Author: Pam

New England native, Florida resident. Blogging about boating, beach-combing, gardening, camping, and knitting. Work for Zazzle as a designer since 2008.

Florida Native Frogs or Cuban Invaders?

Summer brings an over-abundance of frogs to my yard. I often find them tucked down inside curling pepper leaves or snoozing on top of a growing pepper. They don’t hurt the plants, but the invasive Cuban tree frog can hurt the environment, by killing off our native frogs.

Cuban Tree Frogs?

I think these are Cuban tree frogs. I have seen frogs like this inside my house. One day I had one sitting on a plate in my kitchen. When we first moved into our house a huge, whitish frog came out of the tub drain! I’d never let frogs creep me out before, but there was something about these that I never liked.

frogs sleeping the day away
3 Frogs on my front light – one is sitting on another

They are nocturnal and come alive in the evening when they hop all over the windows and door eating bugs.

Identify Your Florida Frogs

This link goes to the page for identifying your Central Florida Frogs. Or, go to this page and select the part of Florida where you live. Click on each frog photo to see more about that species.

They also leave their poop everywhere as you can see by my disgusting looking light. I think this photo shows the Cuban frog. This type of frog will kill and eat the cute green ones – which I never see these days. And the Cuban frog can become quite large. They can also get into the plumbing – they do that by getting onto the roof – and other places and become a big problem.

It is true that these frogs do not appear to be the cute little green frogs that were once everywhere in Florida. You literally could not avoid them and they were simply part of Florida life. Florida life has changed.

Tree frog sleeping on a green pepper
Tree frog napping on my garden pepper – he is what type???

After I had a palm tree cut down in my front yard, the frog population seemed to decline. They may have been living in the tree.

frog on pepper leaf
Frog on pepper leaf

Good Frogs

This striped frog is one I came across while cleaning out the yard. I’d had some plastic containers stacked, which had filled with water. I was getting rid of the containers and discovered this frog swimming around with a bunch of tiny creatures – possibly tadpoles..? Once I disturbed his home, he climbed out of the container and disappeared.

I think this frog may be the Florida Chorus frog, but I’m not sure. I hope he makes it. Life is tough for Florida wildlife.

Florida water frog - chorus frog
frog

Florida Tree Frogs or Cuban Pests?

Just like the little green lizards, the green Florida tree frog seems to be disappearing. Well, the Cuban tree frog could be the reason. This article at the UF site says to catch the invaders and humanely euthanize them! Put them into the fridge, then the freezer! Yikes.

I would have to know for sure I had the right type of frog. Some of the links below lead to pages with photos of Florida’s various types of frogs.

That is not a bird peeking out of my birdhouse. In fact, frogs can take over birdhouses so the birds can’t use them to nest.

Frog inside this birdhouse

One more thing to mention. We have a Ring camera set up in the backyard and witnessed an opossum climb the wall to the light and pull a frog off to eat it! I can’t say which type of frog it was, but I rarely ever see the cute green frogs. I would assume that the opossum ate a Cuban tree frog. Let’s hope so.

More Florida Frog Info Links

All links go to the University of Florida website pages.

Starting Vegetable Seeds in Eggshells

While using my local, fresh, free range chicken eggs one day, I looked at the beautiful shell color and remembered something. I had read, at one time, about using eggshells as pots to start seedlings for the garden.

The shells were so pretty that I hated to just throw them out, so I began rinsing the broken shells to save.

free range chicken egg colors

Getting Ready to Plant Seeds in Eggshells

Here in central Florida frosts and freezes tend to happen in January and February, if they happen at all. By March the weather seldom gets all that cold, but can be chilly overnight. March is the month to plant in Florida.

However, seeds can be started indoors in February, or sooner, to have little seedlings ready to go into the ground by March. I planted mine in the middle of February.

With my organic bags of dirt – Black Gold by Sungro (Amazon affiliate link)- is what I used, and organic seeds purchased, I filled each eggshell and then stuck seeds down into the soil. Keep the egg cartons to use as the plant tray.

