Planting Seeds and Gardening to take away my worries of Mom and #COVID19 #GardenCuizine #tuttoandràbene

Planting Seeds 
and making Rainbows!

The COVID19 pandemic arrived on the heels of mom having a nightmare hospital experience that landed her in a nursing home. Mom is so hard of hearing that we can't talk over the phone. We can't go visit with COVID19 precautions. And, now, we can't even do her laundry anymore. What can we do? We can follow the recommendations for staying safe, think positive and carry on. 

Children around the world are making rainbows and hanging their art in home windows. I'm going to make a rainbow sign with the Italian words: Tutto Andrà bene to show mom via Google Duo. She will love that. Everything will be all right!  And, in trying to be normal, today, I finally got a flat of seeds planted and under grow lights. Yay!

Seed starting indoors can be done any time. For our gardens, I have always started our seeds on St. Patty's Day; this is late for me.  

I never know just what I'm going to plant. The fun part is sorting through the many colorful seed storage containers piled high with thousands of varieties. 

Seeds store well in airtight baggies and commercial packets kept in a dark closet. Some seeds are pretty old; they keep for years. Keeping a garden journal helps me keep track of germination results.

Some seeds will be directly sown outdoors. I scattered some native seeds: Meadow Blazing Star and Echineacea Pallida yesterday. Seeds I selected so far for under our grow lights include the below list. 

For those of you reading this who have traded with me in the past, let me know if there is anything you want. I'm sure we can plan a safe swap with no contact driveway pick ups. When I get the next flat planted, I'll post the list.

SEEDS planted 2020 Happy Frog soil w/ pro mix
Plant	Sown	Germinated
1.      Moonflower Giant White 2018 Burpee	3/27	4/6
2.      2017 Chiltepin	3/27	4/10
3.      Petit Moineau Tomatoes 2017	3/27	4/3
4.      Salvia Fariosasa blue salvia	3/27
5.      Zinnia Giant Lavender 2016	3/27	4/2
6.      2014 Yvonnes Salvia	3/27
7.      2015 Goldman’s Tomatoes	3/27	4/7
8.      2018 large Heirloom Red	3/27	4/4
9.      Lady in Red Salvia	3/27	4/10
10.   Chocolate Cherry tomatoes 2015	3/27	4/4
11.   2011 Kiss Me Over the Garden Gate	3/28
12.   2018 green top red bottom heirloom tomatoes	3/28	4/2
13.   Salvia Splendens Vista Purple Lynn Weidman’s garden 2009	3/28
14.   2018 Coral Nymph Salvia	3/28	4/3
15.   2011 Italian Parsley comm seed	3/28
16.   Surprise seed ??? tomatillos?	3/28
17.   Sweet Basil meadowbrook 2009	3/28
18.   Zinnia Envy Ferry Morse	3/28	4/2
19.   Coronado Hyssop 2014	3/28
20.   Large white salvia 2010	3/28
21.   Zebra Heirloom tomato 2014	3/28	4/4

Be safe and Happy Gardening!
Andrà tutto bene!
God Bless you and your family - Diana
 
Blog post and photo Copyright (C)Wind. All rights reserved. Posted by Un po' di pepe in Amici e Famiglia, Italia, Italian life
Updated 4/3/2020

Enjoyed our Riviera Holiday at the Philadelphia Flower Show #FlowerShow

Philadelphia Flower Show 2020

Riviera Holiday

Enjoyed our Riviera Holiday at the Philadelphia Flower Show yesterday, despite the fears of the Corona Virus starting to close in on us. The French Riviera located south of France runs along the Mediterranean Sea. Yes, the beautiful coastline from the same Mediterranean region that made the Mediterranean diet the healthiest diet in the world!

Port Norris Sunset - South Jersey Wetlands - photo by Diana Wind

We couldn't wait to see my photograph in the photography exhibit! It is an honor to be selected by the judges to be in the show. There were a lot of people enjoying all the photos.

As always, there is never enough time to see everything. The displays featured a lot of rosemary, thyme, lavender, salvia, lemon and lime trees. 

I especially loved all the pergolas, mosaics, stone, terra cotta and pottery seen throughout the show.

The PHS Flower Show paid tribute to the late Princess Grace Kelly of Monaco. A replica of Princess Grace's wedding gown was featured in a garden display adorned with roses in all shades of pink.

We were hoping to see the butterfly exhibit, but the wait was 45 minutes so we did not get to see it yet again. Oh well... maybe some other time.

Next years show sounds wonderful, "Habitat". My kind of theme. I imagine it will feature native plants suitable for pollinators such as butterflies and bees.

