Allegheny spurge, bats and cedar waxwings ...

Wildflower Update: Uncle Glen said he saw some Allegheny spurge while on a walk.  I have seen some small purple phacelia while walking on some annual rye grass in one of our bottom fields.  After a polar blast, temperature is at or above normal.  Because the days are so short, I have not been able to take many walks in the woods.

Pollination and Wildlife:  Last week while taking a walk on our farm, I saw some bats  feeding at sunset.  I can't imagine there were many insects available after the polar blast we had three weeks ago but, they appeared to be feeding.  Lots of birds are our feeders ... especially cedar waxwings.

Work on the Farm:  I have finished walking on annual rye and winter oats on our waterways (soybean fields this season).  Lots of catalogs in the mail ... time to buy seed soon.


We support:
Round House, Jeans and Workware, Made in the USA for 111 years.
http://www.round-house.com/
Red Pig Tools, Garden tools, Made in the USA.
http://www.redpigtools.com/servlet/StoreFront
FEDCO, Co-op Garden Supplies, Seeds, Trees and Bulbs
http://www.fedcoseeds.com/
Johnny's Selected Seeds and Garden Tools
http://www.johnnyseeds.com/
Roundstone Native Seed ... A Kentucky Company!
https://www.roundstoneseed.com/
Prairie Nursery, Native Seeds and Plants
http://www.prairienursery.com/
Kelley's Beeskeeping ... A Kentucky Company! ... at least for now.
http://www.kelleybees.com/
and these organizations ...
Xerces Society
Journey North
Monarch Watch
Sierra Club

Frost Flowers ...

Wildflower Update: With the polar cold spell this week, the only flowers to find were frost flowers.  There were hundreds from ironweed and wingstem stems.  As water moves up from the roots of these plants it cracks the stem open and ribbons of ice crystals form.  Frost flowers last only until the sun comes out and melts the ice cyrstals and they only form after the first few days of hard freezes. They were beautiful during sunrise.

http://mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/common-plants-and-animals/wildflowers-and-grasses/frost-flowers


Pollinators and Wildlife:  Our pollination season is over until next Spring but lots of wildlife on the move with this cold spell.  Deer hunting season started last weekend and the sound of guns could be heard each morning and evening.  The hunters that lease our farm are mostly bow hunters and have taken a few deer last week.  The population remains too high because I see several each time I take a walk.  It seems as though our coyote population is very high also ... they make a lot of noise each night.  I have loaded our bird feeders and there has been several chickadees and nuthatches visiting.

Work on the Farm:  The last few weeks, I have been feeding our honeybees sugar water (in ziplock gallon bags on the frames of the top super).  They seem to have good populations and substantial honey heading into winter.  Shaw Farms combined the soybeans on the second bottom land next to Long Creek.  I walked on annual rye and winter oats on the water ways to prevent erosion.  Folks in the community are still stopping by to pick turnip and mustard greens.


We support:
Round House, Jeans and Workware, Made in the USA for 111 years.
http://www.round-house.com/
Red Pig Tools, Garden tools, Made in the USA.
http://www.redpigtools.com/servlet/StoreFront
FEDCO, Co-op Garden Supplies, Seeds, Trees and Bulbs
http://www.fedcoseeds.com/
Johnny's Selected Seeds and Garden Tools
http://www.johnnyseeds.com/
Roundstone Native Seed ... A Kentucky Company!
https://www.roundstoneseed.com/
Prairie Nursery, Native Seeds and Plants
http://www.prairienursery.com/
Kelley's Beeskeeping ... A Kentucky Company! ... at least for now.
http://www.kelleybees.com/
and these organizations ...
Xerces Society
Journey North
Monarch Watch
Sierra Club

First Freeze and Harvesting Milkweed Pods ...

Wildflower Update:  After 26 degrees F. last night our wildflower season is mostly over.  Any Monarch stragglers will have a hard time from now on.

Pollinators and Wildlife:  Early this week, I saw a couple of Monarchs ... the last one on October 30th. Lots of animals on the move during this freeze.  A praying mantis was at our back porch door.  Deer season with guns start next weekend in this part of Kentucky.  I filled up a couple of our birdfeeders this week and it did not take long for the chickadees to find the sunflower seed.

Work on the Farm:  Yesterday, I harvested a few bushel of milkweed pods for seed and to use in my classroom.  Harvest will accelerate now that we have had a freeze.  The pod set was heavier this year due to great growing weather early in the summer.  Also, I have harvested some acorns for our Great Oaks of Holland project.  We still have lots of folks stopping by to harvest turnip greens from Burl's Big Turnip Patch.


