A freeze is predicted for tonight, so yesterday we cut the sugarcane and bedded it down for the winter.
That means we buried it a few inches deep to keep it from freezing.
But we kept some cane for squeezing juice to boil to make cane syrup.
River helped. The other dogs thought it was boring.
Gretchen explains:
https://youtu.be/Pk1unm9K1nU?si=6R49ymVJQ-O4jEqf Continue reading
These two pictures may be related.
The one advantage of hurricanes is no shortage of firewood.
Here’s a movie:
https://youtu.be/oxhDmySUj9s Continue reading
This small snake was in the front driveway.
You can tell by comparison with the pine straw that the snake is quite small, maybe 8 inches long.
![[Snake with pine straw, sand, and pebbles]](http://www.okraparadisefarms.com/pictures/2025-10-09--garter-snake/20251009_180654.jpg)
Snake with pine straw, sand, and pebbles
I think it’s an Eastern Garter Snake, Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis.
What do you think?
-jsq
Evidently we’ve been mis-identifying our persimmons.
The prolific persimmon tree has acorn-shaped fruit like the red one here. Those are apparently Hachiya persimmons.
The younger tree with only a few fruit not yet ripe has flat-bottom persimmons like this yellow one. Those appear to be Fuyu persimmons.
See, for example, this GrubMarket blog post, Fuyu vs. Hachiya: How to Use California Persimmons.
They’re both varieties of the Oriental persimmon, Diospyros kaki.
-jsq
Smells good while doing this.
![[Pouring beautyberry jelly into jars]](http://www.okraparadisefarms.com/pictures/2025-10-11--beautyberry-jelly-making/20251011_102518.jpg)
Pouring beautyberry jelly into jars
Very tasty later as jelly.
American Beautyberry, Callicarpa americana.
This is the same plant whose leaves repel mosquitos, yellowflies, and other insects.
-jsq
Bananas are not trees: they’re just big bulbs.
But they produce banana fruits, which will be tasty when ripe. Continue reading
Still picking those persimmons.
One was so ripe we went ahead and ate it.
The rest, we picked deliberately still orange, not red ripe, so Gretchen could slice them up and put them in the dehydrator. Continue reading
Update 2025-10-05: Persimmons to eat and to dehydrate 2025-10-05.
A very flavorful fruit, and sweet but not too sweet. Perfect to go with breakfast oatmeal.
![[Persimmons on the tree, 2025-09-28 --jsq for OPF]](http://www.okraparadisefarms.com/pictures/2025-09-28--persimmons/20250928_182653.jpg)
Persimmons on the tree, 2025-09-28 –jsq for OPF
These are Fuyu persimmons, a variety of the Japanese persimmon, Diospyros kaki.
Many moons that tree has been there since Gretchen planted it. This year it’s really bearing fruit. Continue reading
This frog likes the water spigot post by the tractor shed.
It looks like an American green tree frog, Dryophytes cinereus or Hyla cinerea.
-jsq
![[Cutting Sugar Cane, Some to squeeze and boil for syrup, Most to bed overwinter, to plant in the spring 2025-11-09]](http://www.okraparadisefarms.com/pictures/2025-11-09--sugar-cane-cutting/fbmany.jpg)
![[Fire in wood stove]](http://www.okraparadisefarms.com/pictures/2025-10-21--cold-fire/20251021_092348.jpg)
![[64 F in house]](http://www.okraparadisefarms.com/pictures/2025-10-21--cold-fire/20251021_092445.jpg)
![[Sunrise on Cat Creek Road]](http://www.okraparadisefarms.com/pictures/2025-10-15--sunrise-cat-creek-road/20251015_074134-0.jpg)
![[Two kinds of persimmons]](http://www.okraparadisefarms.com/pictures/2025-10-09--two-kinds-of-persimmmons/crop.jpg)
![[This bunch is coming along]](http://www.okraparadisefarms.com/pictures/2025-10-01--bananas/20251001_110042.jpg)
![[Picked Fuyu persimmons]](http://www.okraparadisefarms.com/pictures/2025-10-05--persimmons/20251005_083236.jpg)
![[Frog on spigot post]](http://www.okraparadisefarms.com/pictures/2025-09-24--spigot-frog/20250924_131708.jpg)