Month: September 2019

Friday (13-September-2019) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

As the nights are getting cooler, it is getting near the end of the growing season for vegetables in my GrowTowers. Today I have taken pictures of all of the different types of peppers that I have grown this year. Some of the pepper leaves are turning yellow, so I probably should have added some fertilizer mid-summer. Other things that have done well in the GrowTowers are carrots and scallions (on the top), various lettuces, kale, and swiss chard. Early in the season I had some broccoli, and three cabbage. Later on the insects got the broccoli, and the cabbage got to be too big for the GrowTowers. I am still getting basil, but the dill were all eaten by Tiger Swallowtail caterpillars. I also planted three types of strawberries. Some of the plants are still producing fruit, and I have many strawberry runners that I need to cut and replant. I need to figure out how to protect the GrowTowers with the strawberry plants over the winter. I now have two air-puppet Scarecrows guarding the wildflower meadows. So far the deer are staying out (although they completely destroyed one rear sections with Sunflowers).





Individual images from all of the slideshows can be viewed in my PhotoShelter gallery here.

Late season strawberry. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens + 1.4x teleconverter. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Late season strawberry. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens + 1.4x teleconverter. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Late season strawberry flower. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens + 1.4x teleconverter. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Late season strawberry flower. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens + 1.4x teleconverter. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Doe and two fawns. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens + 1.4x teleconverter. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Doe and two fawns. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens + 1.4x teleconverter. (DAVID J MATHRE)

Daily Electric Energy Used (39.3 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (37.5 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Clouds most of the day and cooler, so no need for the Geothermal HVAC. Overall a net deficit of 1.8 kWh.

Current Weather Conditions

powered by Ambient Weather

Ten-Years Ago (13-September-2009) — Canada

Gone to See North America Road Trip. Day 23: Alaska-Canada Highway, Canada.

Lots of wildlife on the side of the highway. A mother black bear and her two cubs, a red fox, and bison. I didn’t realize that bison lived in forests? I don’t remember if I was still in Yukon or in British Columbia when I took these images.


Click on the above image to access my PhotoShelter gallery with the individual images in the following slideshow.


Ten-Years Ago (13-September-2009) — Canada

Gone to See North America Road Trip. Day 23: Alaska-Canada Highway, Canada.

This was getting near the end of the season for road construction and repair. Waiting for the signal to proceed. I apologize I also take blurry pictures. Are relatively long exposures. I still can’t figure out where her arm is in the last image. Taken from the RV with a Nikon D700 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens, somewhere along the Alaska Canada Highway. The images are the same as in a previous post in 2015, but reprocessed with Topaz Focus AI (stabilize) to correct for motion blur.


Click on the above image to my PhotoShelter gallery with the individual images in the following slide show.


Thursday (12-September-2019) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

The air-dancer kept the deer out of my kitchen garden wildflower meadow. I did however have an opossum visit my patio and Garden Towers. Unlike the raccoons, I  am a little more tolerant of the opossums because they supposedly eat any ticks that attach themselves to the opossum. It has been eating leaves off my hot pepper plants (leaving the peppers).  It has been a couple of weeks since I last mowed the lawn. Time-lapse video using a Garmin VIRB-360 camera. Video created using Photoshop CC (including the Little Planet view).

Daily Electric Energy Used (51.9 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (28.6 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Clouds most of the day. Ran a batch of laundry (3.9 kWh) and had to run the Geothermal HVAC system on to cool the house (11.7 kWh). Overall a net deficit of 23.3 kWh.

Current Weather Conditions

powered by Ambient Weather

Seven-Years Ago (12-September-2012) — Belgium

Gone to see Europe. Semester at Sea. Fall 2012 Semester Voyage on the MV Explorer. Day 20: Fort Breendonk Memorial in Antwerp, Belgium.

Field trip to Fort Breendonk. A concentration camp during WWII. Some of the images may be disturbing. “If you don’t remember the past you are doomed to repeat it” And it seems like some in the US (and around the world) have forgotten. How many camps are there where people are being held against their will for reasons of race, religion, political belief, and poverty.

Fort Breendonk National Memorial. WWII Concentration Camp. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V1 camera and 10 mm f/2.8 lens. (David J Mathre)
Fort Breendonk National Memorial. WWII Concentration Camp. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V1 camera and 10 mm f/2.8 lens. (David J Mathre)


Click on the above image to access my PhotoShelter Gallery containing the individual images in the following slideshow.



Click on the above image to access my PhotoShelter Gallery containing the individual images in the following slideshow.



Click on the above image to access my PhotoShelter Gallery containing the individual images in the following slideshow.


Fort Breendonk National Memorial. WWII Concentration Camp. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V1 camera and 10 mm f/2.8 lens. (David J Mathre)
Fort Breendonk National Memorial. WWII Concentration Camp. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V1 camera and 10 mm f/2.8 lens. (David J Mathre)