Duck eggs and boiled peanuts
Duck Eggs
Eggshell gardening with starter seeds
Eggshell gardening
planting seeds in eggshells
Seedlings in eggshells
seedlings in eggshells
I began planting my seeds in eggshells in February

When the weather got nice enough, I put all the cartons outside in the sun for the day. I brought them inside each evening. And checked them often to add water.

Difficulties and Challenges to Eggshell Gardening

Unlike little pots, the eggshells are delicate. One online site said to put a pin hole in the bottom of the shell for drainage. I did not do that because I tried and failed to make a little hole. It is not really necessary as long as you don’t overwater. Also, with a hole in the bottom, the cardboard containers would be wet.

Watering can be challenging. The eggshell pots are very small. They will dry out quickly when outside in the Florida sun. I water the seedlings twice a day, and this is March. Because the pots are so small and I don’t want to overwater and have them sitting in a puddle, I use my pour-over tea pot which has a small thin spout. Alternatively you could use a paper cup or anything that allows you to easily add small amounts of water.

Get the Seedlings Outside During the Day

Each day I put the seedlings – or soil with seeds – outside into the sun. Once the plants begin to grow they will need lots of direct sunlight and also some moving air. When plants grow in slightly windy conditions, it causes the stems to become strong. Or so I’ve heard.

Seedlings growing in eggshells
Seedlings are about a month old

I’m lucky enough to be home all day and can easily do this. Even if the plants can sit in front of a sunny window it will be helpful.

All in all, be ready to spend some time caring for the little pots. You can’t just plant and forget.

Choosing Seeds to Grow in Starter Pots

It is tempting to go overboard when picking out seed packets! I’m picturing the bounty of fresh veggies – arms loaded as I come in from the back yard. Realistically, I certainly don’t have space for many plants and seeds are generally good for one year only.

I love almost all vegetables, but must be picky about which ones I will grow. Fresh herbs are one thing I would use often. My basil and parsley has diminished over the years so I wanted to grow those two things again. I also have had difficulty finding dill plants here in Florida, so I am trying to grow that. Dill and fennel plants have flowers that attract the Swallowtail Butterfly.

Italian flat leaf parsley seedlings
Flat leaf Italian parsley seedlings – lookin good!

Getting to start plants from seeds gives me the chance to learn what’s what in newly sprouted form.

The basil did pretty well, but something did eat some of my basil. I planted as much as I could, filling all the saved eggshells. I knew that some things would do better than others.

Basil seedlings in eggshells
Little basil plants

My yard needs more flowering plants. Some of these eggshells contain marigolds and cosmos. I plan to plant more of those flower seeds in larger containers as well. Flowers don’t have to be planted in the garden – especially when your garden is made up of a few grow boxes. They can be in containers to save on garden space.

Flowering plants in pots can be moved around the yard as needed to keep bad bugs away and hopefully draw in the beneficials.

organic seed packets

Larger seeds such as zucchini and cucumber can go directly into the ground. Let’s face it, I would need a lot more egg shells to get everything started. Also, I don’t know how well transplanting will go. More to come on that!

For now I am keeping up with the shell starters.

So Long For Now

I’ve given it a lot of thought and I really don’t have time to continue writing on this blog. Or, maybe I should say I’m cutting way back. My efforts need to go into starting a new online business. My knitting blog gets a lot of views and that is where I need to write.…

Pam's avatar by Pam

Greenery, Big Leaves, Jungle Growth

Yes, things are so boring around here I am taking photos of leaves. Really? Well, my life is pretty boring and low key. I do enjoy the green that surrounds my Florida home. On close inspection there are many types of things growing in the jungle. I am amazed by big leaves.

Inside the House

The Fiddleleaf Fig tree has added new leaves since I last purchased it last January (2019). I’d never grown a fig before, but had wanted one for ages. I will say that they are super easy to grow. I thought this new leaf emerging was quite interesting.

