Canopy Roads of South Georgia

Peas @ Okra Paradise Farms 2012-04-15

Pick 'em and shell 'em:

Picture by Gretchen Quarterman for Okra Paradise Farms. Lowndes County, Georgia, 14 April 2012.

Picture by Gretchen Quarterman for Okra Paradise Farms, Lowndes County, Georgia, 15 April 2012.

-jsq

Lilies and minnows at the pond 2012-04-22

Lily:

Pictures by Gretchen Quarterman for Okra Paradise Farms, Lowndes County, Georgia, 22 April 2012.

Lilies:

Planted Longleaf, Okra Paradise Farms, Lowndes County, Georgia, 17 April 2012

These are the same longleaf planted in 2008, blogged 10 October 2010, burned a second time 16 December 2011, and greening and candling again February 2012.

Pictures of Gretchen Quarterman with the planted longleaf (Pinus palustris)
by John S. Quarterman for Okra Paradise Farms, Lowndes County, Georgia, 17 April 2012.

Almost all of them survived the prescribed burn, and many of them are quite tall. The planted little bluestem and big bluestem are also thriving, along with native verbena, and some less savory invasive exotics, including trash along the road. Plus Gretchen's favorite: dog fennel! And along the fence row cedars, pecans, plums, grapes, wild cherry, and a gopher tortoise. Here's a flickr slideshow:

Longleaf candling at the pond, Okra Paradise Farms, Lowndes County, Georgia, 22 April 2012

We didn't know there were any longleaf at the bottom of the pond, but the white candles are unmistakable:

Pictures of Longleaf pine (Pinus Palustris) by Gretchen Quarterman
for Okra Paradise Farms, Lowndes County, Georgia, 22 April 2012.

The needles are also longer than on the nearby slash pines:

Pine beetles, Okra Paradise Farms, Lowndes County, Georgia, 11 April 2012

Brown Dog and Yellow Dog in some red pine needles:

John S. Quarterman, Gretchen Quarterman, Brown Dog, Yellow Dog,
Lowndes County, Georgia, 11 April 2012.
Pictures by John S. Quarterman for Okra Paradise Farms.

And the reason why they're red:

Growing in the Garden

Potatoes red and white, peas, onions, turnips, collards, and radishes!

Here's a playlist:

Growing in the Garden
Gretchen Quarterman explains it all for you, assisted by Brown Dog and Yellow Dog.
Videos by John. S. Quarterman for Okra Paradise Farms, Lowndes County, Georgia, 27 March 2012.

-jsq

 

 

Dogwood 9 March 2012

Gretchen and the dogwood:

Pictures of Gretchen Quarterman and a dogwood
by John S. Quarterman for Okra Paradise Farms, Lowndes County, Georgia, 9 March 2012.

More in the flickr set.

-jsq

Rye as a winter cover crop

High and higher:

Lowndes County, Georgia, 7 March 2012.
Pictures by Gretchen Quarterman for Okra Paradise Farms

Closeup:

 

Why Monsanto Thought Weeds Would Never Defeat Roundup

Wishful thinking. That's why Monsanto unleashed crops and pesticides that are both poisonous to humans. Wishful thinking. Also known as greed.

Daniel Charles wrote for The Salt 11 March 2012, Why Monsanto Thought Weeds Would Never Defeat Roundup,

First, the company had been selling Roundup for years without any problems. Second, and perhaps most important, the company's scientists had just spent more than a decade, and many millions of dollars, trying to create the Roundup-resistant plants that they desperately wanted — soybeans and cotton and corn. It had been incredibly difficult. When I interviewed former Monsanto scientists for my book on biotech crops, one of them called it the company's "Manhattan Project."

Considering how hard it had been to create those crops, "the thinking was, it would be really difficult for weeds to become tolerant" to Roundup, says Rick Cole, who is now responsible for Monsanto's efforts to deal with the problem of resistant weeds.

So they thought small scale would be the same as saturating 90+% of every corn, soybean, peanut, and cotton field in the U.S. and numerous other countries with virulent poisons. Because they wanted the money.

-jsq

Happy frogs in the cypress swamp 2012-03-07

It rained six inches here when the tornado went through. That rain refilled the cypress swamp, and revived thousands of frogs that had been slumbering in the mud.

Panning around their habitat, you can't see them, but you can hear them.

Here's a playlist: