I haven’t been writing much of late, owing to a variety of things.
Among which is extended periods of feeling no joy in anything. I figure it’s best not to blog in that mood. It doesn’t lighten the reader’s day, and it doesn’t help the writer’s mood. It’s a lose-lose.
I should write about things more cheerful, or not at all. Which explains this most recent hiatus.
Red potato flower
I’m growing gold and red potatoes this year. The gold potatoes have white flowers. The red potatoes have violet-and-gold flowers, as shown above. It’s a pretty flower in its own right, absent the potato-novelty aspect of it.
Vegetative propagation a.k.a. taking cuttings.
This is ridiculously easy. At least it seems to be, so far, for the four types of plants I’ve tried. That’s a fig above, more than ready to come out of the communal pot and get potted up individually. Some of the cuttings die, but so what? Cut extras. I have survivors for each of the four species I tried this with, this year (Chicago Hardy fig, skip laurel, blueberry, rose).
In hindsight, I should have transplanted the fig (above) sooner.
And the next time, I’m going to use a less cohesive planting medium, such as vermiculite, so that the roots come out cleanly with no trauma.
New bugs in town: Asian ladybugs and a Zabulon Skipper butterfly
I already have ladybugs in my garden. But I’m pretty sure it’s way too early for ladybugs. So what gives?
I’m guessing these are Asian ladybugs. These have a more diverse set of colors and markings than regular (American) ladybugs. I’ve seen them on my potatoes and my peas. Doing what, I’m not quite sure.
Long story short, these are mostly harmless, and there’s nothing I can do about it anyway.
The USDA imported them back in the 1980s, and they went wild. That’s the tale I read. No idea if that’s true or not. But they’re pretty much everywhere in North America (and pretty much the world) now.
If nothing else, their presence may displace native ladybugs. (Apparently they are aphid-eaters, as are our native ladybugs.) But I’m not sure of that, around here, as the Asians seem to have come and gone, and I’m not expecting to see Americans until late summer.
I had no clue what this was, so I had to look it up via Google image search. Butterflies and moths (.org) shows this as a Zabulon Skipper. It’s a North American butterfly. I don’t recall seeing this in my garden before, and I’ve only seen one this year.
The heartbreak of slugs sparrows.
Note the near-complete absence of okra plants above. My plans for a bigger okra planting this year have been derailed. I sowed roughly 40 okra seeds into the area above, some weeks back. I now have five tiny, surviving okra seedlings.
Originally, I thought the seeds didn’t germinate, as the weather had turned cooler for a stretch. Under that assumption, all I needed to do is replant, now that it’s warmer.
But upon close inspection, I believe that slugs were the main culprit. There were a lot of stubs where there should have been tiny plants. And I seem to have slugs elsewhere (e.g., on my potatoes).
It has been a consistently wet spring, so I guess I should not be surprised to have enough slugs to do significant damage.
Still not clear what I’m going to do about it.
Edit: Since I wrote that, I’ve witnessed sparrows destroying my pea plants. Eating both the you plants, and the peas. I’m guessing they are the culprit here, and basically pecked my okra seedlings to death.
Pavement repairs are ongoing, and ongoing, and ongoing.
My driveway rehab is turning out to be one ugly repair. I’m not so sure this was a good idea, but I have to finish it.
Anyway, I’m still working through it, a few bags of asphalt patch at a time. And as the weather allows. Pictures when it’s done. Or as done as it’s going to get.
Garlic scapes
My garlic has scapes. These are more-or-less the flower stalks of the garlic plant. You’re supposed to cut them off when they form, so that the garlic will put its energy into making a bigger bulb, not flowers and seeds.
So I cut them off and ate them (with scrambled eggs). It’s what you’re supposed to do.
I can now classify garlic scapes as one of those foods that you can eat, but probably would not choose to eat, if you had a better alternative.
Conclusion
It is difficult to write an exciting blog when you lead a dull life. Sometimes I have nothing to say, and nothing stops me from saying it.
