Raising Gazorpazorp Part 3
Apr. 1st, 2021 08:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
taz_39Thursday:
Woke up earlier than I wanted to, but all I could think about was getting that dang giant milkweed into the ground already.
I'm glad I waited an extra day to do the major gardening, because it was about 20 degrees cooler out. A nice cold front passing through. It made gardening pleasant. Well aware that I might not see weather like this again for there rest of the year, I not only planted the milkweed but also moved a lot of soil (i.e. SAND) to fill in the pollinator garden. It's on a slight slope, so the torrential rains wash a lot of stuff away and it creates channels that pull water away from the plants. So I dumped sand and my leftover garden soil around the plants, then stole mulch from the neighbor's edging to top it all off. Don't feel bad for the neighbors, it's a vacation rental. No one comes to Florida on vacation looking at the mulch.
Here's the giant milkweed, next to the regular milkweed that has all the fungus spores or whatever.
(the plant should survive the spores, just the caterpillars prefer uninfected leaves as you can well imagine)
To top off my work, I added a butterfly puddler that I'd bought on Etsy (for far too much, but it's handmade and all).
Supposedly this is a high-fired mineral clay that will exude minerals when wet by summer rains and then left to dry.
I kind of don't believe it'll work that way, especially since I soaked it for about an hour and it dried out in seconds. I'm wondering if I should have it sitting in a tray of water or something. Whatever, it looks pretty anyway. We'll see how functional it is.
I checked on the caterpillars, and there was a lot more poop, which is great, they're eating and growing.
In fact, I caught this guy eating his molted skin, meaning he';s probably on the fourth instar. Damn! Just one more until he's ready to try to become a butterfly! It's only been a week!! (Click the little right arrow to see a few more pics)
I feel an overwhelming urge to buy a GoPro so I can document the whole chrysalis thing while away at work.
I have a Hero 4, but I think it's bricked. I haven't been able to get it to work or hold a charge, and the latest update I can find is from 2016.
Hmm.
After lunch I boiled some eggs for deviled eggs for Easter Sunday, then Jameson asked for potato Chicago dogs (it's the start of baseball season!) so I hit Publix for potatoes and hot dogs. It's pretty much the same as a Chicago dog but on a potato instead of a bun.
After dinner I surprised myself by actually practicing steno while Jameson played games, and then we watched Top Chef together.
Tomorrow (Friday) I have an interview for another internal job opening. Then I pick up some ham for Easter from HoneyBaked Ham. Then I've promised to bring a roselle seedling to someone "on the way" home from work, which is actually 30 minutes out of the way, but whatever. She will give me a white milkweed in exchange.
Lots of plant stuff this week, huh. Lots going on. Next weekend I've got three days off.
Woke up earlier than I wanted to, but all I could think about was getting that dang giant milkweed into the ground already.
I'm glad I waited an extra day to do the major gardening, because it was about 20 degrees cooler out. A nice cold front passing through. It made gardening pleasant. Well aware that I might not see weather like this again for there rest of the year, I not only planted the milkweed but also moved a lot of soil (i.e. SAND) to fill in the pollinator garden. It's on a slight slope, so the torrential rains wash a lot of stuff away and it creates channels that pull water away from the plants. So I dumped sand and my leftover garden soil around the plants, then stole mulch from the neighbor's edging to top it all off. Don't feel bad for the neighbors, it's a vacation rental. No one comes to Florida on vacation looking at the mulch.
Here's the giant milkweed, next to the regular milkweed that has all the fungus spores or whatever.
(the plant should survive the spores, just the caterpillars prefer uninfected leaves as you can well imagine)
To top off my work, I added a butterfly puddler that I'd bought on Etsy (for far too much, but it's handmade and all).
Supposedly this is a high-fired mineral clay that will exude minerals when wet by summer rains and then left to dry.
I kind of don't believe it'll work that way, especially since I soaked it for about an hour and it dried out in seconds. I'm wondering if I should have it sitting in a tray of water or something. Whatever, it looks pretty anyway. We'll see how functional it is.
I checked on the caterpillars, and there was a lot more poop, which is great, they're eating and growing.
In fact, I caught this guy eating his molted skin, meaning he';s probably on the fourth instar. Damn! Just one more until he's ready to try to become a butterfly! It's only been a week!! (Click the little right arrow to see a few more pics)
https://instagram.com/p/CNIiaGAgan6
I feel an overwhelming urge to buy a GoPro so I can document the whole chrysalis thing while away at work.
I have a Hero 4, but I think it's bricked. I haven't been able to get it to work or hold a charge, and the latest update I can find is from 2016.
Hmm.
After lunch I boiled some eggs for deviled eggs for Easter Sunday, then Jameson asked for potato Chicago dogs (it's the start of baseball season!) so I hit Publix for potatoes and hot dogs. It's pretty much the same as a Chicago dog but on a potato instead of a bun.
After dinner I surprised myself by actually practicing steno while Jameson played games, and then we watched Top Chef together.
Tomorrow (Friday) I have an interview for another internal job opening. Then I pick up some ham for Easter from HoneyBaked Ham. Then I've promised to bring a roselle seedling to someone "on the way" home from work, which is actually 30 minutes out of the way, but whatever. She will give me a white milkweed in exchange.
Lots of plant stuff this week, huh. Lots going on. Next weekend I've got three days off.
