Insect Eggs on Okra?

We started some okra plants this spring. They germinated under the grow light system we have in the backroom. After the plants were about 3 weeks old, I noticed tiny clear balls collecting on the stems and leaf veins of the okra.

They were jelly-like in texture so I assumed some sort of insect had made its way into the house and laied eggs on the okra plants. It was only the okra that was effected. None of the nearby artichokes or pumpkin starts had any eggs.

Never-the=less, I separated the plants and moved them to the covered porch so if something did hatch it wouldn't be loose in our house or effect other seedlings. 

I assumed it had to be an okra-specific insect, the same way vine borers target pumpkin plants or asparagus beetle only congregate on asparagus plants.

After a Google search I was having a hard time identifying any insect that specifically targeted okra. Then someone in a gardening forum mentioned that she had something similar going on with her okra plants and that it turned out to be dried sap balls that the plant naturally excretes.

I changed my search to "okra sap" and found many examples and photographs of the same thing I was experiencing.

Springtime at Iron Oak Farm

Everything is starting to blossom in the warmer weather.

Purple Phlox

Dandelion gone to seed

The whole yard smells of sweet honeysuckle. This is the pink variety.

And here is the white variety of Honey Suckle.

Lilacs

The turkeys, chickens, geese, guineas and ducks enjoying the new run. We still have the other half to build.

We had a successful hatch of Buff Orpington chicks. 5 out of 7 eggs.

I can't believe how big these guys have grown! Khaki Campbell ducks

Little Man-Abrahm is also getting big. He's enjoying cuddles on the porch after his bottle while Oliver licks his face clean of milk.

Meet Abrahm

Introducing the newest member of the Iron Oak Family... Meet Abrahm, our new Nubian herd sire. He is one of the most beautiful goats I've ever seen. His markings are gorgeous and I'm so excited to breed him with our girls. We narrowed our herd last year and sold many of our goats so that we can concentrate on just Nubians and Angoras. I'm really happy with the four dairy does that we have now.

I'd like a buck that we can keep as our all time guy, but our girls keep giving us such beautiful kids that we end up keeping them. Then our resident buck is related to everyone.

I like the idea of keeping our own buck because I'm not a fan of introducing new goats to our herd each spring, as you would when you "rent" a buck to come inseminate your girls. Especially a buck that travels to many farms providing stud service. I worry about introducing new diseases with this practice.

As for his name, he came to us named "Chicken" because he has a chicken shaped white spot on his side, which I thought was cute. But I thought this name might get confusing when I write about our goats so we changed it to Abrahm. We already had a kid named Abrahm, but we sold him when he was tiny. We still liked the name so we went with it again.

Right now we are bottle feeding him. It took him a couple tries to get the hang of things but now he is searching out the bottle and finding the nipple with very little help.

We brought him home on Sunday and the temperatures were freezing. He doesn't have a mamma to keep him warm, so he's spent the last couple days in the house, in a crate. I think today he will make his transition to the barn.

Nubian Goat Kids 2015 Abigail's Penelope

Our doe Abigail gave us one of the most beautiful goat kids we're ever had last year. This is a video of Penelope.

Penelope is getting to be a big girl herself, and we have plans to breed her this fall.

Nubian Goat Kids 2015 Gretta's Anna, Abrahm and Hamish Video

If you've been following the blog for a while you may have noticed that I've been posting a video every Tuesday. Many of these videos are from past years because our old computer wouldn't let me edit videos from my Nikon camera. The files were too large. But now that we have the new computer, I am able to edit those videos and share them here. This video is from last spring introducing Gretta's Anna, Abrahm and Hamish. These three went to a wonderful family close by and I'm so glad that I have these videos to look back and remember all the kids we've had over the years.

The Year of the Chicken: Buff Eggs in the Incubator (Video)

Follow our Buff Orpington eggs on their next phase in The Year of the Chicken Series.

The Year of the Chicken: Buff Eggs in the Incubator (Video)

Flavored Honey Goat Butter KBB Post

Learn this simple recipe that serves as a base for lots of delicious flavor combinations!

Flavored Honey Goat Butter KBB Post

The Canning Bee: Why Honey Doesn't Spoil KBB Post

Learn about the infinite shelf life of honey, hoe to refresh crystallized honey and much more in my latest Keeping Backyard Bees post The Canning Bee: Why Honey Doesn't Spoil 

Oliver Retrieving Duck Decoy in Pond Video

Over the past few years we've been working with our Golden Retriever Oliver and his ability to retrieve. Like most Goldens, he was born with the instinct to bring things back to us when thrown, so there wasn't much we had to do as far as incentive. Really, his training has been more of associating commands with the action of running, bringing back and release so we're more in control of the situation. We do it more for fun than anything else. It gives him an activity that he loves and gives him lots of healthy exercise. Here's a video of him retrieving the duck decoy from our pond last year. He LOVES to swim!

