It's the International Day of Biological Diversity!
Theme for 2020-Our Solutions are in Nature.
Hmmm? How about we transform our yards for Nature!

In the midst of preparing for this week's blog, one of my Philly friends, a champion for the Earth since its dawning, sent me a link to a webinar by author, Doug Tallamy. I joined, I watched, my mind is still exploding, and now I try to synthesize this information for families to apply at home.

But first,

Here is an amazing webinar presented on May 4, 2020 to Florida Wildflower Foundation members and friends, in which author Doug Tallamy does a superb job explaining the need to protect caterpillars and how we can do this in your own yards:

Doug Tallamy: A Guide to Restoring the Little Things that Run the World

Doug Tallamy's website supporting his book Nature's Best Hope.

So, in a nutshell, caterpillars are baby butterflies and moths. Butterflies and moths pollinate flowering plants, and the caterpillars are essential food for birds. No caterpillars=no fruit and seeds= no plants= no animals, no humans, no birds,  no life as we know it. 

85% of the property is privately owned, this includes our yards. If we look to "Nature" for our solution, as if it is something separate, something over there, something we drive to, something we pass a bill to protect; we are missing the most important place for us to live in harmony with nature- at our homes and yards, and in our neighborhoods.

So what can we do?

1. Shrink your lawn. 

My son put in a Monarch butterfly waystation as a school project. 

2. Plant keystone native plants. Keystone species hold the ecosystem together because so many other animals depend on them for survival. What is one of the most important keystone plants of all?

The oak tree!

Over 500 butterflies species use the oak tree at a host plant as caterpillars, providing food and shelter. 

Butterfly Tree Hosts

Also, plant native species and remove invasive species. Here is a great link to find Native plant species by zipcode: Native Plant Finder

A great app to use to identify plants and animals is INaturalist. https://www.inaturalist.org/

I love to add wildflowers as companion plants in my vegetable garden and around fruit trees. These cosmos are doing a great job attracting pollinators to my peach blossoms. 

3. Cut light pollution. Light pollution kills moths, and baby moths are caterpillars. Lights can also mess up the circadian rhythms of animals, confusing when they should sleep, eat, migrate, etc. Switch our home exterior lights to yellow LED bulbs and use motion-detecting lights.

4. Don't rake the leaves! Leaves under trees provide an important habitat for insects to pupate,  including most moths.

There is much more we can do to protect butterflies and caterpillars: avoid using pesticides, buy and eat organic; most importantly, learn. Learn what plants butterflies like, which plants are invasive- crowding out other native plants- and should be removed, and fall in love with nature and the wonderment of how everything truly is connected. 

My sketchnotes from Doug Tallamy's Nature's Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation that Starts in your Yard.

Happy International Day of Families! 

Celebrate by creating a pressed leaf family tree.

International Day of Families, founded by the United Nations in 1994, occurs every year on May 15th. Each year has a different theme with this year's theme being "Families in Development." The theme was chosen to bring attention to issues, such as poverty and healthcare, and encourage policy change to better support families.  

This theme also brings to mind how families change. They grow with marriage and birth, and can also get smaller. Sometimes we have friends we are so close to they are like a family. Sometimes our pets are like family. I have a very interesting family. I was adopted as a baby by my mom and dad that raised me with two sisters. Changes happened, my parents married new partners and had new children. Two half-sisters and a step-sister became my sisters. Then in my twenties I met my birth mother, plus two brothers. In my 30's I met my birth father, plus two more sisters and a brother. Wow, talk about a family in development. 

I feel so grateful to be an adopted person as I personally know families come in all different shapes and sizes, and love is the most important bond of all. 

How to Make A Pressed Leaf Family Tree

1. Gather fresh leaves from plants. Harvest responsibly by only taking a few leaves from each plant. You don't have to choose tree leaves. I used buckwheat and sweet potato leaves because they were heart-shaped. I also gathered some black-eyed pea leaves and leaves from wildflowers.

2. To press leaves layer cardboard with 5 sheets of paper, gently arrange leaves on paper so leave lie flat without overlapping. Top with 5 more sheets of scrap paper. Keep stacking cardboard, paper, leaves, paper, cardboard, etc until you have all leaves sandwiched in the stack of paper and cardboard. Top with wood and heavy books.

3. The next day, switch out the paper with fresh dry scrap paper so the moisture from the leaves can continue to wick out.  The leaves will feel dry and thin as paper when ready for use in a collage, in about a week or two depending on the type of leaves used.

4. The family tree collage can be made on wood or cardboard. I used cardboard from the back of a large sketch pad.

5. Draw and the trunk of your tree, grass, and sky. No need to color in the top of the tree as it will be covered with real leaves.

6. Now cover with a thinned glue, one part water to one part glue. If you used marker, the color will spread, resulting in a more painterly quality. 

