Well it has been a very busy summer....
But wanted to catch everyone up that may read about our adventures on our little farm. The summer has went fast, as it usually does!
Our little gardens of food has provided enough for Scott and I to eat from, but not enough to can. I did get to can some tomatoes, (24 quarts) and will can about that much more, but not enough cucumbers for pickles. I am sad a bout that. Plenty of zucchini,
and I will harvest the black eyed peas soon. That is a first for me. I will have some winter squash too-sadly our peppers did not do well.
One of the fun things I did this year was something I use to do when younger-watch the development of a monarch butterfly! Do you know that if you try to help a butterfly hatch, it can kill it? It must break out of its 'shell' on its own.
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| this one has just come out of its chrysalis see how the wings are wrinkled? When if first comes out, it is very wrinkled ---looks shriveled up almost! In order for it to survive, it must do all of this itself...it makes the wings stronger. |
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this one has been 'drying for about 2 hours" and it is a male (their are two spots, sort of like dots that are scent spots on the lower wings)
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So while out mowing on the back 40, I found some larva (5) and put them into a large gallon jar. Fed them plenty of milk weed and watch them turn into a chrysalis. then the day they would "break out" from their protective chrysalis, the chrysalis turned black, but you could see the butterfly thru the clear protective covering.
It is neat how it goes from green to clear so you can see it. It looks black because of the change and the clearness-your seeing the black on the wings. Then you look closer and you see the orange too!
It will hatch that day. 3 hatched on one day, so I did some photos. they are below-from the larva stage to the end-the butterfly! Enjoy!
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| the larva is getting into the "J" position and ready to spin the chrysalis |
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| its silk is put on the glass jar to hold it in place... |
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| just getting done, notice the moisture (even a drop of fluid towards the bottom of the photo) and the shape is not very smooth, "bumpy" |
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| the shape is still "bumpy" |
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| the shape is much smoother, notice the gold color on the outside. this one is about 8 days old, you can see the wings developing. |
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| just before (minutes) it 'hatches" |
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| 3 have hatched! |
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| the wings are drying.... |
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I placed them on the flowers just outside my back door, they stayed in the area for about 6 hours before flying away. They take awhile for the wings to actually
dry... |
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| This is a female |
