The very same day that we saw the Carolina lily, we saw this thing growing right in the center of the hiking trail.  

 

We knew what this was.  We've seen it before in our neighborhood.  It is Jack-o-lantern mushroom.  POISONOUS!!!

 

The mushroom field guide says it is a look-alike for Chanterelles.  Not even!!  Except they are both some shade of orange.  Chanterelles look gentle and sweet, and this thing just looks nasty.  To me, it even screams "DON'T EAT ME!!!"  And what nerve:  growing in the middle of the path.

 

We saw lots of mushrooms that day, none of which we brought home for supper.  We are very selective when it comes to mushrooms.  I don't even trust Seek completely when it comes to mushrooms.  I look them up in the field guides, then look on the internet for back up information.  

 

Can't be too careful.  

 

HAPPY SUMMER!!!

 

 

 

We were walking in the park last week, and happened to notice this lovely thing.  It was just a little off the path,  standing about 2 feet tall.  It took my breath away!!!  I knew it was a lily, but my guess was Turk's cap.  Nope.

 

I looked it up in my Wildflowers in Color book when we got home.  It said:  Although this lily resembles the Turk's-cap, it is much shorter (1-3 ft.) and usually grows in drier places.  Carolina lily is often 1-flowered or 1-3 flowered in contrast to the many-flowered Turk's-cap.  That settled the mystery for me.  

 

Truth be told:  my photo is even better than the one in the book.  

 

HAPPY HIKING!!!

 

 

 

Don't you just love summer?  Tomatoes from the garden!!!!!  Time to blanch and can them.  

 

This many tomatoes will fill about 6 or 7 pint jars.  But the pressure canner only holds 9 pints, so we gauge our canning sessions accordingly.  One canning session a day is plenty of work.  6 or 7 pints of tomatoes is a good day's work, IMO, (in my opinion.)

 

In the winter, we love to make soup, and nearly all our recipes use tomatoes.  We'll be ready this winter.  We eat local, because we can.  ;)

 

HAPPY SUMMER!!!!

 

Look how beautiful our world is, even after the storms.  We've had thunderstorms nearly every day this last week, and this is what we get when it's over.

 

We just sit out on the porch and enjoy the rain, then the aftermath.

 

Just thought you'd like to see our little piece of heaven.

 

HAPPY SUMMER!!!

 

 

 

We blanched and canned tomatoes the other day, and when we were done there was still a bunch of liquid in the pot.

 

So...you know how to make stock using chicken bones and vegetable scraps?  Well, I applied that technique to making tomato juice.  I added peeled cucumbers, onion, pepper,  a little red cabbage, celery, lovage, and a little garlic to the tomato liquid.  We let it steep for an hour, strained it, put it into the prepared jars, and ended up with 6 pints of seasoned tomato juice.  

 

Perfect for Sunday morning Bloody Marys.  

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

The Sumac trees are blooming all over.  As you approach the trees, you can HEAR the bees.  It sounds like the trees are humming.

 

There are thousands of bees in our trees;  you can even see the pollen they have collected on their hind legs.  

 

This tree is very near the garden, which makes me happy.  Thousands of pollinators are ready to work their magic in our garden.  Without the bees, we'd have no fruit:  that means no cucumbers, tomatoes, squash, tomatillos, peppers, apples, peaches.  We are so fortunate to have all these pollinators in our neighborhood.

 

I love the Sumac trees for bringing the bees close to the garden.  More garden friends.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!! 

 

 

 

We were walking in the park the other day at a pretty good clip, and all of a sudden Jon grabbed my arm, and I squealed.  We were about to step on a black snake warming itself in the sunspot.

 

We stopped and took its picture, of course.  About the same time, a little girl (about 5 or 6 years old) and her grandmother came up behind us.  They stopped too and we pointed out the snake, showing interest but no fear.  The little girl was very interested, and we told her that it wasn't a poisonous snake, that it actually keeps Rattlesnakes away.  She didn't get too close, but she was fascinated;  the grandmother looked a bit worried, but she took its picture too.  And we all watched as it made its way back into the woods.

 

So glad we got there first.  Otherwise, I believe the mood wouldn't have been fascination, it might have been fear.   

 

HAPPY HIKING!!

 

Looking at the cucumbers this morning, I came across this friend in the garden.  Praying Mantids eats insects, and are definitely my friends in the garden. 

 

This one was on a brownish leaf, so it was camouflaged brownish.  But, again, it was at my eye level, so I saw it right away.  

 

I love seeing these critters in the garden.

 

HAPPY  GARDENING!!!

 

YUCK!!!  Look who I saw on my tomato plant.  Tomato Hornworm.  

 

This picture makes it look really big, but it is really quite small.  I just happened to notice it because it was at my eye level.  I walk up and down the rows every morning, looking for anything out of the ordinary.  And this is what I saw.  It just looks nasty doesn't it?  

 

You can see where it had chewed the tomato leaf.  The little opportunist that it is.  Was...

 

 HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

Tada!!!!  How beautiful:  pink and blue!!!  Tuesday was day 100 since we planted the seeds for our North Georgia Candy Roasters.

 

So we cut them.  I learned a few years ago that a good practice before storing squash is to wipe the stem ends with Isopropyl Alcohol.  This prevents bacteria from moving in and destroying the squash while they are in storage.  How awful to spend 100 days growing them, then to lose them before you can eat them.  Our plan is to store them until winter, then make soup, pies, and other sweet squash stuff.  

 

I put my phone in the picture for reference, but here are the stats:  the biggest one, number 5 from the left weighs 6 pounds, 14 ounces!!!  The smallest ones are numbers 1 and 2, and weigh 2 pounds, 5 ounces each.  Total:  30 pounds, 4 ounces of delicious squash.

 

Thought you'd like to share in our thrill of having grown such beautiful squashes.  

 

HAPPY GARDENERS!!!