It has been a much-abbreviated week in the garden, punctuated by our preparations for Thanksgiving. The family gathered at our house again this year. Fortunately, the guests brought the smoked turkey and pecan pies, as well as a pot of greens and a Philippine specialty that utilizes purple sweet potatoes and is a kind of pudding. We refer to it, perhaps not surprisingly, as "Purple Pudding."
With all that food being brought by others, there wasn't that much cooking for me to do. I made the family's traditional "Aunt Lurline's Cornbread Dressing" and a couple of other side dishes including a simple but (I thought) delicious cranberry relish that uses fresh cranberries, Clementines, and walnuts. In short, we had a feast! I hope you did, too.
Looking around the garden this morning, I went to check on my citrus trees. All of my citrus has suffered this year from citrus leaf curl which makes them look really ugly, but doesn't actually seem to affect their crops.
The little kumquat tree has a number of these little fruits, all still perfectly green.
While I was checking the kumquats, I found a couple of surprises in the form of Giant Swallowtail caterpillars. This one was out in the open and easy to see.
A second one was well hidden among the leaves. You can see how their camouflage as bird droppings serves them really well.
The Satsumas that I've shown you several times recently are beginning to change color and will be ready soon.
It's amaryllis time. I bought this one at a local store a couple of weeks ago, but when I unpacked the kit, the stem had already grown in a twisted fashion. Not very decorative for my purposes so it got relegated to my outside table, where it seems perfectly happy, even if it is twisted.
I hope you have much to be thankful for in your garden this week and this year. Happy gardening!
How wonderful to have those cats, what strange looking creatures.
ReplyDeleteAren't they though? They fascinate me every time I find one.
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