The magnificent cecropia! Found this evening at dusk, inflating and drying its wings just a few inches above its large cocoon!! So cool to watch so colorful, perfect and new, pictures just can’t do it justice. Notice its bottom wing tips look an awful lot like a snake or perhaps some other reptile? On close inspection its surreal body is quite furry looking. So lucky to see one every so often. The cecropia does not eat or drink and only lives a few weeks :- (

We have been looking for the tree frog that we’ve been hearing every day and we finally got a good look at it. It had been perching in the pear tree and no matter how hard we strained our necks we just couldn’t spot it till last night. Maybe it did not appreciate the flashlight shining on it so it but it obligingly jumped down where we luckily get a good look and picture. It’s a gray tree frog, not uncommon in PA but not as prolific as the peeper. It was calling and responding to another about a half mile away. Check out that skin!! Lots of bumps!! Most of the pictures in field guides show it green, they have the ability to blend in with their background, this one was definitely brown at the time. Its call is pleasant and frequent

When we planted mulberries our thoughts were that the birds would prefer them to the blueberries. We have noticed how fond the chickens are of the black as ink berries. But now after reading up on the health benefits of mulberries perhaps we should be hoping the birds fill up on the blueberries and leave the mulberries alone!!

Mulberries are a great source of resveratrol, a potent phytonutrient that researchers believe can prevent cancer and aid in the fight of existing cancers. Mulberry anthocyanins, cyanidin 3-rutinoside and cyanidin 3-glucoside, exhibited an inhibitory effect on the migration and invasion of a human lung cancer cell line. They calm the nerves and enhance immunity, and possess antiviral activity as well as fight aging and neurological diseases, they fight or control diabetes and fight against bacterial infections.

Mulberry is also a good source of nutrients that lower high blood pressure. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reports that eating just five ounces of the berries a day can lower blood pressure, reducing the risk of blood clots and strokes.

According to the Journal of Medicinal Food they also protect the body against cardiovascular disease.. Mulberry, along with improving blood circulation, protects the body against cardiovascular disease, also cures people who suffer from heart palpitations. Epidemiological studies confirm, the berries reduce the risk of many degenerative diseases such as chronic arthritis and atherosclerosis

Ok enough already, I think you could live forever if you eat mulberries every day. The birds can have the blueberries, the mulberries seem to be the real superfruit and they are delicious to boot!

cherries again

No apologies... cherries again! About halfway through the season- picking the Royal Annes tomorrow. and no doubt i will have to take pictures! The blueberries are starting to get ripe and the red raspberries planted last summer. it is a good time of the year - the summer solstice.

Anther lucky find, extremely lucky! We really think that this may be a pygmy shrew, an extremely rare mammal in PA that is on the endangered species list. Post-1970 surveys at historic Pennsylvania sites failed to reveal this species. In fact, numerous surveys in likely habitats have resulted in the collection of only three specimens in more than 20 years!!!! We have seen this in the past on the farm, it is unfortunate but it was accidentally stepped on.
Having a hard time finding an expert that can give a positive ID, I hope this is what we think it is

They say the rose is jealous of the peony…tis no wonder. Scent sublime, ephemeral, susceptible to rot, struck down by heavy rains but we absolve their faults for their lush grandeur. I cannot think of June without envisioning the peonies in their shades of pink and red.

How cool to find another arrowhead on the farm! The first one, the one on the right, was found about 25 years ago when a ditch was being dug in front of the house. Could it be from the late woodland period? Looking at the picture in Discovering Pennsylvania’s Archeological Heritage by Barry C. Kent, it seems so. The other one, that we found planting squash in the apple tree nursery atop the hill behind the house, seems to be from the archaic period. Could be wrong of course! Interestingly the older period one was found on top the ground (after being tilled) and the earlier period one was several ft. underground. I know that such objects get shifted all around in the plow zone, so it makes sense. Word has it that this area has been known as a good place for finding arrowheads. The indian path, the Shamokin Trail, runs right in front of the house and there are several springs on the farm. We still today, depend on the springs for our water.

Happy June day, the cherries are getting ripe!! no late freeze this year! We will have cherries, apples, peaches, pears and mulberries!! At least for today- Life is just a bowl of cherries.

Harvested these overwintered leeks and they made some great soup. Probably could have picked these any time earlier, but it was nice to have this as a spring root crop. There is not a lot ready in the garden yet because we had such a wet spring this year and planted late. We have been harvesting loads of strawberries, the sweet reward of last spring's planting.