Related Links
Nature Photography on my Birthday

Blog post and photographs Copyright (C)Wind. All rights reserved.

Proud to be in the Photography exhibit at the Philadelphia Flower Show! #philadelphiaflowershow

Philadelphia Flower Show 

Photography Contest Finalist

I'm proud to announce that one of my photographs got selected as a finalist in the 2020 Philadelphia Flower Show, Riviera Holiday, photography exhibit and competition. My photo shows a sunset that I shot in the South Jersey Wetlands. I'm not going to post it here. You can see it at the Flower Show. My entry is in Class 194 - Cirque du Soleil. The news of my photo being selected for the PHS photo contest could not have come at a better time.

This good news came in the midst of a completely horrible experience with my 88-year old mom going in the hospital for a pain in her leg on New Years Day, which morphed into a recommendation to send her to hospice.

The problem with her leg turned out to be nothing, but her hospital stay was a complete nightmare. Long story short, she nearly died before her God given time, going eight days without being fed food as they tried to find something wrong with her. Horrible, severe malnutrition followed. Actually, I'm still not recovered from the ordeal.

Today marks 37 days from Mom's midnight ride out of the hospital under a full moon to a rehab center. Here we are now celebrating a sunset! Like life itself, we take sunrises and sunsets for granted.

I'm thankful Mom is alive, happy and comfortable and here to share in the joy and happiness of me being in the Flower Show photography exhibit! Every day is a blessing.

Stop by the PHS photography exhibit to check out my photo along with all the other winners. Last years exhibitors were great.

See you at the show!

Diana Wind
Blog post and photo Copyright(C)Wind. All rights reserved.

Nature Photography at Amico Island - Deer and spectacular Sunset behind Phiadelphia Skyline #WindPhotography

Doe a Deer

Hobbies like nature photography get us out of the house for hours and moving more. Harry and I took our cameras to Amico Island Park located in Delran Township, NJ - part of Burlington County Parks System.

I was hesitant at first thinking how can I ever capture anything like my first visit to Amico Island photo. Do you remember the magnificent blue heron showing off his full wing span? That was on Amico Island.

On this visit, soon after our arrival, an excited photographer came up to us telling us she saw a large number of deer in the woods. I quickly went in that direction to see if I could find them. Harry stayed behind taking pictures of a beautiful landscape of tree reflections on a pond.

When I found the deer, they allowed me to take their pictures. The deer stayed together hiding in the woods as they listened for other walkers and kids riding their bikes. 

As you can see, I got close enough to see their sweet faces. Their color tones blended perfectly with the dried weeds and grasses in the winter landscape. A large buck strolled by too; I was in awe and could not react fast enough to snap his photo. The late day light streamed through the trees outlining the deer's bodies, even their whiskers! 

This was the first time I noticed deer had whiskers and distinct markings on their faces. They are such beautiful animals. 

Besides having white underside their tail, white-tailed deer display white rings around their eyes and nose that remind me of our cat Sammi. Sammi's eyes have beautiful, thick white outlines above and below her eyes.

After my hike thorough the woods and getting lost after wandering off to find deer to photograph; I finally found Harry on my way back to the car at a scenic overlook of the Philadelphia skyline.

Within minutes, just before the park closed, we had a chance to view a most spectacular orange glow across the Delaware River as the sun set behind Philadelphia!

Amico Island Sunset - Philadelphia Skyline by Diana Wind

Blog post and photographs Copyright (C)Wind. All rights reserved.

Christmas Pavlova dessert : Before and After decorating with fresh sugared cherries, cranberries and pomegranate #GardenCuizine

Christmas Pavlova

On Christmas Eve my first Pavlova cake went into the oven! The big decision was white or gold? The kind of vanilla extract makes a difference. I prefer natural vanilla flavor, so I didn't go with the clear vanilla. As you can see, the whipped egg whites turned a pale gold hue. It looked festive on the table beside the flickering candlelight.

Pavlova is really like a large meringue. It was baked on low heat for 1.5 hours. After baking, the Pavlova stayed in the oven overnight until crisp and light.

On Christmas Day it was time to decorate the Pavlova. For the frosting, in place of the cream cheese, I used freshly whipped cream and pureed, unstrained, cranberries and pomegranate seeds. Sugared cherries and cranberries served as a decorative topping, along with a few handfuls of glistening, juicy pomegranate arils (seeds/juice sacs).

I'm not a big fan of fresh rosemary (or mint) on desserts, so I used fresh bay leaves instead. We happen to have a potted bay laurel tree growing inside during the winter. The leaves were just for decoration. Of course, you don't want to eat a bay leaf!

