Spittle Bug

Have you ever seen something that looks like this on a plant?

I've heard the foamy stuff was made by some sort of insect.  So, this time I took the opportunity to check it out.  This is what I found.

It is an odd-looking little creature, called a Spittlebug (what else?).  Apparently, there are several kinds of spittlebugs and this is not the full-grown bug, but the nymph stage of one of them.  

The frothy spittle serves several purposes. It hides the nymph from predators, insulates it against heat and cold, and keeps it from drying out.  Sometimes, the nymphs pierce plants and suck sap causing damage to the host plant.  But, the only type of plant I have noticed them on are some of the wildflowers that we have growing in the field in front of the house.   From what I could determine, some of them can be serious pests in alfalfa fields.  But, they don't seem to bother the wildflowers much, so I'm just going to enjoy them for the odd little insect they are.

Tub Trugs

Over the years, we have used all manner of containers for harvesting produce .... some of them we bought new, some were recycled from restaurants, or some we saved from food items we purchased.

But, when you have a lot of different sizes and shapes of containers, they are difficult to store because they don't stack evenly.

This year we were looking through a garden supply catalog and ran across some harvest tubs called "Tub Trugs".  These caught my eye primarily because of the funny name.  But, as I read the description of these, I decided I had to order some and give them a try.  

As it turned out, if you ordered $50 worth of merchandise, then the shipping was free!  Whoopeee!  I am always one to look for a bargain.  So, I figured that I could order 6 of the 3.5 gallon size and get the free shipping.   They came within a week and here is what they look like.

They are great for holding many things.  We trimmed our leeks, put a little water in the bottom of a tub trug and the leeks stayed fresh and were easily transported to the farmers' market the next day.

The 3.5 gallon size, like these, is also the right size for storing heavier produce, such as squash.   Larger containers would be too heavy.

Finally, they are FLEXIBLE.  So, if you only have one hand free, you can still carry them, like this: 

I've got radishes in this one.  So far, we are really happy with them.  We'll see how they hold up and may order some more next year.

Goodbye to Sweet Little Lizzy

In April, we had to say goodbye to our sweet little Lizzy Dog and have her put to sleep.  This was a very difficult decision for us to make and we were both heart-broken.  But, she had become very sick and was in renal failure, so there was no other option.  It has taken me all this time to get to the point where I felt I could write this blog entry in memory of her.  It is something that is healing for me and may be of some consolation to others who have lost beloved pets.

Lizzy came to us in the fall of 2004, when we lived in town.  We found her roaming our neighborhood one day.  She appeared to be a full-blooded beagle and was very friendly, so  I was sure someone owned her.  Since I feared she would get run over, I put her in our fenced back yard until I could find her owner.  However, even though we put an ad in the paper and reported that we had found her to the local shelter, nobody ever claimed her.

It was just as well, though, because I've always called her our little "angel dog".  You see, we found Lizzy about a month before we had to have our beloved dog, Lucy, who had been with us for 15 years, put to sleep.  I felt like God sent Lizzy to us to help fill the void that Lucy's death created in our lives. 

We found that owning a hound was quite different.  Alongside the Bloodhound and Basset Hound, Beagles have one of the best developed senses of smell of any dog.  And, Lizzy would follow her nose anywhere!  Here is an entry I wrote about her following her nose, called "Good Dog, Bad Dog".

http://windyacresnaturalfarm.blogspot.com/2011/11/lizzy-dog.html

Even when she was inside the house, her nose alerted her to critters outside, like this.

Lizzy also had the typical hound bark, although you couldn't call it a bark.  I read somewhere that beagles have "the melodious voice of the hound".  And, that was certainly the case with Lizzy.  When she and the other dogs were outside barking at something, there was no mistaking which one was Lizzy!

Over the years since I started this blog, I've written several entries about her.  There is this one about her and our compost pile which she loved to investigate.

http://windyacresnaturalfarm.blogspot.com/2010/11/compost-dog.html

And, here is one about her and Sally sniffing out a mouse in some tall grass.  Lizzy did most of the "sniffing" while Sally supervised.

http://windyacresnaturalfarm.blogspot.com/2010/11/team-tag.html

Lizzy was the gentlest dog I've ever known.  She never tried to bite anyone.  Never even growled at anyone as far as I know.  The grandkids loved to play with her and she tolerated it with dignity.

