Okay I am going to show my ignorance here, but I honestly did not know what a garlic scape was.
Yesterday I was out back checking on my tiny garden and saw these interesting pointy things on the tops of my garlic that I had planted last fall.
I’ve heard of garlic scapes, but have never seen one. In fact the other day at the organic grocery store, a lady in front of me mentioned them. I didn’t pay much attention, but put 2 and 2 together and looked them up this morning. Sure enough – it’s what I have in my garden!
So now I guess I need to cut them and use them in my cooking.
Can’t tell you too much more, as this is all new to me. But I love garlic in any form and leaving the scapes on the garlic means they will flower and go to seed. That isn’t good for the growing bulb, so I’ll be out cutting them today.
Author: Pam
New England native, Florida resident. Blogging about boating, beach-combing, gardening, camping, and knitting.
Photos and Friends By The Lake
I used to live near Gregg Lake in New Hampshire and I had the opportunity to go back there a few days ago to take some photos from some of my favorite spots. The little bridge on Craig Road always offers a nice view looking off either side, and the wildlife didn’t disappoint me. The heron was on the far side of the swampy area, just off to the left in this picture, and I took a photo of him but it didn’t come out very well. I didn’t see any snapping turtles or snakes sunning, but I almost stepped on a big frog at the edge of the water. He didn’t move even though I was very close, so I took his picture.
The blueberries are plentiful, but still green of course. I’ll have to get back there in a month or so to pick some. It was quiet and peaceful and although some people were using the public beach, the water is still too cold for many I assume.
I saw an old friend drive by and met a new one. Tina was walking and asked me what I was photographing and I said, “just nature”. So we struck up a conversation and she told me that she had been coming to the lake each summer for over 50 years. Her family owns one of the few houses along the road.
I asked if she’d seen a lot of changes to the Lake area, but she said no, not really. That is the nice thing about living in a quiet small town, things don’t change too quickly. One of the things that makes Gregg Lake a nice place to kayak, swim or fish is that not many big, noisy boats want to bother with such a small lake. We had a nice talk and she told me about how she had come across a loon while out in her kayak and how it stayed right close by for about 45 minutes. She said it was so close that she could have touched it had she wanted to.
I love the water, and that is why. It’s always interesting and so full of life. I love having my own home now, but I miss my time spent walking around the lake area. Fortunately I am not too far away to visit, and I will again soon.
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Our Pack Monadnock Hike in June
Ever since I moved to this area of New Hampshire I’ve been driving over Temple Mountain and past Miller State Park where Pack Monadnock is located. It’s the smaller mountain with big, Mount Monadnock in the distance and I live so close that it was ridiculous not to hike the trails there.
Yesterday was sunny and gorgeous. With temps near 70 and clear skies, my teenage son and I drove about 10 minutes to the parking area of Pack Monadnock and then had to choose a trail to climb.
Knowing nothing except that there was a yellow trail – the Wapack Trail, and a blue trail, we chose the blue one and began our 1.4 mile trek to the top.
Now, 1.4 miles doesn’t sound like much, but to someone who doesn’t hike much, it turned out to be a strenuous little hike for me. All together it took us about 2 hours, with a short stop at the top. However, coming back down was not easy either as we chose the other trail – yellow – which turned out to be very rocky, but with great views of Mount Monadnock. The yellow trail seemed to be very well worn and I assume it is the most used. The blue trail was narrower and in the woods, without views. Next time I would hike the opposite way – go up on yellow and down on blue. Live and learn.
Don’t expect great views from the top either – unless you still have energy to climb the tower! There are probably great views from up there. There is a sign that points to “Boston views” and I got a photo, but the trees partially covered the view.
The top of Pack Monadnock has a road and parking area, with picnic tables and a bathroom, but it does not have a clear 360 degree view like other mountains I’ve climbed. One spot has a nice view of Mount Monadnock as you can see in my photo below. And you’ll get other views like this on the yellow trail. There is an Auto Road to the top so you don’t have to climb the trails, and it costs money to use it, but it was closed yesterday. Read more at the Miller State Park site.
Here are some of my photos of what you will see on the Pack Monadnock hike.
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My Encounter With The Turd Bug
As I was checking on my newly planted tomato plants the other day, I noticed this black spot on a leaf. I thought at first it was just a bird turd because that is what it looked like. The bluejays and chickadees like to perch on the wire cages that are around the tomatoes and I almost didn’t look further, but then I saw another one – and it looked exactly the same.
Upon closer inspection I saw that it was a bug! I picked it up and it had a hard shell that split in half to reveal wings and it flew away. Like a ladybug, but not as cute. I noticed quite a few of them and began to pick them off the leaves because I noticed that they were chewing holes. I call it a turd bug because I have no idea what it is, but it looks like bird poop.
I’ve never encountered this bug before. If you know what it is, please leave me a message.
Update: They are now on my potato plants too.
12-11-12 …. Also…. Thank you to the reader who said they may be the Clavate Tortoise beetle or Plagiometiona clavata. I think so…!!! Many thanks.
See more photos on my Hydrangeas Blue blog where I wrote again about this bug when it showed up again.
