Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/natureisnurturing/

Hello everyone. It has been a while since I’ve written but I have been consistently busy posting nature photos on Instagram – since mid-pandemic. I’ve discovered I enjoy photography but I tend to be a bit long-winded for Instagram because I love researching the how and why of things. Just maybe, getting back to my blog with the intent of describing photos will shorten my blog posts as well. 😉

There will be some duplication here as I attempt to catch up my blog to match my Instagram account. Please bear with me. If I can figure it out, I’ll turn off e-notifications for a bit.

Best,

Cindy

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Revisiting Monarchs

Hello! Long time, no post! And, I’m afraid I’m still not providing new content but I would like to ask you to revisit my original post about monarchs from October 2105 as ’tis the season for their migration to Mexico. Although I’m not writing new content, I wish to share a few new photos that I managed to capture this week of these beautiful and extraordinary insects.

Be sure to check out https://natureisnurture.net/the-great-fall-monarch-migration/ for details about the great fall migration occurring in North Texas right now!

Until next time,

Cindy

For more photos, follow me at https://www.instagram.com/natureisnurturing/.

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Photo Viewing Invitation

Honey Bee on Alyssum

Well, it has been almost a year since I’ve written here and I am quite embarrassed I have let time pass to this extent without checking in. Since I haven’t anything in mind to write about today, I wish to take this opportunity to invite you to view what I have been doing lately on my Instagram page at @natureisnurturing.

During the pandemic, I consistently posted nature-related photos at least once per day and most of the time I included interesting tidbits about the subject. It is a practice that I plan to continue as we thankfully emerge from this difficult, but in some ways, enlightening time. I hope you stop by my page and take a look.

In the meantime, I plan to brush up on my topics and get this blog up and running again!

Until next time,
Cindy

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Oak Apples (or Oak Galls)

Navigating this 2020 pandemic, I have made a point to get outside and walk in my neighborhood every day. Nature always brings a balance in life, I believe, and this is my way of balancing out the uncertainty we are all experiencing right now.

I began walking in mid March, and almost every day I have come across an interesting plant and/or animal. I have been diligent in taking my cell phone with me on my walks for photo ops. Actually, my cell phone is also my tracking device but I feel very fortunate I find something daily to photograph and research along the way.

One of the most unusual things I’ve found along my daily walks are oak apples – or oak galls. These thin-shelled, tan orbs about the size of golf balls are quite intriguing. At first glance, they appear to be something that grew from an oak tree itself – perhaps a fungal issue or otherwise. However, they are not derived from plant situations but, instead, from insect circumstances. The oak gall wasp, a very inconspicuous and small, hump-back insect, lays its eggs near oak leaf buds in early spring. Thereafter, a chemical reaction occurs during this egg laying process that miraculously transforms a leaf bud into a protective orb around the larva, making certain it survives without being eaten by a predator.

An interesting and odd fact is oak wasp larva do not expel any waste during this gall stage (they don’t poop) so the orb remains a very safe and sanitary place for the larva to develop. Once the larva transforms into a wasp, it bores through the orb wall and takes flight to start the process again next spring. (The wasps overwinter in the ground.)

If you see an orb on the sidewalk or in a yard below stately oak trees, most likely the larva has already emerged. Go ahead and pick it up and take a look inside. You will find web-like strings that kept the larva safe and centered in place until it was ready to escape.

Oak galls do not do a lot of harm to an oak tree unless they are inundated with them, so there is no need for great alarm if you see only a few on your tree (or on the ground).

Gall Wasp – Photo Compliments of Wikipedia Commons

While the oak gall wasp cannot be compared to a beautiful butterfly or moth, it does seem to be one of the more astute insects when it comes to protecting its young. And, that in itself makes this wasp quite a fascinating insect!