7. Begin to place your leaves on the tree, brushing on more glue as needed. Also, brush over the leaves with glue.

Tip: Have a variety of leaf sizes. Luckily I already had a few small leaves dried from another project. My large leaves made it hard to fill in small spaces.

8. Let the collage dry overnight. When it is dry, you are ready to add the names of your family members. I included my pets and a few close friends that are like family to me. Who is in your family?

Luna!

Pineapple: The Snack that Keeps on Giving!

Next time you enjoy some tasty fresh pineapple, why not stick the leafy top into the ground and grow yourself another one. It's easy!

1. After cutting up a pineapple, save the leafy crown. Pull off as much moist flesh as you can and set the crown aside to dry out a bit. We have a glass holder in the pantry that makes a convenient place to store pineapple tops before planting. 

2. When the crown end is dried out, pull off any brown leaves. Dig a hole in the desired location, place crown stem in the hole and fill in with dirt. Be sure not to cover the crown with soil. 

So, where is the "desired location?"

This plant will get big and pokey, so be sure it is not in a place that could be a hazard. 

I have a raised bed under an oak tree that had a pineapple growing in it when we moved in. I have since planted more pineapple crowns in this bed. Even with the shade, they have grown amazingly well. We have three pineapple plants currently bearing fruit.  

Since I am running out of room in the raised bed, I started planting pineapple crowns with my banana trees around a pit compost. It can take about 24 months for a pineapple crown to bear fruit. The happier the plant is, the faster it will grow and bear fruit.

Trivia time!

What fruit is related to Spanish Moss?

Clue:

Yes, pineapple and Spanish Moss (Tillandsia usneoides) are related. They are both in the family Bromeliaceae, the Bromeliad family. 

Remember, the next time you enjoy pineapple, why not keep it growing!

Happy Mother's Day to Moms Everywhere and to my hen, Morgie! 

We have had a lot of excitement at my house. It started out as a bit of a gag. My daughter, a graduating senior from Lake Wales High School, has a friend, a fellow graduate, who was in need of some support and planned to stop by to pick up some chicken eggs. Well with his fulltime job and school, he never made it over, and the eggs sat out for a week. So I decided to fashion an incubator out of a broken boogie board and a heat lamp to see if the eggs would hatch, then when he shows up I could be like- It took you long enough, the eggs hatched into chickens! 

I did a bit of research, made sure the temperature and humidity were good. I also marked the eggs with an O on one side and an X on the other side, to help ensure they were all turned correctly, at least 4 times a day.

So what about momma hen Morgie!?

Let me give you a little background information on my hen, Morgie. Morgie is a Barred Rock and is named after the Bengali word for chicken, Murogira. She is very independent. While my other hens follow our rooster, Jenner, into the coop each night, Morgie roosts on the tree branches above.  Every night, whoever is closing the coop would have to push a broom under Morgie in the tree, so she would climb on the broom and be carefully moved to the coop, like a circus chicken. A couple of days after starting the eggs in the incubator, Morgie was not in the tree at dusk. She had become broody. She had moved into a nesting box and that was that. She wanted to hatch some eggs. So we moved the eggs to her box, and she happily took over caring for the eggs.

She was such a good momma hen. She was attentive, only leaving her clutch of eggs once a day to eat and drink. When the eggs started hatching, I am not sure she left at all. As I moved water close to her and the first two hatchlings, she looked so grateful as she sipped the water. By the next day, 7 adorable chicks had hatched. We moved mom and the chicks to their own protected area of the chicken coop. It has been so much fun watching Morgie and her chicks. Look at how cute they are!

Motherhood is such a joy. 

Here is a yummy recipe to make for Mother's Day or any day.

Keto Baked Coconut Custards

I am so grateful to my chickens for the eggs they share with my family. Here is a tasty recipe that is delicious enough for dessert and healthy enough for breakfast!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup unsweetened flaked coconut

3 large eggs

1 large egg yolk

1/3 cup Swerve, or similar sugar substitute (you can use sugar if desired)

1 cup half and half (or milk)

1 cup coconut milk (or milk)

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)

1. Position oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 325 F. Place six 5-ounce custard cups in a 13x9 casserole dish. Set a kettle of water on to boil.

2. Spread coconut flakes on a baking sheet and bake until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Remove from the oven. Set aside 1/4 cup coconut flakes and divide the rest evenly between the custard cups.

3. In a medium bowl, whisk eggs, egg yolk, and sugar substitute until blended. Combined half and half, coconut milk, vanilla, and cinnamon. Whisk into egg mixture. Strain into a large measuring cup. Pour into the custard cups.

4. Place the casserole dish with custard cups on the center rack of the preheated oven and add enough boiling water to come halfway up the sides of the custard cups. 

5. Bake 25 to 30 minutes, until the custard, is set in the center. Remove from the oven. Carefully remove custard cups from the casserole dish with a spatula and oven mitt. Place of a rack to cool.

6. Sprinkle custard tops with the reserve toasted coconut flakes. Serve warm or chilled.

Enjoy!