• Cactus Nursery

    Indian River Prickly Apple, from Bud to Fruit

    This time the flower stuck around instead of falling off early, as did the first one this Spring on the East pasture. It bloomed spectacularly; now if the fruit will just finish ripening already. I think it has taken a month just to turn burgundy and I hope it doesn’t take another month to fully swell into a smooth, bright red ball for seed collection (and final photograph). Not sure if my brush pollination or a large hawk moth did the deed, but we like the results. It will be interesting to learn how many seeds this species has per fruit. Harrisia Fragrans, the Indian River prickly apple, is an…

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  • Pastures, Gardens and House Lawn

    Fall Harvest, Wild and Cultivated

    October brought a quick turn of edible color at Cactus Island. It’s not just what we planted that has reached harvest, but also the wild goods growing in the vast natural areas we’ve maintained. There is a healthy population of American persimmon (fruit and spring bloom in photos) and sandhill pawpaw (if the wildlife would ever leave us one) on the land, plus the winged sumac that grows all over the place as an understory shrub makes a great lemony-flavored seasoning for chicken as well as a light citric tea. Ancient Romans used their variety of sumac for seasoning so we gave it a try; excellent and worth the effort.…

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  • Cactus Nursery

    Three Basal Pups Forming in Ten Photo Slideshow

    I’ve never seen the eight-rib variety of wooly blue cactus generate pups, so this was the surprise awaiting me as I weeded around the base of this plant late this Summer. Basal pups sometimes form on stressed cacti but he main stem on this one is extremely healthy and still putting on height. We’re looking forward to a beautiful candelabra shape by late next year.

  • Cactus Nursery

    Cactitude

    We’re up in arms at Cactus Island….way up as various cactus mature and put out pups that are growing into gorgeous arms, mostly blue ones at the moment in several species of columnar Pilosocereus from Brazil. Mom’s favorite is the fuzzy dark turquoise Pilosocereus Flexibilispinus trio with lots of arms. It will end up in its own raised stone cairn bed next year in a place of honor at the edge of The Oasis she designed. We’re also up on seedlings with over 14,000 tiny green Caribbean Royen’s tree cactus from this Summer’s yield of eight fruits. Two Fall bloomers are now forming for potential fruits #9 and #10. I’ve…

  • Insects, Plants, Fungi and Animals,  Pastures and House Lawn

    Bugs…..again.

    But they’re wickedly cool, and everywhere. I archive what I come across as I go each day, stumbling upon interesting insects with a regularity that is unreal. Some encounters, like the predacious wasps dragging their prize kills across the patio, really should come with comical incidental music. Many of the solitary wasps we’re seeing paralyze their prey, drag it to a nearby burrow, lay an egg on it which produces a hungry grub that will eat the host alive as it matures. This is pest control that is downright Medieval. The three rust-colored, horned beetles in the lower photos also drew the short straw, having the misfortune of emerging above…

  • Insects, Plants, Fungi and Animals

    Wild Mushrooms Abound

    Every time we have a rainy stretch the networks of mycelia in the ground put forth an abundance of fungal fruit – mushrooms, boletes, puffballs, earthballs, toadstools, slime, stinkhorns and other forms of which we have yet to become acquainted. Though most are not edible for us, it makes a plentiful ongoing buffet for small animals. I’m only seeing a couple of squirrels on the land and with some kind of mushroom in their mouths when I do. Probably building up a stash when they’re not scarfing them down. When we get around to cultivating edible mushrooms it will be done with several kit options and protected in a mesh…

  • Insects, Plants, Fungi and Animals

    A Gem Within a Gem

    The coolest jumping spider I have ever seen awaited me last week as I added compost material to the rapidly growing blue facheiro next to the driveway. The Apache jumping spider, Phidippus Apacheanus, fit in perfectly like a color-complimentary orange jewel on a turquoise medallion. It’s metallic green chelicerae (beefy fang appendages near mouth) put it over the top for my viewing pleasure. This tiny stalking cougar with eight legs and lots of eyes is harmless to people but ambushes the bugs that land on our cacti to feed, so it is most welcome here. They occur in most U.S. states and Cuba. Pleasant surprises are always welcome as I…