Butterflies

The butterfly garden is beginning to bear fruit, so to speak.  Currently I am seeing just random butterflies, not the larger number I could wish for.  However, there is a nice variety.  Some of the smaller white, yellow and brown ones are just too fast for me to catch with the camera.

Here are Monarch, Yellow Swallowtail and Black Swallowtail.

Canning

This week I had enough peppers ripe for sweet pickle relish.  It was a small batch, of just four pints, but we don't eat it quickly.

Basil is the king plant this year.  I have made pesto several times, and should have enough basil for a few more batches.

The front yard garden isn't really doing all that well this year.  We have had some ph imbalance.  The squash hasn't lived, and much of the corn is thin.  But, we do have a lot of ears, so perhaps we will get a decent harvest.

The cucumbers don't look very good, but we are harvesting plenty.  I keep trying to catch them rather small.  The rabbits have been eating my Roma tomatoes, and have taken bites out of some of the Big Boys.  I had planned to make salsa with the Romas, but the harvest might not be enough.  I should be able to can the Big Boys.

We have also been doing some landscape improvements.  We have long wanted to get a nice garden path in the front yard.   We did rob stepping stones from the south side of the house, so now we need to figure that area out.  Project creep!

Chrysalis

This morning I noticed that a Black Swallowtail caterpillar was on a milkweed plant.  I did not think that milkweed was a food source,  and it seemed to be upside down, so I did some checking.  The little guy was getting ready for metamorphosis.  Here is what he looked like about 11 am today.  You can just see the thread of silk that he has attached to the leaf.

Late this afternoon, I, at first, though he was gone.  But on closer inspection, I found that he has begun making his chrysalis.  I think the caterpillar will stay in this stage somewhere in the neighborhood of 8-12 days.  Some sources say that the green chrysalis is rather rare;  brown is more common.

And in other butterfly news, I am fairly certain that these are the eggs of a Monarch butterfly.  I have compared this picture with verified pictures on websites.  I will be watching them.

Butterfly Waystation

We are now officially certified as a Monarch Butterfly Waystation.  What that means is our garden has the appropriate host plants, as well as food and nectar plants for the Monarchs.  In reality, we  have plants for a wide variety of butterflies.

I have not seen any evidence of Monarchs yet, but we do have the caterpillars of Swallowtails eating the fennel.  It is in the garden for them!

We planted out last round of sweet corn a week ago, and it is beginning to sprout.  We may have our first harvest of Roma tomatoes soon, lots of fruit, but it is still green.

It is a great joy to be able to spend a bit of every day in the garden.  I watch plants emerge and grow daily.  This is allowing me to better

identify seedlings.  I am also able to attack the weeds more quickly.

I am also becoming better acquainted with the birds in this area, and their habits.  The Catbirds, House Wrens, and Carolina Wrens have recently returned.  I have also seen a young Indigo Bunting several times.

Free Range Chickens

Backyard chickens are allowed in Raleigh.  But, they must be kept in your own yard.  The young man who lives across the street from us didn't quite understand that.  All through the winter, he was letting his 3 hens be Free Range.  On a couple of occasions, people would knock on our door, to let us know "our" chickens were in the street.  Sorry, not mine!  But in late winter, someone called animal control.  So, the chickens were rounded up and incarcerated.  Our neighbor's girl friend paid a ridiculous amount of money to get the chickens back.  But, still, the chickens ranged freely.  Once we planted our corn, I let him know that he had to keep the chickens up.  He did better, but his roommate didn't get the message.  Last Friday evening, the chickens dug up my bush beans!  I was seriously unhappy.  The beans had just sprouted, so we were able to put them back in the ground.  Today, 3 are up with a pair of leaves, and 4 more a peaking through the soil.  I think they might survive.

Here are a couple of other animals that visit.  I know there is no controlling them.  But, I do try to provide enough clover to keep the rabbits out of my garden.

I am really enjoying the opportunity to be in the garden every day this year.  I am able to watch all the perennials emerge.  What fun to see daily changes.

Here, also are a few early flowers and some garden art.

More about birds

I am thoroughly enjoying the birds in the yard.  I am beginning to recognize some of their songs.  Here are a few more photos of our happy birds.

All the gardens are growing well.  I am delighted to find that the milkweed seeds I planted last year, are finally coming to life.  We should be able to feed the Monarchs well now.  In addition, we have a variety of plants that will provide nectar to all types of butterflies and bees, as well as food for caterpillars.

 We planted our second round of corn yesterday.  First round was Silver Queen, this second was Peaches and Cream, a bicolor corn.  We have also planted both pole beans and bush beans.  Pole beans are up, with two sets of leaves.  No sign of the bush beans yet.

Birds

We have taken to watching and recording the birds in the yard.  To date we have identified 35 different birds.  A few, such as  Canadian Geese and owls, we have heard, but not really seen in the yard.

This year we increased the number of bird houses, so in the front yard there are two single houses, one duplex and one triples.  In the back yard there are two single houses.

Carolina Chickadees are living in one of the single houses in the front.  Here is a Wren moving into the triplex.

Of course, we feed the birds.  Two feeders in the front and three in the back, as well as hummingbird feeders in both parts of the yard.  This is a White-throated Sparrow in the feeder.  Many birds feed on bugs and worms, and since I do not use any pesticides in the yard, there is plenty of food for them as well.  The bird on the driveway is a Brown Thrasher.



We seem to have a large number of Finches and Robins, and both are frequent visitors to our three bird baths.  We also have at least one pair of Bluebirds who regularly visit the yard, as well as several
 Cardinals.  I will post more bird pictures as I get them.