We support:
Round House, Jeans and Workware, Made in the USA for 111 years.
http://www.round-house.com/
Red Pig Tools, Garden tools, Made in the USA.
http://www.redpigtools.com/servlet/StoreFront
FEDCO, Co-op Garden Supplies, Seeds, Trees and Bulbs
http://www.fedcoseeds.com/
Johnny's Selected Seeds and Garden Tools
http://www.johnnyseeds.com/
Roundstone Native Seed ... A Kentucky Company!
https://www.roundstoneseed.com/
Prairie Nursery, Native Seeds and Plants
http://www.prairienursery.com/
Kelley's Beeskeeping ... A Kentucky Company! ... at least for now.
http://www.kelleybees.com/
and these organizations ...
Xerces Society
Journey North
Monarch Watch
Sierra Club

Burl's Big Turnip Patch, Skippers and Fall Colors ...

Wildflower Update: A warm autumn day with our trees at peak color or a little past peak. We still have some flowers (goldenrod, mist flowers, and dutch white clover) blooming in areas where I bushhogged late in the summer. This morning there was a thick fog and heavy dew.

Pollinators and Wildlife: We still have coneflowers, marigolds and zinnias blooming in our flower beds. Lots of skippers (Common Checkered-Skipper below), a few bumblebees and a couple of Monarchs. The deer and turkey on the move this weekend. While bushhogging our walking trail, a large bobcat ran across the trail and through the field. This is the second bobcat I have seen during the evening hours this year. It was beautiful!

Work on the Farm: I went through our honeybee hives this weekend and removed unused supers. Most of the hives appeared strong without signs of hive beetle. I taped up the holes drilled in the supers and put in entrance reducers. I started feeding today with zip-lock bags (gallon bags with about a half gallon of sugar water) on the top most super with a 2.5 spacer.
Our Burl's Big Turnip patch has been open to the public for free turnip greens. We have had dozens of people stop by for greens (turnip, mustard and creasy/upland cress). This turnip patch (over a half acre) is a tradition started by Sue Neal's Uncle Burl years ago. Picture furthest below ...

We support:
Round House, Jeans and Workware, Made in the USA for 111 years.
http://www.round-house.com/
Red Pig Tools, Garden tools, Made in the USA.
http://www.redpigtools.com/servlet/StoreFront
FEDCO, Co-op Garden Supplies, Seeds, Trees and Bulbs
http://www.fedcoseeds.com/
Johnny's Selected Seeds and Garden Tools
http://www.johnnyseeds.com/
Roundstone Native Seed ... A Kentucky Company!
https://www.roundstoneseed.com/
Prairie Nursery, Native Seeds and Plants
http://www.prairienursery.com/
Kelley's Beeskeeping ... A Kentucky Company! ... at least for now.
http://www.kelleybees.com/
and these organizations ...
Xerces Society
Journey North
Monarch Watch
Sierra Club

Fall Colors near peak!

Wildflower Update:  We have a few plants still blooming.  The plants are in areas we bush-hogged late in the summer.  Most of the plants are not large but have several blooms ... wing-stem and goldenrod.  Most of our plants have seeded and turned brown.  Our woodland ferns are growing after a week of rain.

Pollinators and Wildlife:  I saw a single Monarch after I got home from school.  Not many nectar plants remain for those late migrators.  Still hoping for the best with dozens of siting some days this fall.

Work on the Farm:  We have not been able to get much work done on the farm with ten days of rainfall before last weekend.  I will be checking out honeybees this week and put them to bed by closing down their hives. Our wildlife plots are doing well ... winter oats, wheat, austrian peas, buckwheat and sunflowers.  Most of the sunflowers were eaten by deer.


We support:
Round House, Jeans and Workware, Made in the USA for 111 years.
     http://www.round-house.com/
Red Pig Tools, Garden tools, Made in the USA.
     http://www.redpigtools.com/servlet/StoreFront
FEDCO, Co-op Garden Supplies, Seeds, Trees and Bulbs
     http://www.fedcoseeds.com/
Johnny's Selected Seeds and Garden Tools
     http://www.johnnyseeds.com/
Roundstone Native Seed ... A Kentucky Company!
     https://www.roundstoneseed.com/
Prairie Nursery, Native Seeds and Plants
     http://www.prairienursery.com/
Kelley's Beeskeeping ... A Kentucky Company! ... at least for now.
     http://www.kelleybees.com/
and these organizations ...
Xerces Society
Journey North
Monarch Watch
Sierra Club

Flower Duets, Ferns and Persimmons

 

