I’ve received a few emails recently asking how my garden is doing now that it is late in the summer growing season and more than a couple inquiries about Horace (my bottom shaped tomato) in particular. Here are some photos of the flora and fauna that live in my yard.
The sunflowers offered a cheerful splash of color and a nutritious food source for the honeybees for a while. Then the japanese beetles made lace out of my poor flowers’ leaves killing them all. :( At least I have photos to remember them by.
My boys, the tomatoes I grew from seed, are in full swing now. The Best Boy plants are producing medium sized tomatoes, many of which have reached peak delicious ripeness.
The Big Boys are living up to their name and are getting up to a pound in weight before reaching maturity so they are a little bit further behind in ripening. I love the beautiful orange color of the nearly ripe one in the center.
And here’s Horace, my naughty bottom baring tomato, showing off his his just-spanked shade of redness. Off to his right is Horace Jr., green with envy.
Lots of hummingbirds have been visiting our feeder. Such beautiful and amazing creatures.
The hummingbirds are far from the only wildlife we’re keeping well fed. We’ve put up squirrel and bird feeders up on several trees at the edge of our property away from the garden. Not sure if it’s coincidence or not, but thus far no one has made a snack of my plants except the beetles.
I love this little guy’s funny face. His coloring makes him look like he’s grinning.
This fawn clearly approves of the sunflower seed and corn mix the squirrels and birds have kicked to the ground. He’s licking his chops!
And of all the things in the yard, Peanut (Stink) is the most fond of the fresh catnip.
August 17th, 2008 - 6:52 pm
Love those tomatoes! Perfect for an heirloom caprese salad:
Caprese Salad with Heirloom Tomatoes
SERVES 8 ACTIVE TIME: 20 min TOTAL TIME: 20 min
1/4 cup Italian Classics Basil Pesto Sauce (Dairy Dept)
1/4 cup Wegmans Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
1 lb mixed heirloom tomatoes, cored, thinly sliced
1/2 of a 5 oz pkg Food You Feel Good About Baby Arugula
1 pkg (8 oz) Bel Gioioso Fresh Mozzarella, sliced 1/4-inch thick and quartered
1/4 cup pitted Nicoise olives (Mediterranean Bar), well-drained
4-5 leaves Food You Feel Good About Fresh Living Basil, thinly sliced
Wegmans Fleur de Sel
Fresh cracked black pepper
1. Whisk pesto and olive oil in small bowl until well-combined. Set aside.
2. Arrange tomatoes on arugula. Top with mozzarella, olives, and basil. Season to taste with salt and pepper; drizzle with dressing.
[Fruits & Vegetables ]
Fruits and Vegetables: 1/2 cup(s)
Calories: 200
Nutrition Info: Each serving (3/4 cup) contains 200 calories, 4 g carbohydrate, (0 g fiber), 6 g protein, 18 g fat, (6 g saturated fat), 20 mg cholesterol, and 170 mg sodium.
August 17th, 2008 - 8:32 pm
Pixie dear,
I’m sure it’s just an oversight on your part not including a picture of your green beans… after all a garden isn’t truly a garden without fresh green beans Mmmm Mmmmm Mmmmm =) The animals and tomatoes look great. Hope all is well.. take care of my baby next month.
Sincerely,
Herb
August 17th, 2008 - 8:54 pm
What a wonderful post, Pixie. I love these style of posts that you feature.
You certainly have quite a green thumb and your love of nature and animals and the outdoors and such is awesome, and the the accompanying photos and commentary are fabulous.
Happy gardening,
Dave
August 18th, 2008 - 4:22 am
You named a tomato Horace? lol Great photography pixie.
August 18th, 2008 - 5:17 am
Your garden looks great especially with all the wildlife.
“And of all the things in the yard, Peanut (Stink) is the most fond of the fresh catnip.” - LOL I bet she is. Catnip is like Valium for cats. A friend of mine was running short of cat food one day so she bulked up her cat’s supper by mixing in an entire packet of catnip treats. Her cat started acting so weird that she took the cat to the Vet. The Vet told her that the cat was just very, very high. It took the cat three days to come down.
I don’t think that catnip is addictive or that a cat can OD on it or anything but if Peanut starts chasing imaginary butterflies you will know why.
Prefectdt
August 18th, 2008 - 6:21 am
pixie a lovely post you enjoy your garden to work in i like sitting in ours we have not had much sunshine lately apart from your reports of course we have songbirds who are residents blackbirds sparrows starlings a robin ienjoy watching and feeding them love from tim
August 18th, 2008 - 10:32 am
Dear Pixie,
You live in such a magical place. It reminds me of “Snow White” where birds help to make the pies.
I’m glad you were able to get a shot of the fast hummingbird.
I remember an experience I had in Wisconsin. I was lost in the woods and came upon a fawn very similar to the one you show. We just stared at each other from about 3 feet away. He didn’t want to hurt me and I didn’t want to hurt him (or her).
