Argiope aurantia, or I spied her over the catnip
Argiope aurantia isn’t a new visitor to my garden or this blog. I’m promise I’m not obsessed with spiders (unless one is actually on me) but this one was particularly eye catching in the late afternoon sun. In fact, this gal is so eye catching that I’m afraid she’ll be a bird snack within a couple days.
Therefore, another spider picture makes it to the interweb. (Sorry for the lame pun in the title.)
Common law vs Natural Law
Common law says I own my property and can control access to it and most certainly have a say on whether other occupants are allowed for any period of time.
Today I ceded this authority to the laws of nature; the decision came 18 feet off the ground armed only with a wrench and my ever present garden camera.
The squatters were fairly nice about it; they decided that in return for my generous hospitality they would allow me to finish my tasks and return to the ground without accelerating @32 ft/second in a cloud of angry Vespidae.
The side awning had a failed seam (again) and was removed yesterday, repaired by Miguel in his cinder block shop, and was to be reinstalled this morning.
It’s like finding yourself face to face with a large dog, on its turf, wondering whether you are going to be eaten alive or not (only worse).
I thought about going to get a can of wasp spray but then figured they didn’t see too upset that I was there and the extermination event might end up sending me to the ground anyway.
Really, wasps of all kinds should be left alone unless they are in an area where there is a good chance someone will bump into the nest and get swarmed. They are voracious predators of all sorts of pest insects and have a significant role in the balance of things in nature. They will kill and eat everything from aphids to common houseflies (I know, A to H isn’t as impressive as A to Z but my brain is slowing down to fast to appropriately finish this post.)
That’s all, carry on……
Spotted on Tomatoes outside Area 51
Kudos to The Wicked Report, where more “out of this world” creepy crawlies are exposed here.
Poblano ees no problemo
On impulse I bought a Poblano chile pepper plant a few months ago and stuck it in an open square of one of my front beds. I didn’t know anything about them but they looked interesting and any chile pepper harvest would force me to learn something new in the kitchen.
The plant adapted and grew well but wasn’t flowering at all; in the meantime the Napoleon sweet bell, Sheepnose pimentos and Jalapenos were providing steady pepper harvests. I didn’t worry about it much since I was certain it wasn’t a nitrogen overdose and I have read enough about some peppers requiring a long growing season. These are a native of Puebla state in Mexico (which everyone knows is below the Yucatan and deep in the tropics) so I figured this might need all the summer we get up here to produce.
So I used an old tomato cage to steady the big plant and basically forgot about it.
Fast forward a few weeks to a few evenings ago when a house wren got caught under the bird netting covering one of my Brandywine tomato plants. As I was lifting the netting I caught a nice chile pepper smell and found a couple of Poblanos had hatched right under my nose.
So now I need someone to tell me to how to dry these for powder or provide a recipe or two for fresh chiles.
More asparagus
Asparagus likes water. Asparagus likes sun.
DUH.
I really wasn’t sure what to expect as my first year asparagus bed progressed through the summer; I guess I assumed the spears stopped coming up by the end of June and then the expanded “fern fronds” just absorbed sunlight all summer to fuel next years growth.
In the mid July asparagus post I commented on the sudden appearance of new, stout spears after the mini drought broke for a while. The earlier spears were full “ferns” by then and apparently had been doing good solar panel work on behalf of the crowns. Given a little water and the boost from the earlier growth, these spears really took off.
They are growing up now- in fact, the furry bed is taller than me in some places now (not that that is particularly tall).
Guitarkid
Consider this a musical interlude in between my mostly useless garden posts.
Guitarkid0723 is the 10 year old son of a friend & coworker; he has taken lessons just outside of “cohutt’s fence” for a couple years now.
Hi dad was a little modest about his talent- guitarkid0723 absolutely rocks.
Check it out- if you like it or any of his other videos by all means give it a good rating.
Remember where you first heard him play. 😉
MyThai (Basils)
I had never heard of Thai Basil before last June when a friend gave me a “Thai” basil plant last summer as a “garden warming” gift. My experience had been limited to the more generic sweet basil that is available in every seed rack in the county.
Last year I pretty much treated the Thai basil as an ornamental addition to the beds, something to attract bees and butterflies; the flavor was too “different” for pesto vs the sweet basil we were accustomed to. Contrary to the growth habit of a typical sweet basil plant, the Thai plants are woody stemmed, grow rather large and provide purple and white flowers all season.
I have had a hundred volunteers come back from last year’s seed; I am considering potting one or more up and bringing in for the winter. The plant below is one of these; it is fairly small compared to last year’s “mother” plant but it is really taking off in the spot where the last of the lettuce had been going to seed.
Fast forward to this year, when the same friend gave me another “Thai” basil plant It has all the attributes described above but is a different type than last year’s specimen. The purple of the flowers is darker and they are clustered/clumped together.
Will the real slim shady Thai basil please stand up?
After a little more investigation (if Wikipedia counts) I have learned that there are all types of Basils that I didn’t know much about. OK, that I didn’t know anything about.
The Wiki page lists a bunch; the link to the Wiki Thai basil page says there are 3 types but doesn’t go much deeper. The two pictures down the page nail my two types pretty well, but no difference or distinction is given between the two.
Now that most of this wandering post is behind me, I will add that we have learned to appreciate the flavor of these two “Thais”, especially the “new” one this year. A little goes well as a compliment to the sweet globe basil we have been using in the tomato sauces we’ve been putting up so far this year. A little spicier-
That’s all I have to say about basil tonight.
Dog Days
It’s August and 100 degrees.
The garden has been growing.
Maybe I can catch up this week.
Oops I guess I need to schedule tomato staking
It think the next picture illustrates what is called “succession planting”.
As you can see, the potato vines in the straw have withered and it is time to see what lies below. The potatoes will be nice BUT I am always planning ahead – the pecan trees that are following the potatoes should be producing a bountiful harvest about 11 years.
😉
Victory @ Sea
No gardening this week, for obvious reasons.
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I didn’t catch this but you could tell this by the smile couldn’t you?
Behind cohutt's fence 