Nature and Gardening

cross-posted from: https://reddthat.com/post/25361855

Another gardening lesson in not giving up: The progression of pictures here are 3 of the same plant, a Trepadeira Werner pepper, taken over the course of this year.

1st pic: I grew them from seed indoors and a few days after putting them out in early April, I found the local deer had visited and eaten the plant down to the stem. I considered it a loss but didn't deal with it or pull the plant up. I just walked away, then went out of town for a bit the next day.

2nd Pic: When I came back into town it had new leaves so I figured I'd let it try again for kicks. It had fallen over under its weight so I staked it up. I did try a few things to keep the deer away, I think with moderate success.

3rd Pic is from last week. I see some evidence of deer nibbling but I believe the heat of the pepper may be keeping them away from it now. I'm still blown away remembering this thing when it was eaten to the stem.

So i have a problem with slugs in the garden. They eat everything, and every night i cut around fifty slugs, to prevent thoese to get eggs and make more slugs . BUT, i see the same slugs i cut in half in the compost heap, and doing a great job,getting our waste in the best dirt for the garden. What would you do? Still cut those,or just leave them?

[Image description: a two panel meme. In the top panel, a person labeled "my customers" asks the question "how do I keep bugs off my plants?" In the bottom panel, a person labeled "me, a native plant nursery owner" says "that's the neat part, you don't"]

My family is visiting for the week, so I have an extra outlet for all these squashes and zucchini. One of our pumpkins is going haam and I'm excited for those to start ripening.

What's growing on with you all?

[Image description: eight raspberry cuttings showing the stages of root development at their growth tips, with the leftmost cutting showing almost no root and progressing to the rightmost which shows a cluster of roots and upward growing leaves]

I'm giving a talk next month about reproducing plants asexually and am working on images for the slide deck. Figured I may as well share some of the images here too as it might help some folks who are interested in doing this. Questions and feedback are encouraged and appreciated, they'll help to make the presentation even more informative.

I harvested a dozen Hungarian Wax peppers this morning and that one (!) plant can now stand under its own weight again. We have a whole slew of tomatoes currently ripening on the vine so hopefully I can make some sauces and salsa this week. We got a food processor recently and I'm dying to try out more modes.

The bees are going crazy in one of our self seeding salad patches. We have four of these now, though two are newer and were planted later to stagger the harvest schedules and provide fresh greens for longer.

Here's a view of the permanent raised bed near the northern boundary of our property. Native Echinacea (purple coneflower) is growing next to a native Rudbeckia (the yellow coneflowers), with black elder, bee balm, and others growing in the background. To the right is the only patch of grass I mow with any regularity, as it's a shared boundary with our neighbor and their kids have been a little too helpful with the mower in the past.

Speaking of seeds, we have a whole bunch of seeds forming on New Jersey Tea (Ceanothus americanus and also my favorite plant) planted all over the place. These plants have a mechanism for seed dispersal that creates pressure behind the seeds as they ripen, which then releases and jettisons the seeds with force. It can be difficult to time seed collection with this kind of adaptation, but luckily a neighbor has some tulle she's looking to offload so I'll be making some small pouches to tie around the seed heads. I collected a ton of seeds from our Russian sages yesterday as well, but those are much easier to time - the flowers will brown and dry, at which point you can gently shake the seeds out into a container.

What's growing on with you all?

Hey folks, here is a video I made detailing some of the ways that we're using "slash" - limbs from trees we've selectively removed - to make some of our forest gardens more productive in various ways. Piped was giving me issues so the canonical youtube is linked

Tl;dw :

Down in our woods there is considerably more light reaching the forest floor this year. Some of that is due to storm damage that took down or killed several large pines, but another part is due to us removing a number of American Beech. The Beech is over represented in our woods and casts a large amount of shade, and many Forest Management Plans in our region begin with removing these to release light to the forest floor.

Because of the abundance of materials from removing these trees, we're able to use the various parts of the limbs to accomplish several important stewardship tasks - mulching, building brush piles, and collecting round poles for infrastructure improvements. This contrasts with chop and drop practices in tropical climates in part due to differences in lignification of trees; another difference is the rate of decomposition, which is greatly influenced by abundant heat and moisture.

Mulching

Mulching with leafy material does a few things: it provides moisture retention for the soil, which helps plants, micro-, and macroorganisms to avoid extreme conditions. It hampers the germination and growth of unwanted plants in the mulched space and allows for the desired plants to have better access to nutrients. And it also provides many of the nutrients necessary for vegetative growth as it breaks down through weathering and biological processes.

When processing these limbs for leafy material (sometimes called green manure) I like to use either two handed loppers or a pair of hand shears made for woody plants. While I could run the smaller side branches through a chipper, that greatly impacts the amount of exposed surface area and will absolutely change the way these materials break down as well as which organisms are acting upon them. There is a trade off between efficiency / speed and the breadth of processes that will occur, and in this case I'd prefer a greater number of biological processes. (Quick note - spring and summer branch wood contains enough nitrogen to hot compost the carbon they contain as long as you have the requisite amount of material for hot composting). Mulching like this tends to be most effective when it is several overlapping layers deep. Because our space is fairly well protected from wind, I cut the leaves with very little of the branch connected; for folks with windier spaces interested in doing this, it's perfectly good to keep more of the branch wood connected to keep your mulch in place.

