After last week's picking, I was rewarded with a 30 degree morning two days ago. Since all my hard won harvest was already in, I just got to pick what is currently ripe. Nice haul for the new farmer. All the pictures were my education in making a better presentation. The middle icture seems to capture the bouty the best, though it is a little flat.

It was hardest to tell if the Green Giant slicers were ready. Next, I get to make a red sauce and a yellow sauce.

After last week's picking, I was rewarded with a 30 degree morning two days ago. Since all my hard won harvest was already in, I just got to pick what is currently ripe. Nice haul for the new farmer. All the pictures were my education in making a better presentation. The middle icture seems to capture the bouty the best, though it is a little flat.

It was hardest to tell if the Green Giant slicers were ready. Next, I get to make a red sauce and a yellow sauce.

oh my, my dwarf tomato project tomatoes delivered

In spite of finally planting my seedlings in July, courtesy of any number of beginning farming priority interrupts, my paired dwarf tomato plants delivered excellent taste, texture, color and shape variety.

and yield.

I am looking for a buyer for my sustainably grown colored floss cotton. It is beautiful already. I think we will get at least another month of growth.

first corn of the season is cut and drying. now planted with buckwheat cover crop. its supposed to germinate in 3 days. cant wait to confirm.

there will be open pollinated sustainably grown silver queen at the Bernardsville farmers market this Saturday.

Late night, I was harvesting Vernonia noveboracensis from my east Timothy field when I came across a large patch of Asclepias syriaca. It was being eaten. The monarch caterpillars came in many sizes

but there were many more hairy grey caterpillars having a nice dinner. I tried to ID the grey caterpillar using www.discoverlife.org to some confusion. For me www.inaturalist.org gave a much clearer confirmation of my find.

What really completed the loop was coming upon an almost completely defoliated patch of Apocynum cannabinum.

There were a couple grey caterpillars still licking their mouthparts.

Now I dont have to remove the dogbane from the hay field and I have become acquainted with a locally successful moth.

The monarchs are also numerous. Very nice to see them among the pollinators busy drinking nectar in my fields most of the day.

how nice to ID a new plant on the farm while I am waiting for the first oatmeal of the season to thicken.

at the bottom of the hillside I came across a patch of "weeds" that smelled minty. Compared to everything else I was tossing, diminutive and with a possibly redeeming scent worth further investigation. It looks like I found Mentha arvensis. Not sure it will win anyone else's smile, but it is worth a little thought and trial.

nicely branching shrub.

peony with lots of promise.

last night I went out one more time to weed and plant after dinner. - a hillside that had more poison ivy and lettuce weed than I care to show visitors. 4 bushels of nasty came out quickly. I planted two treasures- a clump of woodland peonies in seed and what looks like a hamamelis, but is clearly opposite leaves. now i get to key it.

now to see if they multiply.

Rhodophiala bifida in the rose garden. I can see 3 different stalks so far. They are against a south facing wall in winter sun.