Now my hands smell all nasturtiumy.
zoom in
Month: June 2023
slow morning
Coffee in my favourite mug, current book and a zoom meeting. Now it’s time to get outside and pull some weeds.
garlic harvest
I didn’t set out to grow a crop of garlic; I just poked a clove into the ground here or there among other things. But underground they multiplied, and here we are — six fat heads.
Nycticorax nycticorax
The Black-crowned Night Heron is a medium sized heron with a long head and a funny way of making its neck disappear when at rest. A juvenile was hanging out at Legacy Park this morning. I loved the lime-green legs.
These birds are among the seven heron species observed to engage in tool use. They lure or distract fish by tossing edible or inedible buoyant objects into water within their striking range. Smart!
Romneya coulteri
The Matilija Poppies are putting on a lovely show in the Park. Romneya coulteri is native to California and northern Mexico. The plant grows from 2 to 3 metres (6 to 9 feet) tall, with very large flowers that somewhat resemble a fried egg.
The flower is the largest of any California native species. It was nominated as state flower in 1890, but the California poppy won the title in a landslide.
twisted roots
I pulled the whole carrot crop, and now have a big bag of orange curlies. Bring on the carrot recipes!
Epipactis gigantea
They say virtue is its own reward, but I got a bonus 😊.
Stream orchids are widespread in North America, and ranked secure in conservation status, but they are rare and vulnerable in our mountains.
Accipiter cooperii
Big thanks to Chris Tosdevin for permission to sketch from his photos.
velvet and sting
Suzanne and I wandered around the pond at Rocky Oaks, marvelling over flowers, spiders, toads, birds of prey, lizards and insects. Attracted to these shelf fungi on a burned-out oak stump, I perched on a rock in the middle of a patch of nettles to sketch them.
potato fruit
I never thought of potatoes as having fruit, but there’s no reason why they shouldn’t. After all, the closely related tomatoes bear fruit. I’ll be interested to see how big these little nuggets get before the leaves die back, and I can harvest the rooty goodness.
Ah, I just did a little reading on the subject. The fruit are toxic (as are all parts of the plant except the tubers). Potato fruits are produced when the plants experience cool temperatures and sufficient water. Their seeds can be planted, though they will not produce clones of their parents, as tubers will. I probably won’t bother saving and replanting the seeds as I have limited space for potato experiments in my garden …. but good to know!
To clarify, ‘seed potatoes’ and ‘potato seeds’ are two different things. The former are sprouting tubers, and will grow as clones of the original plant. The latter are, well, actual seeds.
hashiworks 