This holiday Pavlova dessert was pretty straight forward and easy to make. The link to the recipe can be found in my previous blog post.

 Notes: Pavlova is light and delicious and would make a wonderful dessert any time of year. Meringues hold up best in dry versus humid conditions.

• If you do not see my other blog posts below, click on the watering can at the top of the blog to view more posts.

Blog post and photography Copyright (C)Wind. All rights reserved.

Christmas Holiday Dessert: Pizzelles, Gingerbread Cookies and ...Pavlova?

Christmas Holiday Dessert

During the holidays I make the usual Italian Pizzelles with Anise oil from the Italian Market in Philly. We usually have gingerbread cookies too; but, I haven't made them yet. We are low on all purpose flour; today, I'll buzz to the store to buy more. Besides Christmas cookies, I like to have a plan for a main holiday dessert feature. 

It is hard to think of dessert after eating Mom's traditional Italian lasagna dinner. Something on the lighter side would be most appealing. This year it is going to be something new for us - Christmas Pavlova. Have you ever made a Pavlova? Pavlova isn't exactly an Italian dessert, but I want to try it.

Pavlova originated in New Zealand and Australia and is made using a few simple ingredients that include egg whites, sugar and fresh fruits. A meringue is formed into one large or several small wreath shapes and baked. 

When ready to serve, the dessert is topped with fresh whipped cream and fruit. Pavlova cakes emerged around 1929 in honor of a famous Russian Ballerina named Anna Pavlova.

In looking online for Pavlova recipes, you'll find lots of ideas. One that struck me as Christmassy and gorgeous and interesting was by Lily and Dimitry at Gastrosenses.com. They used sugar-coated, whole cranberries and Pomegranate arils. Both fruits are readily available at this time of year. In fact, I picked up both yesterday at Walmart of all places!!

One thing I'll probably change from Lily's online recipe is the rosemary sprigs garnish. (I also saw rosemary used in a Pavlova featured in Victoria magazine.) I do love rosemary, but rosemary has strong oils and flavor that I don't want seeping into the delicate topping. Instead, I'm considering fresh green mint leaves. 

If I have time to take pictures and post more details of how our Christmas Pavlova turns out, I will. ...Stay tuned.

Happy Holidays and Happy Baking!
Related Links
Pavlova - Sally's Baking Addiction  
Blog post Copyright (C) Wind. All rights reserved.
Photo public domain Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova (1881-1931). Paris, 1st part of 1920s https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:AnnaPavlova.jpg 

Nature Photography in the Jersey Pines! @ConserveNJ @PinesAlliance #windphotography

Nature Photography Class

This past Saturday, Robert B. Laucks of Pinelands Adventures took us and a small group, on a wonderful 2-3 mile hike with our cameras and tripods in Franklin Parker Preserve for a nature photography class. This was our first time to this former cranberry farm area. It was beautiful! The perennial grasses and wetland areas were bursting with striking fall color.

Rob reviewed camera basics and functions with us; such as, ISO, shutter speed and aperture. He stressed the importance of light and showed us how to make a natural starburst; something Harry and I had learned on our photography trip in the Adirondacks. 

The weather was chilly as we expected for November. We didn't see any bobcats, Barred owls, pine snakes or deer, but I did see deer tracks in the sandy soil.

Photo by Diana Wind - 68mm ISO400 1/60 sec at f 5.6 NIKON D7100

We had plenty of pine cones to photograph to experiment with aperture settings on our cameras. We walked past charred pines and firewood from a controlled burn not long ago. Some of the pines were black on the bottom with rings of healthy, green growth midway and on up along the tree trunks.

One of the trails we walked along had a historic South Jersey train track from the 1920's that I had not heard of before. It was called the Blue Comet train. How do you like my first monochrome photograph of the track to show leading lines?

Historic Blue Comet train tracks (1929-1941, NY to Atlantic City) - photo by Diana Wind

After years of using my camera on auto setting and wondering why my photos were horrible, I'm finally comfortable using manual at all times. We were all using manual settings on our DSLR cameras. I used a Nikon D7100 with an 18-300 mm lens. 

Franklin Parker Preserve has about 5,000 acres of wetlands and over 4,000 acres of pine oak forest - a bounty of natural wildlife and habitats. We look forward to going back again soon. Obviously, cameras can only capture a small fraction of all that is there. 

Thanks Rob! 

And thanks to the person who shared homemade pistachio cranberry and chocolate chip cookies with all of us on the bus ride home.Yum!

Related Links
More About Franklin Parker Preserve
Discover Nature Near You in NJ

Blog post and photos Copyright (C)Wind. All rights reserved.

