carrots - David Mathre Photography

Thursday (07-October-2021) — New Jersey

Autumn Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

Birds of the day viewed at the birdfeeder and in the backyard: Black-capped Chickadee, House Finch.

Birds of the day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Flowers of the day: Babies Breath, Butterfly Bush, Cosmos, Marigold, Morning Glory, Rose Mallow, Zinnia. Also seed pods from Poppies and Burdock.

Flowers of the day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

While cleaning the patio and getting the Grow Towers ready for the Ison’s Strawberry plugs, I harvested potatoes, carrots, and hot peppers. I wasn’t expecting any potatoes as the Raccoon’s already dug many out of the Grow Bags.

Garden Harvest. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

I found a very large and hungry Tomato Hornworm caterpillar eating the potato plant. Unlike the Tomato Hornworm I found last year that had been infected by wasp eggs, this one looked healthy. After taking the pictures of this alien looking vegetarian, I put it up on the birdfeeder. Some lucky bird, got a big meal.

Insects of the day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Daily Electric Energy Used (44.9 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (32.8 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Sun and clouds. Deficit of 12.1 kWh.

Saturday (14-September-2019) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

I harvested the carrots and scallions from the top level of GrowTower #1. I was surprised how big some of the carrots were as the seed packet said miniature carrots. I had also planted some garlic cloves that started to sprout in the kitchen. A few developed into heads of garlic. An opossum managed eat my remaining Tomatillos so I ended up buying a bunch from Clifford Family Farm at the Montgomery Farmers market. I use the Tomatillos along with the hot peppers from my GrowTowers to make Salsa Verde. With too many carrots, I may try incorporating carrots into the Salsa. So far the air dancer scarecrow seems to be keeping the deer out of the wildflower meadows. As soon as the deer hear or see the air dancer they start running.

Carrots, Scallions, Garlic, Hot Peppers from Grow Tower #1. Image taken with a Leica CL camera and 23 mm f/2 lens (ISO 125, 23 mm, f/2, 1/50 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)

Tomatillos from the Farmers Market. Image taken with a Leica CL camera and 23 mm f/2 lens (ISO 200, 23 mm, f/2.2, 1/50 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)

Fawn with spots eating grass. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 800, 94 mm, f/4.8, 1/100 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)

Fawn and Doe leaving after hearing the Air Dancer Scarecrow. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 800, 144 mm, f/5.3, 1/100 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)

Daily Electric Energy Used (41.8 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (24.4 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Clouds most of the day and starting to get warmer again. The Geothermal HVAC was only on for a short time. Overall a net deficit of 17.4 kWh.

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Sunday (16-June-2019) — New Jersey

Backyard Springtime Nature in New Jersey.

Wildflowers in bloom and my urban garden. The yucca plant sent shoots up to flower. The local deer really like these, and if I don’t catch and protect the shoots I don’t get any of the yucca flowers. These flowers bloom at night, around a full moon and attract some large moths. Lots of red poppies and cosmos flowers. Other flowers include the blue spiderworts (open for a day, every day new ones), cornflowers (bachelor buttons — attract goldfinches), morning glory vines, and daisy’s. The garden towers are full of fruits and vegetables. One of my sunflower plants is taller than I am. It is also supporting a burma gourd (water gourd plant) that I hope to get some gourds this year.

Daily Power Use (74.2 kWh) from Sense and Solar Production (42.05 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Power use is up since I reduced the indoor temperature provided by the WaterFurnace Geothermal HVAC system. Will raise the indoor temperature to 72°F for tomorrow. The power was also out for a little over one hour in the morning. For safety/code reasons, if the PSE&G power is down, my solar panels are disconnected from the grid. I’m thinking of getting a couple of Tesla PowerWall batteries so this doesn’t happen in the future.