Now there are two

The litter of 5 rabbits that I brought home a month ago has been reduced to two.  The three brown rabbits have been sent off to 'freezer camp.'  I supplemented their diet of pellets with the leaves of cole crops that I harvested and with young shoots of blackgum, willow and sassafras, all of which they eagerly devoured.  The next step is to get a breeding pair and start producing them in-house. 

I wrote in an earlier post about the loss of the entire fish population in my pond after a brutal winter. I love this pond and all the wildlife it attracts.  I noticed that since the fish were gone the blue heron hasn't shown up and why would it, there's nothing for it to eat   There was a concern that mosquitoes might get bad with no fish to prey on them but it looks like the tadpoles and dragonflies have been up to the task.  I've noticed that the waters have been thick with bullfrog tadpoles since there haven't been any large fish to eat them. 

In the spring I restocked the pond with 100 bluegill fry, 20 largemouth bass and 20 channel catfish. The bluegill, which were very small, probably just under 2 inches, were released at one end of the pond and the bass and catfish at the other. Once released they just vanished and were not seen again.  A few days ago I was standing on the deck, peering into the waters, hoping to spot some fish, which up to now I haven't seen.  As if on cue two bluegill appeared, then two bass.  They've grown some, although still very small.  At least now I know that the fish are in there.

The onions are looking fantastic this year.  The main crop is Ruby Ring, one of the few red onions that is recommended for this latitude (38).  It's gratifying to see them doing well.  Sowing onions from seed is one of the more tedious tasks in gardening and it looks like there will be a reward.  The bed is filled out with parsnip and garlic.  Should be a very productive bed. 

The Teksukabotu squash has some really striking leaves.  This is a plant that can take over a space.