Until next time,

Cindy

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The Pomegranate – A Beautiful Tree bearing Healthy Treats

Pomegranate Tree with Fruit

Hello to my subscribers and visitors! Today’s post is from nine years ago but is still a good one to read if you are considering planting an ornamental tree (with a bonus of bearing edible fruit) that will do well in North Texas. You see, I recently discovered many of my early blog posts had somehow fell off of my site. So, I’m slowly going through my former articles stored on my laptop and reinstating them to the blog. Unfortunately, they will not be in chronological order, so please forgive me. As I’ve done before, I’ll likely disable subscription notices after this post today so that I do not overwhelm your inbox while performing maintenance. Stay tuned for new “old” posts and thank you for your patience. Now, on with the article:

Originally posted 2011

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I have a large pomegranate tree on the side of my driveway, next to my veggie garden. I planted it there about 7 years ago when it was a tiny sapling. Having a fruit tree is every gardeners dream; not only do they look appealing, but it’s a way of staying with the growing trend of being self-sufficient in society. Not only that, but having garden fruit trees is an excellent way to get children involved and interested in gardening, and with so many trees available, such as apple, apricot and peach, you won’t need to shop for fruit again! Planting my pomegranate tree was an exciting time, but in the first year or two, it did not bloom and thus, did not produce fruit. It was an attractive, healthy shrub and looked nice regardless of its lack of blooms. It wasn’t difficult to wait patiently for it to mature.

The variety I have is called California “Wonderful.” Today it stands about 12 feet tall and is about 8 – 10 feet wide. It has reliably produced 25 – 30 pomegranates each year for the past five. Most of its fruit have been incredibly sweet (the way I like them) and then some have been typically tart (the way others seem to like them.) I have picked both sweet and tart from this tree in the same season so I do not know what environmental issues may cause the difference in the taste. My guess is that the opposing fruits may have matured at separate times when there was a varied amount of rainfall, temperature and/or sunshine.

If you haven’t had the opportunity to crack open and eat a fresh pomegranate, not only are you missing a tasty treat, but also the very interesting architectural display of the interior of this fruit. The fruit is divided by what I call honeycombed cellulose which supports and separates many small seeds. The seeds are each surrounded by wine-colored juice that is encapsulated in a gel sac. Speaking of wine-colored juice – pom juice indeed stains like wine – so beware!

http://images.quickblogcast.com/5/5/5/9/7/288139-279555/PomegranateInterior.jpg?a=61
Pomegranate Interior

You can eat a pomegranate in two ways – with or without swallowing the hard seed. Which in other words means – a “less messy” way or a “very messy” way. I prefer the very messy way as I am not interested in the somewhat chewy hard seeds (although I understand they are excellent sources of fiber and I have been told they taste pretty good in oatmeal.) Instead of swallowing the seeds whole, I chew the gel sac, swallow the juice and spit out the hard seed. This means I either need to be outdoors when eating or I must keep a discard bowl beside me when I eat the fruit. Sortof like when eating sunflower seeds. Even though it is an arduous task, it is well worth it. You see, not only is the pomegranate delicious, it is chock full of vitamins and antioxidants.

If you read the book of Song of Solomon in the Bible, you will find many references to the pomegranate. In fact, it may have been a pomegranate that Eve gave to Adam instead of an apple! For more information about the history and nutritional value of the pomegranate, go to http://www.medicinehunter.com/pomegranate-wonder-fruit.

Pomegranates are large deciduous shrubs that originate from the Mediterranean regions of Asia, Europe and Africa. I’d also like to add here that during the bare, winter months, the limbs of the pomegranate produce rather huge thorns. Just keep this in mind when you prune your tree come late winter or early spring. Incidentally, fruit is borne on new growth, so spring pruning is fine. If you don’t feel confident pruning your fruit tree, our advice is not to do it yourself. However, it does need doing to maintain the health of your tree, so looking into these tree surgeon jacksonville fl professionals is the best foot forward.

Well, let’s get to how to grow pomegranates! The good news is they are not fussy and are easy to grow. Poms will thrive in most any soil and are drought tolerant once they are established. They enjoy cool winters and hot, dry summers (one of the reasons they do so very well in California – and I must say, also in North Texas.) If you are in an area with such varied seasons, you are in luck! As with the Vitex, be sure to find a sunny area in your landscape to plant your sapling where the tree will have plenty of room to spread, again, up to 8 feet (see varieties at the link far below to consider smaller or dwarf versions.) It is best to wait to plant your pomegranate in the fall so that it is not stressed by the heat of summer, however you probably could get away with planting in early spring if you wanted to give it a try.

