I got the bid but it wasn't enough to handle unforeseen mishaps. The factory that I got a bid for a bunch of 1/2" glass shelves, decided that I don't order enough to warrant wholesale (2500 per month) so my price per shelf doubled. I am a little scared to call up my client. I had to go eleswhere. I drove out and took a country road to the small town to pick up the glass and found a whole bunch of rock that I picked up for my garden and fields full of rock coreopsis almost gone to seed. I will be back. Boulders in the front seat and glass in the back. I just saw a western bluebird, painted bunting, Western scrub jays, cardinals , scissor tailed Flycatcher, chicadees, a yellow billed cuckoo, black crested titmouse, benwick's wren, humming birds and a big fat white winged dove all today while drinking coffee.. I have a family of screaming red tailed hawks than make everyone get real quiet. I also saw a ferruginous Hawk last year. That thing is HUGE with a almost 5' wing span. Earlier this week , I had a crested Caracara on a wire by the road. I saw some threatened black caped vireos a week ago. We are full of fox,deer,skunk, coons, and an occasional mountain lion and pack of wild boars.,. Rose, don't remind me I have to attack some poison oak that is too close to the house. It is where I want to plant 11 Agave montanas that I have been slowly raising from small babes. I have been getting small babies every year so I have a drift of different sized plants under some oaks and a drift of A. ovatifolias under another bunch of oaks. Here is another picture set of brush clearing fires. I did these as the great drought was broken enough for them to raise the burn ban . Things exploded. It was scary, very scary. But living with 13 huge piles of dried brush with a 6,oo0 acre brush fire near earlier made me want to GET RID OF THEM. I had attacked an area of all trees that year. When you deal with land , things get BIG. Problems get large and one finds oneself doing thngs that this citty girl from Philadelphia and NYC never imagined. My son is a volunteer fireman. LOL Here is a link that might be useful: My fires This post was edited by wantonamara on Sun, Jun 9, 13 at 13:36

I love garlic scapes stir-fried, my chinese neighbor has also introduced me to a dish made from over the hill lettuce, once they start to elongate and before they set seed he cuts all the leaves off, does a dish using just the stalks, another dish he does is with over ripe pickling cucumbers. He grew up in northern China nothing was wasted. The dish he makes with a potato is really good, the potato is cut into very fine julianne (sp) soaked and then stir-fried with other things (can't remember what), really delicious and crispy. I think we might be missing the boat by composting some of our veggies too soon. Annette

We have quite a few cardinals as well, though none have been all that cooperative with photo opprtunities. Same goes for our Blue Jays who mainly visit for the bird baths. I don't provide nut-based feed as the squirrels killed my native persimmon tree trying to get to the feeder and the nuts drew in a rather large rat that then went after my worm bin. I figured he was going into it for the veggie scraps, but I no longer have any worms in the bin, so I guess rats like worms too. He met the business end of a trap and was tossed into the field behind me where he became a snack for a turkey vulture. I see Mockingbirds sometimes but they are more likely to be high up in the trees around my house than actually in my yard. We have a breeding pair of Red-shouldered Hawks and sometimes I hear a Red-Tail Hawk. Sometimes the Red-Shouldered Hawks will divebomb the feeder area, but so far they have been un lucky. My neighbors tell me the Red-Shoulder pair often visit the Watering Pool in the morning, but I have yet to see them there. Last week I had two occasions to witness two Bald Eagles in the sky. Their trilling call is unmistakeable. One of the times I saw them it looked like they were getting ready for the 'Courtship Drop', but I was on my way out and couldn't stop to watch for very long. It's quite rare that I hear owls at night and I have yet to see one. As for the pictures, I've started carrying my camera with me as I work in the yard. I got tired of snapping pics with my phone and having them look horrible. My camera isn't too great and lacks the ability to really zoom in, so I have had to cheat here. I adjusted the camera to take pictures in the highest resolution possible. When I upload them to my computer, I copy/paste the images into a 1280x720 template (which is a fair bit smaller than the image itself) and adjust the scale down until only the part I want is in frame. It's a bit more work, but the results are on par with my mother's Nikon w/ Macro Lens.

Tom is correct (as usual....he is after all always right!! LOL!) The term 'invasive' has a rather specific definition attached to it and it seldom applies to any native plant - in its natural range or not - as these usually (but not always) do not have an ability to outcompete or dominate other native vegetation. Aggressive spreaders or freely self seeding will sometimes define the characteristics or growth of native or naturalized but not technically "invasive" plants. Official 'invasive plants' definition. And a great many native trees and shrubs produce a suckering or ever expanding growth habit - that's just the manner in which they grow. But they are not considered invasive because of this. btw, there are many cultivated forms of elderberry (Sambucus sp.) that do not sucker as aggressively as the native species and make great garden ornamentals. But maybe not as valuable for berry production or in a wildlife garden.