08.28.07 IRONWEED

The deep purple flowers of the tall weed known as ironweed (Vernonia genus) have begun to appear. The butterfly visitor is difficult to identify; this could be either a black swallowtail, a female tiger swallowtail, or a pipevine swallowtail.

08.26.07 FLYING SCIMITARS

This horsefly has just landed on my rearview mirror. Living in the country surrounded by cattle and horses means we are in the perfect environment for this huge fly. Eating nectar and pollen, they become a "threat" to humans when the female needs a "blood meal" to prepare for reproduction. In this photo you can see what Wikipedia calls a horsefly's "mandibles like tiny serrated scimitars." These are used to painfully carve out a hole in an animal's flesh so that it may then lick up the resulting blood. How delightful!

08.24.07 SWEET GIFT

The neighbor knocked on the door this morning to leave this huge seedless watermelon. His bumper crop is shared throughout the community providing us all with a juicy treat during the dry baking heat of these final days of summer.

08.22.07 AUGUST GARDEN

The garden at high summer! Dry and crispy, many crops are finished and the stress of heat and drought challenge those which have survived and have not become fodder for our many forest friends.

08.20.07 HORNED TOMATOES

I have been growing paste-type tomatoes for a long time. The most popular variety in the seed catalogs is probably "Roma." This year I came across several varieties which grow much longer than the typical pear-shaped tomato. These grow to two or three times as long (and two or three times as large!) and look like the horns on a bull. This photo does not do them justice, because here they are just babies hiding in the foliage before the deer find them.

08.18.07 PEPPERS AT LAST

I look forward to the hot days at the end of summer because they bring peppers from the garden. This year the deer have eaten most of the pepper plants but this lone hero survives. These are probably hot peppers my wife has grown for the kitchen, but my favorites are sweet banana peppers drenched with salt, pepper, and olive oil and grilled over a fire. Fabulous.

08.16.07 GARBANZO GOURMET

My wife's career as a chef inspires me to try new foods all the time. Hummus and falafel are delicious and are made from ground chick peas (also called garbanzo beans). Garbanzo beans, Cicer arietinum, are an ancient food and an excellent source of protein. Mankind has depended on this plant for food for many millenia. It has long been a staple of the diet of many indigenous peoples of the Mediterranean, Middle East, Asia, and India. I picked the garbanzo beans out of a mix of seeds for sprouting I purchased in the organic food store to try in my garden. It is always fascinating to meet a new plant!