Wild Black Raspberries are going gangbusters this summer. I pick a few at a time, when I find ones not protected by Poison Ivy.
The first cucumber took me by surprise. It was a flower just days ago! Super crunchy with no damn grocery store wax, the first bite was divine. Pickle orders will soon be filled.
I harvested some basil and made a dandy batch of pesto. Too good to dilute with common food, I ate most of it with a spoon. I was moved to write a poem:
Pesto
So green and garlicky
Pesto
So fresh and basil-y
Pesto
Tomatoes, pasta, ‘shroom
Pesto
I love your sweet perfume
Pesto
I’d request you on death row
Pesto
Along with a good
Pesto
I love you with all my heart
Pesto
My love, we’ll never part
~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
O rescued another turtle from the road. The pictures are poor because I was battling mosquitoes and in a hurry to release him/her, but they were good enough for identification: a Midland Painted Turtle.
After I uploaded the photos, I noticed the leeches on the top of his plastron (lower shell) and wondered if I should have removed them. The turtle seemed strong and healthy, otherwise. When in doubt, I believe it's best to err on the side of letting Nature take her course.
I wanted to get shots from all angles for identification, but remembered hearing that turning a turtle upside down can be dangerous -- their organs can supposedly shift and cause damage or death -- so this one was tilted just a bit.
We would love to have resident turtles at the pond but many turtles have strong homing instincts and will end up going where they want to go, anyway. This one scurried into the water rather quickly and we haven't seen him since. Live long, turtle.
10 comments:
Hi Jain..why is that there is always the nicest berries where there is Poison Ivy...lol
That cucumber looks so crisp...oh my makes my mouth water!!
I like pesto but,to eat it just like that hmmmm... Love your poem however ..it was quite taste lol!!
So nice that you took turtle out of the road..hope he is OK...
Grammie, we didn't see any squished turtles on the road so I'm confident this one got to where he was going. :o)
Wow, that is a nice cucumber. Funny how they sneak up on you. Our black raspberries look like yours, but our cucumber plants succumbed to bugs.
nellie
Sorry to hear about your cukes, Nellie. Can you replant?
While we've got plenty of native blackberry and raspberry plants around in the fields and woods edges here in the Piedmont, they never seem to produce much fruit. On the other hand, we have increasingly more wineberries (Rubus phoenicolasius), a non-native bramble that's taking over our world. The fruits are insipid (in my opinion) compared to blackberries and raspberries, but they are a sweet treat on walks this time of year, and this year they are plentiful. I had my fill on Independence Day from only a few bushes.
Thanks for the tip about tipping a turtle. I'd never heard that.
Scott, I didn't know about wineberries till I googled a range map. Egad! I'm flanked to the east and south and it's just a matter of time till the invasion. Crimony, one more thing to worry about....
I'm getting cucumbers, basil and green onions out of my garden too, Jain.
Your post has taught me not to turn turtles on their backs and I learned of wineberries in the comments. I have come cross turtles on their backs twice in the woods though...each time there were two turtles together. Maybe they had been mating?
Wanda, I typically only see one turtle at a time. I'd like to think yours were out on a date. :o)
lovely poem!!!! we love, love, love basil too! the turtle is super cute.
steve says we're not very good diesel mechanics. :)
:~)
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