Wildflower Update:  Flower duets (not the opera) - Pairs of Monarchs above on butterfly plants ...  also, a pair of Painted Ladies.
        Not many plants blooming as we start the second full week in October.  After a very dry September, it started to rain this week.  We still have dutch white clover blooming and some late wingstem, asters and mist flower.  Our flower beds around the house have blooms ... butterfly plants, marigolds, zinnias and a few coneflowers.  We had a dozen or so Monarchs each day earlier in the week but, on Wednesday, the sun came out with a light wind from the north and they took off toward the southwest.  With wildflower season winding down, the cooler temperatures and rain has brought the ferns in our woods back to life.  Below, a Christmas fern under a beech fern (?).

Pollinators and Wildlife:  The deer, racoons and opossums are feasting on the many persimmons scattered on the ground around our farm.  With the wind and rain this week, the ground is covered.  I like the bark on persimmon trees second only to sourwood bark.  Lots of lichens on this persimmon tree in our yard.
     While cleaning out the barn this week, an eastern fence lizard kept an eye on me while basking in the sun.  Lots of spiders still out this week.

 

Work on the Farm:  I finished planting our food plots on Wednesday evening.  It is late so, I only planted winter oats, wheat and winter peas.  Back to school on Monday and work on the farm will be limited with less daylight hours.

We support:
Round House, Jeans and Workware, Made in the USA for 111 years.
     http://www.round-house.com/
Red Pig Tools, Garden tools, Made in the USA.
     http://www.redpigtools.com/servlet/StoreFront
FEDCO, Co-op Garden Supplies, Seeds, Trees and Bulbs
     http://www.fedcoseeds.com/
Johnny's Selected Seeds and Garden Tools
     http://www.johnnyseeds.com/
Roundstone Native Seed ... A Kentucky Company!
     https://www.roundstoneseed.com/
Prairie Nursery, Native Seeds and Plants
     http://www.prairienursery.com/
Kelley's Beeskeeping ... A Kentucky Company! ... at least for now.
     http://www.kelleybees.com/
and these organizations ...
Xerces Society
Journey North
Monarch Watch
Sierra Club

Monarchs and Rain Tonight ...

Wildflower Update:  The fall nectar flow is nearing the end.  Flowers where I bush-hogged during the summer are later and just now blooming.  Our pollinator gardens have some late blooming plants.  I planted several Tennessee Coneflowers and they are in bloom and beautiful.

Pollinators and Wildlife:  While outside after school today, I saw a dozen Monarchs ... six in one butterfly bush!  I thought maybe that the migration had peaked here but maybe not.  Still a few bumble bees and our honeybees are still working hard.

Work on the Farm: Still planting the last of the food plots and have switched to wheat, winter oats and austrian peas.  It has been really dry here for a month but we should get some rain later tonight and tomorrow.  Next week is fall break and I will be able to be out on the farm in the mornings.  Sunset over Long Creek below ...

We support:
Round House, Jeans and Workware, Made in the USA for 111 years.  
     http://www.round-house.com/
Red Pig Tools, Garden tools, Made in the USA.
     http://www.redpigtools.com/servlet/StoreFront
FEDCO, Co-op Garden Supplies, Seeds, Trees and Bulbs
     http://www.fedcoseeds.com/
Johnny's Selected Seeds and Garden Tools
     http://www.johnnyseeds.com/
Roundstone Native Seed ... A Kentucky Company!
     https://www.roundstoneseed.com/
Prairie Nursery, Native Seeds and Plants
     http://www.prairienursery.com/
Kelley's Beeskeeping ... A Kentucky Company! ... at least for now.
     http://www.kelleybees.com/
and these organizations ...
Xerces Society
Journey North
Monarch Watch
Sierra Club

Common Buckeye, White Snakeroot and Monarchs

Wildflower Update:  With the dry weather we have had, fall nectar flow is past peak.  Goldenrod, mistflower, lobelia, white snakeroot and late thoroughwort are still in full bloom but, yellow wingstem and ironweed are well past peak.  Several asters are blooming now.  Below left, we have a lot of White Snakeroot (Ageratina rugosum) on The Kentucky Wildflower Farm. "White Snakeroot was responsible for 'milk sickness', a deadly disease encountered during early settlement by Europeans. Cows that eat the plant secrete a poison in their milk. The cattle themselves develop a disease called 'trembles' for its chief symtom.  In 1818, Abraham Lincoln's mother, Nancy Hanks Lincoln, died from a brief, agonizing bout of milk sickness.  Research has shown that the active ingredient eupatorin in white snakeroot may have anticancer properties." ... p. 69,  Illinois Wildflowers by Don Kurz
     To the right, Great Blue Lobelia with some White Snakeroot in the background.

