystery what happened to them. Ate my first tomato last week. Very tasty

[Qiviut]

It's "adventures with wildlife" around here. Last night, around 1 p.m. (yes, I was up - couldn't sleep), the motion light at the front of the house went on. I peeped out the window & saw something moving in the shadows so I opened the front door. Staring at me from the sidewalk was big fat raccoon. It was headed in the direction of the garden so I shooed it off .... it went grudgingly at first, but when I threatened to come off the porch, it changed direction & scuttled off quickly.

Friday, while harvesting peppers I noticed this caterpillar that has been parasitized by wasps (Braconid, I believe). The first one I saw like this, two years ago, I got rid of, but supposedly you should leave them since the hatching wasps are beneficial caterpillar hunters. This caterpillar moved slightly when I took the picture a few minutes ago so it's not totally dead, but it's no longer eating anything either. Nature is pretty amazing.

[MomwithHope]

MUSHROOM ADVICE??

Found these growing in my black compost bin. Tiny spore clusters on the outside start out looking like bumps. Can't find this anywhere. Snow white. Closest I found is a Hawaii mushroom which might have made it over on a watermelon. Any help identifying would be appreciated. Upended a couple to show the gills, attached and no frill on the stem. Had to darken the picture quite a bit, they are so white that the spores didn't show up well.