What would they make of that? I imagine people who’ve never been exposed to cold and snow, waking up to this post-snowstorm scene, a thick layering of fluffy powder, gently rolled over everything like soft white dunes. Holy cow…
Snow fights rain
Snow fought the rain, and so far, the snow won. A rainy day in December around here doesn’t leave the prettiest picture. The paths through the snow are down to a mucky couple of inches on top of the frozen ground. But it looks like the rest of the whiteness will be sticking around for now.
Sweet tooth
A baby cantaloupe, nestled in a tangle of vines under a canopy of leaves. Mmmm, will be…delicious. It’s well on its way to fully-matured, ready-to-eat goodness, a few weeks to go, but anything can happen. Last year, a freak localized hailstorm hit my tiny melon patch, marble-sized hail shredding the leaves and fatally damaging just about every fruit, while missing where I was at the time, just a mile down the road. Especially with our crazy erratic weather, you can’t 100% count on it until your teeth are sunk in, juice dribbling down your chin.
Munching and mating
Definitely on the good bug list, these common red soldier beetles are happily multitasking, munching on the pollen and nectar from flowering parsley, while mating. Now that’s procreation! A quick background check comes up all good for these guys in the garden: the adults are great later-season pollinators, and in addition to feasting on flowers, they eat aphids and other small, pesty insects. Plus, their predatory larvae feed on insect eggs, snails, slugs, and more. Welcome, my friends, to the show that never ends!
Winter squash spreading
Even with little sun, the winter squash won’t be kept down. What it likes to do is spread far and wide: huge leaves and vigorous vines snaking out all over the place. The big sprawl is just kicking in, flowering is underway, and tiny green baby (butternut) squash can already be found tucked away in there.
Not a buddy
Yeah, these aren’t my buddies. This season, the first time for me, rabbits hopped out of the cute woodland creature category and into Pests & Disease. At least one or two are definitely creeping around the garden, so far not damaging much, but making their presence clear with sightings and droppings. The way it seems to go, regular appearance leads to exploratory munching, then full-on devouring. Where the low-slung electric fence seems to be working for the groundhogs, I suppose bunnies might just…hop over?! Stay tuned!