Friday, June 3, 2016

Birthdays, Veggies, and Cicadas

or Three Days Last Week

Day 3

Theo celebrated his birthday. After the Carnivores ate a birthday meal consisting of a lot of meat, we all went on a hike. Theo went with a full pack because he is training to go backpacking again.


We saw deer. I like seeing deer in the woods better than by my front door.



Even though wild rose can completely take over an area, it was pretty to see as we hiked along.


The trail went through some low areas where we saw a lot of skunk cabbage and Jack-in-the-Pulpits. This one was about 2 feet tall--much taller than the ones in my backyard.

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Day 2

The day before Theo's birthday, Uncle Billy and Aunt Martha invited us over to share in some of their harvest. Their shared bounty was served with Theo's birthday meal (where we actually had more than meat. I needed something to fill up on.)  :)


Most of Uncle Billy's asparagus is gone, but we were still able to get enough for a meal.



Aunt Martha shared some of her collards with us. I cooked them in the slow cooker with sausage. 


We have been eating the broccoli in salads.


The cauliflower wasn't quite ready to harvest, but I just had to take a picture of this beautiful head.


While Aunt Martha and I were in the greens patch, Ward was picking strawberries. There's nothing like a sweet berry straight from the vine. And we all had some straight from the vine.


Uncle Billy has grown the biggest radishes I have ever seen. Notice the quarter for scale. Instead of eating the whole radish like I'm used to, we ate slices from them. Per Lili's example we cooked the radish greens with the collards.
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Day 1

The day before our harvesting, Aunt Martha and I were in cicada country where we were visiting my mother. In some areas they were so loud, they literally hurt my ears.

The noise comes from the males trying to attract a female. I don't know if it's true, but I read that they may be attracted to you if you are running a lawn mower because they think that it's another cicada. That's how loud they can be. I still find them fascinating. but I will leave it to someone else who is actually in the middle of this hatch to tell you more about them.
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So there you have it. Three days last week.

8 comments:

  1. Nice that you were able to get some garden fresh veggies. They looked beautiful. Our okra and green beans are growing like crazy and the first harvest is not too far.

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    1. The cooler weather vegetables will be done soon and things like beans and cucumbers will start taking off. And I can't wait for the first tomato of the season. How are the tomatoes doing there?

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    2. I am not sure. I gave up trying to grow anything but cherry tomatoes long ago. I was doing nothing but keeping the chipmunks well fed and the cherry tomato plants are not sturdy enough for chipmunks to climb. I imagine in a couple of weeks those not fighting chipmunks will start getting tomatoes.

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    3. The chipmunks love our cherry tomatoes. It always amazes me how they can eat everything but the skin. I hope your chipmunks don't figure out how to eat yours.

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  2. Wow, look at those yummy garden veggies! (Except the radishes ... I'm not a fan of those). My poor hubby keeps trying to grow asparagus but I think we've gotten maybe 10 stalks all season. Lettuce and rhubarb have been doing well, though. Tomatoes aren't even on my radar yet--maybe by late July.

    I suspect my son and hubby would hit it off well with the guys in your family. They went on a boy scout backpacking trip a couple of weekends ago. My 12-year-old kept up well with the group. Funny story (hope I haven't already told you this one!)--he and hubby were training for backpacking beforehand, and needed weight in the pack. I suggested an unopened bag of cat foot. My son ended up being very popular with every dog they met on the trail!

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    1. My boys and Ward went backpacking in Philmont, Yosemite, and Glacier with the Boys Scouts beside all of the local trips they did. Ward now goes with a group of friends on a big backpacking trip every year or two. Theo didn't seem to like it as much as some of the others, so I was surprised that he is interested again. But he's a lot older now.

      The cat food was an interesting choice. Usually they just fill extra water bottles. Did any animals try to get into the food at night?

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  3. I can't get anything to grow in my garden so I have envy over that breathtaking load of produce, and the broccoli looks so good. I think my seeds are bad. Too old maybe, maybe heat damaged from being in the garage.

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    1. Uncle Billy does a good job with his garden. He really doesn't like most vegetables, he just likes the process of growing things. That makes me very lucky because his family usually can't eat all that he grows.

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What do you think?