New leaf on flddleleaf fig
Fiddleleaf fig tree houseplant in basket

Around the Yard – Elephant Ears

Elephant ears are some of the largest leaves you will find. They die back in winter months but come back strong in summer. I did not plant these, they are growing along the edge of the yard in a lot.

elephant ear leaf

Palmetto Leaves

At one time the palmetto palm was everywhere. It doesn’t seem to be so common these days as this palm is apparently considered too ugly to keep in a landscape.

Builders come in and wipe out all traces of native vegetation, build a house, and plant new vegetation. The local plants don’t count here.

These photos came from the land next to my house lot. As of this writing, the land has not been bought and cleared for a home, but I expect it to happen. These big old palm trees will most likely be ripped out, along with everything else.

One image below is from my Staghorn fern.

palmetto
Palmetto tree and leaves
Staghorn fern leaves

Orange Flowering Butterfly Milkweed

Be careful when buying milkweed plants for your Florida landscape. Tropical milkweed can actually harm monarchs.

Be careful when purchasing milkweed in Florida. We all want to help the monarchs by providing more milkweed for their caterpillars, but the wrong kind can be dangerous for them. “Tropical” and “Orange” varieties look a lot alike but one is potentially harmful to the life cycle of the Monarch.

Good

Orange flowering milkweed is also known as Butterflyweed (Asclepias tuberosa). It is native to many parts of north America. This one has orange flowers – no red.

butterflyweed
Butterflyweed (Asclepias tuberosa) has all orange flowers.

Bad

The Tropical Milkeed (shown below) is not the same thing. And the tropical milkweed, which has red and orange-yellow flowers, is actually bad for the monarchs. (Because they look so much alike, I thought they were one and the same. This blog post was originally about propagating and planting this type!)

It is one you may come across often when shopping for milkweed in Florida. It is also called Scarlet, Silky Scarlet, Mexican, Red, or Blood. The key here is that it has red flowers. They look nearly identical in form to the native orange milkweed, so don’t be fooled.

Say NO to Red Flowering Milkweed

This type of milkweed can have a parasite that infects the caterpillar which in turn infects the butterfly. Also, it does not die back and lose it’s leaves which may interfere with migration patterns. Read about this here at the Nola site.

This link also has images of the Swamp Milkweed and others that are okay for the butterflies. Look for pink, white or orange flowering types.

orange butterfly weed flower
no to tropical milkweed

Already Growing in the Yard?

Look for tips about cutting the tropical milkweed down at certain times of year so the Monarchs won’t use it. (The link to Nola above talks about that.) But the fact that this type of plant can spread a disease has convinced me to destroy the few plants I do have. None of them are thriving anyway.

The Monarch Butterfly Migration Story

What to Look For When Shopping

Know the names of the native milkweed for your area. It may not be blooming at the nursery. It is also very hard to find. In fact, finding a grower who carries native plants is not all that easy to find in itself.

There is one place near me and when I visited recently all the milkweed plants were gone. I’m not sure which kind they were selling but the section was empty. I hope it was not the tropical variety.

At the Plant Real Florida site you can shop by hardiness zone and find shops that sell plants and / or seeds.

monarch butterfly milkweed

Time Travel Anyone? I’d Go Backwards For Sure

I just heard about this thing called #bloganuary to help inspire bloggers to post every day during the month of January.

Since it’s already the 21st, I’ve missed out on most of the month. Good thing my favorite saying is “better late than never”.

The writing prompt for today is, “If you could, what year would you time travel to, and why?”

I’m trying to decide on a year, but I would definitely go backward in time. I guess this makes me not very adventurous. The future does not look very promising at this point, and I don’t think I want to know what is coming, even if I’m not here to see it.

Mom at Hampton Beach, NH – year? 1950’s

I don’t want to go back to relive a wonderful childhood, except that it was pretty nice until about age 10. It really was nice to be young and oblivious. I had a nice house and lots of land and spent all the time I could outside.

I’d want to go back and pay closer attention to family while I had it.

I’d ask my grandmother about her knitting knowledge, and my grandfather about his strawberry shortcake biscuit recipe.

I do think I would go back and try to appreciate my relatives more. I’d love to ask them loads of questions that I can not find an answer to these days. My childhood was the only time I really had substantial family around me.

The prompt does not mention anything about length of stay in our time slot, so that would factor in to my choice too.

I certainly don’t want to relive my childhood, but a few days spent in a good year could be quite fun.

Oh… and it must be winter. I will have to go sledding with my friends.

Dad & me, Hampton Beach, NH – 1950’s

Worthy Flavors Home Delivery Review – Disappointed

Worthy Flavors produce review with photos of my delivery box.

Today I received my second home delivery of vegetables from Worthy Flavors. I wanted to love this company and hoped for great vegetables delivered from local farms. Today I was very disappointed in what I unboxed.

What Came in my Worthy Flavors Box?

Here is a look at the box as it looked when first opened, and the products on my counter after unpacking. It feels a little sparse for the money.

This is the organic box, which at the current time costs $47.95. I had signed up for delivery every 2 weeks. Read about my first delivery here.

Worthy Flavors produce delivery review
Worthy Flavors produce delivery review

Worthy Flavors at FaceBook Lists Box Contents

Below is the list of produce which was to be in each of the boxes. I found this on the Worthy Flavors site on FaceBook. I was looking forward to blueberries and pretty much all the rest.

However, not only did I not receive blueberries, peaches, or carrots, I was pretty disappointed in many of the items I did get.

Below is a photo of everything that was included in my Organic Box. I paid over $47 for this….!

Worthy Flavors produce delivery review

First the good. The little bag of strawberries is good. The tomatoes look very good and need to ripen a bit. The green peppers are not “minis” as listed, but look nice. Sweet potatoes are good and the romaine lettuce is a bit wilted, but not bad. The red onion is fine.

Now the bad. I hate blackberries, which is not their fault, but a downside. I threw them in the woods for the animals. The red leaf lettuce was horribly wilted. The cauliflower looked quite old. (I also got cauliflower in my last box, and it was wonderful.) The leaves on this head were wilted, and there were black spots on the head.

The cucumbers are HUGE! One was smushed and I absolutely would not have purchased these at the store. I haven’t eaten an apple yet, but I would pass on apples that come from Florida. I’ll probably make a little crumble using them.

Where are the oranges (good ones- my last box contained dry and tasteless oranges), grapefruit, lemons and limes that Florida is known for? In fact, I had hoped to receive crops that were in season by month in Florida.

Worthy Flavors produce delivery review
Worthy Flavors produce delivery review
Worthy Flavors produce delivery review

On top of the fact that much of my produce was disappointing, I now have four more water bottles that I don’t want.

Not only that, but my water bottles have no ice in them when I unbox. I’ve seen videos where the bottles come still partially frozen. I only live a few hours north of the location of Worthy Flavors in Florida, so why wouldn’t my bottles have ice? It is winter here, so not super hot. What would happen in summer?

My guess is that the Worthy Flavors box is packed ahead of time and the ice melts and the produce wilts. Otherwise, I surmise that they are packing gross vegetables on purpose! The cauliflower looks like it has been sitting around for quite a while.

When I pay good money for a home delivery service I expect very good quality items which goes along with sending in-season food. I know that part of that fee goes toward packing and shipping, which is understandable, but when I open the box, I want produce that looks fresh-picked and yummy.

Recycling

I want to be eco-friendly and the packing that comes inside the box claims to be recyclable, but my town won’t take it.

Also the fact that water bottles are included in every box is a bit of a minus for me. I understand the attempt to send something that can be recycled, but I don’t want them.

I do recycle the box and cardboard inside.

Cancelling Worthy Flavors

I have cancelled my subscription to Worthy Flavors. I’d rather shop local and pick out my own good vegetables and spend much less money in doing so.

By the way, when you want to cancel your subscription on the Worthy Flavors site, it comes up as a “cancellation request”, saying they will respond in 1-2 business days. I thought, Oh Boy. But, I immediately got an e-mail from the company saying my subscription had been cancelled.

Worthy Flavors produce delivery review

It’s too bad that this didn’t work out. I was hoping to support local farmers and get good quality vegetables at the same time.

This place is a fail for me.

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