The only time I knew her to be aggressive at all was with other dogs when she felt they might eat her food.  Even if she didn't want to eat the food herself, she would lay beside her food bowl and "guard" it to make sure Sally didn't get it!

We'll always hold a special place in our hearts for you Lizzy Dog.  If heaven is a perfect place, then I know you'll be there waiting for us.

Swiss Chard Going to Seed

A few weeks ago I wrote about the Rainbow Swiss Chard that we were growing.  Here's a link to that post.

http://windyacresnaturalfarm.blogspot.com/2013/03/rainbow-swiss-chard.html

The reason it is named "Rainbow" is because the stalks of the leaves are several different colors.

Like all plants, Swiss Chard reaches a point in its life cycle where it produces seed.  In order to do this, the plant sends up a long stem called a "flower spike".  It looks like this.

At the top of the stalk is where the flowers grow.

These will eventually produce seed and the plant's life cycle begins all over again.  

I plan to let one of the red and one of the yellow plants go to seed, harvest the seed and plant it again next year.  I want to begin saving more seed from plants that we grow ourselves.  There are 2 reasons I want to do this.  First, the plants grown from saved seed will be more adapted to our soil and climate than those grown from seed produced elsewhere.  And, second, the seed we save ourselves will be FREE!

Lonely Basement

The basement is a lonely place these days.  It is hard to believe that just a few short weeks ago it was overflowing with tomato and pepper transplants.  Remember this picture.

I'm happy to report that most of those plants have either been sold at the farmers' market or planted here on Windy Acres.  We still have a few left, but we have quite selling them at the market and have about run out of places to plant them here.

The only activity occurring in the basement now is growing sunflower sprouts (see previous post).

We'll continue to grow these until next year when lack of room forces them to take a back seat to the tomato and pepper transplants.

Have Some Sprouts

We've been growing sunflower spouts off and on for a couple of years.  Here's how we do it.  

First, get a large jar or jars.  We use half-gallon jars, but quart jars will work just as well.  Add a cup of sunflower seeds to the jar.  You can just use black-oil sunflower seeds like you feed the birds.  Add enough water to cover them and let them soak for an hour or so.   Drain the water off and cover the mouth of the jar with a lid that has holes punched in it.

Set the jar(s) on your kitchen counter where you'll see them everyday because you will need to rinse the seeds once a day to keep them moist until they begin to sprout.  

After 2 to 3 days, they should begin to sprout, like this.

At this point, get a shallow pan and fill it with potting soil.  I just use one of those flats that comes with those cheap seed-starting kits you get from Walmart or the garden store.  Sprinkle the sunflower seeds from one jar over the soil.  If you use 2 jars, like we do, you'll need 2 flats of soil.

Water them well and cover with a plastic cover.

I poked holes in the lid because if the sunflower sprouts stayed too wet, they will mold.

The seeds will start sending roots down into the soil and after several days you can remove the lid and set the flat under a florescent light.

You might be able to set them outside under a covered patio.  But, you'd need to watch them closely to make sure they don't dry out too much.

In a week or so, they will look like this.

After they are a couple of inches tall, I just use a pair of scissors to "harvest" them.  One flat can easily yield a large bowl of sprouts.  

Eat them as snacks or throw them in salads or stir-fries.

Spring Flowers

I took this picture today of the field in front of our house.

This area lies between our house and the road.  I call it our "meadow", even though in my mind the word meadow evokes images of mountains of which Oklahoma has very few.  We only mow this area once or twice a year because we enjoy the wildflowers that bloom here

As you can see, the predominate flowers are yellow ones, like this.

But, there are several other yellow varieties, too.  Here's one a picture of one of them.

And, here is another one.  The flowers on this plant are tiny. 

And, finally, this one.  The foliage on this plant is ugly, but the flowers are pretty.

Even though the most prevalent flowers are the yellow ones, there are other kinds, as well.  You just have to look closer to see them.  For example, there are white ones, like this.

And, light purple ones, like this

Even the grass has flowers.  I noticed these very tiny orange flowers growing on a stalk of grass!

Spring is a beautiful time of year.  We should all take more time to stop and see the beauty around us.  Stop and smell the wildflowers!