Anise Swallowtail

Anise Swallowtail Caterpillar

We had so many butterflies and caterpillars this winter that it was becoming hard to keep track of where they had attached and formed their chrysalises.  Some of the Monarchs decided to attach to the varmint panels surrounding the bed where the Asclepia is growing; it was looking a bit worse for wear with all the caterpillars chewing on it until they formed their chrysalises.

When we found the Anise Swallowtail caterpillar on the parsley plant in November, I decided I should find out what their chrysalises look like.  The caterpillar looks a lot like the Monarch caterpillar, but the chrysalis looks a lot different.

The Monarch chrysalis looks like a glowing green jewel with a row of golden dots around the top, but the Anise Swallowtail chrysalis looks more like a piece of fungus or something.

I was glad I had checked the butterfly book to see what they look like, because otherwise I might not have realized what it was.  And, of course, it had formed the chrysalis in the least convenient location for us, in the corner where two of the varmint panels meet, so neither of those panels can be moved without disturbing the chrysalis.

Cindy was going to plant some cauliflower in the corner of that bed, but it may have to go somewhere else.  The Monarchs have all hatched out and flown away now, but the Anise Swallowtail chrysalis is still there, with no sign of hatching anytime soon.

No Swiss Chard for us for a while.  What a pity.

The Urban Farm Expands

When we changed the landscaping a couple of years ago, we tore out a couple of useless hedges and put in a retaining wall and some steps going down toward the canyon to give firefighters greater access to the canyon in case we have another fire there.

By doing this, we added about 150 square feet of level garden space and Cindy has been planning how to use it ever since then.  She originally wanted to plant some dwarf fruit trees, but decided to add some more Blueberry plants in grow bags and move the potato grow bags into that bed.

She put down the landscaping fabric and laid out the irrigation system and I built her some platforms out of scrap lumber so that we can elevate the grow bags so they aren't sitting directly on the ground.

She ran the basic irrigation lines in, then built the new panels to surround the bed so the varmints can't get at the blueberries or the potatoes.  These panels are different from the ones she has made for the other beds because they have the hardware cloth on the upper part and the plexiglass on the bottom.

Yesterday she planted the potatoes in the grow bags; as the potato plants grow, she'll keep covering the stems up with soil so the tubers will grow and eventually fill the bags.  The blueberry bushes are already blooming and buzzing with honey bees, so it's already functioning.  Soon we'll have blueberries and eventually more potatoes.

Tomatoes 2013

Winter is the time when vegetable gardeners assess the results of last season's crop and begin poring over the mountain of seed catalogs that have begun showing up in the mailbox.

2013's tomato crop came from several different varieties of tomato plants and one very prolific tomatillo.

The 2013 tomato plants were:

Box Car Willie, described as an indeterminate, meaning that it continues to produce tomatoes throughout the season, and expected to produce a very heavy crop of good sized, smooth red tomatoes with delicious flavor, ranging from 6 to 10 ounces.  We got 12.5 pounds of tomatoes from Box Car Willie, in spite of the fusarium wilt that cut its season short.

Better Bush, an indeterminate tomato, described as "perfect for large containers or small gardens", with a yield of good-sized 8 ounce fruit with real tomato flavor.  Six pounds.

Champion II VFNT Hybrid, another indeterminate, described as "a luscious sandwich tomato, solid, meaty slices with just the right sweetness.  High yields of larger fruit, bigger than Early Girl and earlier than Better Boy."   Champion was the champion in our garden with a yield of 43.25 pounds.


Cherokee Chocolate, an indeterminate variety described as "a stabilized version of Cherokee Purple, this 10 to 16 ounce mahogany-colored variety has excellent flavor and beautiful large fruit."  The word "Chocolate" in the name, alas, refers to the color of the fruit and not the flavor.  13 pounds.

Early Girl VFF Hybrid, another indeterminate.  This tomato is an early slicing tomato, providing solid 4 to 6 oz fruit. The second most prolific bush with 30 pounds of tomatoes.

Siletz, a determinate variety, described as "deep red, full-flavored slicing tomatoes are 8 to 10 oz.  Developed by Dr. James Baggett of Oregon State University, these plants yield well even in cool weather.  Good acid taste and excellent interior fruit quality in a very early tomato."  13.75 pounds

Sweet Seedless, an indeterminate variety, described as a truly seedless tomato with a perfect balance of lively tomato flavor and juicy sweetness, weighing an average of 6 ounces.  14.25 pounds.

Riesentraube, a variety of small, oval grape style tomatoes.  Cindy just kept picking these off the enormous bush and didn't keep track of the totals, but it produced tomatoes for salads all season.

That meant a total of over 150 pounds of delicious tomatoes, a pretty good season.


All descriptions are from the 2013 catalog of the Tomato Growers Supply Company.

Not A Bear

So the mystery varmint that tipped over the birdbath the other night probably wasn't a bear after all.

Cindy was out in the garden yesterday morning checking her irrigation lines by the garage, when she heard a huge commotion in the shrubbery and a squeal, and all the birds flew off.

Thinking that part of our hill had slid down into the canyon, she naturally rushed to the edge of it to see what had happened, perhaps not the smartest move; if it had actually slipped, she would have been at the bottom of the canyon.  Fortunately for her, that wasn't the case.

Instead, she saw a large animal running down the side of the canyon with something hanging out of its mouth.  She thought at first it was a very large dog, then that it might be a wolf.  Although I didn't see it, I'm betting it was a coyote (Canis latrans), not a wolf.  According to the California Wolf Center, there is only one wild wolf in California, a male called OR-7 that crossed into northern California from a pack that had become established in Oregon.

Coyotes, however, are definitely present in the area; in fact, we've seen them in our yard before, including one that once peered in our front window, checking out all the plump, lazy cats in our house.  And that's why they're all indoor cats, whether they like it or not.

Coyotes are intelligent animals and quickly learn where the best sources of prey can be found, and our bird feeder certainly qualifies.  We thought at first that the coyote might have bagged Big Mama ground squirrel, but we saw her stuffing herself as usual under the bird feeder this morning.  She looked a bit jumpy, though, so she must know there's a large predator around.

All of this just goes to reinforce the feeling of our neighbor from across the street, who told us, "your side of the street--wilderness; my side--civilization.