Brush Piles

When a tree falls, many of the branches become entangled and overlapped, which provides protected nesting and foraging spaces for small woodland creatures that are prey for larger animals. We can build this same habitat infrastructure from leafy branches or even just the branch wood if the leaves are needed elsewhere. These sorts of protective spaces reinforce multiple links in the local food web and that stronger ecosystem will cycle more nutrients back to the soil in a positive feedback loop.

A key aspect of these brush piles is the void space between the multiple layers - most guides call for enough layers of material to be several feet high, with each layer laid perpendicular to the previous one, for the most bang for the buck (ecologically speaking). The void space and gaps are where the animals will creat passageways and nesting spaces, so it's good to leave the branches mostly intact. Branches rarely grow perfectly flat, so leaving shoots and side branches attached will create variety in the gaps left after construction, which helps a wider variety of animals as each can find the spaces most suitable to their needs.

Alternatively, using fewer layers to construct small brush piles around plants we're trying to grow can help to deter animal browse and can often be better for young plants than full sun access. When I use the branches in this way, I find benefits to breaking down the previous stick layer (cutting them smaller and increasing surface contact) before adding a new layer of brush. Higher surface contact with increase the rate of breakdown in the older wood, releasing more of the carbon to the soil than if they were left with gaps.

Infrastructure

Remaining trunks and thick branches are resources too - Beech has a great value as firewood and we use our woodstove for heat and some cooking during the colder months. Smaller diameter round poles from smaller trees or thick-ish branches that aren't good firewood size get turned into small fences, tipis, or other trellising structures for our vines or plants that need support. I find that using the more flexible tips of branches can make for some visually interesting patterns. Leftover offcuts from those projects will either be saved for future projects or used for biochar feedstock in our kiln before being added to compost or bird bedding and eventually to new gardens.

Anyway, that's some of what we do with trees we remove when we remove them. Do you do forestry practices like this and have other use cases to suggest? Have trees and want to do this but have more questions? Neither of the above but you're interested? Let's discuss!

Our volunteer cherry tomatoes have gone hard this past week, putting on tons of new growth and starting to fruit as well! Our slicers kind of gave up with the hot spell but are back to flowering and I'm looking forward to some really juicy ones.

This past week has seen me doing more forestry than gardening, though I personally conflate the two (I'm just pruning some rather large plants). I'm in the process of typing a write up to some video I shot which details what I'm doing - I'd like to post the video for you all, but I want to accommodate those of you who don't have the time or desire for ~19 minutes of me talking.

Here is a picture of a bee napping on some Joe Pye weed:

[Image description: an eastern garter snake watches me mow the lawn from a patch of long grass]

Some of our neighbors think I'm weird for using a push mower (battery powered, charged by our solar setup) on our two acre field, but mowing slowly and stopping on a dime enables us to protect the creatures with whom we share this space

[Image description: a spider is nearly invisible on its perch when illuminated by blacklight]

cross-posted from: https://pixelfed.crimedad.work/p/crimedad/728280130650218626

Beautiful weather this morning for a mild hangover.

#macro #slug #grass #NewJersey

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[Image description: a white spider hides in a raspberry flower, clutching its honeybee prey]

It's very hard to spot these guys, I'm glad I managed to catch it and share it with you all.

Two weeks ago I collected seed from a musk mallow (Malva alcea) I noticed growing in a crack in the pavement, soaked them overnight, and scattered them in a pot. There are dozens sending out true leaves already and it's very exciting - there are these tiny emerald sweat bees (Agapostemon) that really seem to adore the flowers of this plant and I would love to grow greater numbers to better support them.

The recent rains after several months with little precipitation has driven a new flush of growth and some wonderful blooms in the gardens as well, and I really appreciate the look of the Queen Anne's Lace, Monarda, Echinacea, and Clethea together

What's growing on with you all?

Very invasive, like bedbugs of the garden. They prey on grapevines and other plants in your garden, and are spreading quickly. Kill them if you see them or their mud-like eggs!

Howdy, gardeners! It's been a minute since I posted, but my PNW garden is just getting up to steam!

My first cukes came in, I'm growing 'Spacemaster 80' slicing cucumbers and 'Homemade Pickle' cucumbers, for obvious reasons. I've just made my first batch of pickles using a Claussen knock off recipe from the forbidden site, so we'll see how that goes. It just went in the fridge for cooling, so I get to try it in just a couple days!

I've started researching canning, as I want to can peppers, tomatoes, beans, and maybe corn - should the Corn Experiment prove bountiful. Learning how to Not Get Botulism seems pretty important!

My tomatoes are doing well - I'm growing Roma, Gardener's Delight, and Oxheart. I'm endlessly fascinated by how the Roma tomatoes look like they do on the label of the can :) Those are in containers. The other two varieties are trellised and are going nuts!

