Honeysuckle native and exotic 2025-04-17

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Near the garden the fragrance of Japanese honeysuckle was suddenly overpowering. Where is it?

[Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica)]
Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica)

Oh, behind me, big bunches of Lonicera japonica.

Meanwhile, back near the farm workshop, the native Coral honeysuckle is also fragrant, just not so overpowering. Continue reading →

Drainage ditch on Quarterman Road 2025-04-08

Going to mow the niece’s driveway, I saw Glenda and Craig Palmer standing on the road.

Turns out they were actually Laurie and Denton Dye.

[Drainage Ditch with shadows of jsq, Glenda, and Craig Palmer]
Drainage Ditch with shadows of jsq, Glenda, and Craig Palmer

They were admiring Lowndes County Public Works’ attempt to open up the drainage ditch across the road.

Maybe try again not on the day after more than an inch of rain. Continue reading →

Steel Roof Boat Rack 2025-03-31

Tired of having boats taking up space under the tractor shed, I built a bigger boat rack.

[Rack full]
Rack full

As you can see, some patches were required. The steel roofing came from niece Peggy’s neighboring house, where she had some roof replaced after Hurricane Helene. The roofers were going to throw away the old roof. Nope, now some of it is boat rack roof, basically fancy sunshade.

The three canoes belong to WWALS, as does the jon boat and outboard.

The other boats are ours. Continue reading →

Salvillum, ancient Roman cheesecake 2025-04-07

Sweet, but not cloying like so much modern cheesecake. It’s tasty but very dense. I predict many days before we finish the other half.

Gretchen and I learned of this ancient Roman cheesecake on a YouTube video, Tasting History, with Max Miller.

She decided to make some Salvillum.
https://youtu.be/GP4VDh4HJm8?si=pmZzCdLQ-hKExGZf

[Salvillum, ancient Roman cheescake]
Salvillum, ancient Roman cheescake

In addition to a more modern version of the recipe, here’s what Cato wrote:

“Make the savillum this way. Take half a pound of flour and two and a half pounds of cheese, and mix together as for the libum. Add 1/4 pound of honey and 1 egg. Grease an earthenware dish with oil. When you have mixed the ingredients well, pour into the dish and cover it with an earthenware lid. See that you cook it well in the middle, where it is thickest. When it is cooked, remove the dish, coat with honey, sprinkle with poppy seeds, and put it back beneath the lid for a short while, then remove from the fire. Serve it in the dish with a spoon.”
— De Agri Cultura by Marcus Porcius Cato, 2nd Century BC

-jsq

Native coral honeysuckle blooming 2025-04-02

Update 2025-04-20: Honeysuckle native and exotic 2025-04-17.

Gretchen got this native coral honeysuckle from some native plants people at A Day in the Woods a few years back, at the Gaskins Forest Education Center near Alapaha, Georgia.

[Coral honeysuckle]
Coral honeysuckle

It took a few years for this Lonicera sempervirens to establish itself, but it seems happy now. Continue reading →

Banana cubits 2025-03-24

When you don’t bring a measuring device, measure in cubits!

[Banana cubit 2025-03-23]
Banana cubit 2025-03-23

Gretchen had recently lopped off the freeze-killed tops of these banana plants, and she was observing how much they had grown out since. Continue reading →

Cherry Bowl from OPF log –Bob Gronko 2025-03-27

Yesterday, Bob Gronko sent a picture of the bowl he made from a cherry log.

[Cherry bowl Bob Gronko made from one of these cherry logs]
Cherry bowl Bob Gronko made from one of these cherry logs

He took a couple of the logs you see in this picture.

They came from the cherry tree I had to cut off the top of the corn crib after Hurricane Helene blew it onto there. Continue reading →

Wild azaleas and blueberries 2025-03-20

Down the Not A Driveway, over and under the Hurricane Helene deadfalls, following the dog pack, lies an acre of wild azaleas, plus wild blueberries.

[Blondie, Honeybun, Sky, River, over the deadfall into the wild azaleas]
Blondie, Honeybun, Sky, River, over the deadfall into the wild azaleas

Some of these Rhododendron canescens are already blooming. Many more are just budding.

[Wild azaleas, pine deadfall, and dog on Not A Driveway]
Wild azaleas, pine deadfall, and dog on Not A Driveway

[Wild azaleas and loblolly pine cones]
Wild azaleas and loblolly pine cones

[Closeup red wild azaleas]
Closeup red wild azaleas

[Wild Blueberries]
Wild Blueberries

[Pink wild azaleas]
Pink wild azaleas

[Pale wild azaleas]
Pale wild azaleas

[Wild azalea beneath oak deadfall]
Wild azalea beneath oak deadfall

[Closeup wild azalea beneath oak deadfall]
Closeup wild azalea beneath oak deadfall

“Here Spring was already busy about them: fronds pierced moss and mould, … small flowers were opening in the turf, birds were singing. Ithilien, the garden of Gondor now desolate kept still a dishevelled dryad loveliness.”
—Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbit, The Two Towers, JRR Tolkien

-jsq