Butterfly Eye

I went for a garden stroll yesterday afternoon, just after a hard rain shower. in the post-storm stillness, the only sounds were my rainboots splashing in fresh puddles and the residual drippity drip from the trees. i had intended to photograph the leaf-cutter ants and their latest conquest amongst our coffee bushes, when i got the sense that someone was watching me. indeed, something had its "eye" on me!

Califo memnon

Owl butterflies thoroughly enchant me. They are not the type to flutter about and mingle in the garden sunshine, rather they prefer dark shady corners and dusk, thus magnifying the intensity of their camouflage. it is rare to see them rest for even a moment, so happening upon this one with camera in hand was a special treat!

A bit further along, I encountered one our most ubiquitous butterfly species, identifiable by its bright red on black wings. Crimson-patched Longwings have been a favorite of mine ever since I recognized them in the rainforest exhibit at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco.

Heliconius erato

I recently learned that Crimson-patched Longwing caterpillars feed exclusively on the leaves of passionflowers. que bueno that i've just planted two different varieties in the garden!

Still assuming I was on leaf-cutter ant hunt, I didn't scan the wildflowers along the trail for winged activity. Yet, directly in my path, hovering low over the wet earth, maybe dipping her probiscus to taste a fresh rain drop, this gorgeous creature beckoned my attention. it seemed i had inadvertently acquired butterfly eye!

Siproeta stelenes, commonly known as the Malachite

With this realization, I sharpened my gaze and noticed, they were everywhere! The quiet aftermath of rainstorm is exactly the time for butterfly chasing.

Not sure what type this one is....

Glasswing butterfly, Greta oto

yes! you can actually see THROUGH their wings!!

Banded Peacock or Fatima, Anartia fatima

See with your butterfly eye

Landscaping, Take 1

Even as the rain showers came less frequently and my plants displayed a thirsty look, I denied the reality of yet another long, hot Dry Season. I gazed hopefully at passing dark clouds, willing even a short downpour, a fly-by shower, a few measly drops??
Alas, observing the soil change from dark fudge to powdered cocoa I am face to face with my denial. Rainy season is OVER. Hot sun and strong winds parch the garden on a daily basis, leaving me (and the bike-powered water pump) responsible for all watering needs.
The winds are currently my most challenging natural foe. The charming screened doors we designed to encourage constant air flow are now ushering in more than just fresh breezes.

Each morning (and afternoon) fresh piles of dust, dirt, and loose plant matter remind me that my novice landscaping of the practically bare dirt area surrounding the house is, indeed, novice.

Note the whimsical lack of window pane

Scraggly weeds have sprouted up in unseemly patches amongst which I am attempting to grow more attractive ground cover, such as the clover-like maní,

whose hearty roots and cheery yellow flowers have no problem taking over my garden, but here display an uncharacteristic shyness.

Despite its green paint job, our chain link fence remains a monstrous metallic eyesore; AND fortunately, the ideal medium for climbing plants! While the luffa tackles one end, a strategically placed passionflower vine is winding its way along the opposite end.

I eagerly await its fantastic blooms and tangy fruit ;)

Other attempts at beautification include a nopal cactus wall:

Amazingly robust, nopal, or prickly-pear cactus, sprouts new "pads" when nestled into basically any soil; not to mention they are edible!
Nicaraguan cuisine, by the way, does not feature nopal cactus. It does grow well here, is touted as a therapeutic superfood, and with the help of a Mexican chef, tastes delicious!
So if nothing else, we'll be dining on farm fresh prickly pear. I am really hoping that the cashew, coconut, cacao, and guava trees will also prosper, growing to great shady heights & producing copious amounts of tasty fruit. [All of these are, at this point, tiny saplings braving the desert-like conditions of my backyard and worse, my fledgling landscaping abilities.]

Solar Muffins, upside-down tomates

Latest solar fare:
Banana Crunch Muffins, loosely based on this recipe http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Banana-Muffins-with-a-Crunch/Detail.aspx?src=etaf


sun-tanned delicious!




And finally the time has come to harvest from the Upside-Down Tomato experiments! Out of the 4 i planted, this is the only plant that appears healthy. The other 3 produced a few tiny tomatoes but their branches have dried and withered.

It was affirming to hear that many other folks who planted the UC-82 variety were also met with a disappointing, flavor-less tomato crop. The seeds were gifted to us by a local agricultural co-op, a sandinista program i would guess, that collaborates with the university to provide ag-info, workshops, seeds, and probably much more. We recently attended a lecture on zompopos (leaf-cutter ants), an ingenious insect that farms its own mushrooms (!!) and often destroys coffee crops in the process. The little einsteins harvest chunks of leaves and haul them back to their underground fungus farm, then feed on some bacteria or micro-organism that lives on the mushrooms. In Costa Rica there are eco-tours offering hikes to see leaf-cutter ants in action! Admittedly, it is cool to see a long line of them trekking back to the nest, the slices of bright green leaf seeming to herald the arrival of a medieval ant calvary.
In the lecture i was very impressed at the the organic approach to managing the pest, including the application of neem oil and the value placed on understanding the zompopo life cycle.

Back to the dangling tomatoes: as far as UC-82s go, these were not bad! Good color, typical square-ish shape, slightly juicier than the in-ground crop.

All in all, i'd say it's not a bad idea if you lack ample garden space. Otherwise......they weren't worth the precarious balance act of watering on a stool.