@BurlCoNJ Wildlife Photography pic of today #windphotography

Great Blue Heron - wingspan: 5.5 to 6.6 feet

Amico Island Wildlife

Captured this photo of a beautiful, large bird on our fall nature walk this morning at Amico Island in Burlington County NJ. It looks like a Great Blue Heron - .Ardea herodias. We also saw some white herons, ducks, spiders, a snake and smaller migrating birds. 

Although I have lived nearby for all these years, this was the first time we ever went to Amico Island. We went with a group lead by Jennifer Bulava, the head Burlington County Parks System park naturalist. We will surely be back with our cameras! 

Thanks for the guided tour, Jenn!

Related Links
Great Blue Heron
Amico Island
Fall Migration Story of Harper, a Great Blue Heron

Photo Copyright (C)Wind. All rights reserved.

Monarch Butterfly sighting in Mt. Laurel NJ in our backyard on Mexican Sunflowers!

photo by Diana Wind

Fall Monarch Butterfly 

Sighting 

in Mt. Laurel, NJ

Another adult Monarch Butterfly was seen on our Mexican Sunflowers this afternoon. I reported the sighting on JourneyNorth's statistics data collection. Report your sightings; citizen scientists make an important contribution to the understanding of monarchs and their incredible life cycle and migration.

We also refilled our hummingbird feeders today with fresh nectar. I wasn't sure if any hummingbirds were still around,,, they are! We had a female visiting at the red cannas that border our veggie garden just after refilling the feeders. So glad that I did.

Happy Gardening and Hummingbird and Monarch watching!
Grow a patch of Milkweed and Monarch butterflies will come.

Related Links
Amazing Year for Eastern Monarch Population

Blog post and photo Copyright (C)Wind. All rights reserved.

Nature photography on my Birthday! #gardencuizine where oyster harvesting made history

photo by Diana Wind

Discover Port Norris New Jersey

After the oyster industry crashed and most of the rich moved away, Port Norris, NJ became one of the the poorest areas in the state. But in terms of nature's riches, Port Norris wins the gold for the best sunsets, the best grasses and the best salt marshes.

The more times I visit Port Norris, the more I love it. We went last night to walk along the wetlands and photograph the sunset. We parked the car in the lot at Bayshore Center at Bivalve and walked over to the trails.

There are miles of walkways along parts of the 4,000 acres of restored wetlands. It's peaceful there. Only one other person passed us on our walk; he was riding a bike. 

The grasses were taller than we remembered from our last visit with the Monarch Family Success Center group. We could hardly see the old oyster shack that Harry took a photo of the last time.

We walked along the path to the Maurice River and stopped to watch the birds catching fish. We decided the best area to photograph the sunset was closer to the largest observation platform. We walked back along the crushed shells.

The sky was blue and clear. Almost too clear for interesting photographs. Not a cloud in the sky - just birds, lots of birds. I can see why the area attracts bird enthusiasts. As the sun began to set, a warm glow spread across the entire salt marsh. As you can see, the sunset was breath taking.

Related Links
When Oyster Boats Ruled
Bayshore Center at Bivalve 
Treasures of the Marshland 
Oystering

Blog post and photograph Copyright (C)Wind. All rights reserved.

More Monarch Butterflies emerged in our NJ garden! #monarchmigration #gardenchat

photo by Harry Wind - edited by Diana Wind

Dorian was born! 

Dorian's chrysalis bobbed back and forth beneath a protective milkweed leaf as winds from Hurricane Dorian passed us along the Jersey coast after battering the Bahamas. As days passed by and the winds passed, Mother nature's course continued. The leaf started curling and browning. It probably wasn't the best idea to form a chrysalis under a milkweed leaf.  Amazingly, no other caterpillars ate that leaf and this story has a happy ending.

Dorian was born! As the sun warmed the morning air, this beautiful Monarch butterfly crawled out of the chrysalis. Nearby, another beauty did too. Yes, two more adult Monarchs to join the 2019 Monarch migration.

Harry noticed that they literally hung out around their chrysalis' mid-morning for a few hours while their wings dried. Learning about the amazing life cycle of Monarch butterflies has been the highlight of our summer. Dorian took 15 days to eclose (emerge). All I can say is, plant Milkweed and they will come. 

Happy Monarch Watching!
Photo and blog post Copyright (C)Wind. All rights reserved.

@monarchwatch @SaveOurMonarchs @journeynorthorg Our milkweed meadow monarch watch update #monarchbutterfly

Our Milkweed Meadow

Monarch Report

My last post talked about the many monarch caterpillars we have this summer thanks to allowing milkweed to grow in our front yard. In the USA, monarch butterfly populations have been declining rapidly due to habitat loss of mainly milkweed. Monarch butterflies need milkweed to survive. We grow it just for the monarchs.

