Nice, the volunteer in among the zinnias in the SE central bed is producing a nice surprise harvest after I had to tear out all the other plants because they were feeding the rat(s). No rodents have found this ground cherry plant yet, as evidenced by the undisturbed fruit on the ground. Yay!
Also I haven't seen any rats in several weeks now. I think removing their food source (the row of ground cherry plants, plus adding a seed-catcher tray to the birdfeeder), removing their compost bin hideout, plus clearing out junk around the kitchen step did the trick.
Weird... Thought maybe it was related to the cooler weather, but the buckwheat in the north bed looks fine...
First there were the issues with something nibbling down the leaves. So then I covered it in row cover and that seems to fix that issue. But now, the plants are growing all stunted and deformed, very similar to how the earlier plants succumbed to some kind of rot a month or two ago, though in their case they were very mature and provided great harvest.
There's still the more recent kale seeds I started in a pot, and the lettuce seeds also in two pots -- so far those are looking good but they're still very small, just getting in their first/second leaves.
Yeah, definitely grow it for the soil enhancer, but my seed collection attempt didn't quite work out. First, I had only 30% germination rate for the final batch of 10 seeds I had collected. Second, during stormy weather many seeds fell off the plant and were eaten (the eater opens the seeds for the insides) so there were a bunch of seeds I never got to harvest. Third, the plants go all spindly and lose a lot of biomass during the seed stage, so less soil enhancer given there was no extremely minimal seed collection.
Was worth a try, though!
Just plucked out of the pots, root balls and all, and laid on the surface. Not chopped or dug in or anything.
Another to come in a day or two; and a hopeful flowered this morning.
Very exciting -- the millet that had been sitting in the tray feeder completely untouched for several weeks finally all disappeared today! (short of a few pieces) I was working all day so didn't see who ate it. But I've been hearing bird songs more the last few days and one I thought sounded like a song sparrow... So hopefully I'll see the glutton(s) soon! (put a bunch more millet into the feeder today to replace it)
Just plucked it (out of two of the former potato pots) and layed it down. Didn't cut it at all or scratch it in etc.
It's a good amount of biomass for this one little zone, which is part of where next year I plan to grow broccoli followed by later season zucchini.
Whoa, heard a ruckus in the skies of the neighbourhood (seen/heard from my yard); saw one large bird chasing another large bird; grabbed the phone, Merlin identified a Pileated Woodpecker, which I then confirmed visually. The other bird I'm sure was a hawk, saw the white/tan patterning on wings or tail or something, but no idea what kind, nor what the outcome of this was.
Bold yellow belly but definitely was not one of the goldfinches!
My bet is on a migrator!
Other than the yellow belly, the upper side and head were sort of an olive/tan. Flitted around the primrose plant while eating.
From looking through the Audubon app's suggestions for yellow birds in Ontario in September, maybe one of these... --> UPDATE: Aha! This evening I saw what was definitely a male common yellow throat in the yard! (see other post) And I see from Google that the bird I saw on the primrose was I am quite sure the female! I hadn't put this on the list below because the bird had no mask!
- Nashville Warbler?
- Philadelphia Vireo?
- Orange-crowned Warbler?
- Yellow-bellied Flycatcher?
- Mourning Warbler?
- Connecticut Warbler?
- Western Kingbird?
- Yellow-breasted Chat?
- None of the above? I have no idea! But a fun sighting while stuck at home with my broken-leg dog for two months.
Noticed two such seeds today, in two separate pods. Planted them, and a couple of other broccoli seeds from dried pods, in the cucumber area, just for fun.
Planted them in front of the former cucumber place.
(Have discarded the two earlier batches of collected seeds, because they did nothing even after 4-5 days.)
Started a bunch more today in PT.
Pure green, from a yellow zucchini plant. These late-season gems do their own thing!
Looking quite promising for a few more yet, especially with mostly warm weather ongoing so far and into next week.
Cool! The wild evening primrose that sprung up this year outside the fence is now going to seed, and several times today I saw a goldfinch eating the seeds! Google confirms this is very much to be expected. Kept some seeds today and wow, sooooo many seeds from just one pod.
I was going to chop it down, until seeing the goldfinch. So, it will stay!