Nature is sooooo great-thank you…also love your flowers and plants!
I’m still looking for a sunflower bird bath.
Thanks…:)
August 18th, 2008 - 5:30 pm
Pixie,
Always glad to see your gardening posts, being a longtime “Terraformer” myself. What a shame about those Japanese beetles chowing down on all your flowers; must’ve been heartbreaking. Good thing no one suggested an “overview” of your garden’s progress, though, or you’d probably be climbing ladders and scampering across rooftops in search of those great shots you try so hard to achieve. Down here, it’s still mid-summer, with all the heat Florida is known for though, with a possible hurricane bearing down, we’ll be sure to see some tropical breezes to go along with it. Any thoughts of planting Dutch bulbs (crocus, hyacinth, tulips) this fall for late winter/early spring bloom? Nothing quite like having flowers blooming in the snow, and they can be literally stacked several in the same hole, each blooming after the other has finished, coming back year after year.
August 19th, 2008 - 12:19 am
Great shots as usual, Pixiebabe. Love the sunflower, fawn and cat pics. My sunflowers didn’t even make it to the “transplanted into a bigger pot stage” because I’m an idiot. Maybe next year…
August 19th, 2008 - 1:27 am
Pixie–
Peanut looks a little blissed out to me…..:-)
A lovely post, as always, and the tomatos look wonderful. I’ll be right over with bread, turkey, lettuce and bacon. Club sandwiches for everybody!
Dr. Ken
August 19th, 2008 - 6:21 pm
Our cats aren’t too fond of catnip for some reason, nor tomatoes.
August 19th, 2008 - 10:40 pm
And to think you once said you couldn’t grow anything! Look at you now!!
August 20th, 2008 - 2:10 am
I am absolutely mesmerized by deer — such beautiful creatures! John has them wandering about in the canyons near his home as well.
How anyone can kill them for sport is beyond my comprehension.
I can practically taste those tomatoes — they look wonderful!
August 20th, 2008 - 2:33 am
Humming birds… nature’s little helicopters.
August 20th, 2008 - 8:13 pm
JJ - That recipe sounds really yummy! I’m going to have to try it soon.
Herb - Green beans? Ugh. My bf wants me to grow them next year but I may accidentally forget to water them (ever). >:)
Don’t worry! You know I always take extra special care of your brat. Muahahaha.
Dave - Thank you.
I like getting to share some vanilla interests once in a while and happily I seem to be in good company with plenty of animal and nature enthusiasts. Still waiting to run into you on one of my hikes …
007 - Yup. He looked like a Horace to me. And might I say he was delicious.
Prefectdt - I’m happy to feed her catnip habit. It mellows her out and she then flops down in the shade of the tomato plants which is preferable to some of her usual naughty behavior.
tim - We’ve been very fortunate lately with sunny days and pleasant temperatures. The birds jockey for position with the squirrels for first dibs on the food, but the squirrels are friendlier and more willing to pose for the camera.
dani - I thought I was going to have a Snow White moment the other day when two deer kept inching closer to me as I filled the feeders. I wonder if they would have come within arm’s length if it hand’t been for a neighbor startling them by starting the lawn mower.
^Mike - I’d like to plant tulips in the beds along the front porch, but my bf is partial to the blue pansies I had there this year. He still talks about them. Maybe I’ll plant the tulips in another location or perhaps I’ll sway him with promises of growing those green beans.
JC - Awww. Sorry to hear about your sunflowers. You’re right that there’s always next year. I’m hoping mine will do a bit better next time around as well.
Dr. Ken - Come on over! I just picked over 4 lbs of tomatoes tonight. Plenty to go around.
Brian - Peanut is definitely fond of catnip. So much so that she keeps pulling entire stalks out of the ground to chew on. Every cat is different and my other cat doesn’t care too much one way or the other about it.
2Good - Who knew? Must have had a latent green thumb gene after all.
Erica - Two adults and two fawns were visiting the yard regularly for a while. Haven’t seen them for a few days now and I miss them.
Come on over with Dr. Ken and help me eat all of these tomatoes!
Tony - Perfect description. Hungriest little helicopters I’ve seen.
August 21st, 2008 - 2:08 am
Yeah, Erica, come on over to Pixie’s place. If you don’t want a Club sandwich, we could just do BLTs. Or drizzle a little EVOO in a pan, slice up some tomatos and warm them up in the pan with a pinch of kosher salt….
Pixie–thanks for the invitation. I would if I could, believe me…..
Dr. Ken
August 22nd, 2008 - 7:16 am
Dooooood.
Catnip….NomNomNom
Peanut looks so high you could probably blindfold him with a piece of dental floss!
August 22nd, 2008 - 10:06 am
Stink likes to pAArty. She says F & O are invited over for a good time.
August 27th, 2008 - 3:30 pm
These are beautiful pictures! I mean you have some true talent here! Wow… I hope to see more and more!
T.C.