Above is goldenrod with Pennsylvania Leatherwing beetles (Chauliognathus pennsylvanicus) and mist flower blooming in a pasture field.

Pollinators and Wildlife:
     There are not as many pollinators now ... a few bumblebees and lots of honeybees ... I noticed some European hornets on the prowl.  We have been seeing Monarchs fly by each day and yesterday we found three monarch caterpillars in some young milkweed (see below).  Also below, I regularly see this opossum on my walks eating persimmons. Directly below, a common buckeye (Junonia coenia) posed for a picture.  There is an abundance of plantain on this old farm which is their major food source for caterpillars. We have seen several and they might be on the move southward.

Work on the Farm:  This week we worked cleaning up flats and inserts from wildflower plantings.  Other than that during some cooler weather,  I took some walks to take pictures and we watched a few sunsets on the ridge overlooking Long Creek.  In the distance below, a V-formation of canadian geese flying toward Barren Lake, the first group I've seen this fall.

Hiking, wildflower/wildlife photography, birdwatching and native plant research available on request.  The Kentucky Wildflower Farm will be offering seed from locally collected native plant species in 2015.    ... kywildflowerfarm@gmail.com

We support:
Round House, Jeans and Workware, Made in the USA for 111 years.  
     http://www.round-house.com/
Red Pig Tools, Garden tools, Made in the USA.
     http://www.redpigtools.com/servlet/StoreFront
FEDCO, Co-op Garden Supplies, Seeds, Trees and Bulbs
     http://www.fedcoseeds.com/
Johnny's Selected Seeds and Garden Tools
     http://www.johnnyseeds.com/
Roundstone Native Seed ... A Kentucky Company!
     https://www.roundstoneseed.com/
Prairie Nursery, Native Seeds and Plants
     http://www.prairienursery.com/
Kelley's Beeskeeping ... A Kentucky Company! ... at least for now.
     http://www.kelleybees.com/
and these organizations ...
Xerces Society
Journey North
Monarch Watch
Sierra Club

"Be the difference."

Tennessee coneflower, Painted Lady and a Twany Emperor

Wildflower Update: The fall nectar flow is peaking.  The hills of our farm are yellow with goldenrod and wingstem blooms.  I planted some Tennessee conefowers earlier this summer and they are blooming now (above).  

Pollinators and Wildlife:  Lots of pollinators working this week ... I was outside for only a couple of hours on Sunday and saw three monachs gliding to the southwest on a light NE wind.  We have seen a steady flow of Monarchs for a month.  Above a Twany Emperor (Asterocampa clyton) resting briefly in our garden.  Below,  a couple of Painted Ladies (Vanessa cardui) visiting a butterfly plant and a zinnia.  The third and last flight of Painted Ladies started last week.

Below a Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia) and a Io Moth caterpillar (about 3" long).

Work on the Farm:  Still planting food plots will next year be native plant plots.  Our community turnip/mustard patch is coverd with 2-3" plants ... greens available in early October if we get some rain.  Buckwheat is blooming in our early food plots.

Hiking, wildflower/wildlife photography, birdwatching and native plant research available on request.  The Kentucky Wildflower Farm will be offering seed from locally collected native plant species in 2015.    ... kywildflowerfarm@gmail.com

Ladies' Tresses, White Turtlehead and a Summer Azure

Wildflower Update: The fall nectar flow is in full swing!  Wingstem, wild ageratum, goldenrod, white snakeroot, goldenrod and more are all in full bloom.  Ironweed is past peak.  I spotted some ladies' tresses (below) on Saturday and walked back our walking trail to get a picture.  Near the stream in the valley back of our house were great blue lobelia and white turtlehead blooming.

Pollinators and Wildlife: After a early shower early this morning, the pollinators were busy late this afternoon under some sunshine.  I only saw one Monarch on my walk today but dozens of small butterflies ... last flight of skippers started last week and are abundant (on goldenrod below) ... also, a picture of a summer azure.

Work on the Farm:  This weekend, I bush-hogged our walking trails.  While mowing the trail on Saturday, I saw six Monarchs gliding by or stopping to nectar on wingstem.  Also, a recent sunset over Long Creek in the valley below ...

Hiking, wildflower/wildlife photography, birdwatching and native plant research available on request.  The Kentucky Wildflower Farm will be offering seed from locally collected native plant species in 2015.    ... kywildflowerfarm@gmail.com