Tomatoes are hanging

At the market today, you could see that lots of tomatoes got picked very fast last night. Now they’re on sale as “Native field ripened tomatoes 1.50 lb”. Not bad! My own tomato plant is still in the game. The worst that the chill did was kill off the leaves that weren’t looking so hot. […]

Is this the last harvest?

It’s going to be cold out tonight, as in near freezing. Poor tomatoes! This just might be the last vine-ripe batch I get to pick this year.

Orchids to come

Just as the outdoor garden is chilling down, here’s my phalenopsis orchid putting up a new flower shoot. Just like last fall. What a nice orchid, so faithful!

Squirrel’s eye view

Chirrrick-rick-rick-rick rruck rruck rruck! What’s that, Mr. Squirrel? The crew is about to mutiny?

Ode to asters

Oh, asters, wild asters, beloved of bees. You tumble down hill and sway on the breeze.

Raccoons jangle my brain

Funny noise out back. Something banging. Something clattering. Four raccoons! One cat. Four raccoons? Get in here, cat. Go away, raccoons! <grabs camera> I said, beat it!<two raccoons go out of frame> Scram! <flash!> How do you like that? Raccoons back off. Cat walks past. I open door. Cat strolls in. Phew!

More syrphid flies

I’m still, still finding more syrphid flies that I haven’t seen before. It looks a lot like a bee mimic I saw last year, but not quite. It’s about the size of a honeybee, and as bright as a honeybee, and as fond of the same flowers — but I am not fooled. Honeybees don’t […]

A treehugger’s lament

Another tree is gone from the neighborhood. The noise started Friday, just about all day Friday, of a big motor running all day long, interspersed with spurts of chain saw, and the occasional chipper grinding. All day, branches vanished, until only the crown of the tree was untouched. Did they quit because it was the […]

What fall means

Fall means leaves are falling. Fall means you look at leaves on the patio And see old scars from chopping ice away. Fall means you know what’s coming.

More bumbles, more goldenrod

Here it is the end of September, and the goldenrod is still flowering, and the bumblebees are still foraging, and still crowding two or three at once on the same flowers. The bumbles seem less impatient here, taking a long sip before they move on. Such happy bees!