rain beetle

last night after dinner we started hearing occasional knocking/banging on the windows.  it happens every year when we start having wet weather.  it was raining last night and the rain beetles were out.  the females cannot fly so they wait by a burrow they have dug and send pheromone signals to the males who fly around looking for them.  once a male finds a female they mate and she lays eggs in the burrow.  if the males happen to find themselves in an area near a house they are often drawn to the light coming from the windows and make quite a racket banging their big, hard bodies into the glass (hopefully not hurting themselves in the process). 
a little while ago i was out with the ducks and as i was coming back in i saw this big guy near the greenhouse door...

rain beetle, complete with raindrops

offering gratitude

tomorrow is thanksgiving day and we'll be enjoying spending some time with family.  today is also sort of a thanksgiving day (probably all days should be) for me.  i spent the earlier part of today out in the fig orchard sowing wildflower seeds in preparation for the rain that has just begun and is forecasted to continue off and on over the next few days.  it's become something of a tradition for me over the last few years and is my way of offering gratitude to the birds and insects, to this place and my life here with staal and the critters, to those who visit or pass by on the road, to the rain and the sun...

pretty quiet out there right now but the winter rains and snows will get things growing and it'll be buzzing with color and life in the coming spring and that will be something to be grateful for too.

hermit thrush

squash harvest

the last couple years i've had a hard time getting a decent squash crop because gophers

and pill bugs will ruin any part of the plant or fruit that makes ground contact.  this year i grew the plants in nursery pots set into the ground under the drip line and trellised the vines.  it worked out really well.

the following two photos show the plants growing up their trellises in july (the amber light was provided by the ferguson fire).

kabocha squash

banana squash

today's harvest:

lost label, possibly hubbard or mixed maxima from saved seed

kabocha and sweet meat

pink jumbo banana and scarecrow

i think we'll be eating well this winter.

happy birthday, zane grey!

seven years old today, 11/12/18

dung beetles (a bedtime story for staal)

one day
on a quiet little hill
two dung beetles happened upon each other
after spending some time together
side by side
each pushing their own ball of dung up the hill
one remarked to the other how like the story of sisyphus it all seemed
the other reflected on this thought
and came to the conclusion
there might be another way
the beetles discussed the alternative and found it worth a shot
they consolidated their balls of dung into one
and took turns pushing it up the hill
one taking over when the other tired
it was easier and much more enjoyable than toiling alone
and they made quick work of the hill in this way
at the top
they caught their breath
and took in the view
tired from their trek up the hill
they rested their bodies against the ball of dung
and drifted off to sleep in the warm sun
they shared a dream
of what it would be like to be a pine tree
feeling the peace of standing quietly
being rooted in stillness
branches and needles caressed by the breeze
when the beetles awoke
they found that out of the ball of dung
a pine tree had sprouted
the beetles decided to give up the busyness of dung ball rolling
and stayed together
at the top of the hill they had climbed together
tending their little pine tree

shiitake logs

in march of last year i inoculated a bunch of oak logs with shiitake mushroom spawn.  it went something like this:


the logs have to be drilled so the spawn can be introduced.  i bought a special drill bit (as well as all the spawn and inoculation tools and supplies) from field and forest products, a mushroom culture supply company.  the bit is designed to make holes the right diameter and depth for inoculation.

holes get drilled in sort of a diamond pattern 4-6 inches apart along the whole length of the log (my logs are about 32-36 inches long)

after the logs are drilled the spawn is packed into the holes with a special tool.  i chose a thumb inoculator because it only takes one hand to operate leaving the other hand free to manipulate the log as needed.

sawdust spawn and brass thumb inoculator

the inoculator is really easy to use.  the tip is plunged into the sawdust spawn a few times to load it.

once loaded it's placed over a hole and the spawn is pressed into the hole by pushing the spring-loaded thumb trigger at the top of the handle.

drilled hole packed with sawdust spawn

after all the holes are filled with spawn they are sealed with melted food grade paraffin wax.  i used an old crock pot i found at the local spca thrift to heat the wax.

applying melted wax with wax dauber

after i sealed the logs i labeled them with aluminum tags.

these tags are actually meant to be marked with a ball point pen to impress the information into the tag...not sure why i used sharpie but it has not held up in the weather.

then the waiting.  it takes at least several months after inoculation before log grown shiitakes will begin producing mushrooms.  it's important to sustain the moisture content of the logs so i've been watering them since inoculation.  i noticed a few days ago that (after more than a year after inoculation) a few of the logs are starting to fruit.  i suspect that our hot, dry climate contributed to the extra long period between inoculation and fruiting.   i'm curious to see how productive they'll be.   it's definitely been a fun experience.

shiitake mushroom pushing off wax cap at inoculation site

only a few so far but once things cool off a bit more and we get some more rain i think we'll get a pretty good flush from the logs that haven't started fruiting yet.  and then mushroom dinner for us.