Translate

Friday, November 12, 2010

My bug filled backyard patch of a farm!

Today I moved my 5 orange buckets of okra and eggplants over behind the tire gardens, so they would not get more sun and warmth. They like that. This summer, it was too hot for them, so I had moved them into a shadier spot. Now they are gonna be all happy again! It is hard to see all of the plants because they are sitting in front of the jasmine fence. They are still covered with buds just waiting to open. The one okra plant that came up mysteriously in my flower tire has been the most vigorous and has had a continuous production for me. I think it is because it has been in the sun and in the black tire that kept the dirt warmer. The roots were protected by a tall purple salvia plant...and all in all, it was just a better growing condition. Did I tell you my new ambition of being the best backyard okra grower in the world??? Hehehe. I am learning more every day...

The green buckets are all my 50 carrots, which will have to be thinned. They do not transplant well, so I may try to take out only as many as I feel I absolutley need to and let them fight it out. It will be a competition for the survival of the fittest!!!

Here is another okra bloom, and see the okra growing right underneath it? To the right of that you can see a fading flower which has another okra under it. You can see all the buds up top still yet to open. This is my vigorous plant...it opens about 2 flowers a day, which gives me about 2 okras a day. Nice plant....(it takes about 4-5 days to get them to around 6 inches long, once the flower falls off). I determined that that is the length that works out well, before they get too woody.

As I was out there watering and moving things...I saw all these bees (100 at least) all in the jasmine on the fence....but then on closer inspection, they were actually all in this other vine with little light purple bell shaped flowers (don't know what it is). The bees were popping in and out of the flowers so fast it was really hard to get any good shots...but I managed to get a couple. In this one, you see a bee trying to move into the flower, but there is one already in there, starting to back out! They seem to be quite friendly with each other...no major battles going on out there anyway! LOL.


Then, to my amazement, a really slender black dragonfly posed for me. When I saw the pic on the computer screen, I saw that he has sky blue eyes! How pretty. I will try and find out what kind he is on Bug Guide later.

It is sunny, breezy and warmer, but yet still cool in the shade here. A perfectly gorgeous day. Hope you are all having similar conditions where you are! I've been out visiting your blogs, but it has been hard to post with the new job and all. See you again as soon as I can.
xoxo- Julie

14 comments:

Steve Asbell said...

I don't know about you, but I like the flowers of okra more than the fruit/veggie! Well, technically its a fruit...

Anonymous said...

Love your bucket gardening!
And how you go ahead and try something and you don't say i can't because i don't have room.
Go Girl!
We have rain and about 40 degrees here.

Lisa at Greenbow said...

It will be awhile before we see these lovely bugs again. Your veggie garden looks nice.

Snippety Gibbet said...

I'm looking at the photos thinking about how luxuriously warm it must be there. "Warm" is long gone from these parts. At night I'm covering my last vestiges of mums to keep them from freezing. ......brrr.

jan

Teri said...

Oh, all those 'bugs' are so interesting. Love the dragonfly.
Happy that you like the new job.

Serena Lewis said...

OH, I love the little dragonfly pic! You are certainly a busy bee yourself in the garden, Julie...well done.

Pudgeduck said...

I have a lot of bees this year!!!!Looks like they have mabe a come back!!!

Diane AZ said...

Wow, so much happening in your garden! I love the dragonfly with baby blue eyes, he's just adorable. :)

Cindy said...

Today's bug lesson: How to Tell a Dragonfly From a Damselfly

Damselflies are usually much smaller, kind of like a miniature dragonfly. Also, when they are resting, the dragonfly's wings stick straight out like a little airplane, while the damselfly folds hers parallel to her body.

Class dismissed :P

Candice Suter.....Sweetstuff said...

Love seeing your okra! What do you put them in for cooking? I have never cooked with them.

And great bee shots and that dragonfly is perfect! Take care!

Julie said...

Candy- the weed that killed Lincolns mother was White Snakeroot (Eupatorium rugosum.

Cindy- i hope i can remember that! lol. hey...are all damselflies girl and dragonflies boys? :)

Cindy said...

Both dragonflies and damselflies have males and females. Males are usually more brightly colored, females more dull. I think the one in your photo is a female.

donna said...

Boy, would I luv to be seeing dragonflies and bees in the month of November.

The okra blooms are so pretty, too bad an okras grows from them. Just kidding because I can't say that I've ever eaten okra. I'm just guessing it would be in the same department as beets when it comes to veggies I'm not crazy about.

You really do motivate me to do more vegetable container growing come spring.

Enjoy your pretty weather.

donna

Bobbie Lynn said...

Look at the happy little bee there. Right now I'm not cutting too many flowers so the bees and butterflies can enjoy them also. We have been having some cooler weather and the bees keep warm in between the petals of the roses. Too cute. . Your plants look really look great Julie. Good luck on your carrots.