Gardener's Delight:

Oxheart:

Gardener's Delight Closeup:

Oxheart Closeup:

All the peppers are finally flowering. I'm growing Serrano, Jalapeno, Poblano, Shishito, and Ground Cherries. They are all growing rather well except a couple of the Shishito's in the raised bed seem quite small.

In my Three Sisters Garden, corn is growing fairly well, it seems half of them are 'normal' size and the other half are still half height, so I may have packed it too tight. I'm growing Blue FM1 pole beans, which have just flowered and are doing well, as well as pumpkins, of which two have grown so far, still green.

In the Squash Garden, I've got crazy vines from my Kubota squash, with 4 or so gourds growing. I planted beans here but they never really took off.

I also built a 'Wildlife Garden' this year. It's open to the public (animal visitors) and I don't do any pest control here. It's also gone NUTS! I have Blue Hubbard squash growing a mile a minute with 8 gourds on the vine, scarlet runner beans reaching for the sky, some ridiculous sunflowers pushing their way up, chamomile, clover, feverfew, boy it's wild! It's fun to look at.

For salad greens we've had the 'Tower of Power' going for a few months - it was a strawberry planter that I stuck a bunch of transplanted lettuce/chard/kale/mustard plants into. It produced salad for us every couple days, pretty excellent! My wife asked me to start migrating it back to strawberries, so I've started that process. Due to that, I've replanted a bunch more greens to keep us going!

And speaking of those strawberries, I'm propagating a bunch of strawberry plants (june-bearing) to have more ground cover for next year in addition to the strawberry tower, and I'm hoping my ever-bearing strawberry will put out runners, but it's still fruiting consistently!

I got a small onion harvest (time to figure out how many onions I'd actually need in a year), and plenty of garlic. This was my first year growing onions, and half the garlic was from last years harvest!

I also have numerous other things going - my lemongrass is growing really well:

As is my celery in a pot:

I've been growing marigolds and nasturtiums all over the place. The nasturtiums are great in salad! My cabbage started doing pretty well once I defeated an Aphid Menace that was stunting them.

So, that's my big ole report! What’s growing on with you all?

(Apologies to [email protected] if I stepped on your toes, I felt compelled to make a weekly thread!)

WE'RE DOING OUR PART!!! :)

duskywing butterfly and a buddleia flower

cross-posted from: https://pixelfed.crimedad.work/p/crimedad/723334816014531775

I suppose I like Walz, too, but how is it going to feel listening to him trying to justify sending more weapons to Israel?

Anyway, here are a pair of sand fleas my kid and her cousins found at the beach.

#macro #beach #FireIsland #crustacean #WeWantWalz #FreePalestine

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Laundry drying on the line got a visitor! For some reason, I can't get a thumbnail so here's pic #2:

[alt text: Text that says, "People [say] 'I never see butterflies or lightning bugs in my yard. Their yard: (colon)". Below the text is a photo of a birds-eye view of a large house with an equally large yard. The lawn is covered in standard turfgrass (probably Kentucky bluegrass) that has been recently mowed.]

cross-posted from: https://pixelfed.crimedad.work/p/crimedad/722443662248347948

My almost six-year-old just asked if Kamala Harris is Calvin Harris's sister. Nope, sorry kid.

Anyway, here's a photo of a tiny clam I found on the beach.

#beach #clam #macro #FireIsland #Harris

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Linked article is about Pennsylvania, but note that Cornell recently announced these lanternflies have invaded the New York grape-growing region of the Finger Lakes: https://cals.cornell.edu/news/2024/07/spotted-lanternfly-found-finger-lakes-region

Also, they are up in Connecticut now: https://www.ctpublic.org/news/2024-07-25/spotted-lanternfly-connecticut-grapes-crops

Researchers from Pennsylvania State University’s College of Agricultural Sciences used an economic assessment software program to estimate potential damage and said in the worst-case scenario the damage could climb to half a billion dollars annually.

“I mean, look, it made it to Pennsylvania from China in one shot,” Walsh said. Lanternflies invaded the U.S. attached to a stone shipment sent to a local landscaping company.

“The reality is that some of those assumptions have not played out as predicted. Far and away, lanternflies are not the fire and brimstone, doom and gloom situation that they were originally feared to be,” Walsh said. “Except for grapes — it’s been worse than expected for grapes.”

While extremely disruptive to the wine and grape industry, the spotted lanternfly is not as damaging to hardwood trees used for timber as previously thought, according to 2023 research from Penn State’s Entomology Department.

According to Penn State researchers, the heaviest hit vineyards lost up to 90% of their grapevines.

Grape growers can’t just immediately replace a grapevine either. Creato said it takes up to three years for grapevines to bear fruit and five to seven years to be ready for wine.

Walsh said there is a trend of lanternflies arriving in an area, growing in numbers rapidly for a few years, and then declining for another few years. “But in that sigh of relief, the question is then, ‘Why?’” he said.

“It’s a complex bug that still has lots of secrets that we’re slowly working out,” Walsh said. “Everyday citizens reporting back information and doing the ‘lanternfly stomp’ as they went about their daily travels absolutely had a positive effect in slowing the spread.”