Tag: Seeds

Monday (24-January-2022) — New Jersey

Wintertime Nature in New Jersey.

Birds of the day viewed at the birdfeeder and in the backyard: Mourning Dove, Blue Jay, Dark-eyed Junco.


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

Herb and Green seeds planted in an AeroGarden Elite Bounty with a seed starter tray. Rainbow Swiss Chard, Broadleaf Sage, Winter Bloomsdale Spinach, Rosemary, Thyme, Tarragon, Greek Oregano, Tatsoi Mustard Greens, Siberian Kale, Champion Collard Greens. Images of the seeds taken with a Leica SL2s camera with a Laowa 24 mm f/14 macro probe lens. For reference, the diameter of the circle is 35 mm.


Seeds. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Daily Electric Energy Used (97.0 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (36.5 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Cold outside. Whenever the external temperature drops below 10°F, the resistance heaters kick in to assist the Geothermal HVAC heating the house. Deficit of 60.5 kWh.

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.

Tuesday (24-September-2019) — New Jersey

Autumn Nature in New Jersey.

More seeds of the various wildflowers I have planted in my backyard over the last few years trying to create a wildflower meadow. This fall and winter I am going to try and grow some of these indoors in either hydroponic or regular dirt gardens. One of the goals is to know what the plants look like before they develop flowers so in the future I can better what is a weed vs. something I want growing in the wildflower meadows. I also want to relate which which wildflowers did or did not work in my gardens, especially from the wildflower seed mixtures. More seeds and seed mixtures in yesterday’s post. The grid in the image is 0.1 inch.


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


Daily Electric Energy Used (62.4 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (34.8 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Cooler out so the Geothermal HVAC wasn’t working as hard (5.2 kWh), but more clouds. Last day of running server backups. Overall a net deficit of 27.6 kWh.


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Monday (23-September-2019) — New Jersey

Autumn Nature in New Jersey.

Something different. Seeds of the various wildflowers I have planted in my backyard over the last few years trying to create a wildflower meadow. This fall and winter I am going to try and grow some of these indoors in either hydroponic or regular dirt gardens. One of the goals is to know what the plants look like before they develop flowers so in the future I can better what is a weed vs. something I want growing in the wildflower meadows. I also want to relate which which wildflowers did or did not work in my gardens, especially from the wildflower seed mixtures. More seeds and seed mixtures will be in tomorrow’s post.


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


Yesterday Electric Energy Used (61.3 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (48.7 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Less sun and warmer. As the sun gets lower, the leaves from one of my Sycamore trees block the solar panels part of the afternoon. You can see the hump in the graph. The Geothermal HVAC was on (11.6 kWh). Server backup and new hydroponic garden online. Overall a net deficit of 12.6 kWh.

Daily Electric Energy Used (69.5 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (47.3 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Warmer out so the Geothermal HVAC was back on for much of the afternoon and evening (19.2 kWh). Using more electricity while running server backups and the new hydroponic gardens. Overall a net deficit of 22.2 kWh.

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Eleven-Years Ago (23-December-2006) — New Jersey

Backyard Winter Nature in New Jersey: Birds, Berries, and Seeds

Walkabout with a Nikon D2xs camera and 70-200 mm f/2.8 lens.  Five Canada geese in flight, northern mockingbirds, holly berries, bittersweet berries, and yucca seed pods.

Canada Geese in Flight. Backyard Winter Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs camera and 70-200 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 400, 200 mm, f/2.8, 1/8000 sec). (David J Mathre)
Canada Geese in Flight. Backyard Winter Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs camera and 70-200 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 400, 200 mm, f/2.8, 1/8000 sec). (David J Mathre)