Please don’t be discouraged if your tree doesn’t bloom the first couple of years. It may take about 2-3 years for most pomegranate trees to mature to the point they will bloom and set fruit. Still, as I mentioned earlier, the shrub itself is quite attractive. However, as you can see below, the gorgeous pops of bright orange flowers that eventually emerge are very well worth the wait!

http://images.quickblogcast.com/5/5/5/9/7/288139-279555/PomegranateinBloom.jpg?a=40
Pomegranate in Bloom

In conclusion, I encourage you to find an ample spot in your landscape for this beautiful biblical tree that also produces tasty and very healthy treats. For a descriptive list of pomegranate varieties, go to https://plantdatabase.earth/pomegranate. Surely there is one for you!

Until next time –
Cindy

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Solar Fountains for Existing Bird Baths

Originally posted July 2011. Since this post was written, you can find a greater variety of similar portable solar fountain devices for your existing bird bath.

Although I admit I become excited about products that really work (especially anti-aging products!), I typically do not tout about them to extreme. However I have to brag about this one – the Universal Solar Pump Kit, manufactured by Outdoor Solar Solutions – Nature’s Foundry and sold by Amazon.com. I had been searching and searching for an all-inclusive solar fountain to place in my existing bird bath for many months with no luck. One day, I saw an ad on Amazon.com that was exactly what I was looking for.

You see, I wouldn’t mind having a fountain with a solar panel attached, but my elderly blind and deaf dog, Buzz, would certainly get all tangled up in the wiring and either rip it out of the ground, ricochet it out of the bird bath or stay bound and gagged for hours until I got home from work! (See https://natureisnurture.net/nose-knows-know-better/ .) Besides, who actually wants wiring in the landscape if you don’t need it?

While there does exist a few all-inclusive solar fountains for ponds (one shaped like a lily pad) they are quite large and aren’t recommended for use in shallow bird baths. Actually, Outdoor Solar Solution’s Universal Solar Pump appears to be able to function in bird baths shallower than mine. (Mine is about 4 inches deep.) In fact, I have added a few rocks to my bird bath to sit the fountain upon and stabilize it so that it isn’t submerged entirely. It still works when submerged, but I like it with the pebbles underneath. It seems to allow for better water flow, in my opinion.

A couple of other things to consider, which I personally don’t find to be negatives, are the solar panels on this device do not store up energy and you may have to clean the pump every now and then. Re the solar panels – at night, on cloudy days and if situated in the shade, the device will not function. Since I’m usually not out on the patio during the dark of night or hanging out in the yard too much on cloudy days – this doesn’t bother me. Re cleaning the pump – I consider this a maintenance issue that comes with the territory of owning water devices. I understand this as I have a 55 gallon aquarium and algae is the norm. Just a couple of things to keep in mind.

http://images.quickblogcast.com/5/5/5/9/7/288139-279555/birdbathfountain.JPG?a=86


So, why would you want this device?

  • Well I guess first you have to want a fountain. I wanted one.
  • It’s inexpensive. Again, I wanted a fountain – but cheap. That is, I didn’t want to buy a brand new bird bath or other type of fountain. I wanted to use what I already had and convert it. This fits the bill.
  • It doesn’t require wiring. No ugly wires and, best of all, no ugly wires that attach to your electrical outlets!
  • It doesn’t need batteries.
  • It comes with several different water dancing attachments, so you can customize to your preference.
  • It keeps mosquitoes from breeding in my bird bath.
  • It attracts more varieties of birds to my yard.
  • It appears to keep the water a tad cooler for the birds to drink during the hot summer.
  • It is pretty.
  • Lastly, it is relaxing. Kind of like having your own backyard eco/sound therapy session!

The pics in this post are of my personal bird bath and fountain. I took a few when I first received the device a couple of months ago and I took one today.

So, if you wish to add a small water feature to your landscape just in time for your 4th of July backyard BBQ, you now have an inexpensive option. I certainly enjoy my all inclusive solar bird bath fountain, and I know my feathered friends do too!

Until next time,
Cindy

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