Welcome To Fin Land!

Welcome To Fin Land!, originally uploaded by Dr. Meow Mix.

(a week ago)

Black Swallowtail – It’s A Girl!

Black Swallowtail – It’s A Girl!, originally uploaded by Dr. Meow Mix.

Fly away, little lady, and start the process over again.

Black Swallowtail, Fresh From Cocoon

Black Swallowtail, Fresh From Cocoon, originally uploaded by Dr. Meow Mix.

And then the cocoon hatched!

Black Swallowtail Cocoon

Black Swallowtail Cocoon, originally uploaded by Dr. Meow Mix.

So it turned itself into a cocoon…

Black Swallowtail Beginning Cocoon

Black Swallowtail Beginning Cocoon, originally uploaded by Dr. Meow Mix.

And eventually, it decided it was being sick of being a caterpillar…

Late Instar Black Swallowtail Caterpillar

Late Instar Black Swallowtail Caterpillar, originally uploaded by Dr. Meow Mix.

So, one of those fennel thieves escaped my eye and wandered over to my dill, where it grew and grew. I decided to put it in a jar and watch it grow some more…

Coming Soon: Fresh Coriander

Coming Soon: Fresh Coriander, originally uploaded by Dr. Meow Mix.

My cilantro has gone to seed! That means time for coriander, some of which will be planted for more cilantro. Yum yum yum.

Fishfly

Fishfly, originally uploaded by Dr. Meow Mix.

This was on a porch post and I did a little excited WTF-Are-You squee and dance and tripped over the doorframe running back in to grab my camera.
It remained unimpressed.

Fennel Thieves

Fennel Thieves, originally uploaded by Dr. Meow Mix.

These are black swallowtail caterpillars (first instar). Or, rather, were.  If they had made it without being noticed awhile longer I might have said “well done,” and picked them off and tossed them elsewhere.  But they didn’t.

Surprise, Butternut Squash!

Surprise Butternut Squash, originally uploaded by Dr. Meow Mix.

So, once, there was a barrel. In that barrel there was dirt, and some other stuff. Some of that other stuff sprouted, and this sprouting was not expected, but that’s how my garden tends to grow.
I assumed the sprout was cucumber, because, well, it sort of looked like it might be and I wanted cucumber but hadn’t planted any.
And then one day I saw a blossom. A squash-y kind of blossom. And so I assumed that the cucumber was actually a pumpkin.
And THEN one day I saw fruit where that blossom had been. And it was a butternut squash.
And so I went to take a picture but it was so freaking hot outside and I had just watered things and then brought the camera from the air conditioned house into the hellscape of the outdoors, and the lens fogged up and I got this sort of dreamy effect that I kinda liked, but not as much as I liked the idea of getting the eff back inside before I passed out and roasted like a pig (sans spit).
The moral of the story is: THERE WILL BE SOUP.
This is often the moral of my garden stories. Maybe I should look into that.