We love milkweed's pleasant fragrance; it's a native plant. And, you do not need a green thumb to grow it. Any homeowner can grow it. Ours grows in a small area that we don't mow or water - basically, a mini (pocket) meadow.

This morning I went out to look for a monarch caterpillar that I noticed Sept. 2nd, hanging under a milkweed leaf in the classic "J" shape - shown in the top photo. And, sure enough, the caterpillar must have shed it's skin soon after I saw it and produced an outer green protective, thimble-sized, pupa (chrysalis) in perfect form. 

Wow! Super exciting to see; and, beautiful too. I never realized chrysalis have a sparkly gold band at the top. I also discovered another chrysalis hanging from a branch in a nearby shrub. 

When metamorphosis is complete, a spectacular monarch butterfly will emerge and join the others in a captivating fall migration. These special, fourth generation, monarch butterflies live the longest. This generation of south-bound butterflies travel over 2,000 miles to their over-wintering destination high up in the mountains of Central Mexico. And, when winter is over, they turn around and fly back to the USA - absolutely an amazing journey.

Updates: 9/15/19- The good news is the chrysalis under the milkweed leaf is still hanging. The bad news is that the leaf is shriveling up and dying now and won't last much longer. ...Come on butterfly... come on!! I just saw a monarch butterfly, but it wasn't this one. I have been watching 2 other chrysalis too; 3 in all. The one in the sun on a shrub branch has beads of sweat on it and you can see the darker butterfly wings inside! 

9/16/19- Guess What? Harry said the chrysalis on the shrub was dark in color this morning. By the time I got home from work, later in the day, the monarch was gone! The other 2, including the chrysalis on the dying milkweed leaf, have turned darker in color and look ready now too. My bet is sometime in the morning. I also saw another caterpillar! The Monarch life cycle is fascinating.

Related Links
Journey South
Monarch Butterflies Migrate 3,000 miles  
Blog post and photos Copyright (C)Wind. All rights reserved.

@monarchwatch Success! Monarch caterpillars all over our milkweed meadow. Yay! #savethemonarchs

Grow a Milkweed Meadow 
for Monarch Success!

Our pocket meadow is proving to be a huge success! Harry's Meadow covers a small piece of our front lawn that we decided not to mow. With a little encouragement and select weeding, common milkweed is flourishing. Milkweed leaves are where monarch butterflies lay their eggs. When monarch caterpillars emerge, they are at the table of their only food source - milkweed. 

A few weeks ago we enjoyed watching and photographing monarch butterflies. We have had a banner year for butterflies - more than ever! Some of the attraction may be that our yard now has many plants that are good nectar sources, including: Milkweed, Joe Pye weed, Echinacea, Liatris and Mexican Sunflowers. 

A few weeks ago, monarch butterflies mated and laid their eggs. Now, we are seeing lots of monarch caterpillars (larvae stage) on the milkweed plants eating the leaves. 

These feeding monarch caterpillars take 10-14 days to molt (5-stages) and grow before leaving the caterpillar larva stage. 

After the larva stage comes the pupa stage, when their chrysalis hangs camouflaged somewhere. It takes another 10-14 days to develop into beautiful monarch butterflies. These late summer monarchs are the 4th generation that join the monarch migration to over-winter in Central Mexico!

Our meadow didn't start out as all milkweed. The area has been invaded by Mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris), an undesirable, invasive weed. We continue to pull it out to make room for milkweed to spread.  

Along with monarch caterpillars we also have lots of orange milkweed bugs. We decided to leave the bugs alone and let them do their thing. They seem to be coexisting on the milkweed plants along with the feasting caterpillars. Yesterday, I stopped counting at 11 caterpillars and one monarch butterfly!

I have been looking around the meadow for where the caterpillars may go to form their monarch chrysalis for metamorphosis. I noticed a caterpillar hanging straight down from a dying Queen Anne's lace plant. Could this be the chrysalis spot for that caterpillar?

In searching for more information I came across the links below that I found helpful. And, I joined and reported our sightings on Journey North.

Happy Gardening and Monarch Watching!

Related Links
Monarch Life Cycle
Monarch Biology
Advocate to your elected officials

update 9/2/19: the hanging caterpillar from the Queen Anne's lace plant was dead. Not sure what killed it. The good news is that today I did spot a live monarch caterpillar going into the pupa stage underneath a milkweed leaf.

Blog post and photos Copyright (C)Wind. All rights reserved.Top photo of monarch caterpillar on leaf edge was also posted on Journey North who was given permission for use.