Category Archives: Plants

Partridge pea

Bobwhite quail love to eat this native legume:


Pictures by John S. Quarterman, Lowndes County, Georgia, 11 September 2011.

I had to forage far to find this example of Chamaecrista fasciculata aka Cassia fasciculata! Oops, you didn’t see this, did you? Continue reading →

Dirt igloo door (sweet potato curing mound)

The slideshow of the building of the dirt igloo for the sweet potatoes ended before the adding of the door. So here’s the door, in place, with reference yellow dog:


Pictures of sweet potato curing teepee
by John S. Quarterman, 8 September 2011,
Okra Paradise Farms, Lowndes County, Georgia.
Yellow Dog was busy tracking something, so didn’t stay to pose.

The door is on the north side. It’s six pieces of 2×6″ pine, each 18″ long, three vertical and three horizontal, screwed together, and set inside the doorposts. Here’s a closeup: Continue reading →

Banking sweet potatoes

Why would we want a doorway to a dirt pile?


Terry Davis and John S. Quarterman banking sweet potatoes at Okra Paradise Farms.
Pictures by John S. Quarterman, Lowndes County, Georgia, 25 August 2011.

Watch the slideshow and see:

-jsq

Elsie Quarterman’s Tennessee Coneflower taken off endangered species list

WSMV in Nashville reports that the Tennessee purple coneflower, which grows only in cedar glades, and only in three counties in the world, is being taken off the endangered species list:

Less than one percent of endangered species ever get taken off the list. The Tennessean reports:

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plans to officially remove the wildflower by Sept. 2, from its list of plants that are near extinction.

“The Tennessee coneflower’s recovery is an example of what can be achieved through the combined efforts of dedicated partners,” said Cindy Dohner, the Service’s Southeast Regional Director, in an emailed announcement.

Echinacea tennesseensis was thought extinct until Dr. Elsie Quarterman rediscovered it in 1969 in the cedar glades which are her academic specialty. She was 59 then.

Now she is 100, and still being honored by her students and by her state.

Aunt Elsie was born in Valdosta and played basketball for Hahira High School, before she started her very long career in botany and plant ecology.

As aye, Elsie!

-jsq

PS: This post owed to Patrick Quarterman.

Don’t tell Terry! (Sweet potatoes are ready)

“Look at that!” We planted them back in March.

Here’s Part 1 of 3:


Sweet potato eruption! Part 1 of 3:
Digging Potatoes, Okra Paradise Farms (OPF),
Lowndes County, Georgia, 24 July 2011.
Videos by John S. Quarterman for Okra Paradise Farms (OPF).

“Like an earthquake!” When they get ready, they crack the ground.

Here’s Part 2 of 3: Continue reading →