Pilgrim and Toulouse Goslings Video

This is a video I took of our goslings last year. They're all grown up now and laying beautiful large eggs. Enjoy the video!

Ducks are not Chickens + GIVEAWAY CC Post

Thinking of getting ducklings this spring? Read this post first. Ducks are not Chickens

Also enter to win a copy of Sarah Rosedahl's Adult Coloring Book!

Local Birding

One of my favorite things to do is travel around looking for wildlife to photograph, particularly birds.

There's a dirt road a few miles from our house that borders a long lake/slow river. Each spring this body of water is always brimming with birds. Some returning from the long migration, some stopping temporarily before moving even farther north to their breeding grounds.  As in the case of these Common Mergansers.

Pair Common Mergansers

We usually visit the lake earlier in the year when there are upwards to 50 Common Mergansers stopping for a short rest before heading north. At this time in the year, there were only a few pairs left.

Pair Common Mergansers

While I always aim to take the best photos possible,... often when I'm birding, I will simply settle for a recognizable documentation. As was the case with many of these images. The birds were simply too far away to get a quality image with the lens I have.

Female Common Merganser has a brick red/orange-y brown head with a crest of feathers that flail backwards.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Male Common Merganser

Pied Billed Grebe

 We also saw a Pied-Billed Grebe. I find them to be adorable. They're a tiny duck-shaped bird with a stubby little bill and huge eyes. 

Pied-Billed Grebe

 

They have an incredible ability to dive and are mostly silent birds. 

Canada Goose

 We saw many Canada Geese. 

Canada Goose

 This one is sitting on a well built nest. 

Belted Kingfisher

 We also saw a beautiful belted King Fisher. 

Pair Mute Swans (Nesting Canada Goose)

 And a pair of Mute Swans. See the Canada Goose in the background sitting on the nest? 

I have a swan goal this year. I want to see a Trumpeter Swan. I've been reading that they are making a comeback in our area. I've done some research and spoken with a few birders who told me where there are some good areas to find them. 

Red-Tailed Hawk

 This Red Tailed Hawk dove in front of the Jeep trying to escape the packing of two very upset Crows. Most likely this hawk was trying to rob the Crow's nest and the pair attacked, chasing the hawk away.

Crows = Orange Circle, Hawk = Yellow Circle

 

Learn to Spin Plying Techniques Video

In this video I show how to blend 4 colors by plying a 2 ply yarn. In the first skein the colors are distributed evenly, in the second they are distributed unevenly. This allows for every color to touch every other color in the finished 2 ply skein. The finished yarn is well blended.

Sandhill Cranes Returning Video

I was outside the other day...back when I thought it was spring...before the snowstorm hit, taking pictures of the goats when these two beauties flew over. It was one of those right time, right place sort of experiences. Poor things are probably wishing they would have stayed down south with the weather we've been having lately in Michigan. If you can, turn up the volume, they make the most interesting sounds. A very loud rattling call.

9 Ways Non-Beekeepers Can Help Pollinators

Can't have a hive? You can still support bees! Learn how in my latest post, 9 Ways Non-Beekeepers Can Help Pollinators.

Spring Ducklings 2015 and 2016 Video

In the next few weeks I'll be sharing some older videos with all of you. In the past I've collected video material but our computer was so old that it couldn't handle the editing process. We've recently upgraded and I now have the capacity to do "movies"! So they're older, but still have a lot of relevance.

This one is of our ducklings from last spring. They're already grown and laying their first eggs this spring.

We've added to our duck flock this year with some Khaki Campbell ducklings. They are so adorable! One of my favorite breeds and great egg layers!

Virtual Farm Tour

This week we shared on social media some very exciting news! Iron Oak Farm is growing, but for once it's not the furry, feathered or four legged kind. I'm pregnant with our first child! Due October 26th! We've waited a long time for this blessing and are so happy!

Here's the rest of our week in photos.

I received my Eden's Garden order of essential oils. Mandarin, Wild Orange, Lemon Grass, Tea Tree, Key Lime, Vanilla, Spike Lavender, French Lavender and Grapefruit.

The geese are one year old this spring, and have started laying. It can be hard to sex geese, but this confirms that our Pilgrim Goose is in fact a goose and our Toulouse is a gander.

The goose egg compared to one of our large Buff Orpington eggs

Brushing the cashmere from Huck's coat.

I made a Cream of Roasted Root Vegetable Soup and it was delicious. Recipe coming soon!

The ducks enjoying this soggy spring.